The Swineherd

In The Swineherd, a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, a prince who disguises himself as a swineherd woos an arrogant princess. Sending her a nightingale and a rose, the princess rejects the humble gifts preferring the man-made over the real. The prince/swineherd creates a musical pot and charges the princess ten kisses for it. The princess trudges through the mud to pay one hundred kisses for his next creation, a musical rattle. A parable about the shallowness of earthly things.