` To mine , to mine , your Majesty , ' was the answer . ` But to mine -- to my own , ' roared the king , and beat on his breast in a rage . ` Well , yes ; to mine , of course , to my own , ' cried the shepherd , and gently tapped his breast . The king was beside himself with fury and did not know what to do , when the Lord Chamberlain interfered : ` Say at once -- say this very moment : `` To your health , your Majesty '' ; for if you do n't say it you 'll lose your life , whispered he . ` No , I wo n't say it till I get the princess for my wife , ' was the shepherd 's answer . Now the princess was sitting on a little throne beside the king , her father , and she looked as sweet and lovely as a little golden dove . When she heard what the shepherd said she could not help laughing , for there is no denying the fact that this young shepherd with the staring eyes pleased her very much ; indeed he pleased her better than any king 's son she had yet seen . But the king was not as pleasant as his daughter , and he gave orders to throw the shepherd into the white bear 's pit . The guards led him away and thrust him into the pit with the white bear , who had had nothing to eat for two days and was very hungry . The door of the pit was hardly closed when the bear rushed at the shepherd ; but when it saw his eyes it was so frightened that it was ready to eat itself . It shrank away into a corner and gazed at him from there , and , in spite of being so famished , did not dare to touch him , but sucked its own paws from sheer hunger . The shepherd felt that if he once removed his eyes off the beast he was a dead man , and in order to keep himself awake he made songs and sang them , and so the night went by . Next morning the Lord Chamberlain came to see the shepherd 's bones , and was amazed to find him alive and well . He led him to the king , who fell into a furious passion , and said : ` Well , you have learned what it is to be very near death , and now will you say `` To my good health '' ? ' But the shepherd answered : ' I am not afraid of ten deaths ! I will only say it if I may have the princess for my wife . ' ` Then go to your death , ' cried the king ; and ordered him to be thrown into the den with the wild boars . The wild boars had not been fed for a week , and when the shepherd was thrust into their don they rushed at him to tear him to pieces . But the shepherd took a little flute out of the sleeve of his jacket and began to play a merry tune , on which the wild boars first of all shrank shyly away , and then got up on their hind legs and danced gaily . The shepherd would have given anything to be able to laugh , they looked so funny ; but he dared not stop playing , for he knew well enough that the moment he stopped they would fall upon him and tear him to pieces .
His eyes were of no use XXXXX him here , for he could not have stared ten wild boars in the face at once ; so he kept on playing , and the wild boars danced very slowly , as if in a minuet , then by degrees he played faster and faster till they could hardly twist and turn quickly enough , and ended by all falling over each other in a heap , quite exhausted and out of breath .
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