One fine spring morning a poor boy sat under a tree, watching a flock of sheep which were feeding in a meadow, between a clear, dancing, trout-brook, and an old oak wood.

He held a book in his hand, and was so much engaged with it, that he scarcely looked up, excepting that from time to time he cast a quick glance toward the sheep, to make himself sure they were all safe, and within bounds.

Once, as he looked up from his book, he saw standing near him a boy, not much larger than himself, dressed in the richest and most graceful manner. It was the prince—the eldest son of the king, and heir to the throne.

The shepherd-boy did not know him, but supposed him to be the son of the forester, who often came on business to the fine old hunting-tower, which stood near by.

“Good morning, Mr. Forester,” said the shepherd-boy, taking off his straw hat, which, however, he instantly replaced; “can I do anything for you?”

“Tell me, are there any birds’ nests in these woods?” said the prince.

“That is a droll question for a young forest man,” said the boy. “Don’t you hear the birds singing all around? To be sure there are birds’ nests enough here. Every bird has its own nest.”

“Then, do you know where there is a pretty one to be seen?” said the prince.

“Oh, yes; I know a wonderful fine one,” said the boy. “It is the prettiest nest I ever saw in my life. It is made of yellow straw, and is as smooth and neat inside, as if it had been turned in a lathe; and it is covered all over the outside with fine curled moss, so that you would hardly know there was a nest there. And then, there are five eggs in it. Oh, they are so pretty! They are almost as blue as the bright sky, which shines through those oak leaves over head.”

“That is fine!” said the prince; “come, show me this same nest. I long to see it.”

“That I can easily believe,” said the boy, “but I cannot show you the nest.”

“I do not wish you to do it for nothing,” said the prince, “I will reward you well for it.”

“That may be,” said the boy. “But I cannot show it to you.”

The prince’s tutor now stepped up to them. He was a dignified, kind-looking man, in a plain dark suit of clothes. The little shepherd had not before observed him.

“Be not disobliging, my lad,” said he. “The young gentleman here has never seen a bird’s nest, although he has often read of them, and he wishes very much to see one. Pray, do him the kindness to lead him to the one you have mentioned, and let him see it. He will not take it away from you. He only wishes to look at it. He will not even touch it.”

The shepherd-boy stood up respectfully, but said, “I must stick to what I have said. I cannot show the nest.”

“That is very unfriendly,” said the tutor. “It should give you great pleasure to be able to do anything to oblige our beloved prince Frederick.”

“Is this young gentleman the prince?” cried the young shepherd, and again took off his hat; but this time he did not put it on again. “I am very much pleased to see the prince, but that bird’s nest I cannot show any one, no not even the king himself.”

“Such a stiff-necked, obstinate boy I never saw in my life,” said the prince, pettishly. “But we can easily find means to compel him to do what we wish.”

“Leave it to me, if you please, my dear prince,” said the tutor; “there must be some cause for this strange conduct.” Then, turning to the boy, he said, “Pray tell us what is the reason you will not show us that nest, and then we will go away and leave you in peace. Your behaviour seems very rude and strange; but if you have any good reason for it, do let us know it.”

“Hum!” said the boy; “that I can easily do. Michel tends goats there over the mountains. He first showed me the nest, and I promised him that I never would tell anybody where it was.”

“This is quite another thing,” said the tutor. He was much pleased with the honesty of the boy; but wished to put it to further proof. He took a piece of gold from his purse, and said—

“See here! this piece of gold shall be yours, if you will show us the way to the nest. You need not tell Michel that you have done it, and then he will know nothing about it.”

“Eh! thank you all the same,” said the boy. “Then I should be a false rogue, and that will I not be. Michel might know it or not. What would it help me, if the whole world knew nothing about it, if God in heaven and myself knew that I was a base, lying fellow? Fie!”

“Perhaps you do not know how much this piece of gold is worth,” said the tutor. “If you should change it into coppers, you could not put them all into your straw hat, even if you should heap them up.”

“Is that true?” said the boy, as he looked anxiously at the piece of gold. “Oh, how glad my poor old father would be, if I could earn so much!” He looked thoughtful a moment, and then cried out, “No—take it away!” Then, lowering his voice, he said, “The gentleman must forgive. He makes me think of the bad spirit in the wilderness, when he said, ‘all this will I give thee.’ Short and good, I gave Michel my hand on it, that I would not show the nest to any one. A promise is a promise, and herewith fare well.”

He turned, and would have gone away, but the prince’s huntsman, who stood near and listened to what passed, came up, and clapped him on the shoulder, said, in a deep bass voice, “Ill-mannered booby! is this the way you treat the prince, who is to be our king? Do you show more respect to the rude goat-herd over the mountains, than to him? Show the bird’s nest, quick, or I will hew a wing out of your body.” As he said this he drew his hanger.

The poor boy turned pale, and with a trembling voice cried out, “Oh, pardon! I pray for pardon!”

“Show the nest, booby,” cried the hunter, “or I will hew!”

The boy held both hands before him, and looked with quivering eyes on the bright blade, but still he cried, in an agitated voice, “Oh, I cannot! I must not! I dare not do it!”

“Enough! enough!” cried the tutor. “Put up your sword and step back, Mr. Hunter. Be quiet, my brave boy. No harm shall be done you. You have well resisted temptation. You are a noble soul! Go, ask the permission of your young friend, and then come and show us the nest. You shall share the piece of gold between you!”

“Good! good!” said the boy, “this evening I will have an answer for you!”

The prince and tutor went back to the castle, to which they had come the day before, to enjoy the season of spring.

“The nobleness of that boy surprises me,” said the tutor, as they went along. “He is a jewel which cannot be too much prized. He has in him the elements of a great character. So we may often find, under the thatched roof, truth and virtues which the palace does not often present to view.”

After they returned, the tutor inquired of the steward if he knew anything about the shepherd-boy.

“He is a fine boy,” said the steward. “His name is George. His father is poor, but is known all around for an honest, upright, sensible man.”

After the prince’s studies were ended for the day, he went to the window, and immediately said, “Aha, the little George is waiting for us. He tends his small flock of sheep by the wood, and often looks toward the castle.”

“Then we will go and hear what answer he brings us,” said the tutor.

They left the castle together and went to the place where George tended his sheep.

When he saw them moving he ran to meet them, and called out joyfully,—“It is all right with Michel; he called me a foolish boy, and scolded me for not showing you the nest at first, but, it is better that I should have asked his leave. I can now show it to you with pleasure. Come with me, quick, Mr. Prince.”

George led the way, on the run, to the oak wood, and the prince and tutor followed more slowly.

“Do you see that yellow bird on the alder twig, that sings so joyfully?” said George to the prince. “That is the manikin! the nest belongs to him. Now we must go softly.”

In a part of the woods where the oak trees were scattering, stood a thicket of white thorns, with graceful, shining green leaves, thickly ornamented with clusters of fragrant blossoms, which glittered like snow in the rays of the setting sun.

Little George pointed with his finger into the thicket, and said, softly, to the prince, “There! peep in once, Mr. Prince! the lady bird is sitting on her eggs.”

The prince looked, and had the satisfaction of seeing her on her nest. They stood quite still, but the bird soon flew away, and the prince, with the greatest pleasure, examined the neat, yellow straw nest, and the smooth, blue eggs. The tutor made many excellent remarks, and gave the prince some information in the meantime.

“Now come with us, and receive the money we promised you,” said the tutor to George. “But the gold piece will not be so good for you as silver money.”

He took out his purse and counted down on a stone, before the astonished George, the worth of the gold piece in bright new shillings.

“Now divide fairly with Michel!” said the prince.

“On honour!” answered George; and sprang, with the money, out of their sight.

The tutor afterwards inquired whether George had divided the money equally with Michel, and found he had not given him a piece too little. His own part, he carried to his father, and had not kept a penny to himself.

Prince Frederick went every day to the bird’s nest. At first, the birds were a little afraid of him, but when they saw that he did not disturb them, they lost their fear, and went and came freely, before him.

The prince’s delight was full when he saw how the little birds crept from their shells. How they all opened their yellow bills and piped loud, when the parents brought their food. How the young nestlings grew, were covered with soft down, and then with feathers; and at length, one day, amid the loud rejoicings of the parents, they ventured their first flight to the nearest twig of the thorn-tree, where the old birds fed them tenderly.

The prince and his tutor often met little George as he tended his sheep, while they strayed,—now here, now there. The tutor was much pleased to observe that he always had his book with him, and spent all his spare time in reading.

“You know how to amuse yourself in the best manner, George,” said he to the boy. “I should be pleased to hear you read a little from that book which you love so well.”

George read aloud, with great zeal, and although he now and then miscalled a word, he did his best, and the tutor was pleased.

“That is very well,” said he. “In what school did you learn to read?”

“I have never been in any school,” said George, sadly. “The school is too far off, and my father had no money to pay for it. Besides, I have not any time to go to school. In summer I tend the sheep, and in winter I spin at home. But my good friend, Michel, can read very well, and he has promised to tell me all he knows. He taught me all the letters, and the lines of spelling. This is the same book that Michel learnt from. He gave it to me, and I have read it through three times. To be sure, it is so worn out now, that you cannot see all the words, and it is not so easy to read as it was.”

The next time the prince came to the woods, he showed George a beautiful book, bound, in gilded morocco.

“I will lend you this book, George,” said the prince, “and as soon as you can read a whole page without one mistake, it shall be yours.”

Little George was much delighted, and took it with the ends of his fingers, as carefully as if it had been made of a spider-web, and could be as easily torn.

The next time they met, George gave the book to the prince, and said, “I will try to read any page that you may please to choose from the first six leaves.” The prince chose a page, and George read it without making a mistake. So the prince gave him the book for his own.

One morning the king came to the hunting castle on horseback, with only one attendant. He wished to see, by himself, what progress his son was making in his studies. At dinner, the prince gave him an account of the bird’s nest, and the noble conduct of the little shepherd.

“In truth,” said the tutor, “that boy is a precious jewel. He would make a most valuable servant for our beloved prince; and as God has endowed him with rare qualities, it is much to be wished that he should be educated. His father is too poor to do anything for him; but with all his talents and nobleness of character, it would be a pity, indeed, that he should be left here, to make nothing but a poor shepherd like his father.”

The king arose from table, and called the tutor to a recess of one of the windows, where they talked long together. After it was ended, he sent to call George to the castle.

Great was the surprise of the poor shepherd-boy, when he was shewn into the rich saloon, and saw the dignified man, who stood there, with a glittering star on his breast. The tutor told him who the stranger was, and George bowed himself almost to the earth.

“My good boy,” said the king in a friendly tone, “I hear you take great pleasure in reading your book. Should you like to study?”

“Ah!” said George, “if nothing was wanting but my liking it, I should be a student to-day. But my father has no money. That is what is wanting.”

“Then we will try whether we can make a student of you,” said the king. “The prince’s tutor here has a friend, an excellent country curate, who takes well-disposed boys into his house to educate. To this curate I will recommend you; and will be answerable for the expenses of your education. How does the plan please you?”

The king expected that George would be very much delighted, and seize his grace with both hands. And, indeed, he began to smile at first, with much seeming pleasure, but immediately after, a troubled expression came over his face, and he looked down in silence.

“What is the matter?” said the king; “you look more like crying than being pleased with my offer, let us hear what it is?”

“Ah! sir,” said George, “my father is so poor what I earn in summer by tending sheep, and in winter by spinning, is the most that he has to live on. To be sure it is little, but he cannot do without it.”

“You are a good child,” said the king, very kindly. “Your dutiful love for your father is more precious than the finest pearl in my casket. What your father loses by your changing the shepherd’s crook and spinning-wheel, for the book and pen, I will make up with him. Will that do?”

George was almost out of his senses for joy. He kissed the king’s hand, and wet it with tears of gratitude, then darted out to carry the joyful news to his father. Soon, father and son both returned, with their eyes full of tears, for they could only express their thanks by weeping. When George’s education was completed, the king took him into his service, and after the king’s death, he became counsellor to the prince—his successor.

His father’s last days were easy and happy, by the comforts which the integrity of the poor shepherd-boy had procured him.

Michel, the firm friend, and first teacher of the prince’s favourite, was appointed to the place of forester, and fulfilled all his duties well and faithfully.

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