The emperor fell on him when he was off his guard , and routed his army completely . Then when victory was won , and the terms of peace hastily drawn up , he rode home as fast as his horse would carry him , and reached the palace on the third day . But early that morning , when the stars were growing pale in the sky , two little boys with golden hair and stars on their foreheads were born to Laptitza . And the stepmother , who was watching , took them away , and dug a hole in the corner of the palace , under the windows of the emperor , and put them in it , while in their stead she placed two little puppies . The emperor came into the palace , and when they told him the news he went straight to Laptitza 's room . No words were needed ; he saw with his own eyes that Laptitza had not kept the promise she had made at the strawberry beds , and , though it nearly broke his heart , he must give orders for her punishment . So he went out sadly and told his guards that the empress was to be buried in the earth up to her neck , so that everyone might know what would happen to those who dared to deceive the emperor . Not many days after , the stepmother 's wish was fulfilled . The emperor took her daughter to wife , and again the rejoicings lasted for three days and three nights . Let us now see what happened to the two little boys . The poor little babies had found no rest even in their graves . In the place where they had been buried there sprang up two beautiful young aspens , and the stepmother , who hated the sight of the trees , which reminded her of her crime , gave orders that they should be uprooted . But the emperor heard of it , and forbade the trees to be touched , saying , ` Let them alone ; I like to see them there ! They are the finest aspens I have ever beheld ! ' And the aspens grew as no aspens had ever grown before . In each day they added a year 's growth , and each night they added a year 's growth , and at dawn , when the stars faded out of the sky , they grew three years ' growth in the twinkling of an eye , and their boughs swept across the palace windows . And when the wind moved them softly , the emperor would sit and listen to them all the day long . The stepmother knew what it all meant , and her mind never ceased from trying to invent some way of destroying the trees . It was not an easy thing , but a woman 's will can press milk out of a stone , and her cunning will overcome heroes . What craft will not do soft words may attain , and if these do not succeed there still remains the resource of tears .
One XXXXX the empress sat on the edge of her husband 's bed , and began to coax him with all sorts of pretty ways .
Laptitza aspens day days morning night nights strawberry year years