When at last he ventured to peep , Wildrose , with her golden hair flowing round her , was looking at him . This was the first time she had seen a man . ` Tell me how I can reach you ? ' cried he ; but Wildrose smiled and shook her head , and sat down quietly . The prince saw that it was no use , and turned and made his way out of the forest . But he might as well have stayed there , for any good he was to his father , so full was his heart of longing for Wildrose . Twice he returned to the forest in the hopes of finding her , but this time fortune failed him , and he went home as sad as ever . At length the emperor , who could not think what had caused this change , sent for his son and asked him what was the matter . Then the prince confessed that the image of Wildrose filled his soul , and that he would never be happy without her . At first the emperor felt rather distressed . He doubted whether a girl from a tree top would make a good empress ; but he loved his son so much that he promised to do all he could to find her . So the next morning heralds were sent forth throughout the whole land to inquire if anyone knew where a maiden could be found who lived in a forest on the top of a tree , and to promise great riches and a place at court to any person who should find her . But nobody knew . All the girls in the kingdom had their homes on the ground , and laughed at the notion of being brought up in a tree . ' A nice kind of empress she would make , ' they said , as the emperor had done , tossing their heads with disdain ; for , having read many books , they guessed what she was wanted for . The heralds were almost in despair , when an old woman stepped out of the crowd and came and spoke to them . She was not only very old , but she was very ugly , with a hump on her back and a bald head , and when the heralds saw her they broke into rude laughter . ' I can show you the maiden who lives in the tree-top , ' she said , but they only laughed the more loudly . ` Get away , old witch ! ' they cried , ` you will bring us bad luck ' ; but the old woman stood firm , and declared that she alone knew where to find the maiden .
` Go with her , ' said the eldest of the XXXXX at last .
Wildrose back crowd empress father first girl ground heralds image