And the girl combed it and combed it till it was brighter than ever . And the princess was pleased , and bade her come every day and comb her hair , till at length the girl took courage , and begged leave to cut off one of the long , thick locks . The princess , who was very proud of her hair , did not like the idea of parting with any of it , so she said no . But the girl could not give up hope , and each day she entreated to be allowed to cut off just one tress . At length the princess lost patience , and exclaimed , ` You may have it , then , on condition that you shall find the handsomest prince in the world to be my bridegroom ! ' And the girl answered that she would , and cut off the lock , and wove it into a coat that glittered like silk , and brought it to the young man , who told her to carry it straight to the giant . But that she must be careful to cry out a long way off what she had with her , or else he would spring upon her and run her through with his sword . So the maiden departed and climbed up the mountain , but before she reached the top the giant heard her footsteps , and rushed out breathing fire and flame , having a sword in one hand and a club in the other . But she cried loudly that she had brought him the coat , and then he grew quiet , and invited her to come into his house . He tried on the coat , but it was too short , and he threw it off , and declared it was no use . And the girl picked it up sadly , and returned quite in despair to the king 's palace . The next morning , when she was combing the princess 's hair , she begged leave to cut off another lock . At first the princess said no , but the girl begged so hard that at length she gave in on condition that she should find her a prince as bridegroom . The maiden told her that she had already found him , and spun the lock into shining stuff , and fastened it on to the end of the coat . And when it was finished she carried it to the giant . This time it fitted him , and he was quite pleased , and asked her what he could give her in return . And she said that the only reward he could give her was to take the spell off the lion and bring him back to his own shape . For a long time the giant would not hear of it , but in the end he gave in , and told her exactly how it must all be done . She was to kill the lion herself and cut him up very small ; then she must burn him , and cast his ashes into the water , and out of the water the prince would come free from enchantment for ever . But the maiden went away weeping , lest the giant should have deceived her , and that after she had killed the lion she would find she had also slain the prince .
Weeping she came down the mountain , and weeping she joined the prince , who was awaiting her at the bottom ; and when he had heard her story he comforted her , and bade her be XXXXX good courage , and to do the bidding of the giant .
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