The emperor received her kindly , and declared himself fortunate at finding a vassal so brave and so charming , and begged the princess to remain in attendance on his person . She was , however , very careful in her behaviour towards the other pages , whose way of life did not please her . One day , however , she had been amusing herself by making sweetmeats , when two of the young princes looked in to pay her a visit . She offered them some of the food which was already on the table , and they thought it so delicious that they even licked their fingers so as not to lose a morsel . Of course they did not keep the news of their discovery to themselves , but told all their companions that they had just been enjoying the best supper they had had since they were born . And from that moment the princess was left no peace , till she had promised to cook them all a dinner . Now it happened that , on the very day fixed , all the cooks in the palace became intoxicated , and there was no one to make up the fire . When the pages heard of this shocking state of things , they went to their companion and implored her to come to the rescue . The princess was fond of cooking , and was , besides , very good-natured ; so she put on an apron and went down to the kitchen without delay . When the dinner was placed before the emperor he found it so nice that he ate much more than was good for him . The next morning , as soon as he woke , he sent for his head cook , and told him to send up the same dishes as before . The cook , seized with fright at this command , which he knew he could not fulfil , fell on his knees , and confessed the truth . The emperor was so astonished that he forgot to scold , and while he was thinking over the matter , some of his pages came in and said that their new companion had been heard to boast that he knew where Iliane was to be found -- the celebrated Iliane of the song which begins : ` Golden Hair The fields are green , ' and that to their certain knowledge he had a curl of her hair in his possession . When he heard that , the emperor desired the page to be brought before him , and , as soon as the princess obeyed his summons , he said to her abruptly : ` Fet-Fruners , you have hidden from me the fact that you knew the golden-haired Iliane ! Why did you do this ? for I have treated you more kindly than all my other pages . ' Then , after making the princess show him the golden curl which she wore round her neck , he added : ` Listen to me ; unless by some means or other you bring me the owner of this lock , I will have your head cut off in the place where you stand . Now go ! ' In vain the poor girl tried to explain how the lock of hair came into her possession ; the emperor would listen to nothing , and , bowing low , she left his presence and went to consult Sunlight what she was to do . At his first words she brightened up .
` Do not be afraid , mistress ; only last night my brother appeared to me in a dream and told me that a genius had carried off Iliane , whose hair you picked up XXXXX the road .
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