If not , your head shall pay the forfeit . ' ` Mighty Emperor , I kiss your hands ! I have but just returned from doing your bidding , and , behold , you send me on another mission , and stake my head on its fulfilment , when your court is full of valiant young men , pining to win their spurs . They say you are a just man ; then why not entrust this quest to one of them ? Where am I to seek these mares that I am to bring you ? ' ` How do I know ? They may be anywhere in heaven or earth ; but , wherever they are , you will have to find them . ' The princess bowed and went to consult Sunlight . He listened while she told her tale , and then said : ` Fetch quickly nine buffalo skins ; smear them well with tar , and lay them on my back . Do not fear ; you will succeed in this also ; but , in the end , the emperor 's desires will be his undoing . ' The buffalo skins were soon got , and the princess started off with Sunlight . The way was long and difficult , but at length they reached the place where the mares were grazing . Here the genius who had carried off Iliane was wandering about , trying to discover how to capture them , all the while believing that Iliane was safe in the palace where he had left her . As soon as she caught sight of him , the princess went up and told him that Iliane had escaped , and that his mother , in her efforts to recapture her , had died of rage . At this news a blind fury took possession of the genius , and he rushed madly upon the princess , who awaited his onslaught with perfect calmness . As he came on , with his sabre lifted high in the air , Sunlight bounded right over his head , so that the sword fell harmless . And when in her turn the princess prepared to strike , the horse sank upon his knees , so that the blade pierced the genius 's thigh . The fight was so fierce that it seemed as if the earth would give way under them , and for twenty miles round the beasts in the forests fled to their caves for shelter . At last , when her strength was almost gone , the genius lowered his sword for an instant . The princess saw her chance , and , with one swoop of her arm , severed her enemy 's head from his body .
Still trembling from the long struggle , she turned away , and XXXXX to the meadow where the stud were feeding .
Do bounded caught give know pay reached seek severed went