The emperor told her to be quiet, and not to say he was there.
"I certainly will not," said Plaerdemavida. "I want them to know that you're here."
Then the bride began to cry out and to say that he was hurting her and for him to be still, and Plaerdemavida said:
"My lord, everything the bride is saying is a lie. Her words don't come from the heart. They sound false to me, and they're not to my liking."
The emperor could not contain his laughter at Plaerdemavida's delicious remarks. Then, when the bride heard them laughing so hard she said:
"Who put those wretched cats out there? Put them somewhere else,
I beg you: they won't let me sleep."
Plaerdemavida replied:
"That I certainly won't do. Didn't you know that I can get live kittens out of a dead cat?"
"Oh, what a lively young lady!" said the emperor. "How my heart is warmed by the things you say. I swear to you by the Almighty that if I didn't already have a wife I would have no other girl but you."
The empress had gone to the emperor's chamber and found the door closed, and no one was there but a page who told her that the emperor was at the door of the bridal chamber. Then she went there and found him with four maidens. Plaerdemavida saw the empress coming, and before anyone could talk she said: