No sooner did the Princess see the carpet spread upon the grass than she exclaimed, “Why, here is a carpet! Let us sit down upon it.”
Nothing could have pleased the gypsy better. They sat down together. The gypsy took up her riding-whip, struck the carpet, and away they both went through the air, straight to the imperial castle.
The Emperor’s joy was boundless when he saw his daughter, and he richly rewarded the gypsy. But he shut the Princess up in a room and strictly forbade her to leave it, appointing two maids to watch and wait upon her.
When Reinecke heard what had happened to his Beg’s wife, he summoned his companions to a council and addressed them in the following words:
“Friends and comrades! We have indeed married our Beg to the Emperor’s daughter, but, as you see, she has been forcibly taken away from us, and here is our Beg a lonely bachelor again. Nothing remains for us to do but to bring the Princess back to our Beg. But this is an undertaking beset with difficulties. The Emperor keeps his daughter under strict watch, and never permits her to leave her chamber. You see, therefore, that only stratagem can avail us here.”
“What, then, shall we do?” asked Petz.
“There is nothing better to do than for me to transform myself into a beautiful striped kitten and play about under the Princess’s window. When she sees me she will send her maids down to catch me. But I shall not allow myself to be caught until the Princess herself comes down. At the very moment she appears, do you, Kumrikusha, arrive upon the scene, seize her, and carry her to our Beg. Meanwhile I shall look sharp to outrun the pursuers and get off with a whole skin.”
Thus spoke the Master, and all the others agreed that the plan was good.
The bird Kumrikusha immediately took the Fox under his wing, flew with him into the kingdom where the Emperor’s daughter languished, and set him down near the imperial castle. The Master no sooner felt solid ground under his feet than he transformed himself into a beautiful striped kitten, crept under the balcony where the Princess was sitting, and began to spring about in the most graceful and fantastic manner. Thus he succeeded in attracting her attention, and, as he had anticipated, the Princess at once sent her maids down to bring the kitten to her. But Reinecke, though in a cat’s form, was still a fox at heart, and was not to be caught at any price.
When the Emperor’s daughter saw this she herself went down to catch Pussy. But hardly had she stepped out of the door when the bird Kumrikusha swooped down, seized her, and bore her home to the Beg, while Reinecke ran off in another direction and thus saved his skin.