The frightened waiting-women ran to report to the king what had happened to the princess; whereupon the king immediately let loose all his greyhounds to seize the cat which had been the cause of his daughter’s being carried off a second time. The dogs followed the cat closely, and were on the point of catching her, when she, just in the nick of time, saw a cave with a very narrow entrance and ran into it for shelter. There the dogs tried to follow her, or to widen the mouth of the cave with their claws, but all in vain; so, after barking a long time very furiously, they at length grew weary, and stole back ashamed and afraid to the king’s stables.
When all the greyhounds were out of sight the cat changed herself back into a fox, and ran off in a straight line toward the castle, where she found her young master very joyful, for the kumrekusha had already brought back to him his beautiful wife.
The King makes War on the Animals
Now the king was exceedingly angry to think that he had again lost his daughter, and he was all the more angry to think that such poor creatures as a bird and a cat had succeeded in carrying her off after all his precautions. So, in his great wrath, he resolved to make a general war on the animals, and entirely exterminate them.
To this end he gathered together a very large army, and determined to be himself their leader. The news of the king’s intention spread swiftly over the whole kingdom, whereupon for the third time the fox called together all her friends—the bear, the wolf, the kumrekusha, the mouse, the mole, and the hare—to a general council.
When all were assembled the fox addressed them thus: “My friends, the king has declared war against us, and intends to destroy us all. Now it is our duty to defend ourselves in the best way we can. Let us each see what number of animals we are able to muster. How many of your brother bears do you think you can bring to our help, my good Bruin?”
The bear got up as quickly as he could on his hind legs and called out, “I am sure I can bring a hundred.”
“And how many of your friends can you bring, my good wolf?” asked the fox anxiously.
“I can bring at least five hundred wolves with me,” said the wolf with an air of importance.
The fox nodded her satisfaction and continued, “And what can you do for us, dear master hare?”