When the Emperor heard of the abduction of his daughter he was beside himself with grief, and offered to reward with untold wealth the person who should bring her home again. But all in vain, for no one dared undertake the adventure, until at last, one day, a gypsy-wife presented herself before the Emperor and said to him: "Lord Emperor, what shall I get if I bring you back your daughter?" The Emperor could hardly believe his own ears, and he cried out in delight, "Ask what you will, it shall be granted; only bring her back safe!" The gypsy-wife went home, took some beans in her hand, and began to practise enchantment with them, according to ancient custom. She soon divined from the beans that the Princess was distant ten days' journey, and she at once prepared to follow her. She took a piece of carpet and her riding-whip, seated herself upon the carpet, cracked the whip, and up rose the carpet into the air. It carried her straight to the place where the Beg was living with his wife, the Emperor's daughter. Arrived within a short distance of the Beg's stronghold, the gypsy-wife let herself down to the ground, left her carpet and riding-whip lying there, and found a hiding-place where she could see the Princess when she came out before the door for her evening walk. She had not long to wait. The Princess soon came out for a little walk, and in a trice the gypsy-wife was at her side, entering into conversation with her. As they talked she gradually led her farther and farther away from the Beg's castle, and at last turned off into a by-path, where the carpet lay. 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.