"Did you see nothing else remarkable on the way?" asked their master.
The leader answered, "We saw nothing but a wild rose-bush on the edge of
the wood, with a single rose upon it." "Fools!" cried the old man,
"there they were! there they were!" He threw open the door of the
seventh pen, and sent out his most powerful spirits to search for the
fugitives. "Bring them me just as you find them, for I must have them,
dead or alive. Tear up the accursed rose-tree by the roots, and bring
everything else with you that looks strange." And the spirits rushed
forth like a tempest.

The fugitives were just resting in the shade of a wood, and
strengthening themselves for further efforts with food and drink.
Suddenly the maiden cried out, "All is not right, for the reel feels as
if it was being pulled from my bosom. We are certainly again pursued,
and the danger is close at hand, but the wood still hides us from our
enemies." Then she took the reel from her bosom, and turned it over
three times in her hand, saying:

"Hear me reel, and reel, O hear me;
To a puff of wind transform me,
To a gnat transform my lover."

Instantly they were both transformed, and the maiden rose into the air
as a puff of wind, and the prince sported in the breeze like a gnat. The
mighty host of spirits swept over them like a tempest, and returned some
time afterwards, as they could neither find the rose-bush nor anything
else remarkable. But they were hardly gone before the youth and the
maiden resumed their proper forms, and the maiden cried out, "Now we
must make haste, before the old man himself comes to look for us, for he
would know us under any disguise."

They ran on for some distance till they reached the dark passage, which
they could easily climb up by the bright light of the reel. They were
breathless and exhausted when they reached the great rock; when the
maiden again turned the reel three times round, saying:

"Hear me, reel, and reel, O hear me;
Let the rock aside be lifted,
And a portal opened for us."

Instantly the rock was lifted, and they found themselves once more upon
the earth. "God be praised," cried the maiden, "we are saved. The Old
Boy has no further power over us here, and we can guard against his
cunning. But now, my friend, we must part. Do you go to your parents,
and I will go to mine." "By no means," replied the prince, "I cannot
part from you, and you must come with me, and become my wife.