A message was sent to her , and when she stood at the gate the prince thought he had lost his wits , for there was the maiden he had left his home to seek . And she hastened to him , and took his hand , and drew him into the palace . In a few days they were married , and the prince forgot his father and his brothers , and made up his mind that he would live and die in the castle . One morning the empress told him that she was going to take a walk by herself , and that she would leave the keys of twelve cellars to his care . ` If you wish to enter the first eleven cellars , ' said she , ` you can ; but beware of even unlocking the door of the twelfth , or it will be the worse for you . ' The prince , who was left alone in the castle , soon got tired of being by himself , and began to look about for something to amuse him . ` What CAN there be in that twelfth cellar , ' he thought to himself , ` which I must not see ? ' And he went downstairs and unlocked the doors , one after the other . When he got to the twelfth he paused , but his curiosity was too much for him , and in another instant the key was turned and the cellar lay open before him . It was empty , save for a large cask , bound with iron hoops , and out of the cask a voice was saying entreatingly , ` For goodness ' sake , brother , fetch me some water ; I am dying of thirst ! ' The prince , who was very tender-hearted , brought some water at once , and pushed it through a hole in the barrel ; and as he did so one of the iron hoops burst . He was turning away , when a voice cried the second time , ` Brother , for pity 's sake fetch me some water ; I 'm dying of thirst ! ' So the prince went back , and brought some more water , and again a hoop sprang . And for the third time the voice still called for water ; and when water was given it the last hoop was rent , the cask fell in pieces , and out flew a dragon , who snatched up the empress just as she was returning from her walk , and carried her off . Some servants who saw what had happened came rushing to the prince , and the poor young man went nearly mad when he heard the result of his own folly , and could only cry out that he would follow the dragon to the ends of the earth , until he got his wife again . For months and months he wandered about , first in this direction and then in that , without finding any traces of the dragon or his captive . At last he came to a stream , and as he stopped for a moment to look at it he noticed a little fish lying on the bank , beating its tail convulsively , in a vain effort to get back into the water . ` Oh , for pity 's sake , my brother , ' shrieked the little creature , ` help me , and put me back into the river , and I will repay you some day . Take one of my scales , and when you are in danger twist it in your fingers , and I will come ! ' The prince picked up the fish and threw it into the water ; then he took off one of its scales , as he had been told , and put it in his pocket , carefully wrapped in a cloth .
Then he XXXXX on his way till , some miles further down the road , he found a fox caught in a trap .
bound called cried fetch look lost repay snatched took went