Great was the sorrow and grief and vexation of his spirit when the Prince， having searched in vain for the Princess， had to break the sad news to the old Emperor。Again there was weeping and lamenting in the palace， but nothing could be done。Both the Princesses had disappeared。
Again， after some time had passed， Sucna Murga， the youngest Prince， taking his heart in his hand， went to the Emperor with a similar request。At first the Emperor would not hear of it。
“The fate of the two girls ought to teach us to beware of exposing the third to the same fate，”he said。“It is bitter enough for me to have lost the two elder daughters。Why add to my grief by the loss of the third and only daughter left to me？”
But Sucna Murga entreated him so hard and spoke so sweetly that at last the Emperor gave way， though with a heavy heart。
So the youngest Princess and her beloved walked in the garden and whiled away the time picking flowers and throwing them at one another。So they often separated and met again， she picking them in one part of the garden and he in another， when， having gone each one farther away from one another than before， suddenly another thick cloud appeared from which forks of lightning were darting out。
It descended upon the young girl， enveloped her， and before you could pass your hand over your eye had lifted her up and was gone。
Then Sucna Murga returned to the meeting place， and he waited there a long time， but she never came back。Thinking perhaps she was playing a game of hide-and-seek， he went through every nook and corner of the garden in search of her。
When he had satisfied himself that she had really disappeared， there was nothing left for him to do but to tell the Emperor what had happened。I leave you now to imagine the weeping and lamenting， the grief and sorrow， not only in the palaces of the two Emperors， but also in the two countries， for the news had spread that the Zmei had stolen the Emperor’s daughters， and all the people joined in the grief and sorrow of their Emperors。No music nor laughter was heard any more in those countries。Joy had disappeared， and people walked about in deepest grief。There was nothing left but sadness and sorrow。This lasted for a time。But the three Princes could not endure it any longer， and above all Sucna Murga。He determined to go in search of the Zmei and to rescue the Princesses。One day he caught a flea， which， as you know， in those times had shoes on its feet each weighing a hundred tons， and yet they were able to jump as high as the heavens。So he took some of the shoes and made a chain which weighed twelve thousand pounds and was so long that it reached from the earth to the sky。