Khan recruits a horse in harness

Khan had a very beautiful daughter. Many young men came to ask for her hand in marriage. But the Khan announced that whoever could accomplish three things would be eligible to be his son-in-law.

There was a young man in that place, who was the son of a poor widow. He wanted to marry the daughter of the khan, but his mother advised him to discontinue this idea, but he did not listen. He went to the khan and said, "I will accomplish these three things, you say!"

"Good!" The khan said, "First: You will herd a hundred rabbits, and you will not lose a single one of them for three days, and if you lose one of them, you will have your head!"

The young man knew that this was a difficult matter, and walked home with a sad frown. On the way, he met a poor old man in rags. When he saw the poor old man, he took him to his house. Although he was poor himself, he gave the old man whatever he had in the house to eat; but he sat there and pondered - how to accomplish what the khan wanted him to do. When the old man asked him what he was thinking about, he sighed and said, "It looks like I won't be able to keep my head tomorrow. What will I do about this matter when I have to look after a hundred rabbits!"

The old man said to him, "Don't fret! I will help you, you take this flute, just blow, all the rabbits will gather around you, and not a single one will run away."

The old man said and gave him a thin flute.

The youth took the flute and thanked the old man. The next day, he went to herd rabbits. He played the flute and none of the rabbits ran away.

Then the khan came to see how the shepherd had done the first job. When he saw that all the rabbits were gathered in one place, he became anxious and thought to himself, "If this happens, I will have to marry my daughter to him." So he asked the youth, "Please give me a rabbit!"

The shepherd, though he knew that he was the Khan, replied without moving, "Kneel before me, and I will give you one."

The khan had no other choice but to kneel.

The youth caught a rabbit and gave it to him, and the khan went home contentedly.

But as soon as the youth played the flute, the rabbit came back with a hop.

The next day, the youth released the rabbit as usual, and the khan, who had changed his costume, came to him again.

"Give me a rabbit!" The khan said.

"Yes," the youth replied, "but you have to kiss your dog."

The khan did not want to kiss the dog, but he had no choice but to do so.

The youth gave him another rabbit, and the Khan went home. But as soon as the flute sounded, the rabbit slipped out of the khan's arms and went back to the shepherd.

The third day finally arrived. The youth was herding rabbits again. This time it was the khan's daughter herself, who had also changed her costume.

"Give me a rabbit!" She begged.

"I will give you one if you give me the precious clothes you are wearing." The shepherd said.

Khan's daughter gave him her clothes and brought back a rabbit. The shepherd played the wonderful flute and the rabbit came right back.

The youth accomplished the first deed - watched all the rabbits. He went to the khan and said.

"I have finished the work you asked me to do. Count the rabbits!"

"Good!" The Khan said, "Now the second thing is: on a high tower guarded on all sides by a reliable guard, my daughter is sitting there. You try to get to her and steal the seal of state from the small box."

The youth then knew that the wonderful flute was useless. He walked with his head down and met the old man he had known again. The youth complained to him. The old man reassured him, saying, "Never mind! Everything will be fine. You collect more iron and send it to me."

The old man made a big clock. The clock's machine was driven by the man sitting inside. The old man placed the youth in the bell and carried it to the market to sell it. The servants of the khan saw it and rushed to report it to the khan. The khan ordered them to buy the big clock and put it with his daughter in the tower. Everything went well. During the night, the youth quietly came out of the bell, got the state seal, hid again in the bell, and then stopped the bell.

The khan saw that the clock was broken. Then he called the old man; the old man looked at the clock and said, "This clock can only be taken home and repaired. The old man took the clock back, put the youth out, and put a new machine inside the clock.

When the youth took out the state seal, the khan was very surprised. He was very reluctant to betroth his daughter to this plain young man. He thought hard about the third matter. At last, he thought of it, and said, "Here are three pockets. You will fill them with words."

When the people learned of this, they all wanted to hear exactly how the youth would fill these pockets with words. The khan came and looked happy. The youth went ahead, took a pocket, and began to speak: "One day I was putting away rabbits, and a khan came to me and asked me for a rabbit, and I said to him ......"

"That's enough! That's enough!" The frightened khan interrupted him, for the youth was about to tell what he was doing on his knees. One pocket was thus filled.

The youth picked up the second pocket and said, "The next day the khan came again and asked me for a rabbit, to which I replied ......"

"Wonderful, wonderful!" Khan interjected for he was afraid that the youth would tell about his kissing the dog. The second pocket was thus also filled. The youth continued, "On the third day, the Khan's daughter came ......"

"Well, I think the third one was also filled." The Khan interrupted him, and the youth thus completed the third pile, and whether the Khan wanted it or not, he should marry his daughter to him. But the youth refused: he was not willing to take the foolish Khan's daughter as his wife anymore.