In olden times there came to the Court of Persia a stranger from Ind,
riding a horse made of wood, which, said he, could fly whithersoever its
rider wished. When the sultan had seen the horse fly to a mountain and
back, he asked the Hindu its price, and said the man: "Thy daughter's
hand." Now the prince, standing by, was enraged at this insolence, but
his father said: "Have no fear that I should do this thing. Howsoever,
lest another king become possessed of the horse, I will bargain for it."
But the impetuous prince, doubting the truth of the horse's power,
jumped upon its back, turned the peg which he had observed the Hindu to
turn, and instantly was borne far away.

The king, enraged that the Hindu could not bring back his son, had the
man cast into prison, albeit the Hindu protested that soon the prince
must discover the secret of stopping the horse by means of a second peg,
and therefore would soon return.

Now the prince did not discover this secret till he was far away, and it
was night. He came to earth near a palace, and going in, found there an
exquisite lady sleeping, and knew by her dress that she was of a rank
equal with his own. Then he pleaded to her for succour, and she
constrained him to stay, and for many weeks he abode as a guest. After
that time he said, "Come to my father's court, that we may be married!"
And early one dawn he bore her to Persia on the back of the enchanted
horse.

So glad was the king at his son's return that he released the Hindu.

Now the Hindu, hearing what had happened, determined on revenge. He
found where the horse was placed, and going to the palace where the
foreign princess was housed, sent for her in the sultan's name, and she