According to scholarship, tales where the hero is instructed by his horse to always utter "I don't know" (or a variation thereof) are reported particularly in Russia, in Finland, in the Baltic Countries and in Hungary.
He questions the animal the reason why and the foal, in tears, tells Ivan that his stepmother has placed poison under the threshold, and he should let his dog enter the house first.
At a safe distance, the foal tells Ivan to pluck three hairs of its mane to summon it, and advises him to kill a bull, dress in its hide, put a bladder on his head as a cap, and only repeat the words "Idonotknow".
Ivan Donotknow ditches his shabby disguise, summons the horse and rides again to battle, where he fights every Arab knight, leaving some alive to tell the tale.
Finally, the Arab prince sends another letter asking for the princess, but the king writes him back that she is betrothed to Donotknow, and invites him to come see it for himself.
[9] According to folklorist Christine Goldberg, in Enzyklopädie des Märchens, the "only specific motif" of type 532 is the hero's feigned ignorance on the horse's orders.
[11] Stith Thompson supposed that this tale type was "essentially a Russian development", with variants also found in Hungary, Finland and the Baltic Countries.
Ivan takes the horse with him and rides to "Китайское" (Russian language: "China"), where he places a cap on his head and only answers "Не знаю" ("I don't know").
Ivan, the Peasant's Son, summons his horse (called "Sivko-Burko" in the story), and fights the enemy army three times as a mysterious knight.
[17] Sinologist Boris L. Riftin [ru] suggested that the names of the princesses and the setting of this tale (China) may indicate that the story was adapted from an Eastern source, either from Central Asia or the Middle East.
The czar's third princess, still unmarried, unlike her elder sisters, falls in love with the gardener and wraps her handkerchief around his finger when a thorn prickles his skin.
The following morning, with the horse's help Neznaika builds a garden more beautiful than the previous one, with streams and fountains, birds and animals, to the king's surprise.
[21] In a Russian tale from a Volga teller collected in 1970 and published by folklorist Vladimir N. Morokhin [ru] with the title "Братишка" ("Little Brother"), a merchant and his wife have a son named Ivan, at and the same time a foal is born in their stables.
Twelve years later, the merchant's wife dies and he remarries, while Ivan grows closer to the foal, which he names "Bratishka" and spends his days with him when he returns from school.
Ivan escapes both attempts, but the stepmother's lover realizes the horse is helping him, and they decide to kill the foal by placing poison in its rations.
The youngest princess goes to Neznaika and releases him so that he can fight to protect the kingdom: he is given a horse, but his foal Bratishka appears to him, turns him into a gallant knight and both ride to the battlefield.
Still on the first day, Ivan meets his brothers-in-law before they go to fight the enemy army's champions, and asks them for their index fingers in exchange for defeating the foes by himself.
[22] In a tale from the Terek Cossacks titled "Незнайко" ("I Don't Know"), in a distant kingdom, king Mahommetan Mahommetanovich has 12 wives, but no son yet.
One night, the scout overhears the conversation between a poor man's 12 daughters, and they boast of the abilities, the youngest promising to bear 12 children to her husband.
Meanwhile, the prince is told about his father's loyal horse, "Черный Вихорь" ("Chernyy Vikhor"), held in the basement of the castle for 30 years behind 12 locks and 12 iron doors.
In the Adyghe tale type, the hero's stepmother, intent on harming her stepson, feigns illness and asks for his horse's blood as remedy.
Tambiev [ru] and translated to Russian as "Нарун Незнайко" ("Narun Neznaiko"), a rich merchant takes his son to the steppes, when they find a dying foal of a bay colour in a meadow.
As a final advice, the horse tells the boy to always answer "narun", and run in the direction of the local khan's garden, where he can be hired as its keeper.
The plan works, and the khan decides to marry his daughters off at the same time: a grand festival is to be held for several days, people are to gather and the princesses are to choose their husbands by selecting a youth and giving them a cup to drink from.
[27] The tale has been compared to Russian "Neznaiko", for its resemblance of motifs (mother's persecution, talking horse helper, feigned ignorance and repetition of expression, hero's menial service as gardener).
The peasant's son escapes with the mare to another city, and the animal advises him to hide his golden hair under a kerchief and always utter the words "Bismé" to anything the people say.
Bismé, as how he begins to be called, finds work as the royal gardener's assistant, and fashions beautiful bouquets for the king's three daughters, the youngest gaining the most exquisite of them.
Later, the mare advises Bismé to take off the kerchief at midnight near the youngest princess's window, so she can see his bright golden hair shining in the distance.
[35] Slavicist André Mazon [fr], in his study on Balkan folklore, collected an Albanian language tale he translated as Le Poulain-Magique ("The Magic Colt"), from a teller named Poliksena Kuneškova.
Thinking no one is at the castle, Give Me summons his magic horse and rides around the garden, trampling the flowers - an event witnessed by the princess, who falls in love with him.