[1][2] The story is classified in the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as tale type ATU 314, "Goldener": a hero has a horse as a helper, and later finds work as a king's gardener.
It contained a beautiful boy child, Făt-Frumos, and a letter saying that his mother was a king's daughter who had erred and done this out of fear of her parents.
The king had a feast at his hunting lodge; again the youngest princess did not go, and Făt-Frumos loosed his hair, wore a suit with the sun, the moon, and stars, and ruined the garden so badly that weeks did not restore it.
His councilors suggested that all the princes and nobles should walk under the gate, and whoever the princess dropped a golden apple to would be her husband.
Făt-Frumos found the goats and got the milk, and offered to sell some to his brothers-in-law if they would let him brand them as his slaves.
[8][9] In tale type ATU 314, "Goldener", the hero enters the service of a sorcerer or another magical being, and finds a horse that warns him about the danger his benefactor poses.
The hero then flees with the horse to another kingdom, where he hides his golden hair (hence the name of the type) under a cap and finds work as a king's gardener.
[15] A motif that appears in tale type 314 is the hero having to find a cure for the ailing king, often the milk of a certain animal (e.g., a lioness).
According to scholar Erika Taube [de], this motif occurs in tales from North Africa to East Asia, even among Persian- and Arabic-speaking peoples.
[16] Similarly, Hasan M. El-Shamy noted that the quest for the king's remedy appears as a subsidiary event "in the Arab-Berber culture area".
While the nobles are away, he summons the horse to take a ride around the garden in brass armour - an event seen by the youngest princess -, then goes to church.
Time passes, and the emperor summons a crowd of suitors for the princesses to choose their husbands by throwing a golden apple to them.
At the end of the tale, the king goes blind, and, according to an astrologer, only milk from the bird that flies over the Jordan river can cure him.
The boy rides the horse and finds the bird's milk, while his brothers-in-law buy a fake remedy from a seller.
The colt turns into a horse with "fiery eyes" that belie its hidden magic power, and the boy a youth with peerless strength.
The horse then advises the youth to hide his golden hair under a cap and to work there as the royal gardener's assistant.
Time passes, and the youth, in his new job, arranges bouquets for the three princesses, and places two extravagant flowers in the youngest's.
Later, the emperor arranges marriages for his three daughters: the elder two marry foreign princes, but the youngest refuses any of her potential suitors.
The story then flashbacks to the time when the imperial family went to church, and the gardener's assistant seized the opportunity to ride his horse around the garden in a copper armor, then in a silver armour, and lastly in a golden armour - events witnessed by the youngest princess, who stayed at the castle.
[22] Writer and folklorist Cristea Sandu Timoc collected a Romanian variant from teller Jovan Ilic and published it with the title Împăratul fără copii ("The Emperor without a Son").
Fortunately, a hermit appears in the city and offers the solution for the empress: an apple that can grant her the son they have longed for.
The apple-born animal tells the prince to shave the zmeii and collect some of their blood and beard's hair for them to use in their upcoming escape.
The horse advises him to hide his golden hair under a cap so people think he is bald, and lastly to steal a pebble from under the zmeii's bed before they make their escape.
One day, when the emperor goes to church with his daughters, but leaves the youngest at home, the prince uses the bridle to summon the horse and tramples the flowers.
Soon after, the emperor arranges marriages for his daughters: eligible bachelors are to pass by a gazebo where the princesses will stand and will throw an apple to their suitors of choice.
Time passes: war breaks out, and the emperor's sons-in-law ride into battle to defend the kingdom, while the gardener is given a lame mount.
While the emperor is away, the gardener summons his horse with the bridle and fights his father-in-law's enemies, but injures his hand in the process.
The princess then tells her mother that her husband has a stash of copper, silver and gold, and the empress insists she comes back to the castle to explain the whole story to the emperor.
Following her mother's advice, the princess tells her husband the emperor summoned them, and that the gardener should doff the lowborn disguise.