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.
It happens thus: Ivan defeats the dragon, buries its heads under a stone, releases the eldest princess, and goes back home to his shabby disguise.
Once again, Ivan summons his brother horse to ask for provisions, meets the gypsy lads en route and makes a deal: his victory over the dragon in exchange for the second joints of their little fingers.
The horse brother furnishes him with armour and a fire sword, and meets the three gypsies again, requesting the third joints of their little fingers as payment for the deed.
Ivan defeats the third dragon in an epic battle, and, on the horse's words, buries the heads under a stone and leaves the corpse there at the beach.
Noticing that Ivan will not wake for another twelve days' period, the princess feigns illness to delay her marriage to the gypsy until enough time has passed.
Ivan then continues to unravel the deception, shows the gypsy lads' cut off fingers, and directs the king to the stone he hid the dragons' heads under.
Some time later, Ivan decides to pay a visit to his home: he slices the clerk in two halves, who remains this way, and forgives his traitorous mother.
[11] 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.
[13] Stith Thompson supposed that this tale type was "essentially a Russian development", with variants also found in Hungary, Finland and the Baltic Countries.
Years later, the man is ready to go to a horse fair and his son asks him to bring him the first thing his eyes greet when he enters the town.
The stepmother's hatred of the boy comes to a head and she conspires with her mother to kill him: first, she bakes some rolls laced with poison; next, she gives him a shirt that will burn him to cinders.
Some time later, the elder princess is to be delivered to a six-headed sea dragon, but the king sends Know Not How and three knights to protect her and defeat the beast.
When the boy returns from school one day and goes to the stables, the foal warns Ivan that his stepmother plans to give him poisoned bread, but he is to throw them to the dogs.
Now at a safe spot, the foal tells Ivan to find work with the local tsar as a gardener, and for him to buy metres of chekmen.
One day, however, the two coachmen and false heroes mock Ivan for his "I don't know" persona, and he, in retaliation, shows the king the cut off fingers and stripe of flesh from his brothers-in-law, thus giving away the deception they played.
The third time the youth goes to the stables, he notices the horse is crying, but the animal says it is for its fate, for Ivan's mother plans to kill it, but they can escape.
Ivan cuts them all, hides them under a stone, then returns to the garden to keep up appearances, falling into a twelve day sleeping cycle to regain his strength.
The princess states that Neznayka was their saviour, not the guards that escorted them, for she recognizes the ribbon she tied to Ivan's hand to dress his wound.
[20][21] In a Belarussian tale titled "Нязнайка" ("I Don't Know"), a queen gives birth to a son, born on the same day as a foal by a mare.
The animal warns him about the queen's ploy to kill him: first, she will give him poisoned food, which he is to accept but throw out the window; the next time, he should go to the banya, take off his shirt and toss it over a stone.
Nyaznaika learns of this and rides into battle with his loyal horse: he defeats the dragons and is injured in some parts of his body (his head, his leg and his finger), which each of the princesses bandages.
The third prince, considered a fool, offers to hold a vigil on the third night, and decides to sleep in the hay mound to surprise the thief.
Some time later, a witch that lives near the palace goes to talk to the queen, bidding her to kill the foolish prince before he ruins them, and gives her some poison to put in his food.
The third time, the witch warns the queen that horse is protecting the boy, and she should order the prince to kill the foal and tear out its heart.
After they land, the foal advises the prince to shake the bridle and wish for a coat over his garments, then enter the city and only answer "Ne znayu".
[26] Author Bozena Nemcova wrote down a version named Prince Bayaya, which Parker Fillmore commented that it is "a mosaic of two or three simpler stories".
After riding for a year, they stop to rest by a mountain, where the horse points to a stone nearby, and tells the merchant's son there is a sword and a mighty armor underneath it.
The brothers-in-law then bring the tablecloth to the king and take the credit for the deed, but Neznay appears soon after and points to their attire: a glove hiding the missing finger, and a heavy shirt covering an injured back.
When he is out of sight, Neznayka kills the goat and tosses it to the crows, then summons his horse by burning its hairs, goes to fight the peri and returns to his lame disguise.