Malik Khorsheed follows the horse's instructions and hides the royal garments in a saddlebag, then asks a goatherd on the road for a goat's stomach to wear as a cap, so that he appears to be bald.
[17] In the same vein, professor Mahomed-Nuri Osmanovich Osmanov [ru] noted that the motif of the princess throwing an item to choose her husband is "widespread" ("распространение", in the original) in tales from the Iranian peoples.
For example, Günter Dammann, in Enzyklopädie des Märchens, compared the motif to the Indian ritual of svayamvara, and reported evidence of a similar practice in Ancient Iran.
[20] French folklorist Emmanuel Cosquin noted that the suitor selection test was component of a larger narrative: the princess or bride-to-be chooses the hero, in lowly disguise, by throwing him an apple.
[21] In addition, Swedish scholar Waldemar Liungman (1948), who argued for its remote antiquity, saw in the golden apple motif a mark of the princess's self-choice of husband, and traced a parallel between it and a narrative cited by Aristotle regarding the founding of Massalia (modern day Marseille).
[22] Similarly, in an ancient treatise written by historian Mirkhond, translated by linguist David Shea, it is reported that prince Gushtasp went to the land of "Room" during a suitor selection test held by princess Kitabun: as it was custom, a maiden of marriageable age was to walk through an assemblage of noble men with an orange and throw it to her husband-to-be.
[23][24][25] In regards to a similar tale from the Dungan people, according to Sinologist Boris L. Riftin [ru], the motif of a princess (or woman of high social standing) throwing a silken ball atop a high tower to choose her husband is reported in the ancient Chinese story of "Lu Meng-Zheng": the princess throws a silken ball to a passing youth named Meng-Zheng (a poor student), and the king expels his daughter to live with her husband in a cave.
[26] In addition, some scholars (e.g., Ting Nai-tung [zh], Wolfram Eberhard, Phra Indra Montri (Francis Giles) [th]) remarked that a similar wedding folk custom (a maiden throwing a ball from a balcony to her husband of choice)[27][28][29] was practiced among some Chinese minorities[30] and in South China.
[44][c] Also, according to professor Erika Friedl, the merhorse may be identified as a black foal (korreh siāh), with a name like Siāhqeitun ('Black Led-horse') or Qeitās (derived from Arabic language bahri qutās) - a character that also appears as hero Siavosh's mount, Shabrang.
[49] In addition, Germanist Gunter Dammann, in Enzyklopädie des Märchens, noted that the motif of the quest for the remedy appeared "with relative frequency" in over half of the variants that start with the Subtype 2 opening (stepmother's persecution of hero and horse).
[53] According to Germanist Gunter Dammann, tale type 314 with the opening of hero and horse fleeing home extends from Western Himalaya and South Siberia, to Iran and the Arab-speaking countries in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Some time later, the king's three daughters reach marriageable age (by comparing the ripeness of three melons) and take part in a husband selection contest by throwing oranges to their suitors.
[58] In an Iranian tale published by orientalist Arthur Christensen with the title Das schwarze Füllen and translated as The Black Foal, a king has a 14-year-old son and remarries, but his new wife hates her step-son.
Later, on one hot day, believing that no one is watching him, the prince goes to bathe in a rivulet behind the palace, leaves the water and summons his foal for a ride - an event witnessed by the youngest princess.
After they seal the transaction and leave, the youth dismisses his magic horse, puts on the sheep's rumen and shabby clothes to become once again a bald man, and rides back to his poor hut.
[65] In an Iranian tale from Kazerun with the title "کرهاسب سیاه" ("The Black Horse Foal"), an orphan prince lives with his father and stepmother, who wants to destroy him.
[66] In an Iranian tale from Fars with the title "کره اسب سياه" ("The Black Horse Colt"), a queen dies in childbirth, and the widowed king later remarries.
Later, the king sends his sons-in-law on a hunt; Malek Muhammad joins them in the lowly disguise, is given a lame mount, but, out of sight, he summons the loyal black foal and asks him to gather all animals of the wilderness and set up a tent.
Sa'id goes to a nearby city, buys from a shepherd his clothes and fashions a cap out of a sheep's stomach, then finds work as assistant to a bath heater from a public bathhouse.
Some time later, the local king sets a suitor selection test: every available man shall come to the public square, and his daughters shall release falcons at random; whomever the birds land on, the princesses shall marry them.
Failing twice, her co-conspirators advise her to feign illness, and send for a doctor who will prescribe her the right remedy: the liver of a special breed of foal, which just happens to belong to the prince.
Zhong Tianyu goes in his adoptive father's behalf and tells the emperor the fruits represent his daughters' marriageability: the elder overripe, the middle one ripe, and the youngest just right.
[79] Germanist Johann Wilhelm Wolf [de] collected a German language tale with the title Das treue Füllchen (translated as The Faithful Foal).
[82][83] In a South Slavic tale published by Slavicist Friedrich Salomon Krauss with the title Das wunderbare Pferd ("The Wonderful Horse"), a countess is pregnant with child, and a mare in the stables is ready to foal.
[86] In a Czech tale published by author Anna Popelková [cs] with the title O Honzičkovi a čarodějném koníčku ("About Honzichkovi and the magic little horse"), a merchant has a son named Honzichk.
[87] Czech linguist Jiří Polívka reported the existence of a Slovak variant collected by Ján Francisci-Rimavský, unpublished at the time, but archived in a compilation called Codex diversorum auctorum A.
At a distance, the horse tells him to dismount and walk to the nearby kingdom of the serpent king ("змеиный царь"), where his three daughters are to choose their husbands in a public gathering, and says the boy can summon him by whistling three times.
After three days, the flock of sheep is fat and healthy, and the old man's younger daughter gives the shepherd a magic handkerchief that grants whatever he wishes for (food, drinks, music, etc.).
[96][97] In a Bashkir tale translated to Turkish with the title Akkuş Sütü ("White Bird's Milk"), a hunter goes to hunt in the forest, when a witch suddenly appears in front of him.
[99] In a tale from Puerto Rico, published by folklorists J. Alden Mason and Aurelio M. Espinosa with the title El Caballito Adivino ("The Clever Little Horse"), a man has a pregnant wife, and their mare is also ready to foal, but he consults with a doctor the best remedy to accelerate his son's birth.