Their source was the German storyteller Dorothea Viehmann (1755–1815), and one other unnamed informant.
In a dark forest, they came to a small house, where a maiden warned them that her stepmother was a witch who disliked strangers, but unfortunately there was nowhere else for shelter.
When he told the prince what had happened and they came to the dead horse, a raven was already eating the corpse.
Next, they reached an inn and the servant gave the innkeeper the raven to make food of it.
Continuing on, the prince and his servant next came to a town where a princess would marry any man who asked her a riddle that she could not solve.
The next morning, the princess announced the answer of the riddle: "A raven ate from a dead, poisoned horse, and died from it.