The sea-horse advises the prince to find work as a gardener's assistant and gives some of its hairs to the boy, to summon him in case he needs the animal's help, and goes to graze in his original homeland.
[21] 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.
[24] 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.
[25] 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).
[26] 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.
[27][28][29] 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.
[30] 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)[31][32][33] was practiced among some Chinese minorities[34] and in South China.
According to scholar Erika Taube [de], this motif occurs in tales from North Africa to East Asia, even among Persian- and Arabic-speaking peoples.
[53] 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).
[54] According to German scholars Günther Damman and Kurt Ranke, another motif that appears in tale type ATU 314 is the hero branding his brothers-in-law during their hunt.
[57] 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.
The next day, at school, the prince hears the neighs, throws some ash at his teacher's eyes and rushes to help his horse, asking his father to have a last ride around the patio three times.
The youngest princess falls in love with the prince, and conspires with her elder sisters how they can be married, despite being locked in their room: they have the gardener buy three melons of varying ripeness and deliver them to the king.
The prince, now assuming his real identity, greets his father-in-law and explains he is the son of the king of the Levant, exiled from home due to his stepmothers' machinations.
[60][61][62] In a Persian tale collected by author Fazl'ollah Mohtadi Sobhi and translated into Russian by Anna Rozenfel'd with the title "Морской конёк" ("Sea Horse"), young prince Jamshid loses his mother.
In time, the padishah remarries, and Jamshid grows up; his wife, the prince's step-mother, begins to notice her step-son in a sexual light and tries to seduce him, but he refuses her advances.
Ten days after parting ways, Jamshid summons the sea horse for a ride around the royal garden - an event witnessed by the youngest princess.
[63][64] In a variant from Luristan with the title The Merhorse (Luri language: Bahrî), collected from teller Khudâbas (Xudâwas) of Bahârvand,[7] a king has a son who owns a foal he found in the sea.
The prince confronts his father about the killing his horse friend, and asks for one last ride on the animal, with his finest garments on, a saddle, an armor and some money in a khurjin.
The king then orders his guards to bring any male they find: the lowly gardener's assistant is forcibly brought, despite some initial refusal, and the youngest princess shoots her arrow at his orange.
Later, Malek Ibrahim returns home, puts on the poor man's disguise, and gives his wife the deer head to prepare a dish for the king.
Due to this, the boy resorts to hunting as a pastime and, one day, spots a horse and its foal munching on some herbs in a meadow, when a lion appears to attack the animals.
The youth's stepmother learns of his adventure and knows the horse is magical, able to remove all sorts of problems, so she plots to kill it: she feigns illness and convinces the village doctors to prescribe the heart of the fairy-horse as a cure.
[67] In a tale collected by researcher Hossein Khosravi with the title "کره اسب سیاه" ("Black Horse Foal"), a poor couple have a son named Murad.
The third time, the king eats the tasty meal the third princess prepared, despite finding some fallen leaves on the plate, and declares they should move back to the palace the next day.
The elder princesses' dishes are tasteless, causing the king to expel both from the palace, while the youngest's meal, made with heads and hooves, is tasty to the monarch and his wife.
While the youngest princess brings her father her dish, she is mocked by her elder sisters, then goes back to her husband, confiding in him that she knows his identity and requesting he reveals it to end their mockery.
[75] In a tale from the Bashkirs translated into Russian language as "Златохвостый-Серебряногривый" ("Golden-Tailed, Silver-Maned"), an old couple live in poverty with their two daughters and a son named Кыдрас (Kydras), until one day they die and leave the siblings orphaned.
Moved by the words, the king then sets a suitor selection test: the princesses will stand on a raised platform and throw their apples to their husbands of choice.