Soon after this the neighbouring country attacked the kingdom.
The king had to go out on a battle and he was accompanied by the husbands of the two eldest daughters.
The Prince also wanted to go to the war but he had nothing which could help him work for the king.
Besides, the king, who was ashamed of his third son-in-law, did not give him any good horse or weapons to help him fight the war.
The Prince was determined not to be left behind and he got on the sad horse that he had been given for carting the leaves away from the garden.
No sooner had the Prince left the garden the horse stumbled and fell.
The Prince then went down the brook and went to where the black horse lived in the hall.
The horse nodded at the Prince after hearing what he had to say. “Bring my saddle and bridle. You will find a suit of armour in the next room. Put them on and we will write together in battle.”
The Prince did as he was told and he and his horse sped away to the battlefield.
By the time the two of them had reached the battlefield the king had been losing the battle.
However the Warrior who had been covered in his armour came with his black horse and soon the tide of the battle changed.
The man in the armour with his black horse fought so ferociously that the enemy fled in all directions.
The king and his two sons-in-law saw the man but did not know who he was.
Before they could come any closer the black horse rose in the air and took its master away from there.
The king and everybody else in his army believed that a god had come to their rescue.
Some time later a part of the country rose in rebellion against the king.
Exactly like the previous time the king did not want his third son-in-law to help him and did not give him any weapons or horses.
This time too the Prince and the black horse went to the rebellion when the king was almost losing and turned tired of the battle.
This time too the king and his two sons- in-law could not know who had come and saved them.
The third time there was another attack by another neighbouring country.
This time too the king did not take the third Prince with him.
While fighting the third battle the Prince was stuck in the leg with a sword.
The king then pulled out his own pocket handkerchief and bound it around the man's leg.
After this the Prince and his horse disappeared from there after winning the battle for the king.
Still no one knew who had come and saved them.
The prince reached his home and he and his wife where he and his wife were living. He lay down on his bed and slept.
That was when his wife noticed the handkerchief around her husband’s leg and realized that it belonged to her father.
The princess immediately took the kerchief to the king.
Then the king and the two elder sons-in-law realized that this had been the man who had come and saved them in all the three battles.
They all recognised him as the hero who had saved their life.
There was great rejoicing throughout the land and the king rewarded his third son-in-law with half of the kingdom.
The Prince and his wife ruled over the kingdom happily ever after.
Adapted from Greek folk tales
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