The King of the West came to the King of the East to court the daughter of the King of the East for his son. He sent an iron bar with both ends shaped alike and asked: "Which is the top and which is the bottom? If you can guess that, good! If not, I will carry your daughter away with me." The King asked everybody, but nobody could tell. The King's daughter told her lover about it and he said: "Go tell your father the Emir to throw the bar into a brook. The heavy end will sink. Make a hole in that end and send the bar back to the King of the West." And it happened that he was right, and the messengers returned to their King. The King of the West sent three horses of the same size and color and asked: "Which is the one-year-old, which is the two-year-old, and which the mare? If you can guess that, good. If not, then I will carry off your daughter." The King of the East collected all the clever people, but no one could guess. He was helpless and knew not what to do. Then his daughter went to her lover and said, "They are going to take me away," and she told him when and how. The youth said: "Go and say to your father, 'Dip a bundle of hay in water, strew it with salt, and put it near the horses' stall. In the morning the mare will come first, the two-year-old second, the one-year-old last.'" They did this and sent the King of the West his answer. He waited a little and sent a steel spear and a steel shield, and said: "If you pierce the shield with the spear, I will give my daughter to your son. If not, send your daughter to my son." Many people tried, and among them the King himself, but they could find no way of piercing the shield. The King's daughter told him of her beloved prisoner, and the King sent for him. The youth thrust the spear into the ground, and, striking the shield against it, pierced it through. As the King had no son, he sent the youth in place of a son to the King of the West to demand his daughter, according to agreement. He went on and on--how long it is not known--and saw someone with his ear to the ground listening. "Who are you?" the youth asked. "I am he who hears everything that is said in the whole world." "This is a brave fellow," said the youth. "He knows everything that is said in the world." "I am no brave fellow. He who has pierced a steel shield with a steel spear is a brave fellow," was the answer. "I am he," said the youth. "Let us be brothers." They journeyed on together and saw a man with a millstone on each foot, and one leg stepped toward Chisan and the other toward Stambul. "That seems to me a brave fellow! One leg steps toward Chisan and the other toward Stambul." "I am no brave fellow. He who has pierced a steel shield with a steel spear is a brave fellow," said the man with the millstones. "I am he. Let us be brothers." They were three and they journeyed on together.