Long, long ago, the land was ruled by a benevolent king. He had three sons, who grew up to be handsome young men. In height and physique, they looked almost alike and their father showered his affection equally on them. For a long time, they were away from the capital getting trained in the martial arts, besides every skill needed to administer a kingdom. The king thought they should now remain in the palace and attend to their duties; and the time had also come for them to get married.
To get brides for all the three princes would take some time, and so the king sent messengers to every nook and corner of the kingdom and to the neighbouring kingdoms. A few days later, one of the messengers came back and informed the king about a beautiful girl he came across. She happened to be the daughter of a danseuse. She had asked the messenger to give her a description of the three princes and she wanted him
to tell the king that she wished her daughter to be married to the eldest prince, as she was certain that when he succeeded to the throne, her daughter would naturally be the queen.
As the king had watched his second son taking a great interest in music and painting, he thought the girl would be more suited for the younger prince. But he did not wish to impose his choice. He, therefore, decided that the best way to make a choice would be through a test. So, he summoned his sons and told them of the danseuse and her beautiful daughter and asked them to go on a journey for six months and return with gifts for the girl, gifts which nobody in the kingdom would have ever seen. He expected them to go to different countries unknown to them till then. The prince who came back with the most exotic gift would be married to the girl.
The princes were only too happy to be away from the humdrum of administrative duties. They set out the next day on horseback and rode in three different directions after agreeing to meet at a common point at the end of six months before returning to the palace.
