` Go home , idol of my heart , and when night comes , pretend to scream out in your sleep , so that your father hears you . Then tell him that you have dreamt that he was just being carried off by the Turks because he could not answer the question about the foals , when the lad whom he had shut up in the tower ran up and told them which was foaled in the morning , which at noon , and which in the evening . ' So the princess did exactly as the youth had bidden her ; and no sooner had she spoken than the king ordered the tower to be pulled down , and the prisoner brought before him . ' I did not think that you could have lived so long without food , ' said he , ` and as you have had plenty of time to repent your wicked conduct , I will grant you pardon , on condition that you help me in a sore strait . Read this letter from the Sultan ; you will see that if I fail to answer his question about the foals , a dreadful war will be the result . ' The youth took the letter and read it through . ` Yes , I can help you , ' replied he ; ` but first you must bring me three troughs , all exactly alike . Into one you must put oats , into another wheat , and into the third barley . The foal which eats the oats is that which was foaled in the morning ; the foal which eats the wheat is that which was foaled at noon ; and the foal which eats the barley is that which was foaled at night . ' The king followed the youth 's directions , and , marking the foals , sent them back to Turkey , and there was no war that year . Now the Sultan was very angry that both his plots to get possession of Hungary had been such total failures , and he sent for his aunt , who was a witch , to consult her as to what he should do next . ` It is not the king who has answered your questions , ' observed the aunt , when he had told his story . ` He is far too stupid ever to have done that ! The person who has found out the puzzle is the son of a poor woman , who , if he lives , will become King of Hungary . Therefore , if you want the crown yourself , you must get him here and kill him . ' After this conversation another letter was written to the Court of Hungary , saying that if the youth , now in the palace , was not sent to Turkey within three days , a large army would cross the border . The king 's heart was sorrowful as he read , for he was grateful to the lad for what he had done to help him ; but the boy only laughed , and bade the king fear nothing , but to search the town instantly for two youths just like each other , and he would paint himself a mask that was just like them . And the sword at his side clanked loudly . After a long search twin brothers were found , so exactly resembling each other that even their own mother could not tell the difference . The youth painted a mask that was the precise copy of them , and when he had put it on , no one would have known one boy from the other .
They set out at once for the XXXXX 's palace , and when they reached it , they were taken straight into his presence .
Hungary Sultan Turkey Turks days evening morning noon third war