32. Mirza Muhammad and the Forty Monsters

Mirza Muhammad, the youngest of three princes, fulfilled his father’s last wish to be buried on a hill to which a mare would lead him. While taking turns to guard his grave at night, Mirza Muhammad defeats forty monsters (ḥambušaye) and their mother. Then his brothers wanted to break into the palace of a king who had three daughters. With Mirza Muhammad’s help, they manage to get inside the palace. He killed the forty monsters and catapulted himself past the guards. He saved the king from a black scorpion by piercing the wall with his dagger, and claimed the three princesses for him and his brothers. The king did not know who had saved him. Mirza Muhammad’s brothers wanted to prove themselves as heroes, but failed. Then Mirza Muhammad revealed himself as the king’s saviour, and the king rewarded him and his brothers by giving them the three princesses in marriage.