33. Mirza Muhammad and the Three Princesses

Mirza Muhammad is the youngest of three princes; his two elder brothers are called Muhammad Chalabi and Ahmad Chalabi. Once there was a king with three daughters who set forth a challenge for those who wanted to court his beautiful daughters. Whoever could jump over the enormous trench he had dug would be entitled to his eldest daughter. Mirza Muhammad jumps over the trench and reaches the eldest daughter, who knocks him with an apple. He took her and ‘reserved’ her for his eldest brother by hiding her in a room inside the palace. He did the same for the second and third princess. Then Mirza Muhammad’s father passed away and the three brothers began to check the state of the palace. They opened the rooms where the three daughters were hidden, and each took one for himself.