The next day , when the wooers were all assembled in the courtyard of the castle , everything happened just as the horse had said . The princesses threw the apples into the air , and the diamond apple of the youngest princess rolled past all the wooers , out on to the garden , and stopped at the feet of the young gardener , who was busy sweeping the leaves away . In a moment he had stooped down , picked up the apple and put it in his pocket . As he stooped the scarf round his head slipped a little to one side , and the princess caught sight of his golden hair , and loved him from that moment . -LSB- Illustration : The Gardener gets the Apple -RSB- But the king was very sad , for his youngest daughter was the one he loved best . But there was no help for it ; and the next day a threefold wedding was celebrated at the palace , and after the wedding the youngest princess returned with her husband to the small hut in the garden where he lived . Some time after this the people of a neighbouring country went to war with the king , and he set out to battle , accompanied by the husbands of his two eldest daughters mounted on stately steeds . But the husband of the youngest daughter had nothing but the old broken-down horse which helped him in his garden work ; and the king , who was ashamed of this son-in-law , refused to give him any other . So as he was determined not to be left behind , he went into the garden , mounted the sorry nag , and set out . But scarcely had he ridden a few yards before the horse stumbled and fell . So he dismounted and went down to the brook , to where the black horse lived in the vaulted hall . And the horse said to him : ` Saddle and bridle me , and then go into the next room and you will find a suit of armour and a sword . Put them on , and we will ride forth together to battle . ' And the prince did as he was told ; and when he had mounted the horse his armour glittered in the sun , and he looked so brave and handsome , that no one would have recognised him as the gardener who swept away the dead leaves from the paths . The horse bore him away at a great pace , and when they reached the battle-field they saw that the king was losing the day , so many of his warriors had been slain . But when the warrior on his black charger and in glittering armour appeared on the scene , hewing right and left with his sword , the enemy were dismayed and fled in all directions , leaving the king master of the field . Then the king and his two sons-in-law , when they saw their deliverer , shouted , and all that was left of the army joined in the cry : ' A god has come to our rescue ! ' And they would have surrounded him , but his black horse rose in the air and bore him out of their sight . Soon after this , part of the country rose in rebellion against the king , and once more he and his two sons-in-law had to fare forth to battle . And the son-in-law who was disguised as a gardener wanted to fight too .
So he came XXXXX the king and said : ` Dear father , let me ride with you to fight your enemies . ' '
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