Black Colt () is an Iranian folktale published by author Forough Hekmat in 1974. It is classified in the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as ATU 314, "Goldener". It deals with a friendship between a king's son and a magic horse that are forced to flee for their lives due to the boy's stepmother, and reach another kingdom, where the boy adopts another identity.
Although it differs from variants wherein a hero acquires golden hair, its starting sequence (persecution by the hero's stepmother) is considered by scholarship as an alternate opening to the same tale type.
Summary In a land to the east of Persia, a king rules with his beautiful wife. She bears him a son they name Malik Khorsheed ("The Sun Prince"). His destiny is foretold to be an unhappy one. He grows up to be a fine horseman and great archer.
One day, his mother dies, and the boy falls into a deep sadness. To appease the boy's grief, the king's viziers tell the king a dervish has come to the palace to bring a gift to the prince: a black colt with a star on its head. The prince takes the horse - which he named Korreh-ę-Siyah ("Black Colt") - as his friend and companion, and spends the days riding the horse after his studies.
Years pass, and the king marries again. The new queen begins to despise her stepson, because her husband spends most of his time with the boy, and begins to plot against him. Black Colt senses that the new queen is secretly harbouring ill-will towards the boy, and warns him to be on his guard for any attempt on his life. Malik Khorsheed dismisses the colt's warnings, but heeds the words.
And so the queen begins her plans: she orders some servants to dig up a hole on the way to the stables and fill it with branches. Malik Khorsheed escapes the first attempt by taking another path to the stables, and because the colt warned him. The next time, the queen brings some poisoned food to his room, but the colt warned him not to eat any food she gives him.
The queen, then, plots to destroy the only thing the boy loves more than his father, the horse. With the help from her Qamar Vizir, she feigns illness and her personal doctor advises a three-day diet of the meat of a black horse. After hearing this, the shah is in a dilemma: to save his queen, whose life is more valuable than an animal, he must kill the horse and deeply hurt his own son. He decides on killing the colt, and finding another horse for his son.
Malik Khorsheed goes to the stables and talks to his Black Colt, which talks to him about the grim fate that awaits it, on the very orders of his father, the shah. Black Colt reveals the new queen's deception, and laments that the boy could not convince his father to the contrary. The horse, however, concocts a plan: the next day, when the clock strikes ten, the horse will neigh to draw his attention, and Malik Khorsheed must leave school, and ask his father for one last ride on the horse.
The next day, the colt is guided to the sacrifice, to the queen's delight. Meanwhile, Malik Khorsheed escapes from his mentor's classes by throwing a handful of ashes on his mouth to stop him, and runs to the palace's gardens, but reaches the wrong side. He jumps over a low wall and runs to his horse. He stops the execution in the nick of time and demands an explanation from the servants. The servants explain that the shah, his father, ordered the horse's execution for the sake of the queen's health. Saddened, the prince asks them to allow him a last ride on the horse.
The guards and servants give him a bridle and a saddle. Malik Khorsheed mounts the horse and they escape from the palace by jumping aloft, high in the air. The shah and the queen watch the whole scene as rider and mount disappear into the air, far away from the kingdom.
Malik Khorsheed and the Black Colt watch the whole world in their aerial flight, passing through mountains and valleys, even the peaks of "purple Elburz Mountains". They finally land in the lands of the Shah of Western Persia, and the Black Colt tells him that they must depart for a while, but the animal will help him: it lets the prince take some hairs from its tail, which he can use to summon him by burning them. Black Colt also advises the prince to hide his royal clothes and to find a new identity in this new land, then departs.
Malik Khorsheed follows the horse's instructions and hides the royal garments in a saddlebag, then asks a goatherd on the road for a goat's stomach to wear as a cap, so that he appears to be bald. He reaches the city of the Shah of Western Persia and finds work as the apprentice of the shah's gardener, tending to the flowers of the royal gardens.
At certain times, the weather is so hot that people take a nap in the afternoon, and Malik Khorsheed takes the opportunity to ride the Black Colt while no one is paying attention. So he burns the horse's hairs to summon it, rides it for a while, then returns to his daily duties.
One day, he gives a suggestion to the gardener if he can redesign the garden's flower-beds. He does and so impressive they look that they become the people's talk. Another task the boy does is to bring bouquets for the three princesses along with a written poem for each of them. The youngest princess, beautiful Peri-zaad ("Fairy-born"), decides to look into the recent changes in her father's garden, and goes down to the garden to inquire the gardener. The old gardener replies to the princess that his new apprentice is responsible for the changes. The princess amazes at the boy's sensibility, despite his strange and ugly looks.
She then talks to the gardener's apprentice, the baldheaded boy, who is tending some flowers in the garden. As the princess talks to him, he notices her great beauty, but regains his composure and tells her he is a friendless youth who wandered into her father's city. Intrigued by the gardener's manners, the princess returns to talk to him, and she begins to pine for the lowly boy.
Some time later, the princesses' marriageability is assessed by analysing the ripeness of three melons. The king then summons all noble-born youths to his palace for his three daughters to choose their husbands by throwing a red apple to their suitor of choice. Peri-zaad looks to the crowd of assembled noblemen in hopes of seeing the gardener, but he is not there. Her elders sisters choose the sons of the Vizier of the Right Hand and the Vizier of the Left Hand for their husband, while Peri-zaad tries to hold on to hers for a bit longer.
The shah grows impatient with his daughter's indecision, and secretly orders the guards to bring every youth in the city. The guards first stop by the garden to bring the gardener's apprentice to the palace. As soon as the boy appears the royal chambers, the princess is delighted at his arrival, and tosses her red apple to him, much to her father's horror at her choosing a lowly man as her husband.
The shah congratulates his two elder daughters and banishes Peri-zaad from the palace for this affront, as well as strips her of her royal rank and privileges. Peri-zaad seems happy with her choice, even if Malik notices that she sacrificed her royal status for him. Malik questions her decision, but the princess answers he was her choice, and goes to live with him in his shabby cottage.
Some time into their marriage life, Malik rides Black Colt away from the cottage, but Peri-zaad sees her husband in the distance as if he is a completely different man. When he returns from his secret ride, the princess inquires him about his origins, and he tells her everything: the horse's help, his step-mother's plans, and his flight to her father's kingdom. They agree to keep it his true identity a secret for now before it arises any suspicions.
Some time later, the princess's nurse goes to Malik's cottage to tell her about her father's illness, and how his two sons-in-law are hunting for venison to use in a healing broth. Peri-zaad then asks her husband to ride Black Colt and find deer for her father. Meanwhile, the two other sons-in-law ride as far away to Eastern Persia and find a herd of deer. They see that the deer are grazing near a splendid tent, which they learn belongs to Shah-zadeh Malik Khorsheed.
The two princes are brought to Malik's presence and they do not recognize him as the gardener's apprentice. The duo tell him they are looking for a cure for their king. Malik agrees to let them take some venison from his herds, but in exchange they will allow him to brand them as his slaves. Both men are perplexed at first, but, thinking no one will ever know beyond the three of them, they consent to be branded and take the venison back to Western Persia.
Malik thanks his loyal horse, Black Colt, for the idea, and rides it back to his wife before the other. He arrives at his cottage and gives her the venison to prepare a broth for her father. Moments later, the two other princes arrive with the deer meat and prepare them. Three bowls with broth are brought before the king: the first one tasteless, the second one heavily seasoned, but the third, by Peri-zaad and Malik, on point. He eats the broth with meat her daughter brought and asks his guards to bring her to him.
The guards go to the gardener's cottage, but do not find neither the princess nor her husband. They decide to leave the palace to begin a search for them all around the country, but as soon as they leave the palace gates, they see a magnificent palace just two miles from the shah's own: Qasr-e-zar-negaar ("The Gold-Pictured Palace"). Certainly - they think - a fairy prince has come to visit them.
The shah is alerted of this and receives their guest with the appropriate pomp. Their guest, Shah-zadeh Malik Khorsheed, enters his father-in-law's palace in regal garments and riding on Black Colt. In the royal chambers, he explains he has come to get his two slaves, the shah's two sons-in-law. The shah does not understand the motive of the prince's visit, until he summons his sons-in-law and they disrobe to show the slave brands.
Malik Khorsheed then invites the shah to his palace, Qasr-e-zar-negaar, for a banquet, where they are to discuss the delivery of the two slaves to him. The shah agrees and the next day he goes with a retinue of courtiers to Qasr-e-zar-negaar. Every room they enter, they admire the exquisite architecture and craftmanship, until they reach the throne room. Malik Khorsheed arrives with a veiled Peri-zaad at his side. The princess makes a bow before her father and lifts her veil to show her face to him.
The shah rejoices at seeing his daughter again, and learns of Malik Khorsheed's whole story. The shah begs for their forgiveness, and embraces Malik as his son-in-law. However, Malik tells him he still misses his homeland, in Eastern Persia, and wishes to bring his wife, Peri-zaad, with him. The shah is sad to part with his daughter, by gives the couple his blessing and they depart the next morning on Black Colt, flying all the way from Western Persia to Eastern Persia.
Back in Eastern Persia, Malik's father has been mourning his son after his departure, and banished his wicked new wife on a horse. A servant comes to him with the strangest news: a flying horse is coming to their kingdom! Hearing this, the king hopes - and prays - it is Black Colt, bringing home his son. The horse lands in the palace's gardens with Malik and the princess. The king is exultant to get his son back, and orders a 40-day feast to be held.