7. At the appointed time the princes met at the inn. They showed one another their treasures, and immediately saw through the tube that the princess was dying. They then sat down on the carpet, wished themselves with her, and were there in a moment.
8. As soon as Prince Ahmed was in Nouronnihar's chamber, he rose from the carpet, and going to the bedside put the apple under her nose. The princess immediately opened her eyes, and turned her head from one side to another, looking at the persons who stood about her; then she rose up in bed and asked to be dressed, just as if she had waked out of a sound sleep.
9. The princes then went to throw themselves at the feet of the sultan, their father, and to pay their respects to him. But when they came before him, they found he had been informed of their arrival and by what means the princess had been cured. The sultan received them with the greatest joy.
10. After the usual ceremonies and compliments, the princes presented their curiosities: Prince Houssain his carpet, Prince Ali his ivory tube, and Prince Ahmed his artificial apple; and after each had commended his present, they begged the sultan to declare to which of them he would give the Princess Nouronnihar for a wife, according to his promise.
11. The sultan, having heard all that the princes could say about their gifts, remained some time silent. At last he said: "I would declare for one of you, my children, with a great deal of pleasure if I could do it with justice. But the gift of no one of you alone would have been sufficient to cure the princess; Ahmed's apple would have been of no use if Ali's tube had not first revealed her illness, and Houssain's carpet transported you to her side. Therefore, as neither carpet, tube, nor apple can be preferred one before the other, I cannot grant the princess to any one of you.
12. "I must use other means to make my choice. Get each of you a bow and arrow, and go to the great plain where they exercise the horses. I will give the princess to him who shoots the farthest."
13. The three princes had nothing to say against the decision of the sultan. Each provided himself with a bow and arrow, and went to the plain, followed by a great crowd of people.
14. Prince Houssain, as the eldest, took his bow and arrow, and shot first; Prince Ali shot next, and much beyond him; and Prince Ahmed last of all, but nobody could see where his arrow fell; and, in spite of all the care that was used by himself and everybody else in searching, it was not to be found far or near.
Prince Ahmed shot last of all.