When the king saw his dear daughter again, he was very glad, and said to the four brothers, “One of you shall marry her, but you must settle among yourselves which one that shall be.”
They discussed the matter with a good deal of warmth, for each pressed his own claims. The star-gazer said: “Had I not discovered the princess all your doings would have been in vain. Therefore, she is mine.”
The thief said: “What would have been the good of discovering her if I had not stolen her away from the dragon? So she is mine.”
The huntsman said: “But you all would have been destroyed by the monster had not my ball reached his heart. So she must be mine.”
“That is all very fine,” said the tailor, “but if it had not been for my sewing the wreck together, you would all have been miserably drowned. Therefore the princess is mine.”
When they had all voiced their claims to the princess, the king said: “Each of you is equally entitled to her, but since you cannot all have her, none of you shall have her. Instead, I will reward you each with half a province.”
The brothers were quite satisfied with this decision, and said, “It is better so than that we should quarrel.”
So each of them received half a province, and they lived happily in the home of their father the rest of their days.