They all three announced themselves to the princess, and said she was to propound her riddle to them, and that the right persons were now come, who had understandings so fine that they could be threaded in a needle. Then said the princess, “I have two kinds of hair on my head, of what color is it?”

“If that be all,” said the first, “it must be black and white, like the cloth which is called pepper and salt.”

The princess said, “Wrongly guessed; let the second answer.”

Then said the second, “If it be not black and white, then it is brown and red, like my father’s company coat.”

“Wrongly guessed,” said the princess, “let the third give the answer, for I see very well he knows it for certain.”