A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
Prince Ahmed befriends the sons of a goldsmith, ironsmith, oilman and carpenter. When the king imprisons them as unsuitable companions, they request time to demonstrate their skill. Among their creations are swimming metal fish and two artificial giants that fight. The carpenter’s son brings a wooden horse fitted with a secret spring. Ahmed mounts it, touches the spring and rises out of sight, leaving the maker unable to recall him from the ground.
The horse carries Ahmed five hundred leagues to a palace where he meets a princess. He subsequently hides it in a talli-tree, taking it apart and hanging its pieces among the branches between his nightly visits. When the princess’s father captures him and orders him hanged from that tree, Ahmed bribes the guards to let him climb it. Concealed above, he reassembles the horse, flies to the palace roof and carries the princess away.
They arrive at his father’s home, the four makers are released and rewarded, and the couple marry. The horse is a constructed flying mount rather than a living winged animal: this telling gives it no wings, speech, appetite or independent personality. Its disassembly and reassembly are central to the escape. The fish and fighting giants belong to the same demonstration but are separate creations, not forms assumed by the horse.
Origins & earliest records
Upper Indus Panjabi tales in Charles Swynnerton’s English collection
Records & interpretation
Complete tale read in retained primary OCR; critical printed passages checked against original scan images.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Indian Nights’ Entertainment; or, Folk-Tales from the Upper Indus
VII, Prince Ahmed and the Flying Horse, pp.9–11
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
Primary records and illustrations
Charles Swynnerton, Indian Nights’ Entertainment (1892)
1892 edition. VII, Prince Ahmed and the Flying Horse, pp.9–11
Complete swynnerton1892-ch7.txt retained/read; title image leaf8 verified. Critical printed pages9,137–138,301,304 independently viewed in retained PNGs. Native-name equivalents and modern species not supplied.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Historical primary English translationCornell scan of Swynnerton (1892), VII, Prince Ahmed and the Flying Horse, pp.9–11Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
