when the people had all passed by , the youth went to the oak in which the queen crane dwelt . here he was given a black steed , a suit of brazen armor , and a silver sword . thus he rode to battle and got there as quickly as he could wish . then he said : " god aid me , and queen crane stay by me , and i will succeed ! " with that he killed all the enemy and rode away again . but the king thought that an angel had come to help him , and wanted to hold him back . the youth , however , rode quickly back to the oak , took off his armor , went down to the swamp , and once more began to click to his horse . when the people rode by they laughed and said : " you were not along to - day , so you missed seeing how an angel came and killed all the enemy . " and the youth pretended to feel sad , so sad . the following day the king once more had to take the field . and sheep - peter came to him and said he wanted to go along . so they gave him an old nag to ride , and he rode into a swamp beside the highway . then he sat down and clicked with his tongue ; but the horse would not move . when the people rode by they had their sport with him ; but the youth pretended to feel sad , so sad . when the people had gone by , he went to the oak in which the queen crane dwelt , and was given a white steed , a suit of silver armor , and a golden sword . thus equipped he rode to battle . when he arrived he said : " god aid me , and queen crane ... and i will succeed ! " but he had forgotten to say " stay by me , " and so he was shot in the leg . but the king took out his handkerchief , and tied up his leg . then the youth said once more : " god aid me , and queen crane stay by me , and i will succeed ! " and he slew all of the enemy . then the king thought he was an angel from heaven , and wanted to hold him . but the youth rode quickly to the oak , took off his armor , and then went down to his nag in the swamp and tried to get it to move , while the soldiers were passing . they laughed and said : " you were not along to - day , and did not see how an angel came from heaven and killed all of the enemy . " the youth pretended to be very sad . on the third day all happened as before . the king took the field . the youth was given a wretched nag and rode it into a swamp beside the highway . then he began to click with his tongue but the nag would not go on , and the people who rode past laughed at him . he pretended to feel very sad ; but when the people had passed , he went to the oak in which queen crane dwelt , and she gave him a red steed , a golden sword , and a golden suit of armor . thus equipped he rode to war , and all happened as before . he said : " god aid me , and queen crane stay by me , and i will succeed ! " and slew all the enemy . the king thought he was an angel from heaven and wanted to hold him back by all means ; but the youth rode quickly to the oak , took off his armor , and rode down to the swamp where he had his three nags . he hid the king 's handkerchief , and when the people passed by he was clicking with his tongue as usual . 
three times .
how many times did sheep-peter save the king ?
how many times did sheep-peter save the king ?