content: now the third knight had a friend in china , so he wrote to him to get the skin of the fire - rat . the virtue of any part of this animal was that no fire could harm it . he promised his friend any amount of money he liked to ask if only he could get him the desired article . as soon as the news came that the ship on which his friend had sailed home had come into port , he rode seven days on horseback to meet him . he handed his friend a large sum of money , and received the fire - rat 's skin . when he reached home he put it carefully in a box and sent it in to the princess while he waited outside for her answer . the bamboo - cutter took the box from the knight and , as usual , carried it in to her and tried to coax her to see the knight at once , but princess moonlight refused , saying that she must first put the skin to test by putting it into the fire . if it were the real thing it would not burn . so she took off the crape wrapper and opened the box , and then threw the skin into the fire . the skin crackled and burnt up at once , and the princess knew that this man also had not fulfilled his word . so the third knight failed also . now the fourth knight was no more enterprising than the rest . instead of starting out on the quest of the dragon bearing on its head the five - color - radiating jewel , he called all his servants together and gave them the order to seek for it far and wide in japan and in china , and he strictly forbade any of them to return till they had found it . 
answer: his friend did not get him the real fire - rat .
question: how did the third knight fail ?
target: how did the third knight fail ?
references: how did the third knight fail ?