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stealing anything out of it that I wished to have.' |
When the king heard this he fell into a passion. 'I will not pardon |
you, you rascal,' he cried; 'I will shut you up in my deepest dungeon on |
bread and water till you have forgotten such a trade. Indeed, it would |
be better to put you to death at once, and I've a good mind to do so.' |
'Don't kill me, O king! I am really not as bad as you think. Why, had I |
chosen, I could have robbed the royal treasury, have bribed your judges |
to let me off, and built a white marble palace with what was left. |
But though I know how to steal I don't do it. You yourself asked me my |
trade. If you kill me you will break your royal word.' |
'Very well,' said the king, 'I will not kill you. I pardon you. But from |
this hour you shall be shut up in a dark dungeon. Here, guards! away |
with him to the prison. But you six Simons follow me and be assured of |
my royal favour.' |
So the six Simons followed the king. The seventh Simon was seized by the |
guards, who put him in chains and threw him in prison with only bread |
and water for food. Next day the king gave the first Simon carpenters, |
masons, smiths and labourers, with great stores of iron, mortar, and the |
like, and Simon began to build. And he built his great white pillar |
far, far up into the clouds, as high as the nearest stars; but the other |
stars were higher still. |
Then the second Simon climbed up the pillar and saw and heard all that |
was going on through the whole world. When he came down he had all sorts |
of wonderful things to tell. How one king was marching in battle against |
another, and which was likely to be the victor. How, in another place, |
great rejoicings were going on, while in a third people were dying of |
famine. In fact there was not the smallest event going on over the earth |
that was hidden from him. |
Next the third Simon began. He stretched out his arms, once, twice, |
thrice, and the wonder-ship was ready. At a sign from the king it was |
launched, and floated proudly and safely like a bird on the waves. |
Instead of ropes it had wires for rigging, and musicians played on them |
with fiddle bows and made lovely music. As the ship swam about, the |
fourth Simon seized the prow with his strong hand, and in a moment it |
was gone--sunk to the bottom of the sea. An hour passed, and then the |
ship floated again, drawn up by Simon's left hand, while in his right he |
brought a gigantic fish from the depth of the ocean for the royal table. |
Whilst this was going on the fifth Simon had built his forge and |
hammered out his iron, and when the king returned from the harbour the |
magic cross-bow was made. |
His Majesty went out into an open field at once, looked up into the sky |
and saw, far, far away, an eagle flying up towards the sun and looking |
like a little speck. |
'Now,' said the king, 'if you can shoot that bird I will reward you.' |
Simon only smiled; he lifted his cross-bow, took aim, fired, and the |
eagle fell. As it was falling the sixth Simon ran with a dish, caught |
the bird before it fell to earth and brought it to the king. |
'Many thanks, my brave lads,' said the king; 'I see that each of you is |
indeed a master of his trade. You shall be richly rewarded. But now rest |
and have your dinner.' |
The six Simons bowed and went to dinner. But they had hardly begun |
before a messenger came to say that the king wanted to see them. They |
obeyed at once and found him surrounded by all his court and men of |
state. |
'Listen, my good fellows,' cried the king, as soon as he saw them. 'Hear |
what my wise counsellors have thought of. As you, Simon the second, |
can see the whole world from the top of the great pillar, I want you to |
climb up and to see and hear. For I am told that, far away, across many |
seas, is the great kingdom of the Island of Busan, and that the daughter |
of the king is the beautiful Princess Helena.' |
Off ran the second Simon and clambered quickly up the pillar. He gazed |
around, listened on all sides, and then slid down to report to the king. |
'Sire, I have obeyed your orders. Far away I saw the Island of Busan. |
The king is a mighty monarch, but full of pride, harsh and cruel. He |
sits on his throne and declares that no prince or king on earth is good |
enough for his lovely daughter, that he will give her to none, and |
that if any king asks for her hand he will declare war against him and |
destroy his kingdom.' |
'Has the king of Busan a great army?' asked King Archidej; 'is his |
country far off?' |
'As far as I could judge,' replied Simon, 'it would take you nearly ten |
years in fair weather to sail there. But if the weather were stormy |
we might say twelve. I saw the army being reviewed. It is not so very |
large--a hundred thousand men at arms and a hundred thousand knights. |
Besides these, he has a strong bodyguard and a good many cross-bowmen. |
Altogether you may say another hundred thousand, and there is a picked |
body of heroes who reserve themselves for great occasions requiring |
particular courage.' |
The king sat for some time lost in thought. At last he said to the |
nobles and courtiers standing round: 'I am determined to marry the |
Princess Helena, but how shall I do it?' |