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 XXXXX ran with a dish , caught the bird before it fell to earth and brought it to the king .
Simon Simons cross-bow harbour hour labourers right smiths third wonder-ship