` It is not the king who has answered your questions , ' observed the aunt , when he had told his story . ` He is far too stupid ever to have done that ! The person who has found out the puzzle is the son of a poor woman , who , if he lives , will become King of Hungary . Therefore , if you want the crown yourself , you must get him here and kill him . ' After this conversation another letter was written to the Court of Hungary , saying that if the youth , now in the palace , was not sent to Turkey within three days , a large army would cross the border . The king 's heart was sorrowful as he read , for he was grateful to the lad for what he had done to help him ; but the boy only laughed , and bade the king fear nothing , but to search the town instantly for two youths just like each other , and he would paint himself a mask that was just like them . And the sword at his side clanked loudly . After a long search twin brothers were found , so exactly resembling each other that even their own mother could not tell the difference . The youth painted a mask that was the precise copy of them , and when he had put it on , no one would have known one boy from the other . They set out at once for the Sultan 's palace , and when they reached it , they were taken straight into his presence . He made a sign for them to come near ; they all bowed low in greeting . He asked them about their journey ; they answered his questions all together , and in the same words . If one sat down to supper , the others sat down at the same instant . When one got up , the others got up too , as if there had been only one body between them . The Sultan could not detect any difference between them , and he told his aunt that he would not be so cruel as to kill all three . ` Well , you will see a difference to-morrow , ' replied the witch , ` for one will have a cut on his sleeve . That is the youth you must kill . ' And one hour before midnight , when witches are invisible , she glided into the room where all three lads were sleeping in the same bed . She took out a pair of scissors and cut a small piece out of the boy 's coat-sleeve which was hanging on the wall , and then crept silently from the room . But in the morning the youth saw the slit , and he marked the sleeves of his two companions in the same way , and all three went down to breakfast with the Sultan .
The old witch was standing in the window and pretended not XXXXX see them ; but all witches have eyes in the backs of their heads , and she knew at once that not one sleeve but three were cut , and they were all as alike as before .
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