` Your Majesty must pardon us ; but just think for a moment . Should you send an envoy to the island he will take ten years to get there and ten more to return -- twenty years in all . Will not the princess have grown old in that time and have lost all her beauty ? ' The king reflected gravely . Then he thanked the merchants , gave them leave to trade in his country without paying any duties , and dismissed them . After they were gone the king remained deep in thought . He felt puzzled and anxious ; so he decided to ride into the country to distract his mind , and sent for his huntsmen and falconers . The huntsmen blew their horns , the falconers took their hawks on their wrists , and off they all set out across country till they came to a green hedge . On the other side of the hedge stretched a great field of maize as far as the eye could reach , and the yellow ears swayed to and fro in the gentle breeze like a rippling sea of gold . The king drew rein and admired the field . ` Upon my word , ' said he , ` whoever dug and planted it must be good workmen . If all the fields in my kingdom were as well cared for as this , there would be more bread than my people could eat . ' And he wished to know to whom the field belonged . Off rushed all his followers at once to do his bidding , and found a nice , tidy farmhouse , in front of which sat seven peasants , lunching on rye bread and drinking water . They wore red shirts bound with gold braid , and were so much alike that one could hardly tell one from another . The messengers asked : ` Who owns this field of golden maize ? ' And the seven brothers answered : ` The field is ours . ' ` And who are you ? ' ` We are King Archidej 's labourers . ' These answers were repeated to the king , who ordered the brothers to be brought before him at once .
On being asked who they were , the eldest said , bowing low : ` We , King Archidej , are your labourers , children of one father and mother , and we all have the same name , XXXXX each of us is called Simon .
After Off On for from in of that to with