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 , for each of us is called Simon . Our father taught us to be true to our king , and to till the ground , and to be kind to our neighbours . He also taught each of us a different trade which he thought might be useful to us , and he bade us not neglect our mother earth , which would be sure amply to repay our labour . '
The king was pleased XXXXX the honest peasant , and said : ` You have done well , good people , in planting your field , and now you have a golden harvest .
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