The Tsar Archidei liked the simple answer of the peasant, and said:

"Take my praise, brave good fellows, my peasants, tillers of the soil,
sowers of wheat, gatherers of gold. And now tell me, what trades did
your father teach you, and what do you know?"

The first Simeon answered:

"My trade is not a very wise one. If thou wouldst let me have
materials and working men, then I could build a post, a white stone
column, reaching beyond the clouds, almost to the sky."

"Good enough!" exclaimed the Tsar Archidei. "And thou, the second
Simeon, what is thy trade?"

The second Simeon was quick to give answer:

"My trade is a simple one. If my brother will build a white stone
column, I can climb upon that column high up in the sky, and I shall
see from above all the empires and all the kingdoms under the sun, and
everything which is going on in those foreign countries."

"Thy trade is not so bad either," and the Tsar smiled and looked at
the third brother. "And thou, third Simeon, what trade is thine?"

The third Simeon also had his answer ready:

"My trade is simple, too; that is to say, a peasant's trade. If thou
art in need of ships, thy learned men of foreign birth build them for
thee as well as their wisdom teaches them. But if thou wilt order, I