'My work is very simple, sire. You have many ships built by
learned men, with all sorts of new and clever improvements. If you
wish it I will build you quite a simple boat--one, two, three, and it's
done! But my plain little home-made ship is not grand enough for a
king. Where other ships take a year, mine makes the voyage in a
day, and where they would require ten years mine will do the
distance in a week.'

'Good,' said the king again; 'and what has Simon the fourth learnt?'

'My trade, O king, is really of no importance. Should my brother
build you a ship, then let me embark in it. If we should be pursued
by an enemy I can seize our boat by the prow and sink it to the
bottom of the sea. When the enemy has sailed off, I can draw it up
to the top again.'

'That is very clever of you,' answered the king; 'and what does
Simon the fifth do?'

'My work, your Majesty, is mere smith's work. Order me to build a
smithy and I will make you a cross-bow, but from which neither the
eagle in the sky nor the wild beast in the forest is safe. The bolt hits
whatever the eye sees.'

'That sounds very useful,' said the king. 'And now, Simon the sixth,
tell me your trade.'

'Sire, it is so simple I am almost ashamed to mention it. If my
brother hits any creature I catch it quicker than any dog can. If it