beautiful Princess Helena I will try to think out by myself."

The merchants bowed low and left the Tsar's rich palace.

The Tsar Archidei sat still, wrapped in thought, but he could find
neither beginning nor end to the problem. "Let me ride into the wide
fields," he said; "let me forget my sorrow amid the excitement of the
noble hunt, hoping that the future may bring advice."

The falconers appeared, cheerful notes from the golden trumpets
resounded, and falcons and hawks were soon slumbering under their
velvet caps as they sat quietly on the fingers of the hunters.

The Tsar Archidei Aggeivitch came with his men to a wide, wide field.
All of his men were watching the moment to loose their falcons in
order to let the birds pursue a long-legged heron or a white-breasted
swan.

Now, you, my listeners, must understand that the fairy tale is quick,
but life is not. The Tsar Archidei was on horseback for a long while,
and finally came to a green valley. Looking around he saw a well
cultivated field where the golden ears of the grain were already ripe,
and oh, how beautiful! The Tsar stopped in admiration.

"I presume," he exclaimed, "that good workers are owners of this
place, honest plowmen and diligent sowers. If only all fields in
my tsarstvo were equally cultivated, my people need never know what
hunger means, and there would even be plenty to send beyond the sea to
be exchanged for silver and gold."

Then the Tsar Archidei gave orders to inquire who the owners of the
field were, and what were their names. Hunters, grooms, and servants
rushed in all directions, and discovered seven brave fellows, all of
them fair, red-cheeked, and very handsome. They were dining according
to the peasant fashion, which means that they were eating rye bread
with onions, and drinking clear water. Their blouses were red, with a
golden galloon around the neck, and they were so much alike that one
could hardly be recognized from another.

The royal messengers approached.

"Whose field is this?" they asked; "this field with golden wheat?"

The seven brave peasants answered cheerfully:

"This is our field; we plowed it, and we also have sown the golden
wheat."

"And what kind of people are you?"

"We are the Tsar Archidei Aggeivitch's peasants, farmers, and we are
brothers, sons of one father and mother. The name for all of us is
Simeon, so you understand we are seven Simeons."

[Illustration: "_Hunters, grooms, and servants