They went to his house. The shoemaker said: “Go to work; here is leather for thee,—the best kind; I’ll see what skill thou hast.”
Ivan Tsarevich went to his own room, and took out the whistle. Lame and Crooked came. “What is thy pleasure, Ivan Tsarevich?”
“To have shoes ready by to-morrow.”
“Oh, that is not work, that is play!”
“Here is the leather.”
“What sort of leather is that? That’s trash, nothing more; that should go out of the window.”
Next morning Ivan Tsarevich woke up; on the table were beautiful shoes, the very best.
The shoemaker rose. “Well, young man, hast thou made the shoes?”
“They are finished.”
“Well, show them.” He looked at the shoes and was astonished. “See what a man I have got for myself,—not a shoemaker, but a wonder!” He took the shoes and carried them to the market to sell.