“Command thy sons-in-law, Gosudár, to take off their boots.”
The sons-in-law began to make excuses; they didn’t want to take off their boots.
“Take off your boots,” urged the Tsar; “there is no harm in that.”
They took off their boots. The Tsar looks: one toe is missing.
“Here are their toes,” said the simpleton. “Order them now to take off their gloves.”
They removed their gloves, and the Tsar saw there was a finger missing.
“Here are their fingers,” said the simpleton. “Order them now to take off their shirts.”
The Tsar saw that the affair was coming true, and ordered them to undress. They took off their shirts, and the Tsar saw that each one of them had a strap cut from his back the width of two fingers.
“Here are the straps,” said the simpleton; and told the whole story as it was.
The Tsar didn’t know how to entertain him, nor how to reward him. He gave him the whole kingdom, and the other sons-in-law, because they had deceived him, he had shot.