The Brave Little Tailor

Part One · Seven at One Blow

Once there was a little tailor who sat at his window, sewing and humming a tune. One morning a woman came down the street, calling, "Good jam for sale! Good jam for sale!" The tailor leaned out of the window. "Come up here, my good woman," he said. He bought a little jam, spread it thickly on a slice of bread, and set it on the table, to eat when he had finished his coat.

But the jam smelled so sweet that the flies in the room smelled it too, and they came buzzing from every corner and landed on his bread. "Who invited you?" cried the tailor. He picked up a cloth and swatted at them, and when he lifted it, seven flies lay on the table. "Seven at one blow!" he said, and he was so pleased with himself that he could not sit still.

He cut a wide belt and stitched across it, in big letters, SEVEN AT ONE BLOW. "Why should I stay in a little shop?" he thought. "A man who can do this should go out into the wide world!" He looked for something to take with him, but all he found was a soft cheese, so he put it in his pocket. Outside the door, a little bird was tangled in a bush, and he put that in his pocket too. Then off he went.

Part Two · The Giant on the Mountain

The tailor walked and walked until he came to the top of a mountain. There sat a huge giant, looking out over the valley. "Good day, friend," said the tailor. "Do you see the wide world down there? I am on my way to see it. Would you like to come along?" The giant looked down at the tiny tailor. "You poor little fellow," he said. "Read my belt," said the tailor, and he held it up.

The giant read the words and thought that the tailor must have beaten seven men with one blow. He felt a little respect, but he wanted to be sure. He picked up a stone and squeezed it until a few drops of water ran out. "Can you do that?" he asked. "Easily," said the tailor. He took the soft cheese from his pocket and squeezed it until the juice ran out, and the giant was astonished.

Next the giant threw a stone so high that it was almost out of sight. "Now you," he said. "Nothing easier," said the tailor. He took the little bird from his pocket and tossed it into the air, and the bird flew up and away and never came back. "A little higher than yours, I think," said the tailor. The giant scratched his head, but he could not say a word.

Then the giant led the tailor to a great tree that had fallen in the forest. "If you are so strong, help me carry this tree home," he said. "Gladly," said the tailor. "You take the trunk on your shoulder, and I will carry the branches, which are the heavy part." The giant lifted the trunk, and the tailor hopped up among the branches and sat there whistling a tune, as if carrying a tree were child's play.

The giant carried the whole tree, and the tailor too, until he could hardly breathe. At last he put it down, panting. "You are stronger than any man I have met," he said, and he bowed to the little tailor. He did not dare to ask another thing, so the tailor waved goodbye and went on his way, and he walked until he came to the castle of the King.

Part Three · The King's Tasks

The tailor was tired, so he lay down on the grass in the castle yard and fell asleep. The King's men came and read the words on his belt. "What does such a great warrior want here?" they whispered. When the King heard, he said, "Two giants live in the forest and trouble all my people. If this man can send them away, I will give him half my kingdom and my daughter's hand."

The tailor found the two giants asleep under a tree, snoring like thunder. He climbed up into the branches with his pockets full of stones. First he dropped one on the chest of the first giant, who woke with a start. "Why did you hit me?" he grumbled to the other. "I did not hit you," said the second giant. "You are dreaming." And they both went back to sleep.

Then the tailor dropped a stone on the second giant. "Now you are hitting me!" he roared, but the first giant cried, "I am not!" The giants jumped up and shouted and pulled up trees and swung them at each other, until they were both so tired and bruised that they fell down in a heap. "I am finished with you," said one. "And I am finished with you," said the other. Then they stomped off over the mountains, and they never came back.

The tailor went back to the castle, but the King was not finished. "First you must catch the unicorn that runs wild in the forest," he said. So the tailor took a rope and an axe and went into the trees. When the unicorn saw him, it lowered its horn and charged. The tailor waited until the last moment, and then he stepped behind a tree.

The unicorn could not stop, and its horn stuck fast in the trunk, and it pulled and pulled but could not get free. The tailor came out and chopped the tree around the horn, and he led the unicorn gently to the King. The King was astonished, and he let the unicorn go to live in a green meadow, where it hurt no one.

"There is one more thing," said the King. "A wild boar is frightening my woodcutters, and if you can catch it, the kingdom is yours." The tailor went to the forest, and the boar came rushing at him. He ran into a little chapel, and the boar rushed in after him. Out of the window jumped the tailor, and he ran around and shut the door. The boar was trapped, and the King's men carried it far away to a quiet forest.

Now the King kept his word. He gave the tailor half the kingdom and the princess's hand, and there was a grand wedding, with music and dancing. And whenever anyone asked about the famous belt, the little tailor only smiled. He knew very well that the seven had been flies, but he kept that to himself, and he sat down to do a bit of sewing.