The Brave Little Tailor

A slice of bread spread with sweet jam lay on the table by the window, still warm with the smell of the jam he had just bought. In the blink of an eye, a whole swarm of flies came from nowhere and settled thick on the golden jam. The little tailor sat at his cloth frame and glanced over. He snatched up a scrap of cloth, swung his arm, and struck one great blow. When he lifted his hand to look, seven flies lay dead across the table. He marveled at it again and again. He had never imagined he was so skilled.

The tailor was so delighted that he could not keep the news to himself. He took a strip of strong cloth and sat down to embroider it with care, in large letters: Seven at One Blow. Then he tied it around his waist like a belt of honor. He stood up, puffed out his chest, and told himself that after such a famous deed, the whole world would soon have to know his name.

People had been telling this little tale for a very long time. Much later, two scholars, the Brothers Grimm, patiently collected it and printed it in a book of old tales. That is why it can still be told today, detail by detail.

The tailor decided he could not sit forever in his small workshop. He had to go out into the world and test his strength, to be worthy of that belt. He packed a piece of old cheese for the road, slung his bag over his shoulder, and set off. A little way along, he caught a small bird trapped in a bush beside the road, and he put that in his bag too.

He climbed a high mountain and met a giant sitting there to rest, so tall that his head nearly touched the clouds. The giant glanced at the words on the tailor's belt and gave a scornful laugh. A tiny little fellow like this, boasting of seven at one blow? He would have to prove it before the giant believed him.

The giant picked up a big stone and squeezed it hard in his palm until water dripped out, drop by drop. Then he dared the tailor to do the same. The tailor quietly took the soft cheese he had tucked away in his bag and gave it one hard squeeze. Cloudy white liquid streamed out, and it seemed like much more than the water the giant had wrung from his stone. The giant's eyes went wide. He had never thought this small creature could be so strong.

The giant would not admit defeat. He picked up another stone and threw it straight into the sky, so high that he had to wait a long time before it fell back down. When his turn came, the tailor took the little bird from his bag and tossed it into the air. The bird beat its wings and flew out of sight, and it never came back. The tailor folded his arms and said calmly that his stone had gone so high it simply flew away and did not bother to come down at all.

Now the giant grew wary, and he thought up another test. He led the tailor to an ancient oak that lay felled on the ground and told him to help carry it out of the forest, to show how strong he was. The tailor quickly climbed onto the branches at the back and sat perched there, out of the giant's sight, as if he were holding up the treetop. The giant walked in front and could not turn his head, so he strained under the whole heavy trunk alone. The farther he walked, the more tired he grew. Yet all the while he was sure the tailor was carrying the load with him behind.

Still not quite beaten, the giant bent down the top of a cherry tree heavy with fruit. He put the treetop into the tailor's hand and invited him to eat. But the tailor was far too light to hold it, and the moment the giant let go, the treetop sprang back up. It flung the tailor high into the air, and he fell back to the ground, by good luck without a scratch. He stood up, brushed the dust from his clothes, and said coolly that he had jumped over the tree on purpose. He had caught sight of hunters raising their guns down below. When the giant heard this, he was truly frightened. He dared not test the tailor any further and let him go on his way in peace.

The tailor walked on for many more days. When he grew tired at last, he lay down to rest on the grass in the courtyard of a royal palace. A few people passing by saw the big words on his belt. They thought they had come upon a famous hero, and they hurried in to tell the king.

The king summoned him to the palace. He listened to the tale of his deeds and was very pleased, and he invited the tailor to join the royal army. But when the soldiers at the palace heard the news, they were alarmed. They whispered to one another that if they ever happened to anger a man who could bring down seven with one blow, none of them would be likely to escape alive. They went together to the king and warned him that if he kept the tailor, they would all ask to leave the army.

The king did not dare to send away so formidable a man, yet he was afraid of losing the goodwill of his whole army. So he thought of another way. He promised the tailor the princess and half his kingdom, if the tailor would deal with two giants who were plaguing the forest in that region. The king also sent a hundred horsemen along to help him. But the tailor said he needed no help, for he alone was quite enough to handle those two giants. The horsemen still followed him to the edge of the forest, and there he told them to wait.

Deep in the forest, the tailor found the two giants lying fast asleep under a big tree. He quietly climbed onto a high branch, gathered small stones, and dropped them one by one onto the chest of one giant. That giant woke with a start. He thought the other one had hit him, and he grumbled and demanded to know why. The other denied it flatly. The two of them argued loudly and grew hotter and hotter. Then the tailor dropped a bigger stone onto the second giant. Now both of them flew into a rage. They roared the harshest words they knew and blamed each other, and neither would give way. When they had quarreled themselves out, the two giants stormed off in opposite directions. Each swore never again to look at the other or to set foot in the same corner of the forest. The tailor climbed down and dusted off his hands. He went back to the horsemen waiting at the edge of the forest and told them the forest was peaceful again, with no one left to trouble it.

The king was sorry to part with the princess and half his kingdom, and he did not want to keep his word just yet. So he set another test. In that forest there was also a fierce unicorn, and only the man who caught it would be worthy to marry the princess. The tailor took a rope and a small axe and walked into the forest alone. The moment the unicorn saw him, it charged, its sharp horn pointed straight at him. At the very last instant, the tailor nimbly ducked behind a thick tree trunk. The unicorn ran at full speed and drove its horn deep into the wood. The horn stuck fast, and the animal could not pull it out. The tailor calmly tied the rope around its neck. Then, with his axe, he carefully chipped away the wood around the trapped horn to free it from the trunk, and he led the unicorn back to the king.

The king was still not satisfied, and he set a third test. The tailor had to catch alive a savage wild boar that was rampaging in that same forest. As soon as the tailor stepped into the woods, he heard angry grunting and hooves pounding the ground, closer and closer. Thinking fast, he ran straight into a small chapel in the middle of the forest and lured the boar to charge in after him. Its snout nearly caught his heels. The instant the animal was through the door, the tailor leapt out through a window. He ran around to the front and slammed the chapel door shut. The boar was big and heavy and could not climb out through the narrow window frame, so it stayed trapped inside. The tailor stood outside, dusted off his hands, and smiled quietly to himself.

With all three hard tasks done, the king had no more excuses for delay, and he had to keep his promise. The wedding was celebrated with great splendor across the royal city, though deep down the king still felt sore about it. That is how the little tailor became a king.

One night the princess, who was now the queen, heard her husband talking in his sleep. He mumbled something about sewing jackets and patching trousers. He even threatened to rap some apprentice over the ears with his yardstick. Hearing this, she suddenly understood the truth. Her husband had never been anything but an ordinary tailor. In a fright she ran to her father, told him everything, and begged him to find a way to help her.

Her father, the old king, quickly made a plan. He ordered his soldiers to wait until midnight, then slip in, tie the tailor up, and carry him far away, never to return to the palace. Luckily, an attendant who had grown fond of the tailor overheard the plan and secretly went to warn him first.

That night the tailor pretended to be fast asleep. Then he spoke up in a loud voice, as if talking in his sleep, and listed all his great deeds. He had brought down seven at one blow. He had dealt with two giants. He had caught a unicorn, and he had shut a fierce wild boar neatly away. So why should he be afraid of a few soldiers standing outside his bedroom door? The soldiers hiding outside heard every word clearly. Their hair stood on end with fear, and they tiptoed away. Not one of them ever dared to come near him again.

The little tailor sat firmly on his throne for the rest of his life, and no one ever dared to trouble him again. If, late one night, you ever hear someone talking in their sleep about seven flies, two giants, a unicorn and a wild boar, just let that person sleep on. Who knows, at this very moment they may be the king of some kingdom of their own.