第 十九 章 · The Valiant Little Tailor

. The Valiant Little Tailor

One summer’s morning a little tailor was sitting on his table by the

window; he was in good spirits, and sewed with all his might. Then came

a peasant woman down the street crying, “Good jams, cheap! Good jams,

cheap!” This rang pleasantly in the tailor’s ears; he stretched his

delicate head out of the window, and called, “Come up here, dear woman;

here you will get rid of your goods.” The woman came up the three steps

to the tailor with her heavy basket, and he made her unpack the whole

of the pots for him. He inspected all of them, lifted them up, put his

nose to them, and at length said, “The jam seems to me to be good, so

weigh me out four ounces, dear woman, and if it is a quarter of a pound

that is of no consequence.” The woman who had hoped to find a good

sale, gave him what he desired, but went away quite angry and

grumbling. “Now, God bless the jam to my use,” cried the little tailor,

“and give me health and strength;” so he brought the bread out of the

cupboard, cut himself a piece right across the loaf and spread the jam

over it. “This won’t taste bitter,” said he, “but I will just finish

the jacket before I take a bite.” He laid the bread near him, sewed on,

and in his joy, made bigger and bigger stitches. In the meantime the

smell of the sweet jam ascended so to the wall, where the flies were

sitting in great numbers, that they were attracted and descended on it

in hosts. “Hola! who invited you?” said the little tailor, and drove

the unbidden guests away. The flies, however, who understood no German,

would not be turned away, but came back again in ever-increasing

companies. The little tailor at last lost all patience, and got a bit

of cloth from the hole under his work-table, and saying, “Wait, and I

will give it to you,” struck it mercilessly on them. When he drew it

away and counted, there lay before him no fewer than seven, dead and

with legs stretched out. “Art thou a fellow of that sort?” said he, and

could not help admiring his own bravery. “The whole town shall know of

this!” And the little tailor hastened to cut himself a girdle, stitched

it, and embroidered on it in large letters, “Seven at one stroke!”

“What, the town!” he continued, “The whole world shall hear of it!” and

his heart wagged with joy like a lamb’s tail. The tailor put on the

girdle, and resolved to go forth into the world, because he thought his

workshop was too small for his valour. Before he went away, he sought

about in the house to see if there was anything which he could take

with him; however, he found nothing but an old cheese, and that he put

in his pocket. In front of the door he observed a bird which had caught

itself in the thicket. It had to go into his pocket with the cheese.

Now he took to the road boldly, and as he was light and nimble, he felt

no fatigue. The road led him up a mountain, and when he had reached the

highest point of it, there sat a powerful giant looking about him quite

comfortably. The little tailor went bravely up, spoke to him, and said,

“Good day, comrade, so thou art sitting there overlooking the

wide-spread world! I am just on my way thither, and want to try my

luck. Hast thou any inclination to go with me?” The giant looked

contemptuously at the tailor, and said, “Thou ragamuffin! Thou

miserable creature!”

“Oh, indeed?” answered the little tailor, and unbuttoned his coat, and

showed the giant the girdle, “There mayst thou read what kind of a man

I am!” The giant read, “Seven at one stroke,” and thought that they had

been men whom the tailor had killed, and began to feel a little respect

for the tiny fellow. Nevertheless, he wished to try him first, and took

a stone in his hand and squeezed it together so that water dropped out

of it. “Do that likewise,” said the giant, “if thou hast strength?” “Is

that all?” said the tailor, “that is child’s play with us!” and put his

hand into his pocket, brought out the soft cheese, and pressed it until

the liquid ran out of it. “Faith,” said he, “that was a little better,

wasn’t it?” The giant did not know what to say, and could not believe

it of the little man. Then the giant picked up a stone and threw it so

high that the eye could scarcely follow it. “Now, little mite of a man,

do that likewise.” “Well thrown,” said the tailor, “but after all the

stone came down to earth again; I will throw you one which shall never

come back at all.” And he put his hand into his pocket, took out the

bird, and threw it into the air. The bird, delighted with its liberty,

rose, flew away and did not come back. “How does that shot please you,

comrade?” asked the tailor. “Thou canst certainly throw,” said the

giant, “but now we will see if thou art able to carry anything

properly.” He took the little tailor to a mighty oak tree which lay

there felled on the ground, and said, “If thou art strong enough, help

me to carry the tree out of the forest.” “Readily,” answered the little

man; “take thou the trunk on thy shoulders, and I will raise up the

branches and twigs; after all, they are the heaviest.” The giant took

the trunk on his shoulder, but the tailor seated himself on a branch,

and the giant who could not look round, had to carry away the whole

tree, and the little tailor into the bargain: he behind, was quite

merry and happy, and whistled the song, “Three tailors rode forth from

the gate,” as if carrying the tree were child’s play. The giant, after

he had dragged the heavy burden part of the way, could go no further,

and cried, “Hark you, I shall have to let the tree fall!” The tailor

sprang nimbly down, seized the tree with both arms as if he had been

carrying it, and said to the giant, “Thou art such a great fellow, and

yet canst not even carry the tree!”

They went on together, and as they passed a cherry-tree, the giant laid

hold of the top of the tree where the ripest fruit was hanging, bent it

down, gave it into the tailor’s hand, and bade him eat. But the little

tailor was much too weak to hold the tree, and when the giant let it

go, it sprang back again, and the tailor was hurried into the air with

it. When he had fallen down again without injury, the giant said, “What

is this? Hast thou not strength enough to hold the weak twig?” “There

is no lack of strength,” answered the little tailor. “Dost thou think

that could be anything to a man who has struck down seven at one blow?

I leapt over the tree because the huntsmen are shooting down there in

the thicket. Jump as I did, if thou canst do it.” The giant made the

attempt, but could not get over the tree, and remained hanging in the

branches, so that in this also the tailor kept the upper hand.

The giant said, “If thou art such a valiant fellow, come with me into

our cavern and spend the night with us.” The little tailor was willing,

and followed him. When they went into the cave, other giants were

sitting there by the fire, and each of them had a roasted sheep in his

hand and was eating it. The little tailor looked round and thought, “It

is much more spacious here than in my workshop.” The giant showed him a

bed, and said he was to lie down in it and sleep. The bed, however, was

too big for the little tailor; he did not lie down in it, but crept

into a corner. When it was midnight, and the giant thought that the

little tailor was lying in a sound sleep, he got up, took a great iron

bar, cut through the bed with one blow, and thought he had given the

grasshopper his finishing stroke. With the earliest dawn the giants

went into the forest, and had quite forgotten the little tailor, when

all at once he walked up to them quite merrily and boldly. The giants

were terrified, they were afraid that he would strike them all dead,

and ran away in a great hurry.

The little tailor went onwards, always following his own pointed nose.

After he had walked for a long time, he came to the courtyard of a

royal palace, and as he felt weary, he lay down on the grass and fell

asleep. Whilst he lay there, the people came and inspected him on all

sides, and read on his girdle, “Seven at one stroke.” “Ah,” said they,

“What does the great warrior here in the midst of peace? He must be a

mighty lord.” They went and announced him to the King, and gave it as

their opinion that if war should break out, this would be a weighty and

useful man who ought on no account to be allowed to depart. The counsel

pleased the King, and he sent one of his courtiers to the little tailor

to offer him military service when he awoke. The ambassador remained

standing by the sleeper, waited until he stretched his limbs and opened

his eyes, and then conveyed to him this proposal. “For this very reason

have I come here,” the tailor replied, “I am ready to enter the King’s

service.” He was therefore honorably received and a special dwelling

was assigned him.

The soldiers, however, were set against the little tailor, and wished

him a thousand miles away. “What is to be the end of this?” they said

amongst themselves. “If we quarrel with him, and he strikes about him,

seven of us will fall at every blow; not one of us can stand against

him.” They came therefore to a decision, betook themselves in a body to

the King, and begged for their dismissal. “We are not prepared,” said

they, “to stay with a man who kills seven at one stroke.” The King was

sorry that for the sake of one he should lose all his faithful

servants, wished that he had never set eyes on the tailor, and would

willingly have been rid of him again. But he did not venture to give

him his dismissal, for he dreaded lest he should strike him and all his

people dead, and place himself on the royal throne. He thought about it

for a long time, and at last found good counsel. He sent to the little

tailor and caused him to be informed that as he was such a great

warrior, he had one request to make to him. In a forest of his country

lived two giants who caused great mischief with their robbing,

murdering, ravaging, and burning, and no one could approach them

without putting himself in danger of death. If the tailor conquered and

killed these two giants, he would give him his only daughter to wife,

and half of his kingdom as a dowry, likewise one hundred horsemen

should go with him to assist him. “That would indeed be a fine thing

for a man like me!” thought the little tailor. “One is not offered a

beautiful princess and half a kingdom every day of one’s life!” “Oh,

yes,” he replied, “I will soon subdue the giants, and do not require

the help of the hundred horsemen to do it; he who can hit seven with

one blow has no need to be afraid of two.”

The little tailor went forth, and the hundred horsemen followed him.

When he came to the outskirts of the forest, he said to his followers,

“Just stay waiting here, I alone will soon finish off the giants.” Then

he bounded into the forest and looked about right and left. After a

while he perceived both giants. They lay sleeping under a tree, and

snored so that the branches waved up and down. The little tailor, not

idle, gathered two pocketsful of stones, and with these climbed up the

tree. When he was half-way up, he slipped down by a branch, until he

sat just above the sleepers, and then let one stone after another fall

on the breast of one of the giants. For a long time the giant felt

nothing, but at last he awoke, pushed his comrade, and said, “Why art

thou knocking me?” “Thou must be dreaming,” said the other, “I am not

knocking thee.” They laid themselves down to sleep again, and then the

tailor threw a stone down on the second. “What is the meaning of this?”

cried the other. “Why art thou pelting me?” “I am not pelting thee,”

answered the first, growling. They disputed about it for a time, but as

they were weary they let the matter rest, and their eyes closed once

more. The little tailor began his game again, picked out the biggest

stone, and threw it with all his might on the breast of the first

giant. “That is too bad!” cried he, and sprang up like a madman, and

pushed his companion against the tree until it shook. The other paid

him back in the same coin, and they got into such a rage that they tore

up trees and belabored each other so long, that at last they both fell

down dead on the ground at the same time. Then the little tailor leapt

down. “It is a lucky thing,” said he, “that they did not tear up the

tree on which I was sitting, or I should have had to spring on to

another like a squirrel; but we tailors are nimble.” He drew out his

sword and gave each of them a couple of thrusts in the breast, and then

went out to the horsemen and said, “The work is done; I have given both

of them their finishing stroke, but it was hard work! They tore up

trees in their sore need, and defended themselves with them, but all

that is to no purpose when a man like myself comes, who can kill seven

at one blow.” “But are you not wounded?” asked the horsemen. “You need

not concern yourself about that,” answered the tailor, “They have not

bent one hair of mine.” The horsemen would not believe him, and rode

into the forest; there they found the giants swimming in their blood,

and all round about lay the torn-up trees.

The little tailor demanded of the King the promised reward; he,

however, repented of his promise, and again bethought himself how he

could get rid of the hero. “Before thou receivest my daughter, and the

half of my kingdom,” said he to him, “thou must perform one more heroic

deed. In the forest roams a unicorn which does great harm, and thou

must catch it first.” “I fear one unicorn still less than two giants.

Seven at one blow, is my kind of affair.” He took a rope and an axe

with him, went forth into the forest, and again bade those who were

sent with him to wait outside. He had to seek long. The unicorn soon

came towards him, and rushed directly on the tailor, as if it would

spit him on his horn without more ceremony. “Softly, softly; it can’t

be done as quickly as that,” said he, and stood still and waited until

the animal was quite close, and then sprang nimbly behind the tree. The

unicorn ran against the tree with all its strength, and struck its horn

so fast in the trunk that it had not strength enough to draw it out

again, and thus it was caught. “Now, I have got the bird,” said the

tailor, and came out from behind the tree and put the rope round its

neck, and then with his axe he hewed the horn out of the tree, and when

all was ready he led the beast away and took it to the King.

The King still would not give him the promised reward, and made a third

demand. Before the wedding the tailor was to catch him a wild boar that

made great havoc in the forest, and the huntsmen should give him their

help. “Willingly,” said the tailor, “that is child’s play!” He did not

take the huntsmen with him into the forest, and they were well pleased

that he did not, for the wild boar had several times received them in

such a manner that they had no inclination to lie in wait for him. When

the boar perceived the tailor, it ran on him with foaming mouth and

whetted tusks, and was about to throw him to the ground, but the active

hero sprang into a chapel which was near, and up to the window at once,

and in one bound out again. The boar ran in after him, but the tailor

ran round outside and shut the door behind it, and then the raging

beast, which was much too heavy and awkward to leap out of the window,

was caught. The little tailor called the huntsmen thither that they

might see the prisoner with their own eyes. The hero, however went to

the King, who was now, whether he liked it or not, obliged to keep his

promise, and gave him his daughter and the half of his kingdom. Had he

known that it was no warlike hero, but a little tailor who was standing

before him, it would have gone to his heart still more than it did. The

wedding was held with great magnificence and small joy, and out of a

tailor a king was made.

After some time the young Queen heard her husband say in his dreams at

night, “Boy, make me the doublet, and patch the pantaloons, or else I

will rap the yard-measure over thine ears.” Then she discovered in what

state of life the young lord had been born, and next morning complained

of her wrongs to her father, and begged him to help her to get rid of

her husband, who was nothing else but a tailor. The King comforted her

and said, “Leave thy bed-room door open this night, and my servants

shall stand outside, and when he has fallen asleep shall go in, bind

him, and take him on board a ship which shall carry him into the wide

world.” The woman was satisfied with this; but the King’s

armour-bearer, who had heard all, was friendly with the young lord, and

informed him of the whole plot. “I’ll put a screw into that business,”

said the little tailor. At night he went to bed with his wife at the

usual time, and when she thought that he had fallen asleep, she got up,

opened the door, and then lay down again. The little tailor, who was

only pretending to be asleep, began to cry out in a clear voice, “Boy,

make me the doublet and patch me the pantaloons, or I will rap the

yard-measure over thine ears. I smote seven at one blow. I killed two

giants, I brought away one unicorn and caught a wild boar, and am I to

fear those who are standing outside the room.” When these men heard the

tailor speaking thus, they were overcome by a great dread, and ran as

if the wild huntsman were behind them, and none of them would venture

anything further against him. So the little tailor was a king and

remained one, to the end of his life.