<h5 id="id02619">THE BRAVE LITTLE TAILOR</h5>
<p id="id02620">Anonymous</p>
<p id="id02621">ONE summer's day a little Tailor sat on his table by the window in the
best of spirits and sewed for dear life. As he was sitting thus a
peasant woman came down the street, calling out: "Good jam to sell!
good jam to sell!" This sounded sweetly in the Tailor's ears; he put
his little head out of the window and shouted: "Up here, my good
woman, and you'll find a willing customer!" The woman climbed up the
three flights of stairs with her heavy basket to the tailor's room, and
he made her spread out the pots in a row before him. He examined them
all, lifted them up and smelt them, and said at last: "This jam seems
good; weigh me four ounces of it, my good woman; and even if it's a
quarter of a pound I won't stick at it." The woman, who had hoped to
find a good market, gave him what he wanted, but went away grumbling
wrathfully. "Now Heaven shall bless this jam for my use," cried the
little Tailor, "and it shall sustain and strengthen me." He fetched
some bread out of a cupboard, cut a round off the loaf, and spread the
jam on it. "That will taste good," he said; "but I'll finish that
waistcoat first before I take a bite." He placed the bread beside him,
went on sewing, and out of the lightness of his heart kept on making
his stitches bigger and bigger. In the meantime the smell of the sweet
jam rose to the ceiling, where swarms of flies were gathered, and
attracted them to such an extent that they swarmed on to it in masses.
"Ha! who invited you?" said the Tailor, and chased the unwelcome guests
away. But the flies, who didn't understand English, refused to let
themselves be warned off, and returned again in even greater numbers.
At last the Tailor, losing all patience, reached out of his chimney-
corner for a duster, and exclaiming, "Wait, and I'll give it to you!"
he beat them mercilessly with it. When he left off he counted the
slain, and no fewer than seven lay dead before him with outstretched
legs. "What a brave fellow I am!" said he, and was filled with
admiration at his own courage. "The whole town must know about this;"
and in great haste the little Tailor cut out a girdle, hemmed it, and
embroidered on it in big letters, "Seven at a blow." "What did I say,
the town? no, the whole world shall hear of it," he said; and his heart
beat for joy as a lamb wags his tail.</p>
<p id="id02622">The Tailor strapped the girdle round his waist and set out into the
wide world, for he considered his workroom too small a field for his
bravery. Before he set forth he looked round about him, to see if
there was anything in the house he could take with him on his journey;
but he found nothing except an old cheese, which he took possession of.
In front of the house he observed a bird that had been caught in some
bushes, and this he put into his wallet beside the cheese. Then he
went on his way merrily, and being light and quick he never felt tired.
His way led up a hill on the top of which sat a powerful Giant, who was
calmly surveying the landscape. The little Tailor went up to him, and
greeting him cheerfully said: "Good-day, friend; there you sit at your
ease viewing the whole wide world. I'm just on my way there. What do
you say to accompanying me?" The Giant looked contemptuously at the
Tailor, and said: "What a poor, wretched little creature you are!"
"That's a good joke," answered the little Tailor, and unbuttoning his
coat he showed the Giant the girdle. "There, now, you can read what
sort of a fellow I am." The Giant read: "Seven at a blow," and
thinking they were human beings the Tailor had slain, he had a certain
respect for the little man. But first he thought he'd test him; so
taking up a stone in his hand, he squeezed it till some drops of water
ran out. "Now you do the same," said the Giant, "if you really wish to
be thought strong." "Is that all?" said the little Tailor; "that's
child's play to me." So he dived into his wallet, brought out the
cheese, and pressed it till the whey ran out. "My squeeze was better
than yours," said he. The Giant didn't know what to say, for he
couldn't have believed it of the little fellow. To prove him again,
the Giant lifted a stone and threw it so high that the eye could hardly
follow it. "Now, my little dwarf, let me see you do that." "Well
thrown," said the Tailor; "but, after all, your stone fell to the
ground; I'll throw one that won't come down at all." He dived into his
wallet again, and grasping the bird in his hand he threw it up into the
air. The bird, enchanted to be free, soared up into the sky, and flew
away never to return. "Well, what do you think of that little piece of
business, friend?" asked the Tailor. "You can certainly throw," said
the Giant; "but now let's see if you can carry a proper weight." With
these words he led the Tailor to a huge oak-tree which had been felled
to the ground, and said: "If you are strong enough, help me carry the
tree out of the wood." "Most certainly," said the little Tailor: "just
you take the trunk on your shoulder; I'll bear the top and branches,
which is certainly the heaviest part." The Giant laid the trunk on his
shoulder, but the Tailor sat at his ease among the branches; and the
Giant, who couldn't see what was going on behind him, had to carry the
whole tree, and the little Tailor into the bargain. There he sat
behind in the best of spirits, lustily whistling a tune, as if carrying
the tree were mere sport. The Giant after dragging the heavy weight
for some time, could get on no farther, and shouted out: "Hi! I must
let the tree fall." The Tailor sprang nimbly down, seized the tree
with both hands as if he had carried it the whole way, and said to the
Giant: "Fancy a big lazy fellow like you not being able to carry a
tree!"</p>
<p id="id02623">They continued to go on their way together, and as they passed by a
cherry-tree the Giant grasped the top of it, where the ripest fruit
hung, gave the branches into the Tailor's hand, and bade him eat. But
the little Tailor was far too weak to hold the tree down, and when the
Giant let go the tree swung back into the air, bearing the little
Tailor with it. When he had fallen to the ground again without hurting
himself, the Giant said: "What! do you mean to tell me you haven't
the strength to hold down a feeble twig?" "It wasn't strength that was
wanting," replied time Tailor; "do you think that would have been
anything for a man who has killed seven at a blow? I jumped over the
tree because the huntsmen are shooting among the branches near us. Do
you do the like if you dare." The Giant made an attempt, but couldn't
get over the tree, and stuck fast in the branches, so that here, too,
the little Tailor had the better of him.</p>
<p id="id02624">"Well, you're a fine fellow, after all," said the Giant; "come and
spend the night with us in our cave." The little Tailor willingly
consented to do this, and following his friend they went on till they
reached a cave where several other giants were sitting round a fire,
each holding a roast sheep in his hand, of which he was eating. The
little Tailor looked about him, and thought: "Yes, there's certainly
more room to turn round in here than in my workshop." The Giant showed
him a bed, and bade him lie down and have a good sleep. But the bed
was too big for the little Tailor, so he didn't get into it, but crept
away into the corner. At midnight, when the Giant thought the little
Tailor was fast asleep, he rose up, and taking his big iron walking-
stick, he broke the bed in two with a blow, and thought he had made an
end of the little grasshopper. At early dawn the Giants went off to
the wood, and quite forgot about the little Tailor, till all of a
sudden they met him trudging along in the most cheerful manner. The
Giants were terrified at seeing him, and, fearing lest he should slay
them, they all took to their heels as fast as they could.</p>
<p id="id02625">The Little Tailor continued to follow his nose, and after he had
wandered about for a long time he came to the courtyard of a royal
palace, and feeling tired he lay down on the grass and fell asleep.
While he lay there the people came, and looking him all over read on
his girdle, "Seven at a blow." "Oh!" they said, "what can this great
hero of a hundred fights want in our peaceful land? He must indeed be
a mighty man of valor." They went and told the King about him, and
said what a weighty and useful man he'd be in time of war and that it
would be well to secure him at any price. This counsel pleased the
King, and he sent one of his courtiers down to the little Tailor, to
offer him, when he awoke, a commission in their army. The messenger
remained standing by the sleeper, and waited till he stretched his
limbs and opened his eyes, when he tendered his proposal. "That's the
very thing I came here for," he answered; "I am quite ready to enter
the King's service." So he was received with all honor, and given a
special house of his own to live in.</p>
<p id="id02626">But the other officers were angry at the success of the little Tailor,
and wished him a thousand miles away. "What's to come of it all?" they
asked one another; "if we quarrel with him, he'll let out at us, and at
every blow seven will fall. There'll soon be an end of us." So they
resolved to go in a body to the King, and all to send in their papers.
"We are not made," they said. "to hold out against a man who kills
seven at a blow." The King was grieved at the thought of losing all
his faithful servants for the sake of one man, and he wished heartily
that he had never set eyes on him, or that he could get rid of him.
But he didn't dare to send him away, for he feared he might kill him
and place himself on the throne. He thought long and deeply over the
matter, and finally came to a conclusion. He sent for the Tailor and
told him that, seeing what a great and warlike hero he was, he was
about to make him an offer. In a certain wood of his kingdom there
dwelt two Giants who did much harm by the way they robbed, murdered,
burnt, and plundered everything about them; "no one could approach them
without endangering his life. If he could overcome and kill these two
giants he should have the King's only daughter for a wife, and half his
kingdom into the bargain; he might have a hundred horsemen, too, to
back him up." "That's the very thing for a man like me," thought the
little Tailor; "one doesn't get the offer of a beautiful princess and
half a kingdom every day." "Done with you," he answered; "I'll soon
put an end to the Giants. But I haven't the smallest need of your
hundred horsemen; a fellow who can slay seven men at a blow need not be
afraid of two."</p>
<p id="id02627">The little Tailor set out, and the hundred horsemen followed him. When
he came to the outskirts of the wood he said to his followers: "You
wait here, I'll manage the Giants by myself;" and he went on into the
wood, casting his sharp little eyes right and left about him. After a
while he spied the two Giants lying asleep under a tree, snoring till
the very boughs bent with the breeze. The little Tailor lost no time
in filling his wallet with stones, and then climbed up the tree under
which they lay. When he got to about the middle of it he slipped along
a branch till he sat just above the sleepers, when he threw down one
stone after the other on the nearest Giant. The Giant felt nothing for
a long time, but at last he woke up, and pinching his companion said:
"What did you strike me for?" "I didn't strike you," said the other;
"you must be dreaming." They both lay down to sleep again, and the
Tailor threw down a stone on the second Giant, who sprang up and cried:
"What's that for? Why did you throw something at me?" "I didn't throw
anything," growled the first one. They wrangled on for a time, till as
both were tired, they made up the matter and fell asleep again. The
little Tailor began his game once more, and flung the largest stone he
could find in his wallet with all his force, and hit the first Giant on
the chest. "This is too much of a good thing!" he yelled, and
springing up like a madman, he knocked his companion against the tree
till he trembled. He gave, however, as good as he got, and they became
so enraged that they tore up trees and beat each other with them, till
they both fell dead at once on the ground. Then the little Tailor
jumped down. "It's a mercy," he said, "that they didn't root up the
tree on which I was sitting, or I should have had to jump like a
squirrel on to another, which, nimble though I am, would have been no
easy job." He drew his sword and gave each of the Giants a very fine
thrust or two on the breast, and then went to the horsemen and said:
"The deed is done; I've put an end to the two of them; but I assure you
it has been no easy matter, for they even tore up trees in their
struggle to defend themselves; but all that's of no use against one who
slays seven men at a blow." "Weren't you wounded?" asked the horsemen.
"No fear," answered the Tailor; "they haven't touched a hair of my
head." But the horsemen wouldn't believe him till they rode into the
wood and found the Giants weltering in their blood, and the trees lying
around, torn up by the roots.</p>
<p id="id02628">The little Tailor now demanded the promised reward, but the King
repented his promise, and pondered once more how he could rid himself
of the hero. "Before you obtain the hand of my daughter and half my
kingdom," he said to him, "you must do another deed of valor. A
unicorn is running about loose in the wood and doing much mischief; you
must first catch it." "I'm even less afraid of one unicorn than of two
Giants; seven at a blow, that's my motto." He took a piece of cord and
an axe with him, went out to the wood, and again told the men who had
been sent with him to remain outside. He hadn't to search long, for
the unicorn soon passed by, and, on perceiving the Tailor, dashed
straight at him as though it were going to spike him on the spot.
"Gently, gently," said he; "not so fast, my friend;" and standing still
he waited till the beast was quite near, when he sprang lightly behind
a tree; the unicorn ran with all its force against the tree, and rammed
its horn so firmly into the trunk that it had no strength left to pull
it out again, and was thus successfully captured. "Now, I've caught my
bird," said the Tailor, and he came out from behind the tree, placed
the cord round its neck first, then struck the horn out of the tree
within his axe, and when everything was in order led the beast Before
the King.</p>
<p id="id02629">Still the King didn't want to give him the promised reward and made a
third demand. The Tailor was to catch a wild boar for him that did a
great deal of harm in the wood; and he might have the huntsmen to help
him. "Willingly," said the Tailor; "that's mere child's play." But he
didn't take the huntsmen into the wood with him, and they were well
enough pleased to remain behind, for the wild boar had often received
them in a manner which did not make them desire its further
acquaintance. As soon as the boar perceived the Tailor it ran at him
with foaming mouth and gleaming teeth, and tried to knock him down; but
our alert little friend ran into a chapel that stood near, and got out
of the window with a jump. The boar pursued him into the church, but
the Tailor skipped round to the door and closed it securely. So the
raging beast was caught, for it was far too heavy and unwieldy to
spring out of the window. The little Tailor summoned the huntsmen
together, that they might see the Prisoner with their own eyes. Then
the hero betook himself to the King, who was obliged now, whether he
liked it or not, to keep his promise, and hand him over his daughter
and half his kingdom. Had he known that no hero-warrior, but only a
little tailor, stood before him, it would have gone even more to his
heart. So the wedding was celebrated with much splendor and little
joy, and the Tailor became a King.</p>
<p id="id02630">After a time the Queen heard her husband saying one night in his sleep:
"My lad, make that waistcoat and patch these trousers, or I'll box your
ears." Thus she learned in what rank the young gentleman had been
born, and next day she poured forth her woes to her father, and begged
him to help her to get rid of a husband who was nothing more nor less
than a tailor. The King comforted her, and said: "Leave your bedroom
door open tonight; my servants shall stand outside, and when your
husband is fast asleep they shall enter, bind him fast, and carry him
on to a ship, which shall sail away out into the wide ocean." The
Queen was well satisfied with the idea, but the armor-bearer, who had
overheard everything, being much attached to his young master, went
straight to him and revealed the whole plot. "I'll soon put a stop to
the business," said the Tailor. That night he and his wife went to bed
at the usual time; and when she thought he had fallen asleep she got
up, opened the door, and then lay down again. The little Tailor, who
had only pretended to be asleep, began to call out in a clear voice:
"My lad, make that waistcoat and patch these trousers, or I'll box your
ears. I have killed seven at a blow, slain two giants, led a unicorn
captive, and caught a wild boar, then why should I be afraid of those
men standing outside my door?" The men, when they heard the Tailor
saying these words, were so terrified that they fled as if pursued by a
wild army, and didn't dare go near him again. So the little Tailor was
and remained a King all the days of his life.</p>
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