The Brave 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 all the pots for him.
He inspected each one, lifted it up, put his nose to it, and at
length said: 'The jam seems to me to be good. I'll buy a jar." The
women, who had hoped to sell far more jam, gave him what he wanted but
went away grumbling.
'Now, this jam shall be blessed by God,' 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 rose to
where the flies were sitting in great numbers, and they were attracted
and descended on it in hosts.
'The little tailor drew a piece of cloth and struck it mercilessly on
them.
When he drew it away and counted, there lay before him no fewer than
seven flies, dead and with legs stretched out.
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 tiredness.
The road led him up a mountain, there sat a powerful giant . The
little tailor went bravely up, spoke to him. The giant looked
contemptuously at the tailor, and said: ! 'You miserable creature!'. The
little tailor, and unbuttoned his coat, and showed the giant the belt.
The giant read: 'Seven dead 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 so that water dropped out of it.
'Do that,' said the giant 'that is child's play !' said the little
fellow and put his hand into his pocket, brought out the soft cheese,
and pressed it until the liquid ran out of it. Then the giant picked up
a stone and threw it so high that the eye could scarcely follow it.
'Now, do that,' '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.
Now
he took the little tailor to a mighty oak tree which lay there felled on
the ground and said: 'If you are strong enough, help me to carry the
tree out of the forest.' 'Readily,' answered the little man; 'take you
the trunk on your 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: 'Now 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: 'You are such a great
fellow, and yet cannot even carry the tree!'
The giant said: 'If you are such a brave fellow, come with me into
our cave 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 finished off the
grasshopper of a man for good.
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 belt: 'Seven dead with one stroke.' 'Ah!' said
they, 'what does the great warrior want here in the midst of peace? He
must be a mighty lord.' Soon the Taylor was brought before the king who
had a request to make of him.
"In the forest roams a magical horse with one horn - a unicorn which
does great harm attacking people all around. If you can can rid me of
this unicorn, you shall have the hand of my daughter in marriage and
half my kingdom." And the Taylor thought to himself, "It is not every
day that I receive an offer such as that" and he replied. I do not fear
one unicorn.
Seven at one blow, is my kind of affair.' He took a rope and an axe
with him, went forth into the forest. The unicorn soon came towards him,
and rushed directly on the tailor, as if it would gore him with its horn
without much ado. '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 stuck its
horn so fast in the trunk that it had not the strength enough to draw it
out again, and thus it was caught. 'Now, I have got it,' 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.
But the kind was sorry that he had promised his daughter to the
little man, and and made another demand. Before the wedding the tailor
was to catch him a wild boar that made great havoc in the forest. And so
the tailor went into the forest where the boar was roaming.
When the boar saw the tailor, it ran towards him with foaming mouth
and sharp tusks, and was about to throw him to the ground, but the hero
fled and sprang into a chapel which was near and up to the window at
once and in one bound out again.
The boar ran 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 hero, went to the king, who was now, whether he liked it or not,
obliged to keep his promise, and gave his daughter and the half of his
kingdom.
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 jacket , and patch the trousers". The next
morning the 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 your bedroom 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 jacket , and patch
the trousers".. 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 fear, and ran as if the wild huntsman were behind them, and none
of them would venture anything further against him.
So the little tailor remained a king to the end of his life. And that
was the tale of the Brave Little Taylor by the Brothers Grimm.
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