Brave Little Tailor
Brave Little Tailor, also titled Seven at One Blow, is a fairy tale about a poor tailor who starts his day with a simple wish. He just wants to eat some jam. Flies try to land on the jam and the tailor kills them. When he counts the dead flies, he realizes that were seven of them.
He thinks that such a deed is something extraordinary so he cuts the fact in his belt: "Seven at one blow." Then he decides he should go out and seek some more adventures in the world. After all, he is able to kill seven at one blow.
On his way, he buys some cheese and catches a bird. He puts them in his pockets. Soon after that, he meets a giant. The giant notices the writing where he brags about the killing and believes the little man killed seven people. He challenges him into a fight.
The tailor proposes a competition instead. They shall see who is stronger by crashing a rock. The giant does that without a problem. But the tailor not only crushes his stone (it is cheese), he manages to squeeze water (it is whey) out of it. The giant is impressed.
The next challenge is throwing a rock. The giant throws one very high and it lands back much later. But the tailor throws his rock (it is a bird) and it never landed! Again, the giant is defeated but not convinced of the little man's supremacy.
So they decide to carry a tree. The tailor says that the trunk is lighter and the giant shall grab that part. He is ready to take care of the brunches, which is clearly a harder task. When the giant takes the trunk the tailor sits on the brunches and the giant carries the tree and the tailor. The giant is exhausted and the tailor is fresh as a daisy.
After that, the giant tries to get rid of the mighty little man with the help of other giants. He invites him to his cage where many giants live. The night comes and the tailor feels his bed is too large so he sleeps in the corner.
All the giants get up and bash the bed into pieces. Nobody can survive that! In the morning, they realize that the tailor is still alive and well so they run away.
The tailor decides to join the army. After all, he is a hero. When the soldiers see his belt they are afraid and tell the king he shall get rid of him. Otherwise, they will leave the service.
The king offers the tailor the job of the commander if he is able to kill the two giants who live in the forest. He also promises him his daughter, a princess, for his wife and half of the kingdom. Of course, he doesn't expect that the man can fulfill the order.
The tailor finds the giants sleeping under the tree. He climbs up and from the safe heights of the tree starts throwing stones at them. They are both convinced that the other giant is provoking. They argue and start a fight. They beat each other to death.
Then the king tries to get rid of the seemingly mighty warrior by giving him another dangerous task. He shall kill a unicorn who terrorizes people in the country.
The tailor tricks the unicorn to attack the tree behind which he stands and the unicorn catches itself by stinging the horn in the trunk.
The king becomes desperate. He doesn't want to keep his promise, so he gives another impossible task to the tailor. He shall get rid of a wild boar.
The tailor has another trick up his sleeve. He stands in front of the cottage and catches the boar in the cottage when the animal attacks.
The king finally runs out of ideas and keeps his promise. The tailor becomes the commander of his army and marries the princess. Everything looked fine yet this is not a happy ending.
One night he is talking in his sleep and the princess hears that he is not of noble origin. She is furious and organizes an assassination. Fortunately for the tailor, he has a few friends among the soldiers who inform him about her nasty plan.
So he just pretends that he is asleep the next night. When he feels the danger is near he starts talking again. This time he says that he killed seven with one blow, he defeated numerous giants, and caught the unicorn and the boar. Those few assassins who are crawling to attack him in his sleep will be no problem for him at all.
Then he lives happily ever after.
Did yu enjoy Carl Offterdinger's illustrations?