How Six Men Got on in the World

Once there was a man who knew all kinds of skills. He served in the war and fought bravely, but when the war ended, he was sent away with only three small coins for his journey. "Stop!" he said. "I won't accept this.

If I can just find the right people, the king will have to give me all the treasure in the country." Filled with anger, he went into the forest. There he saw a man standing who had pulled up six trees as if they were blades of grass.

"Will you be my servant and come with me?" he asked. "Yes," the man answered, "but first I'll take this little bundle of sticks home to my mother." He took one tree, wrapped it around the other five, lifted the bundle onto his back, and carried it away.

Then he returned and went with his new master, who said, "The two of us should get along very well in the world."

They walked on and soon found a huntsman kneeling with his gun raised, ready to shoot. "Huntsman, what are you going to shoot?" the master asked. "Two miles from here," the huntsman replied, "a fly is sitting on a branch of an oak tree, and I want to shoot out its left eye." "Oh, come with me!" said the man.

"If the three of us are together, we'll surely get on in the world!" The huntsman agreed and joined them. They came to seven windmills whose sails were spinning fast, yet no wind was blowing from any direction, and not a leaf stirred.

"I don't know what's driving the windmills," said the man. "There's not a breath of air." He went on with his servants, and after walking two miles, they saw a man sitting in a tree. He was closing one nostril and blowing out of the other. "Good heavens!

What are you doing up there?" the master asked. "Two miles from here are seven windmills," the man answered. "Look, I'm blowing them to make them turn." "Oh, come with me!" said the man. "If the four of us are together, we'll carry the whole world before us!" The blower climbed down and joined them.

After a while, they saw a man standing on one leg. He had taken off his other leg and laid it beside him. "You've made yourself very comfortable to rest," said the master. "I am a runner," the man replied. "To keep myself from running too fast, I take off one leg.

If I run with both, I go faster than any bird can fly." "Oh, come with me!" said the master. "If the five of us are together, we'll carry the whole world before us!" So the runner joined them.

Soon they met a man who wore a cap pushed to one side of his head. "Gracefully, gracefully!" said the master. "Don't wear your cap like that; you look like a fool." "I must wear it this way," the man replied.

"If I put my hat straight, a terrible frost comes, and all the birds in the air freeze and drop dead to the ground." "Oh, come with me!" said the master. "If the six of us are together, we'll carry the whole world before us!"

Now the six came to a town where the king had announced that whoever won a race against his daughter would marry her, but whoever lost would lose his head. The man stepped forward and said, "I'll let my servant run for me." The king replied, "Then his life is also at stake, so both your heads are on the line." When that was settled, the man buckled the runner's other leg back on and said, "Now be quick, and help us win!" It was decided that whoever first brought water from a distant well would be the winner.

The runner got a pitcher, and the king's daughter got one too. They started running at the same moment. In an instant, before the princess had gone very far, the runner had disappeared from sight—it was as if the wind had whistled past.

Soon he reached the well, filled his pitcher, and turned back. But halfway home, he grew tired, set down the pitcher, lay down, and fell asleep. He had made a pillow out of a horse's skull lying on the ground, so that he would lie uncomfortably and wake up soon.

Meanwhile, the king's daughter, who could run as well as any ordinary person, reached the well, filled her pitcher, and hurried back. When she saw the runner sleeping, she was glad and said, "My enemy is in my hands!" She emptied his pitcher and ran on.

All would have been lost if the huntsman had not been standing on top of the castle, watching everything with his sharp eyes. "The princess won't win," he said. He loaded his gun and shot so cleverly that he shot the horse's skull from under the runner's head without hurting him.

The runner woke, jumped up, saw his empty pitcher, and realized the princess was far ahead. But he did not give up. He ran back to the well, refilled his pitcher, and returned home ten minutes before the princess. "There!" he said. "I barely tried until now.

That wasn't even worth calling running."

But the king and his daughter were upset that a common soldier might win her. They plotted how to get rid of him and his companions. The king said, "I have an idea. Don't worry—they won't come back." He told the six, "Now celebrate and eat and drink!" He led them to a room with an iron floor, iron doors, and iron bars on the windows.

Inside was a table full of delicious food. The king said, "Go in and enjoy yourselves." Once they were inside, he ordered the doors to be locked. Then he sent for the cook and commanded him to light a fire under the room until the iron turned red-hot. The cook did so.

Soon the six men at the table began to feel warm. At first they thought it was from the food, but when the heat grew stronger, they tried to get out. The doors and windows were bolted. They realized the king wanted to suffocate them.

"He won't succeed!" said the man with the cap. "I'll make a frost that will make the fire ashamed and creep away." He put his cap straight, and instantly a terrible frost came. All the heat disappeared, and the food on the dishes began to freeze.

After a few hours, the king thought they had perished. He opened the doors to see. But there stood all six, alive and well, saying they wanted to go out and warm themselves because even the food had frozen to the dishes. Furious, the king went down to the cook and scolded him. The cook said, "There's plenty of heat—look for yourself!" The king saw a fierce fire burning under the iron room and realized he could not defeat the six this way.

Again the king thought of how to get rid of his unwanted guests. He had their leader brought to him and said, "If you take gold and give up my daughter, you can have as much as you want." "Oh yes, my lord king," the man replied.

"Give me as much as my servant can carry, and I'll give up your daughter." The king agreed. The man said, "In fourteen days, I'll come and fetch it." Then the king summoned all the tailors in the kingdom, and they sat for fourteen days sewing a sack.

When it was ready, the strong man who could pull up trees took it on his back and went to the king. The king saw him and said, "Who is that strong fellow carrying a bundle of linen as big as a house?" He grew alarmed.

"What a lot of gold he can carry away!" He ordered a ton of gold to be brought. It took sixteen of his strongest men to carry it, but the strong man snatched it with one hand, put it in his sack, and said, "Why don't you bring more at once?

This hardly covers the bottom!" Little by little, the king had all his treasure brought. The strong man pushed it into the sack, but still the sack was not half full. "Bring more!" he cried.

"These few crumbs don't fill it." Then seven thousand carts full of gold had to be gathered from all over the kingdom, and the strong man shoved them and the oxen into his sack. "I won't check anymore," he said.

"I'll just take whatever comes until the sack is full." When all was inside, there was still room. "I'll just finish this," he said. "People sometimes tie up a sack even if it's not full." So he lifted the sack onto his back and went away with his comrades.

When the king saw that one man was carrying away all the country's wealth, he became enraged and ordered his horsemen to pursue the six and take the sack. Two regiments quickly caught up and shouted, "You are prisoners!

Put down the sack of gold, or you'll all be cut to pieces!" "What did you say?" cried the blower. "That we are prisoners? Instead of that, you will all dance in the air!" He closed one nostril and blew with the other at the two regiments.

They were blown apart, carried into the blue sky over the mountains—some here, some there. One sergeant cried for mercy; he had nine wounds and was a brave fellow who did not deserve mistreatment. The blower stopped for a moment so that he landed unharmed.

Then the blower said, "Now go home to your king and tell him he'd better send more horsemen, and I'll blow them all into the air!" When the king heard this, he said, "Let the rascals go.

They have won." Then the six brought the treasure home, divided it among themselves, and lived happily until they died.