The Cunning Little Tailor

Once upon a time there was a princess who was very proud. When a prince came to ask for her hand, she gave him a riddle to solve. If he could not solve it, she sent him away with scorn.

She also let it be known that whoever solved her riddle could marry her, no matter who he was. At last, three tailors met each other. The two eldest thought they had done so many clever bits of work that they could surely succeed at this too.

The third was a little, useless fellow who did not even know his trade properly, but he thought he must have some luck in this venture, for where else would it come from? The other two said to him, "Just stay at home.

You cannot do much with your tiny bit of sense." But the little tailor did not let himself be discouraged. He said he had put his mind to work for once, and he would manage well enough. And he went forth as if the whole world belonged to him.

They all three announced themselves to the princess and said she should tell them her riddle. They said the right persons had now come, men with such fine understanding that they could be threaded through a needle. Then the princess said, "I have two kinds of hair on my head.

What colors are they?" "If that's all," said the first, "they must be black and white, like the cloth called pepper and salt." The princess said, "Wrong guess. Let the second answer." Then the second said, "If not black and white, then brown and red, like my father's coat." "Wrong again," said the princess.

"Let the third answer, for I see he knows it for sure." Then the little tailor stepped forward boldly and said, "The princess has silver and golden hair on her head. Those are the two different colors." When the princess heard that, she turned pale and nearly fell down with terror, for the little tailor had guessed her riddle, and she had firmly believed that no one on earth could discover it.

When she regained her courage, she said, "You have not won me yet by that. There is still something else you must do. Down in the stable is a bear. You shall spend the night with it.

When I get up in the morning and you are still alive, you shall marry me." She expected that she would get rid of the tailor this way, for the bear had never let anyone who fell into its clutches escape alive. The little tailor was not frightened.

He was quite delighted and said, "Boldly ventured is half won."

When evening came, the little tailor was taken down to the bear. The bear was about to attack the little fellow at once and give him a hearty welcome with his paws. "Gently, gently," said the little tailor.

"I will soon quiet you down." Then quite calmly, as if he had not a worry in the world, he took some nuts out of his pocket, cracked them, and ate the kernels. When the bear saw that, he wanted some nuts too.

The tailor felt in his pockets and handed him a handful. But they were not nuts; they were pebbles. The bear put them in his mouth but could not crack them, try as he might. "Oh," thought the bear, "what a stupid blockhead I am!

I cannot even crack a nut!" Then he said to the tailor, "Here, crack these nuts for me." "There, see what a stupid fellow you are!" said the little tailor. "To have such a big mouth and not be able to crack a small nut!" Then he took the pebble and quickly put a real nut in his mouth instead, and crack!

He bit it in two. "I must try that again," said the bear. "When I watch you, I think I should be able to do it too." So the tailor gave him another pebble, and the bear tried and tried to bite into it with all his strength.

But you can imagine he never succeeded.

When that was done, the tailor took out a violin from under his coat and played a tune. When the bear heard the music, he could not help dancing. And when he had danced a while, he liked it so much that he said to the little tailor, "Listen, is the fiddle heavy?" "Light enough for a child.

Look, with my left hand I place my fingers on it, and with my right I stroke it with the bow, and then it goes merrily, hop sa sa vivallalera!" "So," said the bear, "I would like to learn to fiddle too, so I can dance whenever I feel like it.

What do you think? Will you give me lessons?" "With all my heart," said the tailor, "if you have a talent for it. But let me see your claws. They are terribly long. I must cut your nails a little." Then a vise was brought, and the bear put his claws in it.

The little tailor screwed it tight and said, "Now wait until I come with the scissors." He let the bear growl as much as he liked, lay down in the corner on a bundle of straw, and fell asleep.

When the princess heard the bear growling so fiercely during the night, she believed nothing else but that the bear was growling with joy and had finished off the tailor. In the morning she got up carefree and happy.

But when she peeped into the stable, the tailor stood cheerfully before her, as healthy as a fish in water. Now she could say no more against the wedding, because she had given her promise before everyone. The king ordered a carriage to be brought.

The princess was to drive to church with the tailor, and there she was to be married. When they had gotten into the carriage, the two other tailors, who had false hearts and envied him his good fortune, went into the stable and unscrewed the vise, freeing the bear.

The bear, in great fury, ran after the carriage. The princess heard him snorting and growling. She was terrified and cried, "Oh! The bear is behind us and wants to get you!" The tailor was quick.

He stood on his head, stuck his legs out of the window, and cried, "Do you see the vise? If you do not go away, you will be put back into it!" When the bear saw that, he turned around and ran away.

The tailor drove quietly to church, and the princess was married to him at once. He lived with her as happy as a lark. Whoever does not believe this must pay a thaler.