The Cunning Little Tailor

In a bustling market town, there lived a little tailor who was no bigger than a child but possessed a wit as sharp as his finest needle and a tongue quicker than his nimblest fingers. Though he was small in stature, he was enormous in cleverness, and this is the tale of how his cunning got him into - and out of - the most extraordinary adventures.

The Boastful Beginning

One morning, the little tailor was working in his shop when he grew hungry. He had bought some jam from a peddler and was spreading it on his bread when flies began to swarm around the sweet preserve.

“Shoo! Away with you!” he cried, swatting at the pesky insects with his cloth. With one mighty swipe, he managed to kill seven flies at once.

The little tailor was so pleased with his feat that he decided to commemorate it. Taking his needle and thread, he embroidered on his belt in large, proud letters: “Seven at One Blow!”

Admiring his handiwork, the tailor puffed out his small chest. “The whole world should know of my mighty deed!” he declared. “Such a feat deserves fame beyond this small town!”

The Journey Begins

Filled with pride over his “victory,” the little tailor decided to seek his fortune in the wide world. He packed his few belongings, put a piece of cheese in his pocket (which happened to have a small bird trapped inside), and set off down the road with his belt proudly displaying his embroidered boast.

As he walked, he practiced telling his story, conveniently forgetting to mention that his “seven at one blow” referred to flies rather than men. Soon, he began to believe his own embellishments.

“Yes,” he murmured to himself, “seven at one blow! Surely such a warrior deserves better than mending clothes for a living!”

The Giant’s Challenge

As the tailor traveled through a dark forest, he encountered an enormous giant, tall as three oak trees and broad as a barn. The giant looked down at the tiny man and read the words on his belt.

“Seven at One Blow!” the giant rumbled. “So, little man, you’re a mighty warrior, are you? I suppose you think you’re very fierce!”

The tailor, though trembling inside, put on a brave face. “Indeed I am! These hands have brought down seven with a single strike!”

The giant laughed thunderously. “If you’re so strong, let’s have a contest. Can you do this?” The giant picked up a large rock and squeezed it so hard that water dripped from it like rain.

“Child’s play!” scoffed the little tailor. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the piece of cheese, squeezing it until the whey ran out between his fingers. “See? I can squeeze water from a stone so easily that it flows like a river!”

The Throwing Contest

Impressed despite himself, the giant picked up another rock and hurled it so high into the air that it took a full minute to come back down.

“Beat that, little warrior!” the giant challenged.

The tailor smiled cunningly and reached into his pocket, pulling out the piece of cheese that contained the trapped bird. “Watch this!” he cried, and threw the cheese high into the air.

The bird, suddenly freed, spread its wings and flew away, disappearing into the clouds.

“Amazing!” gasped the giant. “Your stone never came down at all! It flew right into the heavens!”

The Tree-Carrying Test

“One more test,” the giant said, still not quite convinced. “Help me carry this fallen tree back to my home.”

The tailor looked at the enormous oak trunk and nodded confidently. “Of course! You take the heavy end at the roots, and I’ll carry the light end with all the branches. After all, it’s much more difficult to handle that part.”

The giant, impressed by the tailor’s apparent generosity in taking the harder task, hoisted the massive root end onto his shoulder and began walking. Unknown to him, the clever tailor simply climbed up among the branches and rode comfortably while the giant did all the work.

As they walked, the tailor even whistled a merry tune, calling out, “Keep up! Don’t lag behind!”

The giant, struggling under the tree’s weight and hearing the cheerful whistling behind him, marveled at his companion’s strength and endurance.

The Giants’ Lair

When they reached the giants’ camp, the little tailor discovered that his new “friend” lived with several other giants, each more enormous and frightening than the last. They welcomed the tailor as a fellow warrior and invited him to share their meal and spend the night.

The giants prepared a bed for their guest - unfortunately, it was built for someone their size, not for a little tailor. The bed was so large that the tailor would have been lost in it like a pea in a barrel.

Thinking quickly, the tailor pretended to be honored by their hospitality but claimed he was accustomed to sleeping under the stars. He curled up in a corner of the cave while the giants retired to their massive beds.

The Midnight Plot

In the middle of the night, the tailor was awakened by whispering voices. The giants were plotting together in hushed tones.

“This ‘Seven at One Blow’ fellow is too dangerous to let live,” one giant rumbled quietly. “If he can kill seven warriors with one blow, what might he do to us while we sleep?”

“Let’s crush him now while he’s defenseless,” suggested another.

Fortunately for the tailor, they thought he was sleeping in the giant bed they had prepared. In the darkness, they crept over with enormous clubs and began pounding the empty bed with tremendous force, congratulating themselves on eliminating the threat.

The Morning Surprise

The next morning, the giants were astonished to see the little tailor emerge from his corner, stretching and yawning as if he had enjoyed a peaceful night’s sleep.

“Good morning, friends!” he called cheerfully. “I slept wonderfully, though I did feel a few mosquitoes buzzing around during the night. I had to brush them off several times.”

The giants stared at each other in horror. Their mighty blows, which could have felled an oak tree, had felt like mosquito bites to this incredible warrior! Terrified, they fled from their own cave, crashing through the forest in their haste to escape.

The King’s Notice

Word of the little tailor’s “victory” over multiple giants spread quickly through the land. Soon, the story reached the ears of the king, who was always in need of brave warriors to protect his kingdom.

“Send for this mighty hero!” the king commanded. “Anyone who can defeat giants single-handedly will be valuable in our army!”

When the royal messenger arrived and offered the tailor a position as the king’s champion, the little man accepted immediately. After all, being a royal warrior sounded much more exciting than stitching clothes all day.

The Royal Test

The king, wanting to test his new champion’s abilities, presented him with a challenge. “In the mountains near my kingdom, two terrible giants have been terrorizing my people, destroying crops and frightening travelers. If you can defeat them, I will give you my daughter’s hand in marriage and half my kingdom.”

The tailor, having already “defeated” giants once, agreed confidently. “Two giants? After facing several at once, this should be simple!”

The Clever Strategy

When the tailor reached the mountains, he found the two giants sleeping under a large tree. They were even bigger than the ones he had encountered before, and they snored so loudly that the ground shook.

Rather than trying to fight them directly, the clever tailor climbed the tree above them and began pelting one giant with rocks. When the first giant woke up, he naturally assumed his companion was hitting him.

“Why are you throwing rocks at me?” the first giant roared, shaking his friend awake.

“I’m not throwing anything!” the second giant protested. “You must be dreaming!”

They argued briefly, then went back to sleep. The tailor immediately resumed his rock-throwing, this time targeting the second giant.

The Giants’ Downfall

This pattern continued until both giants were thoroughly annoyed with each other. Each was convinced the other was disturbing his sleep on purpose. Finally, their tempers exploded into a tremendous fight.

The two giants battled each other with such fury that they uprooted trees to use as clubs, hurled boulders like pebbles, and created such a commotion that it could be heard for miles. In the end, they managed to knock each other unconscious with simultaneous blows to the head.

The little tailor climbed down from his tree and used his needle to prick each giant, ensuring they were truly defeated. Then he returned to the king with news of his “victory.”

The Royal Reward

True to his word, the king granted the tailor his daughter’s hand in marriage and half the kingdom. The princess, though initially surprised by her husband’s small stature, soon discovered his wit and cleverness, and they became genuinely fond of each other.

The little tailor became known throughout the land as a great hero, though he never revealed the true secret of his success. He ruled his half of the kingdom with wisdom and cleverness, solving problems through wit rather than force.

The Tailor’s Wisdom

Years later, when people asked the tailor (now a duke) about his incredible feats, he would smile and say, “The greatest strength lies not in the size of one’s muscles, but in the quickness of one’s mind. A clever solution is worth more than a dozen swords.”

His belt, still embroidered with “Seven at One Blow,” hung in a place of honor in his castle, though by then everyone had forgotten it originally referred to flies.

The Moral of Cleverness

The tale of the Cunning Little Tailor spread far and wide, becoming a favorite story among both children and adults. It taught them that wit and intelligence could triumph over brute force, that quick thinking could solve problems that seemed impossible, and that sometimes the smallest person could achieve the greatest victories.

And in the kingdom, whenever someone faced a problem that seemed too big to handle, they would remember the little tailor and say, “Perhaps there’s a clever way to solve this after all.”

The tailor’s story became a reminder that courage, cleverness, and a bit of creative thinking could overcome obstacles that seemed insurmountable, and that true strength came from the mind and heart rather than from the size of one’s fists.