Story by: Brothers Grimm

Source: Kinder- und Hausmärchen

A tiny clever tailor standing confidently next to an enormous, muscular giant who towers over him, with the tailor holding his sewing tools while the giant flexes his massive arms

In a small village nestled at the foot of a great mountain, there lived a tailor who was known throughout the region not for his size—for he was quite small and slight of build—but for his quick wit, clever tongue, and remarkable ability to talk his way out of any difficult situation. This tailor, whose name was Hans, had earned a reputation for being able to solve problems through intelligence rather than strength, and he took great pride in his ability to outwit anyone who challenged him.

One day, as Hans was sitting in his shop working on a particularly fine coat for the village mayor, he heard heavy footsteps approaching his door. The footsteps were so loud and thunderous that they shook the entire building, causing his needles to rattle in their case and his spools of thread to roll off their shelves.

Looking up from his work, Hans saw the largest man he had ever encountered ducking through his doorway. This was not merely a tall man, but a true giant—easily three times the height of an ordinary person, with muscles that bulged like tree trunks and hands that could have crushed rocks to powder. The giant had to bend nearly in half just to fit inside the tailor’s modest shop.

“Are you the tailor I’ve heard so much about?” the giant rumbled in a voice like distant thunder. “The one who claims to be so clever and quick-witted?”

Hans set down his needle and thread and looked up at the enormous visitor with characteristic confidence. Despite the vast difference in their sizes, the tailor showed no sign of fear or intimidation.

“I am indeed Hans the tailor,” he replied cheerfully, “and I have been known to possess a certain amount of cleverness from time to time. What brings such a distinguished giant to my humble shop?”

The giant laughed, a sound like boulders tumbling down a mountainside. “Distinguished, am I? Well, little man, I like that. I’ve come here because I’ve heard rumors that you think you’re smarter than everyone else, including giants like myself. I thought I’d pay you a visit to see if these claims are true.”

Hans could see that the giant was looking for a contest of some sort, and his quick mind immediately began working to figure out how to handle this potentially dangerous situation. He knew that attempting to match the giant in physical strength would be foolish, but he also sensed that the giant’s pride might be used against him.

“Well,” Hans said thoughtfully, “I wouldn’t say I’m smarter than everyone, but I have had some success in using my wits to solve problems that others couldn’t handle. Of course, I imagine that someone of your impressive size and strength rarely needs to rely on cleverness when pure physical power will do the job.”

The giant puffed up with pride at this compliment. “Exactly right, little tailor! I can lift boulders that ten strong men couldn’t budge. I can uproot trees with my bare hands. I can throw stones so far that they disappear beyond the horizon. Why would I need cleverness when I have strength like this?”

Hans nodded appreciatively. “Most impressive indeed. But tell me, friend giant, have you ever encountered a problem that couldn’t be solved with strength alone? Surely someone as widely traveled as yourself must have run into such situations from time to time.”

The giant’s expression became slightly less confident. “Well,” he admitted reluctantly, “there have been a few occasions when brute force wasn’t quite enough. But I always managed to work things out in the end.”

“I’m sure you did,” Hans agreed diplomatically. “But what if I were to propose a little friendly competition between us? Not a contest of strength, mind you—that would hardly be fair given the obvious differences in our physical capabilities. Instead, what if we were to test which approach is more effective: your strength or my cleverness?”

The giant’s eyes lit up with interest. He had never been challenged in quite this way before, and his competitive nature was aroused by the prospect of proving his superiority over this small, seemingly insignificant tailor.

“What kind of competition did you have in mind?” the giant asked eagerly.

Hans pretended to think for a moment, though he had already formulated his plan. “Well, we could each attempt to solve the same problem, but using our own particular methods. You would rely on your strength, and I would rely on my wits. Whoever succeeds first—or succeeds at all—would be declared the winner.”

“And what would the winner receive?” the giant inquired.

“The satisfaction of proving their superiority, of course,” Hans replied. “Plus, perhaps a small wager to make things more interesting. If you win, I’ll make you the finest set of clothes you’ve ever owned, perfectly fitted to your impressive proportions, at no charge whatsoever. If I win, you’ll spread word throughout the region that the tailor Hans is indeed as clever as people say, and you’ll recommend my services to anyone who needs fine clothing.”

The giant found this proposition appealing, especially the prospect of getting free clothes from someone who was reputedly the best tailor in the area. “Agreed!” he boomed. “But what problem shall we attempt to solve?”

Hans looked around his shop thoughtfully. “I know,” he said finally. “There’s a boulder that has been blocking the road to the next village for several weeks now. The villagers have been trying to move it so that carts and wagons can pass, but they haven’t had any success. It’s causing considerable inconvenience for travelers and merchants. Why don’t we see who can clear that obstacle first?”

The giant laughed heartily. “A boulder?” he scoffed. “Little tailor, you’ve just made this the easiest contest of my life. I’ll have that stone moved before you can even walk to the location!”

The two men made their way to the site of the boulder, which was indeed a formidable obstacle. The stone was roughly the size of a small house and was wedged firmly in the narrow pass that served as the main road between villages. Several deep ruts in the ground around it showed where groups of men with ropes and levers had tried unsuccessfully to move it.

The giant rubbed his hands together eagerly. “Stand back, little man, and watch a real giant at work!”

The giant approached the boulder and wrapped his massive arms around it, straining with all his considerable might to lift or push the enormous stone. His face turned red with effort, the muscles in his arms and back bulged with exertion, and sweat poured down his forehead as he struggled with the immovable object.

For nearly an hour, the giant tried every approach he could think of. He pushed, he pulled, he lifted, he tried to roll the boulder, and he even attempted to break it apart with his bare hands. But despite his tremendous strength, the stone remained exactly where it was, as immovable as ever.

Finally, exhausted and frustrated, the giant stepped back from the boulder and wiped the sweat from his brow. “That stone must be enchanted,” he panted. “No ordinary boulder could resist my strength like this.”

Hans, who had been watching these efforts with apparent interest and sympathy, now stepped forward. “It certainly is a challenging problem,” he agreed. “But perhaps there’s another approach we could try.”

Instead of attempting to move the boulder directly, Hans began examining the area around it carefully. He noted the shape of the pass, the slope of the ground, and the way water from recent rains had carved small channels in the earth.

After several minutes of study, Hans picked up a small stone and threw it to one side of the boulder. Then he threw another stone to the other side. Then he began gathering more stones and arranging them in a specific pattern around the obstacle.

The giant watched these activities with growing confusion. “What are you doing, little tailor? Those tiny stones won’t help you move that boulder any more than my strength did.”

Hans continued his work without stopping. “Patience, friend giant. Cleverness often requires a bit more time to achieve its results than brute force does.”

For the next hour, Hans continued to arrange stones, sticks, and other debris in an elaborate pattern around and on top of the boulder. To the giant’s eyes, it looked like the tailor was simply playing with pebbles and accomplishing nothing of significance.

However, Hans’s seemingly random activities were actually part of a carefully thought-out plan. He was building a series of small dams and channels that would redirect the flow of water the next time it rained, gradually eroding the soil beneath and around the boulder.

When Hans had finished his preparations, he sat down on a nearby stump and pulled out his sewing to work on while they waited. The giant looked at him incredulously.

“Are you giving up already?” the giant asked. “I thought you were going to use your cleverness to move that boulder.”

“Oh, I am,” Hans replied calmly, not looking up from his stitching. “I’m just waiting for my solution to take effect. Unlike strength, which produces immediate results, cleverness sometimes requires patience.”

The giant was about to protest that this was hardly a fair contest when dark clouds began to gather overhead. Within minutes, a heavy rain began to fall, and the giant and tailor took shelter under a nearby tree to wait out the storm.

As the rain continued, Hans’s carefully constructed channels began to direct the flowing water exactly where he had planned. The water swirled around the base of the boulder, gradually washing away the soil and small stones that had been holding it in place. After about an hour of steady rain, the great stone suddenly shifted, then rolled slowly down the slope and settled in a depression well off to one side of the road.

The giant stared at this development in amazement. “How did you know that would work?” he asked.

Hans smiled as he put away his sewing. “I noticed that the boulder wasn’t actually resting on solid bedrock, but was held in place by accumulated soil and debris. I also observed that water naturally wanted to flow in a certain direction through this pass. All I had to do was help the water flow where it needed to go, and let nature do the actual work of moving the stone.”

The giant shook his head in wonder. “I spent all my energy trying to force that boulder to move, but you barely touched it and it moved itself.”

“That’s the difference between strength and cleverness,” Hans explained. “Strength tries to overpower problems directly, while cleverness looks for ways to make problems solve themselves.”

The giant was quiet for a long moment, clearly impressed by what he had witnessed. Finally, he spoke up. “Little tailor, I came here today thinking that my strength made me superior to anyone I might meet. But you’ve shown me something I never understood before—that there are different kinds of power, and yours is just as valuable as mine.”

Hans stood up and extended his hand to the giant. “And you’ve shown me that true strength includes the wisdom to recognize when other approaches might be more effective. Perhaps we could be friends rather than competitors.”

The giant shook Hans’s hand carefully, being mindful of the difference in their sizes. “I would like that very much. And I will indeed tell everyone I meet about the clever tailor Hans, though I suspect I’ll also mention that he’s wiser than just clever.”

From that day forward, the giant and the tailor became unlikely but close friends. The giant would often visit Hans’s shop to talk about problems he was facing, and Hans would offer advice about how to solve them using intelligence rather than brute force. In return, the giant would help Hans with tasks that genuinely did require physical strength, such as moving heavy furniture or reaching high shelves.

Their friendship became legendary in the region, and people would point to them as an example of how different kinds of people could complement each other’s abilities rather than competing against each other. Children especially loved to hear stories about the tiny tailor who could outwit giants and the gentle giant who learned that strength was most powerful when combined with wisdom.

The moral of this delightful tale teaches us several important lessons about intelligence, strength, and problem-solving. First, it shows us that physical power, while impressive and often useful, is not always the best solution to every problem. Sometimes the most effective approach requires careful observation, creative thinking, and patience rather than immediate force.

Second, the story demonstrates that true cleverness lies not in trickery or deception, but in understanding how the world works and finding ways to work with natural forces rather than against them. Hans succeeded not by fooling the giant, but by recognizing what was really holding the boulder in place and finding a way to address the root cause of the problem.

Finally, the tale reminds us that different people have different strengths, and the wisest approach is often to appreciate and learn from others rather than trying to prove our superiority over them. The giant’s willingness to admit that Hans’s method was better than his own, and Hans’s gracious acceptance of the giant’s respect, shows us how genuine friendship can develop between people who initially see each other as competitors.

In our own lives, we can apply these lessons by remembering that the most effective solutions often come from careful thinking rather than immediate action, and that working with others who have different abilities can accomplish more than any of us could achieve alone.

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