The Cunning Little Tailor (Grimm)
Short summary
A proud princess announced she would marry whoever could solve her riddle. Three tailors arrived to try their luck.
The princess asked about the colors of her hair. The first two tailors guessed wrong, but the little tailor correctly identified she had one silver and one golden hair.
To avoid marrying him, she demanded he spend a night with a bear. The tailor tricked the bear with pebbles disguised as nuts, then played his violin. When the bear asked to learn, the tailor offered to trim his claws first.
Then a vise was brought, and the bear put his claws in it, and the little tailor screwed it tight, and said, 'Now wait until I come with the scissors'
He left the bear trapped and slept peacefully. The princess married him, but jealous tailors freed the bear. When it chased their carriage, the tailor scared it away by threatening to use the vise again. They lived happily ever after.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
The princesss challenge and three suitors
A proud princess posed riddles to her suitors, sending away those who failed to solve them while promising marriage to whoever succeeded. Three tailors decided to try their luck with her challenge. The two elder tailors were experienced craftsmen confident in their abilities, while the third was considered useless and inexperienced.
The older tailors mocked the little tailor, telling him to stay home since he lacked understanding. However, he refused to be discouraged.
The little tailor, however, did not let himself be discouraged, and said he had set his head to work about this for once, and he would manage well enough
All three announced themselves to the princess, claiming to possess understanding so fine it could be threaded through a needle.
Solving the riddle of two colored hairs
The princess presented her riddle about having two kinds of hair on her head and asked what colors they were. The first tailor guessed black and white like pepper and salt cloth, but was wrong. The second guessed brown and red like his father's company coat, but this too was incorrect.
The princess then turned to the little tailor, confident he knew the answer. He boldly stepped forward and declared that she had silver and golden hair.
The princess has a silver and a golden hair on her head, and those are the two different colors. When the princess heard that, she turned pale and nearly fell down
The princess was terrified that he had guessed correctly, as she believed no man on earth could discover her secret. When her courage returned, she declared he had not yet won her and must pass another test.
A night with the bear
The princess's second challenge required the little tailor to spend the night in the stable with a dangerous bear that had never left anyone alive. She expected this would rid her of the unwanted suitor.
The little tailor did not let himself be frightened away, but was quite delighted, and said, 'Boldly ventured is half won.'
When evening came, the tailor was taken to the bear. The bear approached menacingly, but the tailor calmly took nuts from his pocket and ate them. The bear, desiring nuts too, was given pebbles instead. Unable to crack them despite his great strength, the bear asked the tailor for help. The clever tailor secretly replaced a pebble with a nut in his mouth and cracked it easily, making the bear believe he was incredibly strong.
Next, the tailor played his violin, and the bear began dancing with delight. When the bear expressed interest in learning to play, the tailor offered to teach him but said his claws were too long and needed trimming. The bear willingly put his claws in a vise, which the tailor screwed tight. Telling the bear to wait for scissors, the tailor lay down on straw and fell asleep, leaving the bear trapped and growling.
The princess heard the bear's fierce growling throughout the night and believed he was growling with joy after killing the tailor.
Wedding triumph and final victory
In the morning, the princess found the tailor alive and healthy. Unable to break her public promise, she had to agree to the wedding.
The King ordered a carriage to take them to church for the wedding ceremony. However, the two envious older tailors went to the stable and freed the bear, who ran after the carriage in great fury. When the terrified princess cried that the bear was pursuing them, the quick-thinking tailor stood on his head, stuck his legs out the window, and threatened to put the bear back in the vise. Seeing this, the bear turned and ran away.
The tailor drove quietly to church, and the princess was married to him at once, and he lived with her as happy as a woodlark. Whosoever does not believe this, must pay a thaler.