The Valiant Little Tailor (Grimm)
Short summary
A tailor killed seven flies with one cloth strike while eating jam on bread. Impressed by his feat, he embroidered "Seven at one stroke" on a girdle and ventured into the world.
He met a giant who misunderstood the inscription, thinking it meant seven men. The tailor outsmarted the giant by squeezing cheese instead of stone, throwing a bird that never returned, and riding on a tree branch while the giant carried it. At the giants' cave, he escaped death by sleeping in a corner. The king hired him as a warrior. To win the princess's hand, he defeated two giants by making them fight each other, captured a unicorn using a tree, and trapped a wild boar in a chapel. He married the princess and became king.
When his wife discovered his humble origins, she plotted to remove him. The tailor pretended to sleep and scared away the conspirators by shouting:
"Boy, make me the doublet and patch me the pantaloons, or I will rap the yard-measure over thine ears. I smote seven at one blow... and am I to fear those who are standing outside"
He remained king for life.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
The boastful tailors journey begins
One summer morning, a little tailor sat sewing by his window when a peasant woman passed by selling jam. He bought four ounces and spread it on bread, but before eating, he decided to finish his jacket. The sweet jam attracted flies, and when they swarmed over it, the tailor struck them with a cloth.
When he drew it away and counted, there lay before him no fewer than seven, dead and with legs stretched out. "Art thou a fellow of that sort?" said he
Encounters with the giant
And the little tailor hastened to cut himself a girdle, stitched it, and embroidered on it in large letters, "Seven at one stroke!"
Proud of his deed, the tailor decided to seek his fortune in the world. He packed an old cheese and a bird he caught, then set off. On a mountain, he met a powerful giant who looked down on him contemptuously.
When the giant called him a ragamuffin, the tailor showed his girdle. Impressed by "Seven at one stroke," the giant tested him by squeezing water from a stone. The clever tailor squeezed his soft cheese instead, making liquid run out. When the giant threw a stone high into the air, the tailor released his bird, which flew away and never returned. For the final test, they carried a fallen oak tree together, but the tailor secretly rode on a branch while the giant bore the full weight.
The giants cave and narrow escape
The giant invited the tailor to spend the night in their cave with other giants. Each giant sat by the fire eating roasted sheep. The giant showed the tailor to a bed, but it was too large, so the tailor crept into a corner instead. At midnight, thinking the tailor was asleep in the bed, the giant struck it with an iron bar, believing he had killed him. At dawn, when the tailor appeared alive and cheerful, the terrified giants fled in panic.
Royal service and the soldiers fear
The tailor reached a royal palace and fell asleep on the grass. Courtiers read his girdle and told the king about this mighty warrior. The king offered him military service, which the tailor accepted.
Slaying the two giants
"We are not prepared," said they, "to stay with a man who kills seven at one stroke." The King was sorry that for the sake of one he should lose all his faithful servants
The king feared losing his army but dared not dismiss the tailor. Instead, he proposed a task: kill two giants terrorizing his forest, and receive his daughter's hand and half his kingdom as reward.
The tailor accepted confidently and set out with a hundred horsemen. He told them to wait outside the forest while he dealt with the giants alone. He found the two giants sleeping under a tree, snoring so loudly the branches swayed. Climbing the tree with pockets full of stones, he dropped them on one giant's chest. The awakened giant accused his companion of hitting him, leading to an argument. The tailor repeated this trick until both giants became enraged.
They got into such a rage that they tore up trees and belabored each other so long, that at last they both fell down dead on the ground at the same time.
Capturing the unicorn
The king still refused to honor his promise and demanded the tailor capture a unicorn that roamed the forest. The tailor took a rope and axe and entered the forest alone. When the unicorn charged at him, he nimbly jumped behind a tree. The unicorn struck the tree with such force that its horn became embedded in the trunk. Unable to free itself, the beast was trapped. The tailor tied a rope around its neck, chopped the horn free with his axe, and led the unicorn to the king.
Capturing the wild boar
The king made a third demand: capture a wild boar that terrorized the forest. The tailor declined the huntsmen's help, knowing they feared the boar.
When the boar charged, the tailor leaped through a chapel window. The boar followed but was too heavy to escape the same way. The tailor jumped out and locked the door, trapping the beast inside. He called the huntsmen to witness his success.
Marriage and final triumph
The king reluctantly fulfilled his promise, giving the tailor his daughter and half his kingdom. The wedding was held with great magnificence but little joy, and the tailor became king. Later, the queen overheard her husband talking in his sleep about tailoring, revealing his humble origins.
She complained to her father, who arranged for servants to capture the tailor while he slept. However, the king's armor-bearer warned the tailor of the plot.
That night, the tailor pretended to sleep and spoke loudly about his heroic deeds, frightening away the would-be captors.
So the little tailor was a king and remained one, to the end of his life.