Brothers Grimm. Brave Tailor

Information for parents: The Brave Little Tailor is a fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. One day, one tailor, having decided to take a break from work, was going to have a bite of bread with jam. Many flies flocked to the piece of bread, the tailor killed seven at once with one blow and became proud of his action. The fairy tale “The Brave Little Tailor” will be of interest to children aged 6 to 9 years.

Read the fairy tale The Brave Little Tailor

On a hot summer day, a little tailor was sitting cross-legged on his table by the window; he was in a very good mood and worked with the needle as hard as he could.

And then it just happened that a woman was walking down the street and shouted: “Plum jam, plum jam!” The tailor really liked this cry; he put his little head out the window and also shouted: “Come here, auntie! There is a buyer for your product."

The woman climbed three stairs with her heavy box to the little tailor's closet and had to put all the pots of jam in front of him. He examined them all and smelled them all, and finally said: “It seems like a good thing! Come on, auntie, give me about four lots of this stuff, or perhaps even the whole quarter of a pound.”

The merchant, who, judging by his invitation, hoped to sell him a fair amount of her goods, weighed him the required amount, however, she left him very dissatisfied and with a grumble.

“Well, now we’ll eat this for the glory of God,” the little tailor exclaimed cheerfully, “and as we eat it, we’ll strengthen our strength.” Then he took the bread out of the cupboard, cut himself a loaf the size of a loaf and spread jam on the slice. “It won’t taste bad,” he said, “but I’ll just finish the vest first, and then I’ll get to work on the chunk.”

He put the tidbit closer to him and began to sew again, but, wanting to finish the sewing as quickly as possible, he hurried and made more and more stitches.

Meanwhile, the smell of the tasty morsel was sensed by the flies, a great many of which were sitting on the walls; the smell lured them, and they flew into a piece of a cloud - a cloud. “Hey! Who called you here?” - said the little tailor, and began to drive away the uninvited guests. But the flies did not understand his language and did not listen to his entreaties, and flocked to the piece from everywhere. At this point the little tailor couldn’t stand it, he grabbed the rag and became wary: I’ll give you a hard time, but I’ll hit the flies with the rag!

He looked, counted and saw - he killed seven flies: they immediately stretched out their legs, heartfelt. “That’s how brave I am! - he said and marveled at his luck. “The whole city should know about this!” And then he cut out a wide belt for himself, sewed it and embroidered on it in large letters: “In one fell swoop, beat seven!”

“What do I care about the city! Let the whole world know about my feat!” - the little tailor said to himself, and his heart began to beat within him from the proud consciousness of his own courage.

And so the tailor girded himself with his belt and decided to set off around the world, because his workshop seemed to him too cramped for his prowess.

But before he set off to wander, he began to rummage around the house to see if there was anything there that he could take with him on the road; however, I didn’t find anything except curd cheese, which I put in my pocket just in case. Near the gate he saw a bird entangled in a bush, and he put it in his pocket.

And then he set off on his journey and, since he was agile and light on his feet, he did not feel any fatigue from walking. The road led him to the mountain, and when he reached its top, he saw a giant there: sitting on the road, looking around. The little tailor came straight up to him, spoke to him and said: “Great, comrade! Why are you sitting here, looking at the white light? So I decided to travel around the world and try my luck; So don’t you want to go with me as comrades?”

The giant looked contemptuously at the tailor and said: “Oh, you rubbish! Pathetic creature! - "A! That's how! - the little tailor answered him and unbuttoned his outer dress and showed the giant his belt: - Well, read what kind of person I am! The giant read: “In one fell swoop, beat seven!” - I thought that the tailor could beat seven people at once and gained some respect for this kid.

However, he wanted to test it; He took a stone in his hands and squeezed it so hard that water flowed out of the stone. “Come on, try to do it, if you’re strong!” - said the giant. “That’s all? - said the tailor. “For mercy’s sake, this is considered nothing in our country!” He grabbed the curd cheese from his pocket and squeezed it together with the stone so that the juice dripped onto the ground. "What? Surely this will be cleaner than yours?”

The giant himself did not know what to say to him, and could not believe that this little man possessed such power.

And so the giant picked up a stone from the ground and threw it up with such force that it was barely visible, and said: “Come on, you little thing, throw it like that!” “It was thrown well,” said the tailor, “however, your stone still fell to the ground; but I’ll throw a stone at you so that it will never fall to the ground again!”

He reached into his pocket, pulled out a bird and threw it into the air. The bird, so glad it broke free, soared high and high and never returned. "What? How is it, comrade? - asked the tailor. “You throw well,” said the giant, “but let’s see if you can bear a decent weight?”

He led the little tailor to a powerful oak tree, which had been cut down and lay on the ground, and said: “If you are strong, then help me pull this tree out of the forest.” “If you please,” said the tailor, “only you put the trunk on your shoulders, and I will carry the twigs and branches on myself - after all, this, tea, will be heavier than the trunk.”

The giant put the trunk of an oak tree on his shoulders, and the tailor sat astride one of the branches, and the giant, who could not look back, had to drag the entire tree on himself, and, in addition, the tailor too... And the tailor rode on his branch, whistling a cheerful song: “This is how our guys walked and to the right out of the gate,” trying to show by this that this burden is a mere trifle to him.

The giant dragged the terrible weight a considerable distance, became exhausted and said: “Listen, I’ll throw down the tree now!” The tailor immediately jumped from the branch, grabbed the tree with both hands, as if he were carrying it, and said to the giant: “I marvel at you! You’re such a big guy, but you can’t tear down a tree like that!”

They went further and reached a cherry tree; the giant grabbed it by the top, near which were the ripest berries, bent it down, let the tailor hold it in his hands and began to treat him with berries. But the tailor did not have the strength to hold the tree by the top, and when the giant let go of him, the tree straightened up and the tailor was thrown up. When, however, he jumped again from the tree to the ground without any harm to himself, the giant asked him: “What is this? Don’t you even have the strength to hold this whip in your hands?” - “Power is not the issue here! - the little tailor answered boldly. - This is a mere trifle for someone who beats seven! And I wanted to jump over the tree, because I saw that the hunters were shooting at the bushes under the tree. Try jumping my way!” The giant tried to jump, but still could not jump over the tree and hung on its branches, so that even here the little tailor got the better of him.

The giant said: “If you are so brave, then come with me to our cave and spend the night with us!” The little tailor agreed and followed him.

They came to the cave and the tailor saw other giants there near the fire, and each had a roast ram in their hands, which they devoured.

The little tailor looked around and thought: “Yes, it’s more spacious here than in my workshop.” The giant pointed to the bed and said: “Lie down on it and get a good night’s sleep.” But the bed was too big for the tailor; he didn’t even think of lying on it, but crawled into his corner.

At midnight, the giant, thinking that the little tailor was already fast asleep, got up from his bed, took a large iron crowbar and with one blow broke the bed in half, and thought that he had knocked the spirit out of this little one.

Early in the morning the giants headed into the forest, but forgot to think about the little tailor; and he’s right there, coming out and whistling. The giants got scared - it seemed to them that he would kill them all, and they fled in all directions.

And the little tailor went his own way, wherever his eyes looked. He walked for a long time and finally came to the courtyard of the royal palace, and since he was quite tired, he stretched out on the grass and fell asleep.

During his sleep, people from the royal servants approached him, examined him from all sides and read the inscription on his belt: “In one fell swoop, beat seven.”

“Eh,” they said, “what need did this hero come here for in peacetime? After all, we must assume that this is not an ordinary person.” They went and reported to the king, and at the same time expressed the opinion that in case of war, this stranger could be very, very useful and that there was no reason to let him go under any circumstances.

The king liked this advice, and he sent one of his courtiers to the tailor, to whom he gave the following instructions: “Go and wait until he gets some sleep, and when he wakes up, invite him to join my army to serve.”

The messenger stood near the sleeping stranger, waited until he began to stretch and finally opened his eyes, then he gave him what the king had instructed him to convey. “That’s it, that’s why I came here,” the little tailor answered the courtier, “and I’m ready to enter the king’s service.” Here he was accepted into the service with honors, and he was given special housing.

All the royal warriors were very dissatisfied with the arrival of the little tailor and wished with all their hearts that he would fall into the distant kingdom. “What good can we expect here? - they said to each other. - After all, what good, if we quarrel with him and he attacks us, then with every swing the seven will disappear! Where can our brother compete with him?”

Then they decided to all go to the king together and ask him for his resignation. “How can we,” they said, “stand next to such a daredevil who beats seven in one fell swoop!”

The king was very sad that because of this one thing he should lose so many faithful servants; he regretted that he had been flattered by his service, and began to think about how he could get rid of this daredevil. However, he did not dare to directly give him his resignation: “What good, he will also kill me, and kill my entire army, and sit in my place as king.”

For a long time he thought about the matter this way and that and finally figured out how he should act.

The king sent to the tailor and ordered him to say: “Since you are such a hero, then this is what I will offer you. Two giants have settled in one of the forests in my kingdom and are causing great harm with their thefts, murders, devastation and arson. No one dares to approach them without exposing their lives to the greatest danger. Now, if you defeat and kill these two giants, then I will give you my only daughter as a wife and half of my kingdom as a dowry.” At the same time, the king proposed that a hundred horsemen follow him and provide him with support in everything.

“It wouldn’t be bad for a young man like me,” thought the little tailor, “to also pick up a beautiful princess.” Well, it’s not every day that half the kingdom turns up!”

And he sent to tell the king: “Okay, I will defeat the giants; and I probably don’t need your hundred horsemen; whoever beats seven in one fell swoop, of course, cannot be afraid of two.”

And so the tailor set off on a hike, and a hundred horsemen followed him.

Approaching the edge of the forest where the giants lived, he said to his companions: “You stop here, and I alone will somehow deal with the giants,” and he slipped into the forest and began to look around in it. A little later, he saw both giants: they were sleeping under a tree and snoring so that the branches swayed above them.

The little tailor, don’t be stupid, filled both his pockets with stones and climbed up the tree under which the giants were sleeping. Having climbed there, he sat on a branch just above them and from there began to throw stone after stone onto one of them’s chests.

For a long time he could not get the giant to feel this, however, he still woke up, pushed his comrade and said: “Why are you beating me?” “You obviously dreamed about it,” he answered, “I didn’t even think of beating you.” And again they went to bed.

Then the little tailor dropped a stone on the second one. “What is this? Why did you decide to throw stones?” “I’m not giving up at all,” answered the first giant and began to grumble. They quarreled among themselves, but since they were both tired, they then fell silent and closed their eyes again.

And the little tailor began to do the same again: he chose a heavier stone and threw it with all his might into the chest of the first giant. “Well, this is too much!” - he shouted, jumped up like crazy, and pushed his comrade against the tree so hard that the tree shook.

He did not remain in debt, and they both fell into such a frenzy that they began to tear out trees with their roots and beat each other with those trees, until finally both fell dead to the ground.

Then the little tailor jumped from the tree. “It’s also fortunate,” he said, “that they didn’t tear out the tree on which I was sitting, otherwise I would have had to jump over to another, like a squirrel: well, we’re agile!” And he took out his sword and dealt each of the giants two good blows to the chest; then he came out of the forest to the horsemen and said: “The job is done! I finished them both off! And it was a hot business: they uprooted trees and fought back with them, but they couldn’t do anything against me, because I beat seven in one fell swoop.” - “And you are not injured?” - his companions asked. “Everything is going well,” said the tailor, “they didn’t even crease a hair on me.”

They didn’t want to believe him and drove into the forest: there they found giants covered in blood, and around them lay trees torn out by their roots.

The tailor demanded the promised reward from the king, and he had already managed to repent of his word and began to figure out how he could get away with this daredevil. “Before you receive the hand of my daughter and half of my kingdom as a dowry for her,” said the king, “you must accomplish one more feat. A unicorn prowls in the same forest, and we suffer a lot of troubles from it. So you catch him!” - “I am even less afraid of one unicorn than of two giants. Seven in one fell swoop - that’s my business!”

He took an ax and a rope with him, headed into the forest and again ordered those who were ordered to accompany him to wait at the edge.

He didn’t have to search for long: the unicorn soon came out to him and rushed straight at the tailor, intending to immediately pierce him with its horn. “Wait, wait, be quiet! - said the little tailor. “Well, it can’t be soon!” And just as the animal was about to jump on him, he quickly ducked behind a tree. The unicorn ran into a tree and slammed its sharp horn into its trunk so tightly that it was unable to immediately pull it out and found itself, as it were, on a leash. “Well, now you won’t leave me,” said the tailor, tied a rope around the unicorn’s neck, then cut out its horn from a tree trunk with an ax and calmly led the animal out of the forest and brought it to the king.

The king, too, did not want to honor him with the promised reward and came up with a third condition. Before the wedding, the tailor had to catch him a terrible boar in the forest, which caused great harm to the forest; the royal huntsmen were supposed to assist him in this.

“Why not catch it? - said the little tailor. “This is a no-brainer for us!” He did not take the huntsmen with him into the forest, and they were glad of this - very glad, because this boar filled them with such fear that they no longer had any desire to chase after him.

When the boar saw the tailor, he, foaming at the mouth and baring his fangs, rushed at him, intending to knock him down; but our trickster managed to jump into the chapel that stood nearby, and from that chapel he immediately jumped out the window. The boar is behind him; and he had already managed to run around the chapel and slam the door; the furious animal was caught in this way as if in a trap, since with its thickness and clumsiness it could not jump out of the window.

And so the little tailor called the huntsmen, and they had to see the captured beast with their own eyes; and our daredevil went to the king, and he, willy-nilly, had to finally fulfill his promise and give him his daughter as a wife and half the kingdom as a dowry.

If only he knew and knew that he was rewarding not a real hero, but a simple tailor, it would be even more painful for him! Be that as it may, the wedding was rich and not very fun - and now a simple tailor became king.

Some time later, one night the young queen heard her husband say in his sleep: “Hey, little one! Sew me a vest and mend my pants, or I’ll feed you a yardstick!” Then she realized where her hubby was from.

The next morning she began to complain to her father and asked him to save her from her husband, a simple tailor. The king tried to console her and said: “Next night, do not close your bedroom, my servants will be ready, and as soon as he falls asleep, they will come in, tie him up and carry him to a ship that will take him overseas.”

The queen was pleased with this, but one of the old king’s squires, who heard the whole conversation and, moreover, was very devoted to the young king, informed him about this idea. “Well, I can handle him!” - said the little tailor.

In the evening at the usual hour he went to bed, and his wife did the same. When, according to her assumption, he had already fallen asleep, she got up, unlocked the bedroom door and lay down again in her place. The little tailor only pretended to be asleep, but he himself heard it all; and so he began to shout loudly: “Boy, sew me a vest and mend my pants, otherwise I’ll treat you with a yardstick!” I beat seven in one fell swoop, killed two giants, brought a unicorn on a rope to the king, caught a boar - so will I really be afraid of those who stand there behind the doors?

When they heard these words of the tailor, great fear fell upon them and they all rushed to run, as if an evil spirit was chasing them; and no one ever thought of raising a hand against him again.

So it happened that our little tailor remained king for the rest of his life until his death.

In one German city there lived a tailor. His name was Hans. All day long he sat on the table by the window, legs crossed, and sewed. I sewed jackets, sewed pants, sewed vests.

One day the tailor Hans is sitting on the table, sewing and hears people shouting on the street:

Jam! Plum jam! Who wants some jam?

"Jam! - thought the tailor. - Yes, even plum. This is good".

He thought so and shouted out the window:

Auntie, auntie, come here! Give me some jam.

He bought half a jar of this jam, cut himself a piece of bread, spread it with jam and began to finish sewing his vest.

“Here,” he thinks, “I’ll finish my vest and eat some jam.”

And in the room of the tailor Hans there were many, many flies - it’s impossible to count how many. Maybe a thousand, maybe two thousand.

The flies smelled the jam and flew onto the bread.

Flies, flies,” the tailor tells them, “who called you here?” Why did they attack my jam?

But the flies don’t listen to him and eat the jam. Then the tailor got angry, took a rag, and as soon as he hit the flies with the rag, he killed seven at once.

That's how strong and brave I am! - said the tailor Hans. “The whole city should know about this.” What a city! Let the whole world know. I’ll make myself a new belt and embroider on it in large letters: “When I’m angry, I kill seven.”

So he did. Then he put on a new belt, put a piece of cottage cheese in his pocket for the road and left the house.

At the very gate he saw a bird entangled in a bush. The bird fights, screams, but cannot get out. Hans caught the bird and put it in the same pocket where he had the curd cheese.

He walked and walked and finally came to a high mountain. He climbed to the top and saw a giant sitting on the mountain and looking around.

“Hello, buddy,” the tailor says to him. - Let's go travel around the world with me.

What a friend you are to me! - the giant answers. - You are weak, small, and I am big and strong. Leave while you're still alive.

Did you see this? - says the tailor Hans and shows the giant his belt.

And on Hans’s belt is embroidered in large letters: “When I’m angry, I kill seven.”

The giant read it and thought: “Who knows, maybe he really is a strong man. We need to test it."

The giant took a stone in his hands and squeezed it so tightly that water flowed from the stone.

“Now try to do it,” said the giant.

That's all? - says the tailor. - Well, for me this is an empty matter.

He slowly took a piece of cream cheese out of his pocket and clenched it in his fist. Water poured out of the fist onto the ground.

The giant was surprised at such strength, but decided to test Hans again. He picked up a stone from the ground and threw it into the sky. He threw it so far that the stone was no longer visible.

Well,” he says to the tailor, “try this too.”

“You throw high,” said the tailor. - And yet your stone fell to the ground. So I’ll throw a stone straight into the sky.

He put his hand in his pocket, grabbed the bird and threw it up. The bird soared high into the sky and flew away.

What, buddy, what's it like? - asks the tailor Hans.

Not bad,” says the giant. “But now let’s see, can you carry a tree on your shoulders?”

He led the tailor to a large felled oak tree and said:

If you are so strong, then help me take this tree out of the forest.

Okay,” the tailor answered, but thought to himself: “I am weak, but smart, and you are stupid, but strong. I will always be able to deceive you.”

And he says to the giant:

You just put the trunk on your shoulders, and I will carry all the branches and twigs. After all, they will be heavier.

And so they did. The giant put the trunk on his shoulders and carried it. And the tailor jumped onto a branch and sat astride it. The giant drags the entire tree on himself, and even a tailor to boot. But he can’t look back - the branches are in the way.

Tailor Hans rides on a branch and sings a song:

How did our guys go?
From the gate to the garden...

The giant dragged the tree for a long time, finally got tired and said:

Listen, tailor, I’ll throw the tree to the ground now. I'm very tired.

Then the tailor jumped off the branch and grabbed the tree with both hands, as if he had been walking behind the giant all along.

Oh you! - the tailor said to the giant. - So big, and so strong. Apparently you don't have enough.

“This,” says the giant who brought Hans, “is where we live.” Climb onto this bed, lie down and rest.

The tailor looked at the bed and thought:

“Well, this bed is not for me. Too big.”

He thought so, found a darker corner in the cave and went to bed. And at night the giant woke up, took a large iron crowbar and hit the bed with a swing.

Well,” the giant said to his comrades, “now I’m rid of this strong man.”

All six giants got up in the morning and went into the forest to cut down trees. And the tailor also got up, washed, combed his hair and followed them.

The giants saw Hans in the forest and got scared. “Well,” they think, “if we didn’t even kill him with an iron crowbar, now he’ll kill us all.”

And the giants fled in different directions.

And the tailor laughed at them and went wherever he wanted.

He walked and walked and finally came to the fence of the royal palace. There, at the gate, he lay down on the green grass and fell fast asleep.

And while he was sleeping, the royal servants saw him, bent over him and read the inscription on his belt: “When I am angry, I kill seven.”

This is how the strong man came to us! - they said. - We need to report him to the king.

The royal servants ran to their king and said:

A strong man lies at the gates of your palace. It would be nice to hire him. If there is a war, he will be useful to us.

The king was delighted.

That’s right,” he says, “call him here.” The tailor got some sleep, rubbed his eyes and went

serve the king.

He serves one day, then serves another. And they began

royal warriors say to each other:

What good can we expect from this strongman? After all, when he is angry, he kills seven. That's what it says on his belt.

They went to their king and said:

We don’t want to serve with him. He'll kill us all if he gets angry. Release us from service.

And the king himself already regretted that he had taken such a strong man into his service.

“What if,” he thought, “this strong man really gets angry, kills my soldiers, hacks me to death and sits in my place?.. How can I get rid of him?”

He called the tailor Hans and said:

In my kingdom, in a dense forest, there live two robbers, and both of them are so strong that no one dares to come close to them. I order you to find them and defeat them. And to help you I give a hundred horsemen.

Okay,” said the tailor. - When I’m angry, I kill seven. And I can handle just two robbers in jest.

And he went into the forest. And a hundred royal horsemen galloped after him.

At the edge of the forest the tailor turned to the riders and said:

You, horsemen, wait here, and I will deal with the robbers myself.

He entered the thicket and began to look around. He sees two robbers lying under a large tree and snoring so much in their sleep that the branches sway above them. The tailor, without hesitation, filled his pockets full of stones, climbed a tree and began throwing stones from above at one robber. Either it will hit him in the chest, or on the forehead. But the robber snores and hears nothing. And suddenly one stone hit the robber on the nose.

The robber woke up and pushed his comrade in the side:

Why are you fighting?

What are you talking about? - says another robber. - I'm not hitting you. Apparently you dreamed this.

And again they both fell asleep.

Then the tailor began to throw stones at the other robber.

He also woke up and began shouting at his comrade:

Why are you throwing stones at me? Crazy?

Yes, how he will hit his friend on the forehead! And that one is his.

And they began to fight with stones, sticks and fists. And they fought until they killed each other to death.

Then the tailor jumped out of the tree, went out to the edge of the forest and said to the riders:

The job is done, both are killed. Well, these robbers are evil! And they threw stones at me, and waved their fists at me, but what could they do with me? After all, when I’m angry, I kill seven!

The royal horsemen rode into the forest and saw:

That's right, two robbers are lying on the ground. They lie and do not move - both are killed.

Tailor Hans returned to the palace to the king.

And the king was cunning. He listened to Hans and thought: “Okay, you dealt with the robbers, but now I’ll give you such a task that you won’t survive.”

“Listen,” the king says to Hans, “now go back into the forest and catch the fierce unicorn beast.”

“If you please,” says the tailor Hans, “I can do that.” After all, when I’m angry, I kill seven. So I can handle one unicorn in no time.

He took an ax and a rope with him and went into the forest again.

Tailor Hans did not have to look for the unicorn for long - the beast itself jumped out to meet him, scary, its fur stood on end, its horn sharp as a sword.

The unicorn rushed at the tailor and was about to pierce him with its horn, but the tailor hid behind a thick tree. The unicorn ran and slammed its horn into the tree. He rushed back, but couldn’t pull him out.

Now you won’t leave me! - said the tailor, threw a rope around the unicorn’s neck, cut out its horn from the tree with an ax and led the beast on the rope to his king.

Brought the unicorn straight to the royal palace.

And the unicorn, as soon as he saw the king in a golden crown and a red robe, began to sniffle and wheeze. His eyes are bloodshot, his fur stands on end, his horn sticks out like a sword.

The king got scared and started to run. And all his warriors are behind him. The king ran far away - so far that he couldn’t find his way back.

And the tailor began to live and live in peace, sewing jackets, trousers and vests. He hung the belt on the wall and never saw any more giants, robbers, or unicorns in his lifetime.

On a hot summer day, a little tailor sat cross-legged on his table by the window; he was in a very good mood and worked with the needle as hard as he could.

And then it just happened that a woman was walking down the street and shouted: “Plum jam, plum jam!” The tailor really liked this cry; he stuck his little head out the window and also shouted: “Come here, auntie! There is a buyer for your goods.”

The merchant, who, judging by his invitation, hoped to sell him a decent amount of her goods, weighed him the required amount, but left him very dissatisfied and with a grumble.

He put the tidbit closer to him and began to sew again, but, wanting to finish the sewing as quickly as possible, he hurried and made more and more stitches.

Meanwhile, the smell of the tasty morsel was sensed by the flies, a great many of which were sitting on the walls; the smell attracted them, and they flocked to the piece in clouds and clouds. "Hey! Who called you here?" - said the little tailor, and began to drive away the uninvited guests. But the flies did not understand his language and did not listen to his entreaties, and flocked to the piece from everywhere. At this point the little tailor couldn’t stand it, he grabbed the rag and became wary: I’ll give you a hard time, but I’ll hit the flies with the rag!

He looked, counted and saw - he killed seven flies: they immediately stretched out their legs, heartfelt. “That’s how brave I am!” he said and marveled at his luck. “The whole city should know about this!” And then he cut out a wide belt for himself, sewed it and embroidered on it in large letters: “In one fell swoop, beat seven!”

And so the tailor girded himself with his belt and decided to set off around the world, because his workshop seemed to him too cramped for his prowess.

But before he set off to wander, he began to rummage around the house to see if there was anything there that he could take with him on the road; however, he found nothing except curd cheese, which he put in his pocket just in case. Near the gate he saw a bird entangled in a bush, and he put it in his pocket.

And then he set off on his way and, since he was agile and light on his feet, he did not feel any fatigue from walking. The road led him to the mountain, and when he reached its top, he saw a giant there: sitting on the road, looking around. The little tailor came straight up to him, spoke to him and said: “Great, comrade! Why are you sitting here, looking at the world? So I’ve decided to travel around the world, try my luck; so don’t you want to go with me as a comrade?”

The giant looked contemptuously at the tailor and said: “Oh, you rubbish! You pathetic creature!” - “Ah! That’s it!” the little tailor answered him and unbuttoned his outer dress and showed the giant his belt: “Well, read what kind of person I am!” The giant read: “In one fell swoop, beat seven!” - I thought that the tailor could beat seven people at once and gained some respect for this kid.

However, he wanted to test it; He took a stone in his hands and squeezed it so hard that water flowed out of the stone. “Come on, try to do it, if you’re strong!” - said the giant. “That’s all?” said the tailor. “For mercy’s sake, this is considered a trifle among us!” He grabbed the curd cheese from his pocket and squeezed it together with the stone so that the juice dripped onto the ground. "What? I suppose this will be cleaner than yours?"

The giant himself did not know what to say to him, and could not believe that this little man possessed such power.

And so the giant picked up a stone from the ground and threw it up with such force that it was barely visible, and said: “Come on, you little thing, throw it like that!” - “Not bad thrown,” said the tailor, “however, your stone still fell to the ground; but I’ll throw a stone to you so that it will never fall to the ground again!”

He reached into his pocket, pulled out a bird and threw it into the air. The bird, so glad it broke free, soared high and high and never returned. "What? How is it, comrade?" - asked the tailor. “You throw well,” said the giant, “but let’s see if you can bear a decent weight?”

The giant put the trunk of an oak tree on his shoulders, and the tailor sat astride one of the branches, and the giant, who could not look back, had to drag the whole tree and, on top of that, the tailor... And the tailor rode on his branch, whistling a cheerful song: “That’s how our guys walked out of the gate to the right,” trying to show that this burden was a mere trifle to him.

The giant dragged the terrible weight a considerable distance, became exhausted and said: “Listen, I’ll throw down the tree now!” The tailor immediately jumped from the branch, grabbed the tree with both hands, as if he was carrying it, and said to the giant: “I marvel at you! You are such a big man, but you can’t tear down such a tree!”

They went further and reached a cherry tree; the giant grabbed it by the top, near which were the ripest berries, bent it over, let the tailor hold it in his hands and began to treat him with berries. But the tailor did not have the strength to hold the tree by the top, and when the giant let go of him, the tree straightened up and the tailor was thrown up. When, however, he again jumped from the tree to the ground without any harm to himself, the giant asked him: “What is this? Don’t you even have the strength to hold this whip in your hands?” “It’s not a matter of strength!” the little tailor answered boldly. “This is a mere trifle for someone who beats seven people! But I wanted to jump over the tree because I saw that the hunters were shooting at the bushes under the tree. Try jumping my way.” !" The giant tried to jump, but still could not jump over the tree and hung on its branches, so that even here the little tailor got the better of him.

The giant said: “If you are so brave, then come with me to our cave and spend the night with us!” The little tailor agreed and followed him.

They came to the cave and the tailor saw other giants there near the fire, and each had a roast ram in their hands, which they devoured.

The little tailor looked around and thought: “Yes, it’s more spacious here than in my workshop.” The giant pointed to the bed and said: “Lie on it and get a good night’s sleep.” But the bed was too big for the tailor; he didn’t even think of lying on it, but crawled into his corner.

During his sleep, people from the royal servants approached him, examined him from all sides and read the inscription on his belt: “In one fell swoop, beat seven.”

“Eh,” they said, “what need did this hero come here in peacetime? After all, one must assume that this is not an ordinary person.” They went and reported to the king, and at the same time expressed the opinion that in case of war, this stranger could be very, very useful and that there was no reason to let him go under any circumstances.

The messenger stood next to the sleeping stranger, waited until he began to stretch and finally opened his eyes, then he gave him what the king had instructed him to convey. “That’s it, that’s why I came here,” the tailor answered the courtier, “and I’m ready to enter the king’s service.” Here he was accepted into the service with honors, and he was given special housing.

All the royal warriors were very dissatisfied with the arrival of the little tailor and wished with all their hearts that he would fall into the distant kingdom. “What good can we expect here?” they said to each other. “After all, what’s good, if we quarrel with him and he attacks us, every swing will make seven disappear! Where can our brother compete with him?”

Then they decided to all go to the king together and ask him for his resignation. “How can we,” they said, “stand next to such a daredevil who beats seven in one fell swoop!”

For a long time he thought about the matter this way and that and finally figured out how he should act.

The king sent to the little tailor and ordered him to say: “If you are such a hero, then I will offer you this. Two giants have settled in one of the forests in my kingdom and are causing great harm with their thefts, murders, devastation and arson. "He does not even dare to approach him without exposing his life to the greatest danger. Now, if you defeat and kill these two giants, then I will give you my only daughter as a wife and half of my kingdom as a dowry." At the same time, the king proposed that a hundred horsemen follow him and provide him with support in everything.

“It wouldn’t be bad for a young man like me,” thought the little tailor, “to also pick up a beautiful princess. Well, it’s not every day that half a kingdom turns up!”

And he sent to tell the king: “Okay, I’ll defeat the giants; but I probably don’t need your hundred horsemen; whoever beats seven in one fell swoop, of course, two cannot be afraid of him.”

And so the tailor set off on a hike, and a hundred horsemen followed him.

Approaching the edge of the forest where the giants lived, he said to his companions: “You stop here, and I alone will somehow deal with the giants,” and he slipped into the forest and began to look around in it. A little later he saw both giants: they were sleeping under a tree and snoring so that the branches swayed above them.

For a long time he could not get the giant to feel this, but still he woke up, pushed his comrade and said: “Why are you beating me?” “You obviously dreamed about it,” he answered, “I didn’t even think of beating you.” And again they went to bed.

He did not remain in debt, and they both fell into such a frenzy that they began to tear out trees with their roots and beat each other with those trees, until finally both fell dead to the ground.

Then the little tailor jumped from the tree. “It’s even luckier,” he said, “that they didn’t tear out the tree on which I was sitting, otherwise I would have had to jump over to another one, like a squirrel: well, we’re agile!” And he took out his sword and dealt each of the giants two good blows to the chest; then he came out of the forest to the horsemen and said: “The job is done! I finished them both off! But it was a hot job: they uprooted trees and fought back with them, but they couldn’t do anything against me, because I beat seven in one fell swoop.” - “And you are not wounded?” - his companions asked. “Everything is going well,” said the tailor, “they didn’t even crease a hair on me.”

They didn’t want to believe him and drove into the forest: there they found giants covered in blood, and around them lay trees torn out by their roots.

The tailor demanded the promised reward from the king, and he had already managed to repent of his word and began to figure out how he could get away with this daredevil. “Before you receive the hand of my daughter and half of my kingdom as a dowry,” said the king, “you must accomplish one more feat. In the same forest there is a unicorn prowling, and we suffer a lot of troubles from it. So you catch it!” " - “I’m even less afraid of one unicorn than of two giants. Seven in one fell swoop - that’s my business!”

He took an ax and a rope with him, headed into the forest and again ordered those who were ordered to accompany him to wait at the edge.

He didn’t have to search for long: the unicorn soon came out to him and rushed straight at the tailor, intending to immediately pierce him with its horn. “Wait, wait, be quiet!” said the little tailor. “It can’t be so soon!” And just as the animal was about to jump on him, he quickly ducked behind a tree. The unicorn ran into a tree and slammed its sharp horn into its trunk so tightly that it was unable to immediately pull it out and found itself, as it were, on a leash. “Well, now you won’t leave me,” said the tailor, tied a rope around the unicorn’s neck, then cut out its horn from a tree trunk with an ax and calmly led the animal out of the forest and brought it to the king.

“Why not catch it?” said the little tailor. “This is a trivial matter for us!” He didn’t take the huntsmen with him into the forest, and they were happy about it, because this boar filled them with such fear that they no longer had any desire to chase after him.

And so the little tailor called the huntsmen, and they had to see the captured beast with their own eyes; and our daredevil went to the king, and he, willingly or unwillingly, finally had to fulfill his promise and give him his daughter as a wife and half the kingdom as a dowry.

If he knew and knew that he was rewarding not a real hero, but a simple tailor, it would be even more painful for him! Be that as it may, the wedding was rich and not very fun - and now a simple tailor became a king.

Some time later, the young queen heard one night her husband say in his sleep: “Hey, little one! Sew me a vest and mend my pants, otherwise I’ll treat you to a yardstick!” Then she realized where her hubby was from.

In the evening at the usual hour he went to bed, and so did his wife. When, according to her assumption, he had already fallen asleep, she got up, unlocked the bedroom door and lay down again in her place. The little tailor only pretended to be asleep, but he himself heard it all; and so he began to shout loudly: “Boy, sew me a vest and mend my pants, otherwise I’ll treat you with a yardstick! I beat seven people in one fell swoop, killed two giants, brought a unicorn on a rope to the king, caught a boar - so will I really be afraid of them?” who are standing behind the doors?"

When they heard these words of the tailor, great fear fell upon them and they all rushed to run, as if an evil spirit was chasing them; and no one ever thought of raising a hand against him again.

And so it happened that our little tailor remained king for the rest of his life until his death.

In one German city there lived a tailor. His name was Hans. All day long he sat on the table by the window, legs crossed, and sewed. I sewed jackets, sewed pants, sewed vests.

One day the tailor Hans is sitting on the table, sewing, and hears people shouting on the street:

- Jam! Plum jam! Who wants some jam?

"Jam! - thought the tailor. - Yes, even plum. This is good".

He thought so and shouted out the window:

- Auntie, auntie, come here! Give me some jam.

He bought half a jar of this jam, cut himself a piece of bread, spread it with jam and began to finish sewing his vest.

“Here,” he thinks, “I’ll finish my vest and eat some jam.”

And in Tailor Hans’s room there were many, many flies—it’s impossible to count how many. Maybe a thousand, maybe two thousand.

The flies smelled the jam and flew onto the bread.

“Flies, flies,” the tailor tells them, “who called you here?” Why did they attack my jam?

But the flies don’t listen to him and eat the jam. Then the tailor got angry, took a rag, and when he hit the flies with the rag, he killed seven at once.

- That's how strong and brave I am! - said the tailor Hans. “The whole city should know about this.” What a city! Let the whole world know. I’ll make myself a new belt and embroider on it in large letters: “When I’m angry, I kill seven.”

So he did. Then he put on a new belt, put a piece of cottage cheese in his pocket for the road and left the house.

At the very gate he saw a bird entangled in a bush. The bird fights, screams, but cannot get out. Hans caught the bird and put it in the same pocket where he had the curd cheese.

He walked and walked and finally came to a high mountain. He climbed to the top and saw a giant sitting on the mountain and looking around.

“Hello, buddy,” the tailor says to him. - Come with me to travel around the world.

- What a friend you are to me! - the giant answers. - You are weak, small, and I am big and strong. Leave while you're still alive.

- Did you see this? - says the tailor Hans and shows the giant his belt.

And on Hans’s belt is embroidered in large letters: “When I’m angry, I kill seven.”

The giant read it and thought: “Who knows, maybe he really is a strong man. We need to try it."

The giant took a stone in his hands and squeezed it so tightly that water flowed from the stone.

“Now try to do it,” said the giant.

- That's all? - says the tailor. - Well, for me this is an empty matter.

He slowly took a piece of cream cheese out of his pocket and clenched it in his fist. Water poured out of the fist onto the ground.

The giant was surprised at such strength, but decided to test Hans again. He picked up a stone from the ground and threw it into the sky. He threw it so far that the stone was no longer visible.

“Come on,” he says to the tailor, “try this too.”

“You throw high,” said the tailor. “And yet your stone fell to the ground.” So I’ll throw a stone straight into the sky.

He put his hand in his pocket, grabbed the bird and threw it up. The bird soared high into the sky and flew away.

- What, buddy, what's it like? - asks the tailor Hans.

“Not bad,” says the giant. “But now let’s see, can you carry a tree on your shoulders?”

He led the tailor to a large felled oak tree and said:

- If you are so strong, then help me take this tree out of the forest.

“Okay,” answered the tailor, and thought to himself: “I am weak, but smart, and you are stupid, but strong.” I will always be able to deceive you."

And he says to the giant:

“You just put the trunk on your shoulders, and I will carry all the branches and twigs.” After all, they will be heavier.

Tailor Hans rides on a branch and sings a song:

How did our guys go?
From the gate to the garden...

The giant dragged the tree for a long time, finally got tired and said:

- Listen, tailor, I’ll throw the tree to the ground now. I'm very tired.

Then the tailor jumped off the branch and grabbed the tree with both hands, as if he had been walking behind the giant all along.

- Oh you! - the tailor said to the giant. - So big, and so strong. Apparently you don't have enough.

“Here,” says the giant who brought Hans, “this is where we live.” Climb onto this bed, lie down and rest.

The tailor looked at the bed and thought:

“Well, this bed is not for me. Too big."

He thought so, found a darker corner in the cave and went to bed. And at night the giant woke up, took a large iron crowbar and hit the bed with a swing.

“Well,” said the giant to his comrades, “now I’m rid of this strong man.”

All six giants got up in the morning and went into the forest to cut down trees. And the tailor also got up, washed, combed his hair and followed them.

The giants saw Hans in the forest and got scared. “Well,” they think, “if we didn’t even kill him with an iron crowbar, now he’ll kill us all.”

And the giants fled in different directions.

And the tailor laughed at them and went wherever he wanted.

He walked and walked and finally came to the fence of the royal palace. There, at the gate, he lay down on the green grass and fell fast asleep.

And while he was sleeping, the royal servants saw him, bent over him and read the inscription on his belt: “When I am angry, I kill seven.”

- This is how the strong man came to us! - they said. “We need to report him to the king.”

The royal servants ran to their king and said:

— A strong man lies at the gates of your palace. It would be nice to hire him. If there is a war, he will be useful to us.

The king was delighted.

“That’s right,” he says, “call him here.” The tailor got some sleep, rubbed his eyes and went

serve the king.

He serves one day, then serves another. And they began

royal warriors say to each other:

- What good can we expect from this strong man? After all, when he is angry, he kills seven. That's what it says on his belt.

They went to their king and said:

“We don’t want to serve with him.” He'll kill us all if he gets angry. Release us from service.

And the king himself already regretted that he had taken such a strong man into his service.

“What if,” he thought, “this strong man really gets angry, kills my soldiers, hacks me to death and sits in my place?.. How can I get rid of him?”

He called the tailor Hans and said:

“In my kingdom, in a dense forest, there live two robbers, and both of them are so strong that no one dares to come close to them.” I order you to find them and defeat them. And to help you I give a hundred horsemen.

“Okay,” said the tailor. “When I’m angry, I kill seven.” And I can handle just two robbers in jest.

And he went into the forest. And a hundred royal horsemen galloped after him.

At the edge of the forest the tailor turned to the riders and said:

“You, horsemen, wait here, and I’ll deal with the robbers myself.”

He entered the thicket and began to look around. He sees two robbers lying under a large tree, snoring so much in their sleep that the branches sway above them. The tailor, without hesitation, filled his pockets full of stones, climbed a tree and began throwing stones from above at one robber. Either it will hit him in the chest, or on the forehead. But the robber snores and hears nothing. And suddenly one stone hit the robber on the nose.

The robber woke up and pushed his comrade in the side:

- Why are you fighting?

- What are you talking about! - says another robber. - I'm not hitting you. Apparently you dreamed this.

And again they both fell asleep.

Then the tailor began to throw stones at the other robber.

He also woke up and began shouting at his comrade:

- Why are you throwing stones at me? Crazy?

Yes, how he will hit his friend on the forehead! And that one is his.

And they began to fight with stones, sticks and fists. And they fought until they killed each other to death.

Then the tailor jumped out of the tree, went out to the edge of the forest and said to the riders:

- The job is done, both are killed. Well, these robbers are evil! And they threw stones at me, and waved their fists at me, but what could they do with me? After all, when I’m angry, I kill seven!

The royal horsemen rode into the forest and saw:

That's right, two robbers are lying on the ground. They lie there and don’t move—both are killed.

Tailor Hans returned to the palace to the king.

And the king was cunning. He listened to Hans and thought: “Okay, you dealt with the robbers, but now I’ll give you such a task that you won’t survive.”

“Listen,” the king says to Hans, “now go back into the forest and catch the fierce unicorn beast.”

“If you please,” says tailor Hans, “I can do that.” After all, when I’m angry, I kill seven. So I can handle one unicorn in no time.

He took an ax and a rope with him and went into the forest again.

It didn’t take long for tailor Hans to look for the unicorn - the beast itself jumped out to meet him, scary, its hair stood on end, its horn sharp as a sword.

- Now you won’t leave me! - said the tailor, threw a rope around the unicorn’s neck, cut out its horn from the tree with an ax and led the beast on the rope to his king.

Brought the unicorn straight to the royal palace.

And the unicorn, as soon as he saw the king in a golden crown and a red robe, began to sniffle and wheeze. His eyes are bloodshot, his fur stands on end, his horn sticks out like a sword.

The king got scared and started to run. And all his warriors are behind him. The king ran far away - so far that he couldn’t find his way back.

And the tailor began to live and live in peace, sewing jackets, trousers and vests. He hung the belt on the wall and never saw any more giants, robbers, or unicorns in his lifetime.

Fairy Tales – Brothers Grimm – The Brave Tailor

Fairy tale for children "The Brave Tailor". We bring to your attention the best fairy tales on which more than one generation of boys and girls has grown up. These tales are interesting at any age. Because the Brothers Grimm composed a lot of them - very different: funny and sad, magical and everyday, for the little ones and for those older... Our website contains the best fairy tales. You can read one of the best fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm, “The Brave Tailor,” here.

One summer morning, a tailor was sitting by the window on his sewing table; he was having fun and sewing as hard as he could. And a peasant woman walked down the street, shouting: “I sell good jam! I sell good jam!” The little tailor was pleased to hear this; he stretched his frail neck out the window and shouted:

Hey, my dear, come upstairs, here you can sell your goods!

The woman went up with her heavy basket to the tailor on the third floor and began to untie all her jars in front of him. He looked at them all, examined them, picked them up, looked closely, smelled them and finally said:

The jam seems good. Well, give me four lots, my dear, otherwise I’ll probably take the whole quarter of a pound.

The woman, hoping to sell a lot of her goods, sold the tailor as much as he asked for and left, grumbling with frustration.

Well, God bless this jam,” exclaimed the tailor, “and send me vigor and strength!” - With these words, he took out bread from the cabinet, cut out a piece of bread and spread it with jam.

It probably won’t be bad,” he said, “but first I’ll finish the jacket, and then I’ll eat properly.”

He put a piece of bread next to him and continued to sew, but to celebrate, he began to sew with large stitches. Meanwhile, the smell of sweet jam spread throughout the room, and many flies sitting on the wall sensed it and flocked to the bread in a swarm.

Hey you, who called you here? - said the tailor and began to drive away the uninvited guests.

But the flies did not understand the German language, they did not listen to him, and even more of them flew in. Here the tailor, as they say, finally ran out of patience, he lost his temper, rushed over, grabbed the cloth and shouted: “Wait, I’ll give it to you!” - without any pity, he smacked the flies with all his might. He picked up the cloth, looked, counted - and there lay in front of him, with his legs outstretched, no less than seven killed flies. “What a great fellow I am! - he said, and he himself was surprised at his courage. “The whole city needs to know about this.”

Then the tailor hastily cut out a belt, stitched it together and embroidered on it in large letters: “He beat seven in one fell swoop.” “What a city,” he continued to reason further, “the whole world should know about this!” - And his heart trembled with joy, like a ram’s tail.

The tailor girded himself with a belt and prepared to set off across the world, considering that the tailor's workshop was too small for his courage. But before setting off on his journey, he began to rummage around the house to see if there was anything that he could take with him, but he found nothing except a head of old cheese, and took it with him. At the gate he saw a bird entangled in the bushes; he caught it and also put it in his pocket along with the cheese. Then he boldly set off on his journey, and he was light and agile and therefore did not feel any fatigue.

The path led him to the mountain, and when he climbed to the very top, he saw a huge giant sitting there and calmly looking around.

The little tailor boldly approached him, spoke to him and asked:

Hello, comrade, why are you sitting here and looking at the free and wide world? I’m going to wander around the world, I want to try my luck, won’t you come with me?

The giant looked contemptuously at the tailor and said:

Hey you pathetic ragamuffin!

No matter how it is! - answered the little tailor, and he unbuttoned his jacket and showed the giant his belt, “here, you can read for yourself what kind of person I am!”

The giant read: “He beat seven in one fell swoop” - and thought that we were talking about the people who were killed by the tailor, and he felt some respect for this little man. But he wanted to test it first. He took the stone in his hand and squeezed it so that water flowed out of it.

“So you try the same,” said the giant, “if you have enough strength.”

Is that all? - asked the little tailor. - Yes, this is nothing for me! - And he reached into his pocket, took out a head of soft cheese and squeezed it so that the juice flowed out of it.

Well,” he said, “perhaps it will be better than yours?”

The giant did not know what to say to him - he never expected this from such a little man. Then the giant picked up a stone and threw it up so high that it disappeared from sight.

Come on, drake, try it too.

Well, it was thrown well,” said the tailor, “but the stone fell to the ground again; and I’ll leave him so that he won’t come back. - And he reached into his pocket, took out the bird and threw it up. The bird, rejoicing at its freedom, took off, rose high into the sky and never returned.

Well, how do you like this, my friend? - asked the tailor.

“You know how to throw well,” said the giant, “but let’s see if you can bear more weight.” - And he led the little tailor to a huge oak tree that lay cut down on the ground, and said: “If you are strong enough, then help me pull the tree out of the forest.”

Okay,” answered the little man, “you put the trunk on your shoulders, and I will lift and carry the twigs and branches; it will be much heavier.”

The giant put the trunk on his shoulders, and the tailor sat down on one of the branches; and the giant, who could not look back, had to drag the whole tree and, in addition, the little tailor. And the little tailor was cheerful and whistled a song: “Three tailors drove up to the gate...”, as if dragging a tree was child’s play for him.

The giant dragged the heavy burden not far, but was unable to carry it further and shouted:

Listen, I’ll have to throw away the tree.

Then the tailor quickly jumped off the branch, grabbed the tree with both hands, as if he was carrying it alone, and said to the giant:

You're so big, but you can't carry a tree.

They moved on together. Passing by a cherry tree, the giant grabbed it by the top, on which the ripest cherries hung, bent it down, gave it to the tailor and began to treat him. But the tailor was too weak, he could not hold the branches, and when the giant let them go, the tree rose and the tailor flew into the air with him. He fell safely to the ground, and the giant said:

Why are you, are you really not able to hold such a small twig?

“I have enough strength,” answered the little tailor, “do you think that this means anything to the one who beat seven in one fell swoop?” It was I who jumped over the tree, because below there were hunters shooting at the bushes. Well, jump like that if you can.

The giant tried, but he couldn’t jump over the tree and hung on the branches, so that the little tailor had the upper hand here too.

And the giant said:

If you are so brave, then come with me to our cave, and you will spend the night there.

The little tailor agreed and went after the giant. They approached the cave, and lo and behold, other giants were sitting there by the fire, and each of them had a roast sheep in his hand, and each of them was eating it. The little tailor looked around and thought: “And here it’s much more spacious than in my tailor’s.”

The giant showed him the bed and told him to lie down and get a good night's sleep. But the bed was too big for the tailor; he did not lie down in it, but climbed into the very corner. Then midnight came, and the giant, thinking that the little tailor was sleeping in a deep sleep, got up, took a large iron crowbar and with one blow broke the bed in two, thinking that he had already destroyed this grasshopper.

Early in the morning the giants went into the forest, and forgot about the little tailor, and suddenly he comes out, cheerful and fearless, to meet them. Then the giants got scared and thought that he would kill them all, and they ran away.

And the little tailor moved on, wherever his eyes looked. He wandered for a long time and finally came to the courtyard of the royal palace and, feeling tired, lay down on the grass and fell asleep. While he was lying, people came, began to look at him from all sides and read the inscription on his belt: “He beat seven in one fell swoop.”

“Oh,” they said, “what does this noble hero want here in peacetime?” This must be some important person.

They went and announced this to the king, believing that in case of war he would be an important and necessary person here and that under no circumstances should he be released. The king liked this advice, and he sent one of his courtiers to the tailor, who was supposed to offer him, when he woke up, to join the king in military service.

The messenger approached the sleeping man, waited until he began to stretch and opened his eyes, and only then told him the royal commission.

“That’s why I came here,” answered the tailor. “Well, I’m ready to enter the king’s service.”

He was received with honors and given a special room. But the royal wars were unfriendly to the tailor and wanted to sell him somewhere far away. “What will come of this? - they said to each other. “If we quarrel with him, he’ll pounce on us and beat seven of us in one fell swoop.” None of us can stand against him here.” And so they decided to go together to the king and ask him for his resignation.

How can we stand, they said, next to such a man who beats seven in one fell swoop?

The king was saddened that he had to lose all his faithful servants because of one thing, and he wanted to quickly get rid of the tailor so as not to let him see him again. But the king did not dare to give him his resignation: he was afraid that he would kill him, and at the same time the courtiers, and he himself would sit on his throne. He thought and pondered for a long time and finally decided to do so. He sent to the little tailor and told him to announce that he wanted to make him, as a great military hero, some proposal.

Two giants settled in one of the forests of his kingdom; they caused great harm with their robberies and robberies, arson and fires; and no one dares to approach them without being in mortal danger. So, if he defeats and kills these two giants, then he will give him his only daughter as a wife, and half the kingdom as a dowry, and a hundred horsemen will go with him to help.

“It would be nice for someone like me,” thought the little tailor, “to get the beautiful princess as a wife and half a kingdom into the bargain—this doesn’t happen every day.”

Oh yeah! - he said in response. “I will defeat these giants, and I don’t need hundreds of horsemen for this; whoever beats seven in one fell swoop has nothing to fear from two.

And so the tailor set off on a campaign, and a hundred horsemen rode behind him. Arriving at the edge of the forest, he said to his guides:

You stay here, and I’ll deal with the giants one on one. - And he dashed into the forest, looking around.

Soon he saw two giants. They lay under a tree and slept, and at the same time snored with all their might, so that even the branches on the trees swayed.

The little tailor, don’t be lazy, filled both his pockets with stones and climbed up the tree. He climbed halfway up the tree, climbed onto a branch, sat down just above the sleeping giants and began throwing stone after stone onto one of their chests. The giant did not notice anything for a long time, but finally woke up, pushed his friend in the side and said:

Why are you hitting me?

Yes, you dreamed about it,” he answered him, “I’m not hitting you at all.” - And they went to bed again. And the tailor took out a stone and threw it on the second giant.

What is this? - exclaimed the second. -What are you throwing at me?

“I’m not throwing anything at you,” the first one answered and began to grumble.

The giants quarreled like this for some time, and when they were both tired of it, they made peace and fell asleep again. And the tailor began his game again, chose a larger stone and threw it with all his might at the chest of the first giant.

This is too much! - he shouted, jumped up like crazy, and as he pushed his friend against the tree, it all began to tremble. The second one repaid him in the same coin, and they became so furious that they began to uproot trees with their feet and beat each other with them, until finally they both fell dead to the ground.

Then the little tailor jumped from the tree. “It’s also fortunate,” he said, “that they didn’t tear out the tree on which I was sitting, otherwise I would probably have had to jump like a squirrel from tree to tree - well, we are agile people!” He pulled out his sword and struck both giants in the chest with all his might, then came out of the forest to the horsemen and said:

It's done, I finished them both off. However, I had a hard time; Sensing trouble, they tore entire trees out of the ground to protect themselves, but this did not help them much, since someone like me appeared who could kill seven in one fell swoop.

Aren't you injured? - asked the riders.

“It turned out well,” the tailor answered, “and they didn’t touch a hair.”

The riders did not want to believe him and headed into the forest. They saw giants there, swimming in their own blood, and uprooted trees lay around them.

And then the little tailor demanded from the king the reward he had been promised, but he already repented of his promise and began again to figure out how he could get rid of such a hero.

“Before you get my daughter as a wife and half a kingdom into the bargain,” he told him, “you must perform one more heroic deed.” A unicorn lives in the forest, it causes great harm, you must catch it.

I fear the unicorn even less than the two giants; seven in one fell swoop - that's just the thing for me.

So he took a rope and an ax with him, went out into the forest and ordered the people who were given to help him to wait for him again at the forest edge. He didn't have to search long; The unicorn soon appeared and rushed straight at the tailor, intending to immediately impale him on his horn.

Be quiet, be quiet,” said the tailor. - It won’t work out that quickly!

He stopped and waited until the animal came closer, then he quickly jumped back and hid behind a tree. The unicorn ran with all his might and stuck his horn into the trunk, so tightly that he did not have enough strength to pull it back - so he was caught.

“Now the bird is in my hands,” said the tailor and, coming out from behind the tree, he threw a rope around the unicorn’s neck, then cut off its horn with an ax, which was stuck in the tree, and when everything was in order, he led the animal out of the forest and brought him to the king.

But the king still did not want to give him the promised reward and made a third demand. For the wedding, the tailor had to catch him a wild boar, which causes great harm in the forest, and the huntsmen were supposed to help him in this matter.

Okay,” replied the tailor, “this is child’s play for me!”

He did not take the huntsmen with him into the forest, and they were very pleased with this, because the wild boar met them more than once in such a way that they lost the desire to chase him.

When the boar noticed the tailor, it rushed at him, foaming at the mouth and baring its fangs, intending to knock him down. But the clever hero jumped into the chapel that was nearby and instantly jumped out of there through the window. The boar ran after him, and the tailor ran around the chapel and slammed the door behind him - here the fierce beast was caught: he was too heavy and awkward to jump out of the window.

Then the tailor called the huntsmen so that they could see the captured beast with their own eyes, and in the meantime our hero went to the king; and as much as he didn’t want to, he had to keep his promise, and he gave him his daughter and half the kingdom in addition.

If he had known that it was not a great hero standing before him, but a simple little tailor, he would have felt even more uneasy. The wedding was celebrated with great pomp and little joy; and so the tailor became king.

Some time later, at night, the young queen heard her husband saying in his sleep: “Boy, come on, sew me a jacket and mend my pants, otherwise I’ll hit you with a yardstick.” Then she guessed which alley this young man was from; The next morning she told her father about her grief and began to ask him to save her from such a husband - after all, he turned out to be a simple tailor. The king began to console her and said:

This night, do not lock your bedchamber, my servants will stand at the door, and when he falls asleep, they will come in, tie him up and carry him to the ship, and he will be taken to distant lands.

The queen was pleased with this, but the royal squire, who heard all this and was devoted to the young king, told him about this plan.

“I’ll handle this matter,” said the little tailor.

In the evening he went to bed with his wife at the usual time. She thought that he was already asleep, got up, opened the door and went back to bed. And the little tailor pretended to be asleep and began to shout loudly: “Boy, sew me a jacket and mend my pants, otherwise I’ll blow you with a yardstick!” I beat seven in one fell swoop, killed two giants, took a unicorn out of the forest and caught a wild boar - should I be afraid of those who stand behind the door!

When the servants heard what the tailor was saying, great fear seized them, and they ran away, as if a formidable army was chasing them on their heels. And from that time on, no one dared to touch the tailor again.

And so, just as the little tailor was a king, he remained one for the rest of his life.