The Brave Little Tailor (Campfire Story)

One summer morning, a little tailor sat cross-legged on his table by the window, stitching away. He'd bought himself a pot of strawberry jam, and he spread a big slice of bread with it and set it beside him for later.

The sweet smell of jam drifted through the room, and the flies came buzzing. Dozens of them, landing all over his bread. 'Who invited you?' said the tailor. He grabbed a scrap of cloth and gave them a mighty whack. When he lifted it up, he counted. Seven flies, flat as pancakes.

'Seven!' he said. 'With one blow! The whole town should know about this. No, the whole world!' So he cut himself a wide belt, and in big letters he stitched across it: SEVEN AT ONE BLOW.

He put on the belt, stuck a lump of cheese in his pocket for the road, and set off to see the world. On his way out of town, he found a little bird tangled in a bush, so he put it in his pocket too.

The road led up into the mountains, and at the top sat a GIANT, looking out over the countryside. The tailor walked right up to him. 'Good day, friend. I'm off to see the world. Want to come?'

The GIANT looked down and laughed. 'You? You little shrimp?'

The tailor opened his coat and showed his belt. SEVEN AT ONE BLOW! The GIANT read it and thought it meant seven men, and he began to respect the little fellow. But he wanted to test him first.

The GIANT picked up a stone and squeezed it until a drop of water ran out. 'Do that, if you're so strong.'

'Is that all?' said the tailor. He reached into his pocket, pulled out the soft cheese, and squeezed it until the whey ran out in a stream. 'That's better, isn't it?'

The GIANT scratched his head. Then he picked up another stone and threw it so high it went out of sight. 'Do that, little fellow.'

'Not bad,' said the tailor. 'But your stone came back down. Mine won't.' He reached into his pocket, pulled out the little bird, and threw it into the air. The bird was so happy to be free that it flew up and away and never came back. 'How was that?'

The GIANT didn't know what to think. 'Come home with me,' he said, 'and spend the night in our cave.'

In the cave were two more GIANT brothers, roasting a whole sheep over the fire. They gave the tailor a bed, but it was so big that he curled up in one corner of it. At midnight the first GIANT crept up with a great iron bar and smashed the bed to splinters. 'That's the end of that little grasshopper,' he said.

But in the morning, the tailor came strolling into the cave, whistling. The GIANT brothers were so terrified, thinking he was invincible, that they ran off into the woods and never came back.

The tailor walked on until he came to a king's palace. He lay down in the courtyard to take a nap. SNORE! The king's soldiers gathered around him and read his belt. SEVEN AT ONE BLOW! 'A great warrior,' they whispered, and they ran to tell the king.

The king had a problem. Two terrible GIANT brothers lived in his forest, robbing and wrecking everything. 'Brave hero,' said the king, 'if you can defeat those two, I'll give you half my kingdom, and my daughter's hand in marriage if she agrees.'

'Two? Only two?' said the tailor. 'A man who can do SEVEN AT ONE BLOW isn't afraid of two.'

He went into the forest and found the two giants asleep under a tree, snoring so hard that the branches shook. SNORE! SNORE! The tailor filled his pockets with stones and climbed up into the tree right above them. Then he dropped a stone on the first GIANT's chest.

The first GIANT woke up and shoved his brother. 'Why'd you hit me?'

'I didn't hit you,' said the other. 'You're dreaming.' And they went back to sleep. SNORE!

The tailor dropped a stone on the second GIANT. 'Hey! Why'd you hit me?'

'I didn't touch you!' And they grumbled and went back to sleep. SNORE!

Then the tailor picked out the biggest stone he had and threw it as hard as he could at the first GIANT's nose. 'That's IT!' roared the GIANT. He jumped up and shoved his brother against the tree. His brother shoved him back. They pulled up trees by the roots and swung them at each other, and they fought until they both fell down dead.

The tailor climbed down, drew his sword, gave each giant a good poke for show, and walked back to the palace. 'Done,' he said. 'Both of them. It was hard work, mind you. They tore up trees to defend themselves. But what good is a tree against a man who can do SEVEN AT ONE BLOW?'

The king wasn't quite ready to give away half his kingdom. So he sent the tailor out after a wild unicorn that was terrorizing the countryside. The tailor stood in front of a big tree and waited. When the unicorn charged at him, he stepped aside at the last second, and the unicorn's horn stuck fast in the tree trunk. The tailor led it back on a rope.

Then the king sent him after a wild boar. The boar chased him into a little chapel. The tailor jumped out a high window, ran around, and slammed the door shut, with the boar locked inside.

At last the king had no excuses left. The princess thought the tailor was the funniest, cleverest man she'd ever met, and she said yes. They had a grand wedding, and the little tailor became a king himself.

And if anybody ever asked how a little tailor became a king, he'd just smile, tap his belt, and say it. SEVEN AT ONE BLOW! He never did mention that they were flies.

Storyteller tips: teach the cues before you start, and have the crowd shout SEVEN AT ONE BLOW proudly every time someone reads the belt. The tricks are the fun, so slow down for each one: the cheese, the bird, and the stones dropping on the snoring giants.

Retold from the Brothers Grimm, 1812. It's a good one for a talk about using your head when you're outmatched, and a little bit about how true a boast has to be.