The Valiant Little Tailor

One summer’s morning a little tailor was sitting on his table by the window; he was in good spirits, and sewed with all his might. Then came a peasant woman down the street crying: ‘Good jams, cheap! Good jams, cheap!’ This rang pleasantly in the tailor’s ears; he stretched his delicate head out of the window, and called: ‘Come up here, dear woman; here you will get rid of your goods.’ The woman came up the three steps to the tailor with her heavy basket, and he made her unpack all the pots for him. He inspected each one, lifted it up, put his nose to it, and at length said: ‘The jam seems to me to be good, so weigh me out four ounces, dear woman, and if it is a quarter of a pound that is of no consequence.’ The woman who had hoped to find a good sale, gave him what he desired, but went away quite angry and grumbling. ‘Now, this jam shall be blessed by God,’ cried the little tailor, ‘and give me health and strength’; so he brought the bread out of the cupboard, cut himself a piece right across the loaf and spread the jam over it. ‘This won’t taste bitter,’ said he, ‘but I will just finish the jacket before I take a bite.’ He laid the bread near him, sewed on, and in his joy, made bigger and bigger stitches. In the meantime the smell of the sweet jam rose to where the flies were sitting in great numbers, and they were attracted and descended on it in hosts. ‘Hi! who invited you?’ said the little tailor, and drove the unbidden guests away. The flies, however, who understood no German, would not be turned away, but came back again in ever-increasing companies. The little tailor at last lost all patience, and drew a piece of cloth from the hole under his work-table, and saying: ‘Wait, and I will give it to you,’ struck it mercilessly on them. When he drew it away and counted, there lay before him no fewer than seven, dead and with legs stretched out. ‘Are you a fellow of that sort?’ said he, and could not help admiring his own bravery. ‘The whole town shall know of this!’ And the little tailor hastened to cut himself a girdle, stitched it, and embroidered on it in large letters: ‘Seven at one stroke!’ ‘What, the town!’ he continued, ‘the whole world shall hear of it!’ and his heart wagged with joy like a lamb’s tail. The tailor put on the girdle, and resolved to go forth into the world, because he thought his workshop was too small for his valour. Before he went away, he sought about in the house to see if there was anything which he could take with him; however, he found nothing but an old cheese, and that he put in his pocket. In front of the door he observed a bird which had caught itself in the thicket. It had to go into his pocket with the cheese. Now he took to the road boldly, and as he was light and nimble, he felt no fatigue. The road led him up a mountain, and when he had reached the highest point of it, there sat a powerful giant looking peacefully about him. The little tailor went bravely up, spoke to him, and said: ‘Good day, comrade, so you are sitting there overlooking the wide-spread world! I am just on my way thither, and want to try my luck. Have you any inclination to go with me?’ The giant looked contemptuously at the tailor, and said: ‘You ragamuffin! You miserable creature!’

ある夏の朝、小さな仕立屋が窓ぎわの机に座っていた。彼は上機嫌で、力いっぱい縫っていた。そこへ百姓の女が通りを下ってきて叫んだ。「おいしいジャム、お安いよ。おいしいジャム、お安いよ」それが仕立屋の耳に心地よく響いた。彼はきゃしゃな頭を窓から突き出して呼んだ。「ここへ上がっておいで、おかみさん。ここで品がさばけるよ」女は重い籠を提げて三段の階段を上って仕立屋のところへ来た。そして彼は壺をみな開けさせた。彼は一つずつ検め、持ち上げ、鼻を近づけて、とうとう言った。「このジャムはよさそうだ。四オンス量っておくれ、おかみさん。四半ポンドになっても構わんよ」よい商売になると期待していた女は、言われただけの量を渡したが、たいそう腹を立ててぶつぶつ言いながら去っていった。「さあ、このジャムに神さまの祝福がありますように」と小さな仕立屋は叫んだ。「そしてわたしに健康と力をくださいますように」そして戸棚からパンを出し、丸のままの上からひと切れ切って、ジャムを塗った。「まずい味はすまい」と彼は言った。「だが、ひと口かじる前に、まず胴着を仕上げてしまおう」彼はパンをそばに置いて縫いつづけ、嬉しさのあまり縫い目はどんどん大きくなった。そのうち甘いジャムの匂いが、蠅が大勢とまっている壁まで立ちのぼった。蠅は匂いに誘われ、群れをなして舞い下りてきた。「おい、誰がおまえたちを招いた」と小さな仕立屋は言って、招かれざる客を追い払った。だが蠅はドイツ語が分からないので追い払われもせず、ますます大勢で戻ってきた。小さな仕立屋はとうとう我慢の限りを越え、仕事机の下の穴から布切れを引き出して、「待て、思い知らせてやる」と言って容赦なく叩きつけた。そして布を引き上げて数えてみると、目の前に七匹が足を伸ばして死んでいた。「おれはそういう男か」と彼は言い、自分の勇ましさに感心せずにいられなかった。「これは町じゅうが知るべきだ」そして小さな仕立屋は急いで帯を裁ち、縫い上げて、大きな文字でこう刺繍した。「ひと打ちで七つ!」「なんだ、町だと」と彼は続けた。「世界じゅうが聞くべきだ」そして彼の胸は仔羊の尻尾のように喜びで揺れた。仕立屋は帯を締め、世の中へ出ることに決めた。自分の勇ましさには仕事場が狭すぎると思ったからである。出かける前に、持っていけるものはないかと家じゅう探したが、古いチーズのほか何も見つからず、それを懐に入れた。戸口の前で、藪に引っかかっている鳥を見つけた。それもチーズと一緒に懐へ入るはめになった。さて彼は大胆に道を行き、身軽ですばしこかったので疲れも感じなかった。道は彼を山へ導き、いちばん高い地点に着くと、そこに力の強い大男が座って、のんびりあたりを見まわしていた。小さな仕立屋は勇ましく近づいて声をかけて言った。「こんにちは、相棒。そこに座って広い世界を見渡しているのだな。おれはちょうどそこへ出かけて運を試そうというところだ。一緒に来る気はあるか」大男は仕立屋を見下して言った。「このぼろ着め、みじめな生きものめ」

‘Oh, indeed?’ answered the little tailor, and unbuttoned his coat, and showed the giant the girdle, ‘there may you read what kind of a man I am!’ The giant read: ‘Seven at one stroke,’ and thought that they had been men whom the tailor had killed, and began to feel a little respect for the tiny fellow. Nevertheless, he wished to try him first, and took a stone in his hand and squeezed it together so that water dropped out of it. ‘Do that likewise,’ said the giant, ‘if you have strength.’ ‘Is that all?’ said the tailor, ‘that is child’s play with us!’ and put his hand into his pocket, brought out the soft cheese, and pressed it until the liquid ran out of it. ‘Faith,’ said he, ‘that was a little better, wasn’t it?’ The giant did not know what to say, and could not believe it of the little man. Then the giant picked up a stone and threw it so high that the eye could scarcely follow it. ‘Now, little mite of a man, do that likewise,’ ‘Well thrown,’ said the tailor, ‘but after all the stone came down to earth again; I will throw you one which shall never come back at all,’ and he put his hand into his pocket, took out the bird, and threw it into the air. The bird, delighted with its liberty, rose, flew away and did not come back. ‘How does that shot please you, comrade?’ asked the tailor. ‘You can certainly throw,’ said the giant, ‘but now we will see if you are able to carry anything properly.’ He took the little tailor to a mighty oak tree which lay there felled on the ground, and said: ‘If you are strong enough, help me to carry the tree out of the forest.’ ‘Readily,’ answered the little man; ‘take you the trunk on your shoulders, and I will raise up the branches and twigs; after all, they are the heaviest.’ The giant took the trunk on his shoulder, but the tailor seated himself on a branch, and the giant, who could not look round, had to carry away the whole tree, and the little tailor into the bargain: he behind, was quite merry and happy, and whistled the song: ‘Three tailors rode forth from the gate,’ as if carrying the tree were child’s play. The giant, after he had dragged the heavy burden part of the way, could go no further, and cried: ‘Hark you, I shall have to let the tree fall!’ The tailor sprang nimbly down, seized the tree with both arms as if he had been carrying it, and said to the giant: ‘You are such a great fellow, and yet cannot even carry the tree!’

「ほう、そうかい」と小さな仕立屋は答えて上着の前を開け、大男に帯を見せた。「そこを読め。おれがどういう男か分かる」大男は「ひと打ちで七つ」と読んで、それは仕立屋が殺した人間のことだと思い、この小さな男を少しばかり敬いはじめた。それでもまず試そうと、石を手に取って握りしめ、水を滴らせた。「同じことをしてみろ」と大男は言った。「力があるならな」「それだけか」と仕立屋は言った。「そんなのはおれたちには子どもの遊びだ」そして懐に手を入れ、柔らかいチーズを取り出して、汁が流れ出るまで握りしめた。「どうだ」と彼は言った。「少しはましだっただろう」大男は何と言ってよいか分からず、この小さな男のしたことが信じられなかった。それから大男は石を拾い上げ、目でやっと追えるほど高く投げた。「さあ、ちっぽけな男、同じことをしてみろ」「よく投げた」と仕立屋は言った。「だが結局あの石は地面に落ちてきた。おれは二度と戻ってこないやつを投げてやる」そして懐に手を入れて鳥を取り出し、空へ投げた。鳥は自由を喜んで舞い上がり、飛び去って戻ってこなかった。「この一投はお気に召したか、相棒」と仕立屋は尋ねた。「たしかに投げられるようだな」と大男は言った。「だが今度は、ちゃんと物を運べるかどうか見てやろう」彼は小さな仕立屋を、そこに伐り倒されて横たわる大きな樫の木のところへ連れていって言った。「力が足りるなら、この木を森から運び出すのを手伝え」「よろこんで」と小さな男は答えた。「おまえは幹を肩に担げ。おれは枝と小枝のほうを持ち上げよう。結局そっちがいちばん重いからな」大男は幹を肩に担いだが、仕立屋は枝の一本に腰かけた。そして後ろを見られない大男は、木をまるごと、おまけに小さな仕立屋まで運ぶはめになった。後ろにいる仕立屋はすっかり陽気で幸せで、木を運ぶのが子どもの遊びであるかのように「仕立屋が三人、門を出て馬で行った」という歌を口笛で吹いていた。大男は重い荷を途中まで引きずったあと、もう進めなくなって叫んだ。「おい、木を落とさねばならん」仕立屋は身軽に跳び下り、まるで自分が担いでいたかのように両腕で木を抱えて、大男に言った。「おまえはそんな大男のくせに、木一本運べないのか」

They went on together, and as they passed a cherry-tree, the giant laid hold of the top of the tree where the ripest fruit was hanging, bent it down, gave it into the tailor’s hand, and bade him eat. But the little tailor was much too weak to hold the tree, and when the giant let it go, it sprang back again, and the tailor was tossed into the air with it. When he had fallen down again without injury, the giant said: ‘What is this? Have you not strength enough to hold the weak twig?’ ‘There is no lack of strength,’ answered the little tailor. ‘Do you think that could be anything to a man who has struck down seven at one blow? I leapt over the tree because the huntsmen are shooting down there in the thicket. Jump as I did, if you can do it.’ The giant made the attempt but he could not get over the tree, and remained hanging in the branches, so that in this also the tailor kept the upper hand.

二人は一緒に進み、桜の木のそばを通ると、大男は熟した実のなっている梢をつかんで引き下ろし、仕立屋の手に渡して食べろと言った。だが小さな仕立屋は木を押さえるにはあまりに弱く、大男が手を放すと木は跳ね返り、仕立屋も一緒に空へ放り上げられた。そして怪我もなく落ちてくると、大男は言った。「どうした。その細い枝を押さえる力もないのか」「力が足りないのではない」と小さな仕立屋は答えた。「ひと打ちで七つ叩き伏せた男に、それしきのことができぬと思うか。木を跳び越えたのは、下の茂みで猟師が撃っているからだ。できるものならおまえも跳んでみろ」大男は試したが、木を跳び越えられず枝に引っかかったままになった。こうしてこれについても仕立屋のほうが上手だった。

The giant said: ‘If you are such a valiant fellow, come with me into our cavern and spend the night with us.’ The little tailor was willing, and followed him. When they went into the cave, other giants were sitting there by the fire, and each of them had a roasted sheep in his hand and was eating it. The little tailor looked round and thought: ‘It is much more spacious here than in my workshop.’ The giant showed him a bed, and said he was to lie down in it and sleep. The bed, however, was too big for the little tailor; he did not lie down in it, but crept into a corner. When it was midnight, and the giant thought that the little tailor was lying in a sound sleep, he got up, took a great iron bar, cut through the bed with one blow, and thought he had finished off the grasshopper for good. With the earliest dawn the giants went into the forest, and had quite forgotten the little tailor, when all at once he walked up to them quite merrily and boldly. The giants were terrified, they were afraid that he would strike them all dead, and ran away in a great hurry.

大男は言った。「そんなに勇ましいやつなら、おれたちの洞穴へ来て一晩泊まっていけ」小さな仕立屋は承知してついていった。二人が洞穴に入ると、ほかの大男たちが火のそばに座っていて、めいめい焼いた羊を手に持って食べていた。小さな仕立屋は見まわして思った。「ここはおれの仕事場よりずいぶん広いな」大男は彼に寝床を示して、そこに横になって眠れと言った。だが寝床は小さな仕立屋には大きすぎた。彼はそこに横にならず、隅に這い込んだ。真夜中になり、大男は小さな仕立屋がぐっすり眠っていると思って起き上がり、大きな鉄の棒を取って、ひと打ちで寝床を切り裂き、あの飛蝗を永久に片づけたと思った。夜明けとともに大男たちは森へ出かけ、小さな仕立屋のことはすっかり忘れていた。ところがそこへ彼が実に陽気に大胆に歩いてきたのである。大男たちは怯え、みな打ち殺されると恐れて、大慌てで逃げ去った。

The little tailor went onwards, always following his own pointed nose. After he had walked for a long time, he came to the courtyard of a royal palace, and as he felt weary, he lay down on the grass and fell asleep. Whilst he lay there, the people came and inspected him on all sides, and read on his girdle: ‘Seven at one stroke.’ ‘Ah!’ said they, ‘what does the great warrior want here in the midst of peace? He must be a mighty lord.’ They went and announced him to the king, and gave it as their opinion that if war should break out, this would be a weighty and useful man who ought on no account to be allowed to depart. The counsel pleased the king, and he sent one of his courtiers to the little tailor to offer him military service when he awoke. The ambassador remained standing by the sleeper, waited until he stretched his limbs and opened his eyes, and then conveyed to him this proposal. ‘For this very reason have I come here,’ the tailor replied, ‘I am ready to enter the king’s service.’ He was therefore honourably received, and a special dwelling was assigned him.

小さな仕立屋は先へ進み、いつも自分の尖った鼻の向くままに進んだ。長いこと歩いたのち、彼は王の宮殿の中庭に着き、疲れを覚えたので草の上に横になって眠り込んだ。彼がそこに横たわっているあいだに人々が来て、あちこちから彼を検め、その帯にある文字を読んだ。「ひと打ちで七つ」「ああ」と人々は言った。「この偉大な武人は、この平和のただなかに何をしに来たのだろう。これは力ある御方にちがいない」人々は行って王に知らせ、もし戦が起これば、この男は重みのある役に立つ人物で、けっして去らせてはならないという意見を述べた。この進言は王の気に入り、王は廷臣の一人を小さな仕立屋のもとへ遣わして、目を覚ましたら軍務を申し出るように命じた。使者は眠っている男のそばに立ち、彼が手足を伸ばして目を開けるまで待ち、それからこの申し出を伝えた。「まさにそのためにここへ来たのだ」と仕立屋は答えた。「王さまにお仕えする用意はできている」そこで彼は丁重に迎えられ、特別な住まいを与えられた。

The soldiers, however, were set against the little tailor, and wished him a thousand miles away. ‘What is to be the end of this?’ they said among themselves. ‘If we quarrel with him, and he strikes about him, seven of us will fall at every blow; not one of us can stand against him.’ They came therefore to a decision, betook themselves in a body to the king, and begged for their dismissal. ‘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, wished that he had never set eyes on the tailor, and would willingly have been rid of him again. But he did not venture to give him his dismissal, for he dreaded lest he should strike him and all his people dead, and place himself on the royal throne. He thought about it for a long time, and at last found good counsel. He sent to the little tailor and caused him to be informed that as he was a great warrior, he had one request to make to him. In a forest of his country lived two giants, who caused great mischief with their robbing, murdering, ravaging, and burning, and no one could approach them without putting himself in danger of death. If the tailor conquered and killed these two giants, he would give him his only daughter to wife, and half of his kingdom as a dowry, likewise one hundred horsemen should go with him to assist him. ‘That would indeed be a fine thing for a man like me!’ thought the little tailor. ‘One is not offered a beautiful princess and half a kingdom every day of one’s life!’ ‘Oh, yes,’ he replied, ‘I will soon subdue the giants, and do not require the help of the hundred horsemen to do it; he who can hit seven with one blow has no need to be afraid of two.’

だが兵士たちは小さな仕立屋に反感を抱き、千マイルも遠くへ行ってしまえばいいと願った。「これはどうなることか」と彼らは互いに言い合った。「もしあいつと諍いになって打ちかかられたら、ひと打ちでわれわれ七人が倒れる。誰一人あいつに立ち向かえない」そこで彼らは決心して、そろって王のもとへ行き、暇を願い出た。「われわれには」と彼らは言った。「ひと打ちで七つ殺す男のそばにいる覚悟はありません」王は一人のためにすべての忠実な家来を失うことを惜しみ、あの仕立屋など目にしなければよかったと思い、できれば厄介払いしたかった。だが暇を出す勇気はなかった。自分と国じゅうの者を打ち殺して、王座に座られてはかなわないと恐れたからである。王は長いこと考え、とうとうよい策を思いついた。王は小さな仕立屋のもとへ人を遣わして、そなたは偉大な武人なのだから一つ頼みがある、と伝えさせた。国のある森に二人の大男が住んでいて、略奪、殺人、荒らし、放火で大きな害をなしており、死の危険を冒さずには誰も近づけない。もしこの二人の大男を打ち負かして殺せば、ひとり娘を妻として与え、婚資として国の半分も与えよう。また百人の騎兵をつけて助けさせよう、と。「それはおれのような男にはうってつけだ」と小さな仕立屋は思った。「美しい姫と国の半分が毎日差し出されるわけではない」「よろしい」と彼は答えた。「大男どもはすぐに従えてみせる。百人の騎兵の助けも要らぬ。ひと打ちで七つ当てられる者が、二人ごときを恐れる必要はない」

The little tailor went forth, and the hundred horsemen followed him. When he came to the outskirts of the forest, he said to his followers: ‘Just stay waiting here, I alone will soon finish off the giants.’ Then he bounded into the forest and looked about right and left. After a while he perceived both giants. They lay sleeping under a tree, and snored so that the branches waved up and down. The little tailor, not idle, gathered two pocketsful of stones, and with these climbed up the tree. When he was halfway up, he slipped down by a branch, until he sat just above the sleepers, and then let one stone after another fall on the breast of one of the giants. For a long time the giant felt nothing, but at last he awoke, pushed his comrade, and said: ‘Why are you knocking me?’ ‘You must be dreaming,’ said the other, ‘I am not knocking you.’ They laid themselves down to sleep again, and then the tailor threw a stone down on the second. ‘What is the meaning of this?’ cried the other ‘Why are you pelting me?’ ‘I am not pelting you,’ answered the first, growling. They disputed about it for a time, but as they were weary they let the matter rest, and their eyes closed once more. The little tailor began his game again, picked out the biggest stone, and threw it with all his might on the breast of the first giant. ‘That is too bad!’ cried he, and sprang up like a madman, and pushed his companion against the tree until it shook. The other paid him back in the same coin, and they got into such a rage that they tore up trees and belaboured each other so long, that at last they both fell down dead on the ground at the same time. Then the little tailor leapt down. ‘It is a lucky thing,’ said he, ‘that they did not tear up the tree on which I was sitting, or I should have had to sprint on to another like a squirrel; but we tailors are nimble.’ He drew out his sword and gave each of them a couple of thrusts in the breast, and then went out to the horsemen and said: ‘The work is done; I have finished both of them off, but it was hard work! They tore up trees in their sore need, and defended themselves with them, but all that is to no purpose when a man like myself comes, who can kill seven at one blow.’ ‘But are you not wounded?’ asked the horsemen. ‘You need not concern yourself about that,’ answered the tailor, ‘they have not bent one hair of mine.’ The horsemen would not believe him, and rode into the forest; there they found the giants swimming in their blood, and all round about lay the torn-up trees.

小さな仕立屋は出発し、百人の騎兵が従った。森のはずれに来ると、彼は供の者に言った。「ここで待っていろ。おれ一人ですぐに大男どもを片づける」それから森へ跳び込み、右へ左へ見まわした。しばらくすると二人の大男が目に入った。二人は木の下で眠っていて、枝が上下に揺れるほどいびきをかいていた。小さな仕立屋はすかさず懐二つぶんの石を集め、それを持って木に登った。半ばまで来ると枝を伝って下り、ちょうど眠っている二人の真上に座って、一人の大男の胸に石を次々と落とした。長いあいだ大男は何も感じなかったが、とうとう目を覚まし、仲間を突いて言った。「なぜおれを叩く」「夢でも見たのだろう」ともう一人は言った。「おれは叩いていない」二人はまた横になって眠り、それから仕立屋は二人目に石を落とした。「これはどういうことだ」ともう一人が叫んだ。「なぜおれに投げつける」「投げてなどいない」と一人目がうなりながら答えた。二人はしばらく言い争ったが、疲れていたのでそのままにして、また目を閉じた。小さな仕立屋はまた遊びを始め、いちばん大きな石を選んで、力いっぱい一人目の大男の胸に投げつけた。「あんまりだ」と彼は叫んで狂ったように跳び起き、仲間を木に叩きつけたので木が揺れた。もう一人も同じ手で返し、二人はあまりに怒り狂って木を引き抜き、互いに打ちのめし合い、とうとう二人同時に地に倒れて死んだ。そこで小さな仕立屋は跳び下りた。「運がよかった」と彼は言った。「おれの座っていた木を引き抜かなかったからな。さもなければ栗鼠のように別の木へ跳び移らねばならなかった。もっともおれたち仕立屋は身軽だがね」彼は剣を抜いてそれぞれの胸に数回突きを入れ、それから騎兵たちのところへ出ていって言った。「仕事は済んだ。二人とも片づけた。だが骨の折れる仕事だった。奴らは窮して木を引き抜いてそれで身を守ったが、おれのようにひと打ちで七つ殺せる男が来れば、そんなものは何の役にも立たん」「だがお怪我は」と騎兵たちは尋ねた。「その心配は無用だ」と仕立屋は答えた。「髪の毛一本曲げられておらん」騎兵たちは信じようとせず、森へ乗り入れた。するとそこに大男たちが血の海に浮かんでいて、まわりには引き抜かれた木が転がっていた。

The little tailor demanded of the king the promised reward; he, however, repented of his promise, and again bethought himself how he could get rid of the hero. ‘Before you receive my daughter, and the half of my kingdom,’ said he to him, ‘you must perform one more heroic deed. In the forest roams a unicorn which does great harm, and you must catch it first.’ ‘I fear one unicorn still less than two giants. Seven at one blow, is my kind of affair.’ He took a rope and an axe with him, went forth into the forest, and again bade those who were sent with him to wait outside. He had not long to seek. The unicorn soon came towards him, and rushed directly on the tailor, as if it would gore him with its horn without more ado. ‘Softly, softly; it can’t be done as quickly as that,’ said he, and stood still and waited until the animal was quite close, and then sprang nimbly behind the tree. The unicorn ran against the tree with all its strength, and stuck its horn so fast in the trunk that it had not the strength enough to draw it out again, and thus it was caught. ‘Now, I have got the bird,’ said the tailor, and came out from behind the tree and put the rope round its neck, and then with his axe he hewed the horn out of the tree, and when all was ready he led the beast away and took it to the king.

小さな仕立屋は王に約束の褒美を求めた。だが王は約束を悔やんで、どうやってこの英雄を厄介払いしようかとまた思案した。「わしの娘と国の半分を受け取る前に」と王は彼に言った。「もう一つ英雄らしい働きをしてもらわねばならぬ。森に一角獣が歩きまわって大きな害をなしている。まずそれを捕らえてくるのだ」「二人の大男より一角獣一頭のほうが、もっと恐ろしくない。ひと打ちで七つ、それがおれの得意だ」彼は縄と斧を持って森へ出かけ、また、つけられた供の者に外で待つように言った。長く探すまでもなかった。一角獣はまもなく彼のほうへやってきて、まっすぐ仕立屋に突進し、すぐにでも角で突き刺そうとするかのようだった。「まあ待て、待て。そう急いではできんぞ」と彼は言い、立ち止まって獣がすぐそばに来るまで待ち、それから身軽に木の陰へ跳びのいた。一角獣は力いっぱい木にぶつかり、角を幹に深く突き刺してしまって、抜き出す力が残らず、こうして捕らえられた。「さあ、小鳥は手に入った」と仕立屋は言って木の陰から出てきて、その首に縄をかけ、それから斧で角を木から切り出した。そして万事整うと、この獣を引いて王のもとへ届けた。

The king still would not give him the promised reward, and made a third demand. Before the wedding the tailor was to catch him a wild boar that made great havoc in the forest, and the huntsmen should give him their help. ‘Willingly,’ said the tailor, ‘that is child’s play!’ He did not take the huntsmen with him into the forest, and they were well pleased that he did not, for the wild boar had several times received them in such a manner that they had no inclination to lie in wait for him. When the boar perceived the tailor, it ran on him with foaming mouth and whetted tusks, and was about to throw him to the ground, but the hero fled and sprang into a chapel which was near and up to the window at once, and in one bound out again. The boar ran after him, but the tailor ran round outside and shut the door behind it, and then the raging beast, which was much too heavy and awkward to leap out of the window, was caught. The little tailor called the huntsmen thither that they might see the prisoner with their own eyes. The hero, however, went to the king, who was now, whether he liked it or not, obliged to keep his promise, and gave his daughter and the half of his kingdom. Had he known that it was no warlike hero, but a little tailor who was standing before him, it would have gone to his heart still more than it did. The wedding was held with great magnificence and small joy, and out of a tailor a king was made.

王はそれでもまだ約束の褒美を与えようとせず、三つ目の注文をつけた。婚礼の前に、森で大きな荒らしをはたらく猪を捕らえてこい、猟師たちが手を貸すだろう、というのである。「よろこんで」と仕立屋は言った。「そんなものは子どもの遊びだ」彼は猟師たちを森へ連れていかず、猟師たちもそれを喜んだ。猪には何度もひどい迎え方をされていて、待ち伏せする気などなかったのである。猪は仕立屋を見つけると、口から泡を吹き牙を研ぎながら駆け寄り、地に投げ倒そうとした。だがこの英雄は逃げて、近くにあった礼拝堂に跳び込み、すぐに窓まで上がって、ひと跳びでまた外へ出た。猪はそのあとを追ったが、仕立屋は外をまわって後ろの戸を閉めた。そしてこの荒れ狂う獣は、窓から跳び出すにはあまりに重く不器用だったので、閉じ込められた。小さな仕立屋は猟師たちを呼び寄せ、自分の目でこの捕らわれ者を見させた。だが英雄は王のもとへ行き、王は今や好むと好まざるとにかかわらず約束を守るほかなく、娘と国の半分を与えた。目の前に立っているのが戦の英雄ではなく小さな仕立屋だと知っていたら、王はもっと胸を痛めたことだろう。婚礼は大きな華やかさと小さな喜びのうちに行われ、仕立屋から王が一人できあがった。

After some time the young queen heard her husband say in his dreams at night: ‘Boy, make me the doublet, and patch the pantaloons, or else I will rap the yard-measure over your ears.’ Then she discovered in what state of life the young lord had been born, and next morning complained of her wrongs to her father, and begged him to help her to get rid of her husband, who was nothing else but a tailor. The king comforted her and said: ‘Leave your bedroom door open this night, and my servants shall stand outside, and when he has fallen asleep shall go in, bind him, and take him on board a ship which shall carry him into the wide world.’ The woman was satisfied with this; but the king’s armour-bearer, who had heard all, was friendly with the young lord, and informed him of the whole plot. ‘I’ll put a screw into that business,’ said the little tailor. At night he went to bed with his wife at the usual time, and when she thought that he had fallen asleep, she got up, opened the door, and then lay down again. The little tailor, who was only pretending to be asleep, began to cry out in a clear voice: ‘Boy, make me the doublet and patch me the pantaloons, or I will rap the yard-measure over your ears. I smote seven at one blow. I killed two giants, I brought away one unicorn, and caught a wild boar, and am I to fear those who are standing outside the room.’ When these men heard the tailor speaking thus, they were overcome by a great dread, and ran as if the wild huntsman were behind them, and none of them would venture anything further against him. So the little tailor was and remained a king to the end of his life.

しばらくして、若い王妃は夜、夫が夢のなかでこう言うのを聞いた。「小僧、胴着を仕立てろ、ズボンを繕え。さもないと物差しで耳を叩くぞ」そこで王妃は、この若い殿がどういう身の上に生まれたかを知り、翌朝、父に自分の不当を訴え、仕立屋にすぎない夫から自分を解き放ってくださいと願った。王は王妃を慰めて言った。「今夜、寝間の戸を開けておきなさい。わしの家来を外に立たせておいて、あれが眠り込んだら入って縛り上げ、船に乗せよう。その船があれを広い世界へ運んでいく」王妃はそれで満足した。だが一部始終を聞いていた王の武具持ちは、この若い殿と親しかったので、企てをそっくり伝えた。「その件には栓をしてやる」と小さな仕立屋は言った。夜、彼はいつもの時刻に妻と床についた。そして妻は、彼が眠り込んだと思うと起き上がって戸を開け、また横になった。眠ったふりをしていただけの小さな仕立屋は、はっきりした声で叫びはじめた。「小僧、胴着を仕立てろ、ズボンを繕え。さもないと物差しで耳を叩くぞ。おれはひと打ちで七つ叩き伏せ、大男を二人殺し、一角獣を一頭連れてきて、猪を捕らえた。それがどうして、この部屋の外に立っている者どもを恐れるものか」この男たちは仕立屋がこう言うのを聞くと、大きな恐れに襲われ、魔の狩人が後ろにいるかのように走り去った。そしてもう誰一人、彼に手を出そうとしなかった。こうして小さな仕立屋は生涯の終わりまで王でありつづけた。