The Clever Little Tailor facts for kids
"The Clever Little Tailor" (also known as Vom klugen Schneiderlein in German) is a popular fairy tale from Germany. The famous Brothers Grimm collected this story as tale number 114 in their collection. It's a type of story known as Aarne-Thompson type 850, which often features a princess with special birthmarks. Andrew Lang also included this tale in his book, The Green Fairy Book.
Contents
Story Summary
This fairy tale tells the story of a proud princess. She liked to challenge anyone who wanted to marry her. She would ask them a difficult riddle. If they could not answer, she would send them away.
The Princess's Riddle
One day, three tailors came to try their luck. Two of them were known for being very smart and skilled. The third tailor was thought to be not very useful. The princess asked them a tricky question: "What two colors are my hairs?"
The first tailor guessed "black and white." The second tailor said "brown and red." But the third, less famous tailor, guessed "gold and silver." He was correct!
The Tailor and the Bear
Even though he answered correctly, the princess had another challenge. She demanded that the clever tailor spend the night with a wild bear.
Inside the bear's stall, the tailor started cracking nuts. He offered the bear some "nuts," but they were actually small pebbles. The bear tried to crack them but couldn't. The tailor then took a pebble, secretly swapped it for a real nut, and cracked it easily. This made the bear think the tailor was very strong.
Next, the tailor began to play his fiddle. The bear started to dance along to the music. The tailor offered to teach the bear how to play the fiddle. But first, he said, he needed to cut the bear's long nails. He tricked the bear into putting its paw into a large clamp, called a vise. The tailor then left the bear stuck there.
A Clever Escape
The princess was impressed by the tailor's cleverness and agreed to marry him. However, the other two tailors, who were jealous, later freed the bear. The angry bear chased after the carriage carrying the tailor and the princess.
The clever tailor quickly thought of a plan. He stuck his legs out of the carriage window. He then shouted at the bear, pretending his legs were another vise. He threatened to trap the bear again. The bear, remembering its earlier experience, got scared and ran away.
Different Versions of the Story
Many fairy tales have different versions, and "The Clever Little Tailor" is one of them. Experts believe this story type, called Aarne-Thompson type 850, likely came from old European folk tales. It was not first written down in a very old book. This means people probably told it by word of mouth for a long time.
Slavic Storytelling
In countries where Slavic languages are spoken, this type of story is very common. The plot is often similar. A peasant plays a musical instrument, like a flute or violin. Their animals, such as sheep or pigs, start dancing. The princess sees this and wants to buy the dancing animals. In exchange, the peasant might show her special birthmarks.
