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The Cunning Little Tailor
by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm

Once upon a time, there was a princess who was extremely proud. If a prince came to visit, she would give him some riddle to solve. If he could not solve it, he was sent contemptuously away. She let it be known also that whosoever solved her riddle should marry her, let him be who he might.

So, one day three tailors, the two eldest of whom thought they had done so many bits of work successfully they could not fail to succeed in this also, decided to go and try to solve the princess's riddle together. The third tailor was a little useless land-louper, who did not even know his trade, but thought he might have some luck in this venture, for where else would it come from? On the day they were about to set out, the two others said to him, “Just stay at home. You can’t do too much with your little bit of understanding.” The little tailor, however, did not let himself be discouraged, and said he had set his mind to it, and he would manage well enough. So, he went forth as if the whole world were his.

All three of them announced themselves to the princess, and said she was to tell them her riddle. The princess gave them the riddle, “I have two kinds of hair on my head, of what color are they?”

“If that be all,” said the first tailor, “it must be black and white, like the cloth which is called pepper and salt.”

The princess said, “Wrongly guessed. Let the second answer.”

The second said, “If it be not black and white, then it is brown and red, like my father’s company coat.”

“Wrongly guessed,” said the princess, “let the third give the answer, for I see very well he knows it for certain.

Then the little tailor stepped forth boldly and said, “The princess has a silver and a golden hair on her head, and those are the two different colors.” When the princess heard that, she turned pale and nearly fell down with terror, for the little tailor had guessed her riddle, and she had firmly believed that no man on earth could discover it. When her courage returned she said, “You have not won me yet. There is still something else that you must do. Below, in the stable is a bear with which you shall spend the night, and when I get up in the morning if you are still alive, you shall marry me.”

She expected, she could thus get rid of the tailor, for the bear had never left anyone alive who had fallen into his clutches. The little tailor did not let himself be frightened away, but was quite delighted, and said, “Boldly ventured is half won.”

When the evening came, our little tailor was taken down to the bear. The bear was about to go at the little fellow at once, and give him a hearty welcome with his paws: “Softly, softly,” said the little tailor, “I will soon make you quiet.” Then quiet and composed, as if he had not a worry in the world, he took some nuts out of his pocket, cracked them, and ate the kernels.

When the bear saw that, he was seized with a desire to have some nuts too. The tailor felt in his pockets, and gave him a handful. They were, however, not nuts, but pebbles. The bear put them in his mouth, but could get nothing out of them.

“Eh!” thought he, “what a silly blockhead I am! I cannot even crack a nut!” and then he said to the tailor, “Here, crack me the nuts.”

“There, see what a silly fellow you are!” said the little tailor, “To have such a large mouth, and not be able to crack a small nut!” Then he took the pebble and nimbly put a nut in his mouth in the place of it, and crack, it was in two!

“I must try the thing again,” said the bear; “when I watch you, I think I ought to be able to do it too.” So, the tailor once more gave him a pebble, and the bear tried and tried to bite into it with all the strength of his body. But no one could imagine that he did it. When that was over, the tailor took out a violin from beneath his coat, and played a song to himself.

When the bear heard the music, he could not help to dance, and when he had danced a while, the violin pleased him so much that he said to the little tailor, “Is the violin heavy?” “Light enough for a child. Look, with the left hand I lay my fingers on it, and with the right I stroke it with the bow, and then it merrily goes, hop sa sa vivallalera!” “So,” said the bear; “playing the violin is a thing I should like to understand too. Then I could dance whenever I had the fancy. What do you think of that? Will you give me lessons?” “With all my heart,” said the tailor, “if you have a talent for it. But just let me see your claws, they are terribly long, I must cut the nails a little.” Then a vise was brought out, and the bear put his claws in it, and the little tailor screwed it tight, and said, “Now wait until I come back with the scissors,” and he let the bear growl as he liked, and watched him lay down in the corner on a bundle of straw, and fell asleep.

The above passage talks about a very smart tailor who tries to win the heart of a princess.

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