At the earliest dawn of morning the Giants went forth into the forest, and quite forgetting the Tailor, when presently up he came, quite merry, and showed himself before them. The Giants were terrified, and, fearing he would kill them all, they ran away in great haste.

The Tailor journeyed on, always following his nose, and after he had wandered some long distance, he came into the courtyard of a royal palace, and as he felt rather tired he laid himself down on the grass and went to sleep. Whilst he lay there, the people came and viewed him on all sides, and read upon his belt, “Seven at one blow.” “Ah!” said they, “what does this great warrior here in time of peace! This must be some mighty hero.” So they went and told the King, thinking that, should war break out, here was an important and useful man whom one ought not to part with at any price. The King took counsel, and sent one of his courtiers to the Tailor to ask for his fighting services, if he should be awake. The messenger stopped at the sleeper’s side, and waited till he stretched out his limbs and opened his eyes, and then he laid before him his message. “Solely on that account did I come here,” was the reply; “I am quite ready to enter into the King’s service.” Then he was conducted away with great honour, and a fine house was appointed him to dwell in.

The courtiers, however, became jealous of the Tailor, and wished he was a thousand miles away. “What will happen?” said they one to another. “If we go to battle with him, when he strikes out, seven will fall at every blow, so that no one of us will be left!” In their rage they came to a resolution to resign, and they went all together to the King, and asked his permission, saying, “We are not prepared to keep company with a man who kills seven at one blow.” The King was grieved to lose all his faithful servants for the sake of one, and wished that he had never seen the Tailor; and would willingly have now been rid of him. He dared not, however, dismiss him, because he feared the Tailor would kill him and all his subjects, and place himself upon the throne. For a long time he deliberated, till at last he came to a decision; and, sending for the Tailor, he told him that seeing he was so great an hero, he wished to make a request of him. “In a certain forest in my kingdom,” said the King, “there live two Giants, who, by murder, rapine, fire, and robbery, have committed great havoc, and no one dares to approach them without perilling his own life. If you overcome and kill both these Giants, I will give you my only daughter in marriage, and the half of my kingdom for a dowry: a hundred knights shall accompany you, too, in order to render you assistance.”

“Ah! that is something for a such a man as I,” thought the Tailor to himself; “a beautiful princess and half a kingdom are not offered to one every day.” “Oh, yes,” he replied, “I will soon manage these two Giants, and a hundred horsemen are not necessary for that purpose; he who kills seven at one blow, need not fear two.”

Thus talking, the little Tailor set out followed by the hundred knights, to whom he said, as soon as they came to the borders of the forest, “Do you stay here; I would rather meet these Giants alone.” Then off he sprang into the forest, peering about him right and left; and after awhile he saw the two Giants lying asleep under a tree, snoring so loudly that the branches above them shook violently. The Tailor, full of courage, filled both his pockets with stones, and clambered up the tree. When he got to the middle of it, he crept along a bough, so that he sat just above the sleepers, and then he let fall one stone after another upon the breast of one of them. For some time the Giant did not stir, until, at last awakening, he pushed his companion and said, “Why are you beating me?”

“You are dreaming,” he replied; “I never hit you.” They laid themselves down again to sleep, and presently the Tailor threw a stone down upon the other. “What is that?” he exclaimed. “What are you knocking me for?”

“I did not touch you; you must dream,” replied the first. In a little while they sank down again to sleep, and because they were very tired they soon shut their eyes again. Then the Tailor began his sport again, and, picking out the biggest stone, threw it with all his force upon the breast of the first Giant. “That is too bad,” he exclaimed; and springing up like a madman, he fell upon his companion, who, reckoning with equal measure, they set to in such good earnest that they rooted up trees, and beat one another until they both fell dead upon the ground. Now the Tailor jumped down, saying, “What a piece of luck they did not uproot the tree on which I sat, or else I must have jumped on another like a squirrel, for I am not given to flying.” Then he drew his sword, and, cutting a deep wound in the breast of each, he went to the horsemen and said, “The deed is done; I have given each his death-stroke; but it was a hard job, for in their necessity they have uprooted trees to defend themselves with; still all that is no use when such an one as I come, who kill seven at every stroke.”

“Are you not wounded, then?” asked they.

“That is not to be expected; they have not touched a hair on my head,” replied the little man. The knights could scarcely believe him, and so, riding away into the forest, they found the Giants lying in their blood, and the uprooted trees around them.

Now the Tailor desired his promised reward of the King; but he repented of his promise, and began to think of some new scheme to get rid of the hero. “Before you receive my daughter and the half of my kingdom,” said he to him, “you must perform one other heroic deed. In the forest there runs wild an unicorn, which commits great havoc, and whom you must first of all catch.”

“I fear still less for an unicorn than I do for two Giants! Seven at one blow! that is my motto,” said the Tailor. Then he took with him a rope and an axe, and went away to the forest, bidding those who were ordered to accompany him to wait on the outskirts. He had not to search long, for presently the unicorn came near and prepared to rush at him, as if he would pierce him on the spot. “Softly, softly,” he exclaimed; “that is not done so easily;” and, waiting till the animal was close upon him, he sprang nimbly behind a tree. The unicorn, rushing with all its force against the tree, fixed its horn so fast in the trunk that it could not draw it out again, and so it was made prisoner. “Now I have got my bird,” said the Tailor; and coming from behind the tree, he first bound the rope around his neck, and then, cutting the horn out of the tree with his axe, he put all in order; and, leading the animal, brought it before the King.

The King, however, would not yet deliver up the promised reward, and making a third request, that before the wedding the Tailor should catch a wild boar which did much injury, and he should have the huntsmen to help him. “With pleasure,” was the reply; “it is mere child’s play.” The huntsmen, however, he left behind; and they were overjoyed to be there, for this wild boar had already so often hunted them that they had no pleasure in hunting it.