Wichita eagle., 1889-12-29
OLD TIME RIDDLES.
s~rr. Ginning Little Tailor" Who Foslod
~. pa.r and Won the Princess.

the Bear and NOH GIt0 ITinCCSSs
One Of the most amusing stories o. this
kind is rhat of '.The Cunning Little Ialiof.
Why tie tailor is selected In Iolk ioro
MS the hero of some of the most dehgno-
ful tales is a matter that no one seems TO IN
derstand but that they are 50 selected Is De
yond question. In this particular one the
tailor is rather poor'one, but an e4cenen'
subject for the story, which IS THIS;
There was once on a time princess VINO
was extremely proud II wooer came sac
gave him some riddle to guess, and IL ne
could not find it out he was sent away con-
temntuously She let it be made known
also that whosoever solved her riddle snouio
marry her, let him be who he mlSnL AT
length, therefore. three taiiors fell In Win
each other the TWO eldest Of whom tnougnS
that they had done so many dexterous DIS
of work that they could not fan IN tins; the
third was a little, useless land loaIer, VINO
did not even know bis trade, but thought ne
must have some luck in this venture, LOT
where else was it to come froms Inc Two
Others said to him: Just stay at home; tnou
carst not do much with thy little bit OF UNI
derstanding." The little tailor, however, did
not let himself be discouraged, andl said ne
had set his head at work about this, ana ne
would manage we'll enough.
All three announced themselves to the prin-
cess and told her to PROFOUND her riddle, 1or
the right persons were now come, VINO had
threaded in needle.
Then said the princess: II have two KINGS
of hair on my head; Of what color is itF'
eff that be all, said the first, lit must be
black and WHITE like the cloth which is called
pepper and SALT
The princess said: "Wrongly guessed; let
the second answer"
Then said the second: "If it be not black
and white, then it is brown and red, like my
fathers company coat.
Wrongly guessed" said the princess. Let
the third give the answer, for see very wen
that he knows it for certain"
Then the little tailor stepped boldly forth
and said: 'sThe princess has silver and a
golden hair in her head, and these are the
different colors."
When the princess heard that she turned
pale and nearly fell down with terror, for the
little tailor had guessed the riddle which she
thought no one on earth could discover
When her courage returned she SAID:
''Thou hast not won me yet; there is SILL
something else that thou must do. Below, In
the stable, is bear with which thou shalt
pass the night, and when l get up IN the
| morning if thou art still alive will marry
thee" She expected thus to get rid of the
tailor, for the bear had never yet left any
one alive that had fallen into his clutches.
| The little tailor, however, was quite delight
| ed, and said: Boldly ventured is half won!'
When, therefore, the evening came, our
little tailor was taken down TO the bear. The
! l~,,< +hn 10
! tailor said: Softly, softly, will soon make
thee quiet" and tal1ng some nuts out OF his
pocket he began to crack them with his
! teeth.
When the bear saw that, he wanted to
| crack nuts. too, whereupon the hstie tailor
handed over lot, but they were pebbles in
stead of nuts, and the bear could make moth
ing out OF them, bite as he would. "Eh4
thought he, what stupid blockhead am
that I cannot even crack nuts" And then
he said to the tailor, Here, crack me the
nuts"
."There," said the tailor, ''see what stupid
fellow thou art, to have such big mouth,
and not be able 10 crack small nut. "
Then he took pebble and nimbly put nut
in his mouth IN place Of it, and cracked it in
| two.
II must try it again" said the bear, III
seems so easy when you do it." But the tailor
once more gave him pebble, and he failed
| as before.
The tailor then took violin from under
his coat and began to play on it. When the
bear heard it be began to dance, and when
he had danced a while he said to the little
tailor:
'tHark you, is the fiddle heavy?"
Light enough for child Look! With
the left hand lay my fingers Gun it, and with
the right stroke it with the bow, and then
1t goes merrily, hop sa vivallslera-"
$50 said the hear. Il would like to play
the fiddle so that I could dance whenever
wished Wilt thou give me- lessonsg'
with all my heart" said the tailor, ''l
thou hast talent for it. But your claws are
terribly long; must cut thy nails little.
Then wise was brought, and the little talio
screwedup the bears paws in 1t till he couldn'
move them, and said, Now wait until L com
with the scissors ard laying down in thu
corner he went to slsep, in spite OF the lout
growis Of the bear.
When the princess heard the bear growing
so terribly she made sure that he had mad
an end Of the little tailor, and in the morn
ing she came down in ii careless, happy mood
and peeped into Ghe Stable. lhere ssoou lip
tailor, as well AID healthy as a fish in water
There was no excuse for delay. The kinG
ordered his carriage and started the young
couple off to church. Meanwhile the othe
two tailors. being jealous, went into tn
stable and let the bear loose. Full Of rag
he started after the carriage, growing ter
ribly.
, The princess looked out and was mucl
frightened, and she cried: "Ah, the bear
behind us and wants to get thee!" Th
tailor was quick and stood on his head AM
stuck his feet oat through the window ant
crielt "Dost thou see toe vise2 Ii thou dos
not &c or thou shalt be put into it again
, Tho bear was frightened and ran away, ant
so She little tailor got his bride.-Narcu
, Laue in Chicago Globe.
: The Testimony of Holy Writ.
!, JUS bearing on subject Of the shrewdnes