Two travelers Fairy Tales

Mountains and valleys never meet, but the descendants of mankind, whether good or evil, will know each other. In this way, a shoemaker and a tailor met on their journey. The tailor was a short but handsome young man with a cheerful personality and was always happy.

He saw the shoemaker coming from the opposite direction. From the tools he was carrying, the tailor guessed what he did for a living, so he sang a little song to joke with him:

　　”Fix my torn shoe,

　　The stitches must be fine and dense.

　　Asphalt should be applied to the seams.

　　The nails on the soles of the shoes must be hammered in firmly. “

　　But the shoemaker couldn’t stand this joke. He pulled a long face as if he had drunk a bottle of vinegar, and made a gesture to strangle the tailor’s neck, but the little tailor laughed, handed him a bottle of water and said, “I don’t mean anything bad. Drink some water to calm down.”

　　The shoemaker took a long drink, and the cloud on his face finally cleared up. He handed the bottle back to the tailor and said, “I took a big sip. People say that’s called being able to drink, not because of thirst. Can we go together?”

　　”Well,” the tailor agreed, “what do you think of going to a big city? There will be plenty of work there.”

　　”That’s where I want to go,” the shoemaker agreed. “There’s no money to be made in the small town, and people in the countryside don’t wear shoes.”

　　So they travelled together, and when the snow came, they followed the tracks of the people in front of them like weasels.

　　They were in a hurry and had no time to eat or rest. When they arrived in a city, they looked everywhere for merchants to solicit business. Since the tailor looked lively and happy, with two rosy cheeks, he was very popular with everyone, so he had a lot of work. When he was lucky, the employer’s daughter would even kiss him on the porch.

　　He met the shoemaker again. Most of the tailor’s tools were in his bag. The grumpy shoemaker made a grimace and thought to himself: “The worse the person, the better the luck.”

　　But the tailor laughed and sang, and took out all he had and shared it with his companions. If he had two coppers in his pocket, he would ask for a glass of beer, and slap the table with jubilation, and the glass would dance with him, for he was an optimist who easily earned and quickly spent.

　　They walked for a while and came to a big forest. There was a road leading to the capital city. There were two paths through the forest. One took seven days to walk and the other took only two days. But neither of them knew which was the shorter way.

They sat under an oak tree and discussed what to do next and how many days they had left to eat.

　　The shoemaker said: “I have to think before I act. I have to bring a week’s worth of food.”

　　”What?” the tailor was surprised. “We have to carry seven days’ worth of food like a donkey, and we can’t even lift our heads. I believe in God, and I don’t have to worry about anything!

The money in my pocket is good for both summer and winter, but the bread will get hard and moldy in hot weather, and my coat won’t last that long. Besides, why don’t we try the shortcut? We’ll have enough food for two days.”

　　Finally, the two of them took their own dry food and went into the forest to seek their own luck.

　　The forest was as quiet as a church. There was no wind, no water, no birds, and even the sun could not penetrate the dense leaves on the trees. The shoemaker said nothing. The dry food on his back became heavier and heavier.

He was sweating and his face was gloomy. But the tailor looked happy. He jumped around, either blowing a little song with leaves or humming a little tune, thinking to himself: “The God in heaven will be happy to see me so happy.”

　　Two days passed, and on the third day, the forest was still not over. The tailor had eaten up all his food, and his heart suddenly became heavy. However, he did not lose his courage, but relied on God and believed in his luck.

　　On the third night, he lay down under a tree, hungry, and in the morning he was even hungrier. On the fourth day, the shoemaker sat on a fallen tree and ate his dinner, while the tailor watched.

If he asked for a piece of bread, the shoemaker would laugh sarcastically and say, “Aren’t you always so happy? Now you know what sadness is. The bird that sings in the morning will be taken away by the eagle in the evening.”

　　In short, he was a heartless and heartless man. On the fifth morning, the poor tailor could not stand up. He was so weak that he could hardly utter a word. His face was pale and his eyes were red.

　　At this time, the shoemaker said to him: “Today I will give you a piece of bread, but it cannot be given for free. You must exchange it with your right eye.”

　　The tailor was very unhappy, but he had to agree to save his life. Tears flowed from his eyes again, and then he raised his head. The cruel shoemaker used a sharp knife to dig out his right eye.

The tailor then remembered what his mother said when he was a child hiding in the kitchen to eat: “Enjoy when you should enjoy, and suffer when you should suffer.”

　　After he had slowly finished his expensive loaf of bread, he stood up again, putting the pain behind him and comforting himself with the thought that one eye was enough.

　　But on the sixth day, hunger struck again, his stomach rumbled like thunder, and his heart was about to jump out. At night he fell down beside a tree, and on the seventh morning he was unconscious and could not stand up again. Death was approaching.

　　At this time, the shoemaker said again: “I will pity you and give you some more bread, but it is still not free. I want your other eye.”

　　Now the tailor felt that his life was so insignificant, and begged God’s forgiveness. He said, “Do what you want, and I will endure what I must endure. But you must remember that our God will not always watch and do nothing. These atrocities you have committed against me will be repaid, and the time will come. When my days were good, I shared everything with you.

My work requires that every stitch be exactly the same, without any difference. If I lose my eyes, I will not be able to sew, and I will have to beg for food. After I become blind, don’t leave me here alone, or I will starve to death.”

　　But the shoemaker had lost his mind about God. He took out his knife and cut out the tailor’s left eye. Then he gave him a piece of bread and a stick and told him to follow. When the sun went down, they came out of the forest and saw a field with a gallows on it. The shoemaker led the blind tailor to the gallows and left.

　　Tortured by fatigue, pain and hunger, the unfortunate man fell asleep. He slept all night long. When he woke up at dawn, he didn’t know where he was. There were two criminals hanging on the gallows, and a crow stood on each of their heads.

　　At this time, a hanged ghost spoke up: “Brother, are you awake?”

　　”I’m awake,” the second one answered.

　　”Well, I tell you,” said the first, “whoever washes his face with the dew that fell from the gallows last night will gain his eyes. If the blind knew it, how many would believe that this can restore a person’s sight?”

　　The tailor heard this, and he took out his handkerchief from his pocket, pressed it on the grass until it was soaked with dew, and then used it to clean his eye sockets. In a flash, the words of the hanged man on the gallows came true, and a pair of bright eyes appeared in his eye sockets again. Soon, the tailor could see the sun rising over the hill.

Before him was a plain, and on the plain stood a great city with huge gates and many tall towers, with golden balls and crosses on the tops of the towers shining. He could distinguish every leaf on the tree, see the birds flying among the bushes, and the small flying insects dancing in the air.

　　He took a needle from his pocket and threaded the needle through the hole as he had done before. He was so happy that he knelt down and thanked God for the gift he had received.

He prayed devoutly. Of course, he did not forget to pray for the two poor hanged men, who were swinging in the wind and bumping into each other from time to time, like a pendulum.

　　He picked up his bag and quickly forgot the previous trauma in his heart. He sang a little tune and whistled as he continued on his way.

　　The first thing he saw was a little brown pony running in a field. He grabbed the horse by the mane and wanted to jump on it and ride it into town. But the pony begged to be let go.

　　”I am still too young,” it begged. “Even a light tailor like you could break my back. Let me go. I will grow up, and then perhaps I will repay you.”

　　”Go,” said the tailor, “you are still a naughty little guy.” He gently hit the foal on the butt with a branch, and the foal kicked its legs happily, jumped over the bushes, jumped over the ditch, and ran into the vast field.

　　But the little tailor had not eaten a grain of rice since the day before. “My eyes are full of sunshine, but my stomach is empty. The first thing is that once I come across something that can fill my stomach, as long as I can chew it, I have to eat it anyway.”

　　At this time, a white stork with a noble demeanor walked over from the grass with graceful steps.

　　”Wait, wait,” cried the tailor, seizing the stork by the legs. “I don’t care if you are tasty or not, I am hungry. I must cut off your head and roast you.”

　　”Don’t be like this,” the stork advised, “I am a sacred bird, very beneficial to mankind, and must not be harmed. If you let me go, I will repay you in other ways.”

　　”Then go away, brother long-legs,” said the tailor.

　　The white stork took off into the sky, with its long legs hanging below, and flew gracefully into the distance.

　　”This is going on and on, when will it ever end?” the tailor said to himself. “I am starving, and my back is already pressed against my chest. If I come across anything, I will not be polite.”

　　Just then, he saw a pair of ducklings swimming in a pond.

　　”You came at the right time,” he said, stretching out his hand to grab one and twisting its neck. Suddenly, an old duck hid in the reeds, quacking loudly, swam over quickly with its mouth wide open, and earnestly begged him to spare its child.

　　”Have you ever thought,” it said, “how sad your mother would be if you were captured and killed?”

　　”Don’t say anything,” the kind-hearted tailor was moved, “take your child away.” Then he put the prey in his hand back into the water.

　　He turned around and found himself standing in front of a very old tree. Half of its body was hollow, and wild bees were busy flying in and out of the tree hole.

　　”Isn’t that a reward for my kindness?” said the tailor. “The honey will restore my strength.”

　　But the queen bee flew out and warned him, “If you touch my people or destroy my hive, our stingers will turn into countless red-hot steel needles and pierce your skin. But if you don’t disturb our lives and go your own way, we will find time to serve you.”

　　The tailor was helpless. This dinner was just a pie in the sky! He dragged his hungry body into the city. At this time, the clock struck twelve, and the meal in the hotel was ready for him. He couldn’t wait to sit down and eat voraciously. After eating and drinking, he said, “Now I want to work.”

　　He traveled all over the city and found a boss and a good job. Because of his excellent sewing skills, he became famous in a short time. Everyone wanted to have a new coat made by the little tailor. His reputation grew.

　　“My craft has reached its limit,” he said, “but things change every day.”

　　Finally, the king appointed him as a tailor for the palace.

　　What a coincidence! On the same day, his former partner, the shoemaker, also became the palace shoemaker. When the shoemaker saw the tailor and his bright eyes, he almost fainted.

　　”I must make him fall into the trap before he can take revenge on me,” he thought to himself.

　　However, harming others always hurts oneself first. After finishing work in the evening, he sneaked up to the king in the dark and said, “Your Majesty, the tailor is a conceited guy. He once boasted that he could find the golden crown that was lost in ancient times.”

　　”That is very good,” said the king.

　　The next morning at court, he summoned the tailor to the palace and ordered him to find the crown, otherwise he would never be allowed to return to the city.

　　”Oh, oh!” thought the tailor, “the scoundrel’s lies are endless. But the king has a surly and unpredictable temper. If he asks me to do something that no one else can do, I don’t need to wait until tomorrow morning, but might as well leave the city to-day.” So he packed his bags.

　　But when he left the city gate, he couldn’t help but feel a little regretful, because he gave up such a good job and left the city that gave him so many good times. He came to the pond where he met the duck.

The old duck whose baby he had released was sitting on the shore, combing its feathers with its mouth. It immediately recognized him and asked him why he was hanging his head.

　　”After listening to what happened to me, you will find that it is nothing new,” the tailor replied and told it the story.

　　”That’s all,” said the Duck. “We can help you. Your crown has fallen into the water and has sunk to the bottom of the pond. We will fetch it up for you in a moment. In the meantime, just spread your handkerchief on the shore.”

　　It led the twelve little ducks into the water, and in less than five minutes it came out of the water with the crown on its wings. The twelve little ducks swam around and put their long beaks under the crown from time to time to help carry it.

They swam to the shore and placed the crown on the handkerchief. People could not imagine how beautiful and brilliant the crown was. In the sunlight, it sparkled like countless rubies.

　　The tailor wrapped the crown in the four corners of his handkerchief and took it to the king. The king was so happy that he hung a gold necklace around the tailor’s neck.

　　The shoemaker found that his first trick didn’t work, so he thought of a second trick and reported to the king: “Your Majesty, the tailor’s arrogant nature has not changed. He boasted that he could make a palace out of wax, exactly like this palace, and even any object inside and outside, whether movable or fixed, would not be missing.”

　　After hearing this, the king summoned the tailor and ordered him to make another palace with wax, including any objects inside and outside, whether movable or fixed, without any mistakes. If he failed to do it or was missing a nail, he would be thrown into the dungeon and spend the rest of his life.

　　The tailor thought to himself, “Things are getting worse and worse. How can I stand this?” He threw the bag over his shoulders and set off again.

　　He went to the old tree and sat down, with his head drooping listlessly. The bees flew out, and the queen bee saw him with his head drooping, and asked him with concern whether his neck had rheumatism.

　　”Alas, no,” answered the tailor, “some other troubles.” Then he told him what the King had commanded him to do.

　　The bees began to buzz and talk to each other. After they had discussed it, the queen bee said, “Go home. Come back at this time tomorrow with a large sheet of cloth. Then everything will be settled.”

　　So he returned the same way, and the bees flew to the palace, and flew straight in through the open window, crawling through every corner and examining every object very carefully.

Then they hurried back and built a model of the palace out of beeswax in the same way as the palace. They built it so quickly that you would think it came out of the ground, and it was finished before dark.

　　The next morning when the tailor came, he saw a dazzling palace in front of him, and there was not a nail missing from the wall, not a tile missing from the roof, the whole building was exquisite, small and exquisite, as white as snow, and exuded bursts of honey fragrance.

The tailor carefully wrapped it in cloth and presented it to the king. The king loved it so much that he displayed it in the largest hall and gave the tailor a big stone house as a reward.

　　Unexpectedly, the shoemaker still did not give up, and he reported to the king for the third time: “Your Majesty, the tailor heard that there is no fountain in the palace, so he boasted that he would make a fountain in the middle of the palace as high as a man, as clear as crystal.”

　　So the king had the tailor called in and said to him, “If a fountain does not gush out of my yard by tomorrow, as you promised, the executioner will chop off your head on the spot.”

　　The poor tailor did not think much, and hurried out of the city gate, because this time it was serious enough to cost him his life, and he was so sad that he burst into tears. As he walked forward worriedly, the foal he had let go ran towards him, and now it had grown into a beautiful brown horse.

　　”The time has come,” the pony said to him, “for me to repay you. I know what trouble you are in, but you will soon get help. Come on up, I can hold two of you.”

　　The tailor was greatly encouraged, and he jumped on his horse, which ran into the city at full speed, and reached the palace courtyard. He ran three times around the courtyard as fast as lightning, and suddenly fell to the ground.

At that moment, there was a thunder in the air, and a large piece of earth shot straight into the sky from the center of the courtyard like a cannonball and fell outside the palace.

Then there was a column of water, as clear and transparent as crystal, as high as a man on horseback, and the sun was dancing on the top of the water column. The king stood up excitedly and hugged the tailor in front of everyone.

　　But the good fortune did not last long. The king had many daughters, each one more beautiful than the other, but unfortunately he had no sons. The despicable shoemaker took this opportunity to play tricks on the king for the fourth time, saying, “Your Majesty, it is really difficult to change the nature of a tailor. This time he boasted beyond his ability that if he wanted to, he could bring your Majesty a prince out of thin air.”

　　The king summoned the tailor to the palace and issued an order: “If you can bring me a prince within nine days, you can be the husband of my eldest princess.”

　　”A big reward will always bring a brave man.” The little tailor pondered, “But the cherry tree is too high. If you want to eat the cherries, you may fall from the tree.”

　　He returned home, sat cross-legged on the workbench and pondered over how to handle the matter.

　　”How ridiculous!” he couldn’t help but shout, “I want to leave. I can’t have a moment of peace here.”

　　He packed up his bag and hurried out of the city gate, came to the meadow and met his old friend the white stork. The white stork was walking back and forth like a philosopher, sometimes motionless, and after picking up a frog, it fell into deep thought and swallowed it for a long time.

　　The stork came up to him and said hello: “I see you are carrying a bag.” He began to ask, “Why did you leave the city?”

　　The tailor told it in detail how the king had given him an order which he could not obey, and he poured out all his grievances to it.

　　”Don’t let your hair turn gray with worry,” the stork counselled. “I will help you out of your difficulty. I have been bringing babies to the city for a long time, and perhaps by chance I will be able to pull a little prince out of the well. Go home and don’t worry. On the ninth day from now, go to the palace, and I will be there too.”

　　The little tailor returned home. At the appointed time, he came to the palace. Soon, the white stork flew over and tapped on his window. The little tailor opened the window and saw the long-legged brother carefully step in, and then walked gracefully across the marble pavement.

In its long beak was a baby as beautiful as an angel, and the baby stretched out its little hand to the queen. The white stork placed the baby in the queen’s arms. The queen was very happy to hold the baby and kiss it.

　　Before the stork flew away, it took off its travel bag and gave it to the queen. In the bag were some small paper packages filled with colorful candies for the little princesses. However, the eldest princess did not get any, and instead got a happy tailor who became her husband.

　　“For me,” she said, “this is the ultimate reward. My mother was very insightful and she always said that those who believe in God will always have good luck and success.”

　　The shoemaker had to make dancing shoes for the little tailor to dance at the wedding, and after the wedding he was driven out of the capital forever.

　　Following the path to the forest, he came to the gallows, where the unwilling shoemaker fell to the ground exhausted by the heat. He was about to close his eyes to sleep for a while when two crows flew down from the hanged man’s head and pecked out his eyes.

He ran madly into the forest, where he must have starved to death, because no one saw or heard from him again.