There was once a princess who was extremely proud. Whenever a suitor came, she would give him a riddle to guess. If he could not solve it, he was sent away contemptuously. She proclaimed that whoever solved her riddle could marry her, no matter who he was.
Eventually, three tailors decided to try their luck. The two eldest, confident in their skill, were sure they would succeed. The third was a young, seemingly useless wanderer who didn't even know his trade well, but he hoped for luck. The other two told him to stay home, saying his bit of understanding wouldn't help. But the little tailor was not discouraged. He said he would set his mind to it and manage well enough, and he set off as if he owned the world.
All three presented themselves to the princess, claiming to have such fine understanding it could be threaded through a needle. The princess said, "I have two kinds of hair on my head. What color are they?"
The first said, "It must be black and white, like pepper-and-salt cloth."
"Wrong," said the princess. "Let the second answer."
The second said, "If not black and white, then it's brown and red, like my father's dress coat."
"Wrong again," said the princess. "Let the third answer, for I see he knows it for certain."
The little tailor stepped forward boldly and said, "The princess has one silver hair and one golden hair on her head. Those are the two colors."
Hearing this, the princess turned pale with terror, for the tailor had guessed correctly. She had believed no one could solve it. Regaining her courage, she said, "You have not won me yet. You must do one more thing. Spend the night in the stable with a bear. If you are still alive in the morning, you shall marry me." She expected the bear, which had never spared anyone, would kill him. But the little tailor was delighted and said, "Boldly ventured is half won."
That evening, the little tailor was taken to the bear. The bear immediately moved to attack him with its paws. "Softly, softly," said the tailor. "I will soon calm you." Then, quite calmly, he took some nuts from his pocket, cracked them, and ate the kernels. Seeing this, the bear wanted some nuts too.
The tailor felt in his pocket and gave the bear a handful of pebbles. The bear bit into them but couldn't crack them. "What a fool I am!" thought the bear. "I can't even crack a nut!" He asked the tailor to crack them. "See how stupid you are!" said the tailor. "Such a big mouth, yet you can't crack a small nut!" He then took a pebble, swiftly replaced it with a nut in his mouth, and crack! It split in two. "Let me try again," said the bear. The tailor gave him another pebble, and the bear tried with all his might, but of course, he couldn't crack it.
After that, the tailor took a violin from under his coat and played a tune. The bear couldn't help but dance. After dancing awhile, he enjoyed it so much he asked, "Listen, is the fiddle heavy?"
"Light enough for a child," said the tailor. "See, I place my fingers with my left hand and stroke with the bow in my right, and it goes merrily, 'hop sa sa vivallalera!'"
"So," said the bear. "I'd like to learn fiddling too, so I could dance whenever I wish. Will you give me lessons?"
"With all my heart," said the tailor, "if you have the talent. But let me see your claws; they are terribly long. I must trim your nails a little." A vise was brought, and the bear put his claws in it. The tailor screwed it tight and said, "Now wait until I fetch the scissors." He then let the bear growl as it liked, lay down on a bundle of straw in the corner, and fell asleep.
Hearing the fierce growls that night, the princess thought the bear was growling with joy, having killed the tailor. In the morning, she arose carefree and happy. But when she peeked into the stable, the tailor stood cheerfully before her, as healthy as a fish in water.
Now she could not refuse the wedding, having promised publicly. The king ordered a carriage to take her and the tailor to church to be married. As they rode, the two other tailors, envious and false-hearted, went to the stable and released the bear. In a great fury, the bear ran after the carriage.
The princess heard it snorting and growling. Terrified, she cried, "Ah! The bear is behind us and wants to get you!"
The tailor was quick. He stood on his head, stuck his legs out the window, and shouted, "Do you see the vise? If you don't run off, you'll be put back in it!" Seeing this, the bear turned and ran away.
The tailor drove quietly to church, married the princess at once, and lived with her as happy as a lark. Whoever does not believe this must pay a thaler.