One summer's morning, a little tailor was sitting by his window, sewing cheerfully. A peasant woman came down the street, calling, "Good jams, cheap!" The tailor invited her up, inspected her pots, and bought a small amount. Annoyed, the woman left. The tailor spread the jam on bread but decided to finish his work first. As he sewed, the sweet smell attracted a swarm of flies. After trying to shoo them away, he lost patience and struck them with a cloth, killing seven. Proud of his deed, he made a belt embroidered with "Seven at one stroke!" and decided to seek his fortune in the world.
He packed an old cheese and caught a bird. On his journey, he met a giant who mocked him. The tailor showed his belt, and the giant, thinking he had killed seven men, was impressed but tested him. The tailor used his cheese to mimic squeezing water from a stone and released the bird as an "unreturning throw." He then tricked the giant into carrying a whole tree while he rode on a branch. Later, he pretended a cherry tree had flung him into the air as a leap and dared the giant to do the same, leaving the giant stuck. The giant invited him to spend the night in a cave with other giants. That night, the giants tried to kill the sleeping tailor with an iron bar, but he had hidden in a corner. In the morning, he appeared unharmed, terrifying the giants into fleeing.
The tailor traveled on and fell asleep in a royal courtyard. People saw his belt and, assuming he was a great warrior, brought him to the king. The king enlisted him, but the soldiers, fearing his "power," asked to leave. The king, wanting to be rid of the tailor, promised him his daughter and half the kingdom if he killed two destructive giants. The tailor agreed, went to the forest, and tricked the sleeping giants into fighting each other by throwing stones at them. They killed each other. The tailor claimed victory.
The king, regretting his promise, set further tasks: capturing a unicorn and a wild boar. The tailor cleverly trapped the unicorn by letting it impale its horn in a tree and caught the boar by luring it into a chapel and locking the door. The king, forced to keep his promise, gave him his daughter. The wedding was grand but joyless.
Later, the queen overheard her husband talking in his sleep about tailoring and discovered his true identity. She told her father, who plotted to have the tailor bound and sent away. A friendly servant warned the tailor. That night, the tailor pretended to sleep and then loudly recounted his feats, frightening the would-be captors away. Thus, the little tailor remained king for the rest of his life.