English Original
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.
中文翻译
从前有一位非常骄傲的公主。每当有追求者前来，她就会出一个谜语让他猜。如果猜不出，就会被轻蔑地赶走。她宣布，无论谁猜中她的谜语，都可以娶她为妻。
后来，三个裁缝决定去试试运气。两个年长的裁缝手艺娴熟，自信满满。第三个是个年轻、看似无用的小流浪汉，连自己的行当都不太精通，但他希望能交好运。另外两个让他待在家里，说他那点脑子帮不上忙。但小裁缝没有气馁。他说他会用心去办，一定能成功，然后就像拥有全世界一样出发了。
三人一同觐见公主，声称自己聪明绝顶，智慧细得能穿针引线。公主说：“我头上有两种头发，它们是什么颜色？”
第一个说：“一定是黑白相间，就像椒盐色的布料。”
公主说：“错了。让第二个回答。”
第二个说：“如果不是黑白，那就是棕红色，像我父亲的礼服外套。”
公主又说：“又错了。让第三个回答吧，我看他肯定知道。”
小裁缝勇敢地走上前说：“公主头上有一根银发和一根金发。这就是那两种颜色。”
公主一听，吓得脸色发白，因为小裁缝猜对了。她原本坚信世上无人能解。她定了定神，说：“你还没赢呢。你还得做一件事：去马厩里和一头熊过一夜。如果明早你还活着，我就嫁给你。”她指望那头从未放过任何活口的熊能除掉他。但小裁缝很高兴，说：“勇者事成一半。”
当晚，小裁缝被带到熊那里。熊立刻挥爪要攻击他。“别急，别急，”裁缝说，“我马上让你安静下来。”然后，他非常镇定地从口袋里掏出一些坚果，咬开，吃了果仁。熊看到后，也想吃坚果。
裁缝在口袋里摸了摸，给了熊一把石子。熊把石子放进嘴里咬，但怎么也咬不开。“唉！”熊想，“我真是个笨蛋！连个坚果都咬不开！”它请裁缝帮它咬开。“瞧你多傻呀！”裁缝说，“嘴那么大，却连个小坚果都咬不开！”他拿起一颗石子，敏捷地换上一颗真坚果放进嘴里，咔嚓一声就咬开了。“我得再试试，”熊说。裁缝又给了它一颗石子，熊用尽全身力气去咬，当然还是咬不开。
之后，裁缝从外套下拿出一把小提琴，拉了一曲。熊忍不住跳起舞来。跳了一会儿，它非常喜欢，便问道：“喂，这提琴重吗？”
“轻得很，小孩都能拿，”裁缝说，“看，我左手按弦，右手拉弓，它就欢快地响起来，‘嗨啪嚓 哗啦啦啦！’”
“这样啊，”熊说，“我也想学拉琴，这样我想跳舞时就能自己伴奏了。你愿意教我吗？”
“非常乐意，”裁缝说，“如果你有天赋的话。不过先让我看看你的爪子；它们太长了，我得给你修修指甲。”一个虎头钳被拿来了，熊把爪子放了进去。裁缝拧紧钳子，说：“现在等着，我去拿剪刀来。”他任由熊在那里咆哮，自己则躺在角落的一堆稻草上睡着了。
那晚，公主听到熊凶猛的咆哮声，以为熊是高兴得吼叫，已经把裁缝解决了。早上，她无忧无虑、高高兴兴地起床。但当她往马厩里偷看时，小裁缝却精神抖擞地站在她面前，活蹦乱跳得像水里的鱼。
既然已当众许诺，她现在无法拒绝婚礼了。国王下令准备马车，载她和裁缝去教堂结婚。他们上车后，另外两个心怀嫉妒、不怀好意的裁缝跑到马厩，把熊放了出来。熊狂怒地追赶着马车。
公主听到熊的喷鼻声和吼叫声，吓坏了，喊道：“啊！熊在后面，要来抓你了！”
小裁缝反应很快。他倒立起来，把腿伸出窗外，喊道：“你看见虎头钳了吗？再不滚开，就把你再夹进去！”熊一看，转身就逃跑了。
裁缝平静地驾车到了教堂，立刻和公主结了婚，从此和她一起过着云雀般快乐的生活。谁要是不信这个故事，就得付一个塔勒银币。