Das tapfere Schneiderlein (1956)

When Prince Eitel has a tear in his garment mended, he boasts that he killed two lizards outside the tailor’s front door—“Two with one blow.” When the little tailor kills seven flies at once, he sets off into the wide world, accompanied by his little bird and wearing a sash bearing the words “Seven with one blow,” to boast of his deed. On his journey, the brave little tailor encounters a giant. As proof of his abilities, he is asked to squeeze water from a stone with his hand. In secret, the brave little tailor actually squeezes an old piece of cheese he brought from home, and passes the test. When he is asked to throw a stone so far that it never comes back down to the ground, he throws his little bird into the air, thereby setting it free. When the brave little tailor is asked to carry a tree trunk, he lets the giant take the supposedly lighter trunk and carries the supposedly heavier crown of the tree himself. At dinner, the giant tells his brother about the brave little tailor’s supposed miraculous feats. The giants plan to kill him in his sleep, but do not notice that he has meanwhile put a dummy in his place in bed. As punishment, he pelts the giants with pumpkins. During his travels, the brave little tailor comes upon the castle of King Griesgram, whose daughter, Princess Liebreich, is promised to Prince Eitel. The king is desperate because the two giants have destroyed the castle garden. “Knight Seven-with-one-blow” is appointed leader of the royal bodyguard. Meanwhile, Prince Eitel gives Princess Liebreich a bouquet of flowers, but she only accepts it when the brave little tailor gives her one. To clear his own path to the princess, Prince Eitel suggests to the king that he send the brave little tailor after the two giants, promising him half the kingdom and the princess as his reward. The brave little tailor throws chestnuts at the two giants, who are sleeping under a tree. They start fighting because each thinks the other is responsible; the fight ends with both of them dead. Since the brave little tailor is also believed to be dead, Prince Eitel claims that he killed the giants. When the unicorn poses a new threat to the kingdom and the brave little tailor reappears, the king, on Prince Eitel’s advice, sends him off to fight the unicorn. The princess ties a red cloth around his chest without telling him that the sight of the color red excites the unicorn. However, the brave little tailor takes off the cloth and uses it to provoke the unicorn until it runs its horn into a tree. Now a wild boar threatens the kingdom. The brave little tailor drives the animal into an empty house and locks it inside. Since the brave little tailor can now claim the reward owed to him, the king, Princess Liebreich, Prince Eitel, and the court flee for safety. The brave little tailor takes the king’s place and marries the castle gardener’s daughter.