The Brave Little Tailor

One summer morning, a little tailor sat on his table by the window, was in good spirits and sewed with all his might. Then a farmer's wife came down the street and called out: "Good mush for sale! Good mush for sale!" This sounded sweetly in the ears of the little tailor, who stuck his tender head out of the window and called: "Up here, dear woman, here you can get rid of your goods!" The woman climbed the three stairs with her heavy basket to the tailor and had to unpack all her pots in front of him. He examined them all, lifted them up, held his nose to them and finally said: "The mush seems good to me, weigh me four pounds, dear woman, even if it's a quarter of a pound, it doesn't matter to me." The woman, who had hoped to make a good deal, gave him what he asked for, but went away all angry and grumpy.

"Well, God bless the mush," cried the little tailor.
and shall give me strength and power",

took the bread out of the cupboard, cut himself a piece over the whole loaf and spread the mush over it. "This won't taste bitter," he spoke, "but first I want to finish the jacket before I bite into it." He laid the loaf beside him and continued sewing, making bigger and bigger stitches with joy. Meanwhile the smell of the sweet mush went up to the wall, where the flies were sitting in great multitudes, so that they were attracted and settled on it in droves. "Well, who invited you?" said the little tailor and chased the uninvited guests away. But the flies, who did not understand German, did not let themselves be turned away, but came back in ever larger company.