How Six Men Got on in the World

There was once a man who understood all kinds of arts; he served in
war, and behaved well and bravely, but when the war was over he
received his dismissal, and three farthings for his expenses on the
way. "Stop," said he, "I shall not be content with this. If I can only
meet with the right people, the King will yet have to give me all the
treasure of the country." Then full of anger he went into the forest,
and saw a man standing therein who had plucked up six trees as if they
were blades of corn. He said to him, "Wilt thou be my servant and go
with me?" "Yes," he answered, "but, first, I will take this little
bundle of sticks home to my mother," and he took one of the trees, and
wrapped it round the five others, lifted the bundle on his back, and
carried it away. Then he returned and went with his master, who said,
"We two ought to be able to get through the world very well," and when
they had walked on for a short while they found a huntsman who was
kneeling, had shouldered his gun, and was about to fire. The master
said to him, "Huntsman, what art thou going to shoot?" He answered,
"Two miles from here a fly is sitting on the branch of an oak-tree, and
I want to shoot its left eye out." "Oh, come with me," said the man,
"if we three are together, we certainly ought to be able to get on in
the world!" The huntsman was ready, and went with him, and they came to
seven windmills whose sails were turning round with great speed, and
yet no wind was blowing either on the right or the left, and no leaf
was stirring. Then said the man, "I know not what is driving the
windmills, not a breath of air is stirring," and he went onwards with
his servants, and when they had walked two miles they saw a man sitting
on a tree who was shutting one nostril, and blowing out of the other.
"Good gracious! what are you doing up there?" He answered, "Two miles
from here are seven windmills; look, I am blowing them till they turn
round." "Oh, come with me," said the man. "If we four are together, we
shall carry the whole world before us!" Then the blower came down and
went with him, and after a while they saw a man who was standing on one
leg and had taken off the other, and laid it beside him. Then the
master said, "You have arranged things very comfortably to have a
rest." "I am a runner," he replied, "and to stop myself running far too
fast, I have taken off one of my legs, for if I run with both, I go
quicker than any bird can fly." "Oh, go with me. If we five are
together, we shall carry the whole world before us." So he went with
them, and it was not long before they met a man who wore a cap, but had
put it quite on one ear. Then the master said to him, "Gracefully,
gracefully, don't stick your cap on one ear, you look just like a
tom-fool!" "I must not wear it otherwise," said he, "for if I set my
hat straight, a terrible frost comes on, and all the birds in the air
are frozen, and drop dead on the ground." "Oh, come with me," said the
master. "If we six are together, we can carry the whole world before
us."

Now the six came to a town where the King had proclaimed that whosoever
ran a race with his daughter and won the victory, should be her
husband, but whosoever lost it, must lose his head. Then the man
presented himself and said, "I will, however, let my servant run for
me." The King replied, "Then his life also must be staked, so that his
head and thine are both set on the victory." When that was settled and
made secure, the man buckled the other leg on the runner, and said to
him, "Now be nimble, and help us to win." It was fixed that the one who
was first to bring some water from a far distant well was to be the
victor. The runner received a pitcher, and the King's daughter one too,
and they began to run at the same time, but in an instant, when the
King's daughter had got a very little way, the people who were looking
on could see no more of the runner, and it was just as if the wind had
whistled by. In a short time he reached the well, filled his pitcher
with water, and turned back. Half-way home, however, he was overcome
with fatigue, and set his pitcher down, lay down himself, and fell
asleep. He had, however, made a pillow of a horse's skull which was
lying on the ground, in order that he might lie uncomfortably, and soon
wake up again. In the meantime the King's daughter, who could also run
very well quite as well as any ordinary mortal can had reached the
well, and was hurrying back with her pitcher full of water, and when
she saw the runner lying there asleep, she was glad and said, "My enemy
is delivered over into my hands," emptied his pitcher, and ran on. And
now all would have been lost if by good luck the huntsman had not been
standing at the top of the castle, and had not seen everything with his
sharp eyes. Then said he, "The King's daughter shall still not prevail
against us;" and he loaded his gun, and shot so cleverly, that he shot
the horse's skull away from under the runner's head without hurting
him. Then the runner awoke, leapt up, and saw that his pitcher was
empty, and that the King's daughter was already far in advance. He did
not lose heart, however, but ran back to the well with his pitcher,
again drew some water, and was at home again, ten minutes before the
King's daughter. "Behold!" said he, "I have not bestirred myself till
now, it did not deserve to be called running before."

But it pained the King, and still more his daughter, that she should be
carried off by a common disbanded soldier like that; so they took
counsel with each other how to get rid of him and his companions. Then
said the King to her, "I have thought of a way; don't be afraid, they
shall not come back again." And he said to them, "You shall now make
merry together, and eat and drink," and he conducted them to a room
which had a floor of iron, and the doors also were of iron, and the
windows were guarded with iron bars. There was a table in the room
covered with delicious food, and the King said to them, "Go in, and
enjoy yourselves." And when they were inside, he ordered the doors to
be shut and bolted. Then he sent for the cook, and commanded him to
make a fire under the room until the iron became red-hot. This the cook
did, and the six who were sitting at table began to feel quite warm,
and they thought the heat was caused by the food; but as it became
still greater, and they wanted to get out, and found that the doors and
windows were bolted, they became aware that the King must have an evil
intention, and wanted to suffocate them. "He shall not succeed,
however," said the one with the cap. "I will cause a frost to come,
before which the fire shall be ashamed, and creep away." Then he put
his cap on straight, and immediately there came such a frost that all
heat disappeared, and the food on the dishes began to freeze. When an
hour or two had passed by, and the King believed that they had perished
in the heat, he had the doors opened to behold them himself. But when
the doors were opened, all six were standing there, alive and well, and
said that they should very much like to get out to warm themselves, for
the very food was fast frozen to the dishes with the cold. Then, full
of anger, the King went down to the cook, scolded him, and asked why he
had not done what he had been ordered to do. But the cook replied,
"There is heat enough there, just look yourself." Then the King saw
that a fierce fire was burning under the iron room, and perceived that
there was no getting the better of the six in this way.

Again the King considered how to get rid of his unpleasant guests, and
caused their chief to be brought and said, "If thou wilt take gold and
renounce my daughter, thou shalt have as much as thou wilt."

"Oh, yes, Lord King," he answered, "give me as much as my servant can
carry, and I will not ask for your daughter."

On this the King was satisfied, and the other continued, "In fourteen
days, I will come and fetch it." Thereupon he summoned together all the
tailors in the whole kingdom, and they were to sit for fourteen days
and sew a sack. And when it was ready, the strong one who could tear up
trees had to take it on his back, and go with it to the King. Then said
the King, "Who can that strong fellow be who is carrying a bundle of
linen on his back that is as big as a house?" and he was alarmed and
said, "What a lot of gold he can carry away!" Then he commanded a ton
of gold to be brought; it took sixteen of his strongest men to carry
it, but the strong one snatched it up in one hand, put it in his sack,
and said, "Why don't you bring more at the same time? that hardly
covers the bottom!" Then, little by little, the King caused all his
treasure to be brought thither, and the strong one pushed it into the
sack, and still the sack was not half full with it. "Bring more," cried
he, "these few crumbs don't fill it." Then seven thousand carts with
gold had to be gathered together in the whole kingdom, and the strong
one thrust them and the oxen harnessed to them into his sack. "I will
examine it no longer," said he, "but will just take what comes, so long
as the sack is but full." When all that was inside, there was still
room for a great deal more; then he said, "I will just make an end of
the thing; people do sometimes tie up a sack even when it is not full."
So he took it on his back, and went away with his comrades. When the
King now saw how one single man was carrying away the entire wealth of
the country, he became enraged, and bade his horsemen mount and pursue
the six, and ordered them to take the sack away from the strong one.
Two regiments speedily overtook the six, and called out, "You are
prisoners, put down the sack with the gold, or you will all be cut to
pieces!" "What say you?" cried the blower, "that we are prisoners!
Rather than that should happen, all of you shall dance about in the
air." And he closed one nostril, and with the other blew on the two
regiments. Then they were driven away from each other, and carried into
the blue sky over all the mountains one here, the other there. One
sergeant cried for mercy; he had nine wounds, and was a brave fellow
who did not deserve ill treatment. The blower stopped a little so that
he came down without injury, and then the blower said to him, "Now go
home to thy King, and tell him he had better send some more horsemen,
and I will blow them all into the air." When the King was informed of
this he said, "Let the rascals go. They have the best of it." Then the
six conveyed the riches home, divided it amongst them, and lived in
content until their death.
