he did not succeed
in cracking one of them.

Presently the tailor took out a little fiddle and began playing on it.
When the bear heard the music he could not help dancing, and after he
had danced some time he was so pleased that he said to the tailor, 'I
say, is fiddling difficult?' 'Mere child's play,' replied the tailor;
'look here! you press the strings with the fingers of the left hand, and
with the right you draw the bow across them, so--then it goes as easily
as possible, up and down, tra la la la la--'

'Oh,' cried the bear, 'I do wish I could play like that, then I could
dance whenever the fancy took me. What do you think? Would you give me
some lessons?'

[Illustration]

'With all my heart,' said the tailor, 'if you are sharp about it. But
just let me look at your paws. Dear me, your nails are terribly long; I
must really cut them first.' Then he fetched a pair of stocks, and the
bear laid his paws on them, and the tailor screwed them up tight. 'Now
just wait whilst I fetch my scissors,' said he, and left the bear
growling away to his heart's content, whilst he lay down in a corner and
fell fast asleep.

When the Princess heard the bear growling so loud that night, she made
sure he was roaring with delight as he worried the tailor. Next morning
she rose feeling quite cheerful and free from care, but when she looked
across towards the stables, there stood the tailor in front of the door
looking as fresh and lively as a fish in the water.

After this it was impossible to break the promise she had made so
publicly, so the King ordered out the state coach to take her and the
tailor to church to be married.

As they were starting, the two bad-hearted other tailors, who were
envious of the younger one's happiness, went to the stable and unscrewed
the bear. Off he tore after the carriage, foaming with rage. The
Princess heard his puffing and roaring, and growing frightened she
cried: 'Oh dear! the bear is after us and will certainly catch us up!'
The tailor remained quite unmoved. He quietly stood on his head, stuck
his legs out at the carriage window and called out to the bear, 'Do you
see my stocks? If you don't go home this minute I'll screw you tight
into them.'

When the bear saw and heard this he turned right round and ran off as
fast as his legs would carry him. The tailor drove on unmolested to
church, where he and the Princess were married, and he lived with her
many years as happy and merry as a