thick wood, in which it was so dark that he could not
see his hand before his face. As he was dawdling along quite merrily,
and whistling the tune of the last waltz that he had danced, he lost his
way, and fell into a deep pit, so that sight and hearing forsook him,
and he gave himself up for lost. But when he found out that he was
unhurt after the fall, he began to cry pitiably and to call for help,
till he suddenly heard talking not far off.

In the pit, which sloped sideways far down into the earth, lived a large
wolf with his wife and two little ones, and when they had heard the
tailor's fall and screams, the old wolf said, joyfully, to his wife,

"Be quick, my dear, hang the pot over the fire; I think we shall have
something good to-night."

These words reached the ears of the tailor, who, in the deepest anxiety
for his life, became as still as a mouse.

But the wolf opened the door of his den, put a lamp in his paw, and
peered all round till he had discovered the tailor, whom he then seized
by the legs, and, without more ado, dragged into his sitting-room.

When he was about to be killed, the poor fellow cried and bemoaned
himself in such a heart-rending manner that the wife, who was a good
soul, put in a word for him to her husband.

"Well, then," said the wolf, "he may live, but he must never return to
men, or he would betray us; he must stay here and become a wolf."

"Most joyfully," said the tailor, "for I would rather live as a wolf
than be cooked and eaten as a man."

Whereupon the wolf fetched one of his old furs out of the cupboard, and
his wife had to sew the tailor into it.

So the tailor staid with them, soon learned to howl perfectly, and to
walk on all fours; besides which, he became quite expert in catching
rabbits.

One day, when they had all gone out hunting together, it happened that
the King of the same land was also hunting in the wood. As soon as the
hunters came near the wolves, they and the tailor took to their heels.

They ran into a neighboring thicket, and hid themselves behind some
bushes, when the old wolf whispered to the others to keep quiet, without
fear, for he had seen no dogs, and without their help no huntsmen would
find them.

He spoke truly, for it so happened that a wild boar had killed every
single dog.

Then it occurred to the King to take a pinch of snuff; after which he
sneezed violently.

The tailor, who had not yet lost his knowledge of polite ways, said,