What is the moral of The Brave Little Tailor?

You don't need to be big to win. The tailor beats the giants with a cheese, a bird and a few pebbles, not with his fists, and he never lets a bigger opponent scare him.

Who wrote The Brave Little Tailor?

It was collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 as tale 20 of their Children's and Household Tales.

What does Seven at One Blow mean in The Brave Little Tailor?

The tailor swats seven flies with one blow and sews the words on his belt. Everyone who reads it thinks he has beaten seven men at once, and the giant and the king are both fooled.

Is there a Chinese version of The Brave Little Tailor?

Yes. In Chinese it is 勇敢的小裁缝 (yǒng gǎn de xiǎo cái feng). This page has our Chinese retelling with Mandarin narration next to the English one.

The Brave Little Tailor Story

Ages 3–7
English audio 2 min
Mandarin audio 3 min

The Brave Little Tailor is a classic story from Grimms' Fairy Tales, for children aged 3–7. This page has the English story with a native English narration (about 2 min), plus the Chinese version with Mandarin narration (about 3 min). Free to read and listen, no sign-up.

A tailor swats seven flies, sews Seven at One Blow on his belt, outwits a giant with a cheese and a bird, and wins the princess. The Grimms' tale in simple English with narration, plus the Chinese version in Mandarin.

0:001:11

Tap any sentence in the story to start reading from there. It stops at the end.

A narrator, and a voice of its own for each character: the little tailor, the giant, the king

Record about a minute of your voice, and every story here can be read to your child in it. Credits come back automatically if it fails.

Read The Brave Little Tailor

A little tailor was eating bread and jam. Flies landed on it. He swatted seven at once! Proudly he sewed Seven at One Blow on his belt.

He set off with a cheese and a bird in his pocket. On a hill a giant read his belt. "Seven at one blow? Let's see how strong you are!"

The giant squeezed water from a stone. The tailor squeezed his cheese. "Easy!" he said. The giant threw a stone high. The tailor threw his bird, and it never came down. The giant ran away.

At the palace the king said, "Two giants live in my forest. Drive them away and you may marry the princess."

Two giants were asleep under a tree. The tailor climbed up and dropped stones on one. "Why did you hit me?" "I didn't!" They fought until they were worn out, and the tailor tied them up.

The king kept his word, and the tailor married the princess. "Seven at one blow," he laughed, "and that's true!"

The Chinese version: 勇敢的小裁缝

从前有个小裁缝，一边缝衣服一边吃果酱面包。几只苍蝇飞来抢果酱，他抓起一块布一拍，拍到了七只。他高兴极了，在腰带上绣了五个大字：‘一下打七个’。

小裁缝觉得自己了不起，带上一块奶酪和一只小鸟，出门闯世界去了。他在山上遇见一个巨人。巨人看见腰带，吃了一惊：“一下打七个？那你来跟我比比力气！”

巨人捡起一块石头，使劲一捏，石头滴出水来。小裁缝掏出奶酪一捏，流出了汁。“这有什么难的！”他说。巨人又把石头扔上天。小裁缝把小鸟一抛，小鸟飞走了，再也没掉下来。巨人吓得逃走了。

小裁缝来到王宫。国王听说他一下打七个，就对他说：“树林里有两个巨人，天天捣乱。你要是赶走他们，我就把公主嫁给你。”

两个巨人正在树下睡觉。小裁缝爬上树，往一个巨人身上扔石子。巨人醒了，推推旁边的巨人：“你打我干什么？”“我没打你！”小裁缝再扔，两个巨人越吵越凶，打成一团，最后都累得睡着了。小裁缝把他们捆了起来。

国王只好守信用，把公主嫁给了他。小裁缝笑着说：“一下打七个，我可没有吹牛！”从此，大家都叫他勇敢的小裁缝。

The Brave Little Tailor Story: the moral of the story

Don't be afraid of someone bigger than you. A quick mind can do more than strong arms.

Chinese words in The Brave Little Tailor

Play the Chinese narration and listen for these words. The pinyin shows the tones.

裁缝cái feng
tailor
苍蝇cāng ying
fly (the insect)
果酱guǒ jiàng
jam
腰带yāo dài
belt
巨人jù rén
giant
奶酪nǎi lào
cheese
石头shí tou
stone
公主gōng zhǔ
princess

For families learning Mandarin

Mandarin learning pack

Print the story, read it together, then listen and say it back. Made for heritage families and children learning Mandarin.

A printable PDF (3 pages): the Chinese story with pinyin over every character, the words to know, the English version, questions to talk about, and character writing practice.
Slow Mandarin audio (5 min): every sentence at a gentler pace, followed by a pause long enough to say it back.

Buy once, download again any time. The story itself stays free to read and hear. Try the free sample pack (The Tortoise and the Hare) first.

Page one of the The Brave Little Tailor learning pack: the Chinese story with pinyin over every character

Bedtime storytelling tips

Give the giant a slow, booming voice and the tailor a quick, cheerful one, so your child can tell at once who is talking.
Squeeze a fist for the stone and the cheese, and look up together when the bird never comes down.
"Seven at one blow" comes three times. Shout it together each time; in Chinese it is 一下打七个 (yí xià dǎ qī ge).

Things to talk about afterwards

What did the tailor sew on his belt? Had he really beaten seven giants?
How did the tailor make the two giants fight each other?
The tailor is small. Why was the giant afraid of him? What matters more than strength?

Read this story to your child in your own voice

Record your voice and confirm it's really you
Pick any story, in English or Chinese
A few minutes later, hear it in your voice; you can also download the MP3

From about $1.05 a story, or $1.99 for a first-order taster. Reading and listening are always free, and failed generations are refunded.

Read it in my voice See pricing

The Brave Little Tailor Story: common questions

What is the moral of The Brave Little Tailor?: You don't need to be big to win. The tailor beats the giants with a cheese, a bird and a few pebbles, not with his fists, and he never lets a bigger opponent scare him.
Who wrote The Brave Little Tailor?: It was collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 as tale 20 of their Children's and Household Tales.
What does Seven at One Blow mean in The Brave Little Tailor?: The tailor swats seven flies with one blow and sews the words on his belt. Everyone who reads it thinks he has beaten seven men at once, and the giant and the king are both fooled.
Is there a Chinese version of The Brave Little Tailor?: Yes. In Chinese it is 勇敢的小裁缝 (yǒng gǎn de xiǎo cái feng). This page has our Chinese retelling with Mandarin narration next to the English one.

Source and how we retold it

Grimms' Fairy Tales, tale 20 (Das tapfere Schneiderlein), first published in 1812 and now in the public domain. Our retelling follows the Grimms' plot and does not use any existing Chinese translation. The tailor only swats the flies here, the king's other tasks (the unicorn and the wild boar) are left out, and the two giants tire themselves out and get tied up instead of killing each other. The ending where the princess wants to be rid of her tailor husband is also left out.

The narration on this page is AI-generated: the English is read by our narrator and the Chinese by our narrator. The audio files are labeled as AI-generated.

If you liked The Brave Little Tailor Story, there are more stories in Grimms' Fairy Tales. You can also read this one to your child in your own voice.