The three of them came to a house, the door of which was open, and a light was on in the house, but there was no one there, or at least no one in sight. "I wonder who lives here, he shouldn't be angry if we spend the night here. We can't go any further!" The three of them said, each finding a suitable place to lie down. No one disturbed them all night, and the three lads slept soundly and sweetly. When they woke up the next morning, they were in a pleasant mood and in good spirits.
The blacksmith said, "This is a nice cabin! I think we should not go at once, but when the master returns, we will thank him properly." The tailor said, "Maybe I can mend some clothes for him."
"Resting and relaxing here is fine with me," said the hunter, "but we'll have to find something to eat, and it looks like it's Skinny Hans who's the cook here - there's nothing to eat. I propose that we leave one of us behind, and the other two go out into the forest and hunt some game to fill our bellies."
"That's a good idea." The blacksmith said, "There's a spring outside, so the one who stays home will light a fire and boil some water, then we can make a pot of fragrant soup to drink."
The blacksmith and the hunter went out. The tailor stayed at home, lit a fire, sat on the water, and kept watch.
Suddenly a very, very small dwarf appeared before him and said:
"Tailor, tailor, little tailor!
I will blow out your fire."
When the tailor saw that the dwarf was only so small, he shouted boldly, "How dare you!" With a "poof"
the fire was blown out, and the dwarf was gone.
Soon the hunter and the blacksmith returned with their quarry. The tailor told them both what had happened, and they had to make a new fire and boil water.
After the game was finished, it was the blacksmith's and tailor's turn to go hunting in the forest while the hunter watched the house. He started a roaring fire, sat on the water, and kept watch. Suddenly the very, very small dwarf appeared again and whispered:
"Hunter, hunter, little hunter!
I will blow out your fire."
"Try it! I'll break your neck if I don't!" The hunter bellowed. But, with a "poof"
the fire went out again, and the dwarf was gone.
When the two companions returned, they did not hunt, and the fire went out again; and the hunter lent his gun to the tailor, who boasted that he would be able to hunt a rabbit in a short time. But just as they reached the forest, the gun was out of order, and the bullet missed.
"Let me try this time!" The strong blacksmith said. "You see how I deal with this little dwarf." So the blacksmith stayed at home while the hunter and the tailor went hunting.
The blacksmith prepared a vise, and kindled the fire, and had not long sat down when the very, very small dwarf appeared for the third time, and whispered,
"Blacksmith, blacksmith, little blacksmith!
I'll blow out your fire."
The blacksmith did not answer, but seized the dwarf by the collar and shook it vigorously, and then held him so tightly in a vise that the dwarf struggled desperately with the pain. But it was no use for him to struggle any more, and the blacksmith beat him severely. Then the hunter and the tailor came back, and the hunter scolded the dwarf angrily, and the tailor, overjoyed, taught him a hard lesson too.
The little devil who was caught in the pincers agonized him and said, "Let me go! One of you come with me and I will make you happy. Come with me, little tailor!"
The tailor replied, "Very, very small dwarf, I will not go with you!" The very, very small dwarf begged again:
"Hunter, you come with me!" The hunter replied, "Hmph, the hell with you!" The dwarf again begged very pathetically, "Blacksmith, blacksmith, you come with me!" The blacksmith said, "All right, I'll go with you. But don't try to make me let you go; you must lead me honestly. The two of them will also have to pull back a ways and follow, all three of us."
"All right, I'm all for it!" The very, very small dwarf pleaded. "As long as I don't have to be clamped in a vise!"
The blacksmith took the dwarf at his word, and with his hand tightly gripped around his collar, followed him through a door, into a room, and then through a basement passage into a huge, dimly lit cellar. In the cellar was a man-eating monster, sitting in an ivory chair, with his wife standing behind him, combing his long, unkempt hair with an ivory comb.
He heard the ogre say, "Smell, smell! There is a smell of human flesh! You smell, you smell-human flesh." He jumped for joy.
His wife replied, "Gee, who knows what you smell."
The blacksmith pulled the dwarf's shirt tighter; if he let him get away, he and his companions would be in the hands of a man-eating demon. But the dwarf led the blacksmith and they went around by a side corridor. They came to a cave, the mouth of which was blocked with a huge stone. The dwarf said, "First move this rock, then crawl through the opening and shout, 'Hurrah! I am saved!'"
"I will have to use both hands to move the stone." The blacksmith said, handing the fidgety dwarf's collar to the hunter to hold on to, for he could not trust the tailor and thought him too weak. In spite of this, the tailor helped the hunter by holding on to the dwarf's two little legs. The blacksmith moved the stone, and there was a rumbling in the cellar; the hole opened, a dazzling beam of sunlight met them, and a magnificent palace appeared before their eyes. Three, nay, it should be four of them, bore nimbly through the opening-first the blacksmith, then the hunter with the dwarf, and lastly the tailor, who grasped the dwarf's leg. They all shouted, "Hurrah! I am saved!"
The dwarf shouted along with them, but in a flash he faded from their hands again. At that moment, a richly dressed band came out of the palace and played a beautiful dance. Then came out three beautiful princesses, who danced to the blacksmith, the huntsman, and the tailor; and then came out a short man, dressed but like a king, with a crown, a sceptre, and a purple cloak trimmed with silver weasel-skin, and looking much like the dwarf. "Thank you for saving us!" The dwarf king said very solemnly. "We shall thank and repay you many times over!"
So the king made the three merry lads princes, and let each of them marry a princess of great beauty; and all three of them lived in splendid palaces, and lived happily ever after, and were served by countless court servants. Their fire would never be blown out again.