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 lark.
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