The giant showed him a bed and bade him lie down and have a good sleep . But the bed was too big for the little tailor , so he did n't get into it , but crept away into the corner . At midnight , when the giant thought the little tailor was fast asleep , he rose up , and taking his big iron walking-stick , he broke the bed in two with a blow , and thought he had made an end of the little grasshopper . At early dawn the giants went off to the wood , and quite forgot about the little tailor , till all of a sudden they met him trudging along in the most cheerful manner . The giants were terrified at the apparition , and , fearful lest he should slay them , they all took to their heels as fast as they could . The little tailor continued to follow his nose , and after he had wandered about for a long time he came to the courtyard of a royal palace , and feeling tired he lay down on the grass and fell asleep . While he lay there the people came , and looking him all over read on his girdle : `` Seven at a blow . '' `` Oh ! '' they said , `` what can this great hero of a hundred fights want in our peaceful land ? He must indeed be a mighty man of valor . '' They went and told the King about him , and said what a weighty and useful man he 'd be in time of war , and that it would be well to secure him at any price . This counsel pleased the King , and he sent one of his courtiers down to the little tailor , to offer him , when he awoke , a commission in their army . The messenger remained standing by the sleeper , and waited till he stretched his limbs and opened his eyes , when he tendered his proposal . `` That 's the very thing I came here for , '' he answered ; `` I am quite ready to enter the King 's service . '' So he was received with all honor , and given a special house of his own to live in . But the other officers resented the success of the little tailor , and wished him a thousand miles away . `` What 's to come of it all ? '' they asked each other ; `` if we quarrel with him , he 'll let out at us , and at every blow seven will fall . There 'll soon be an end of us . '' So they resolved to go in a body to the King , and all to send in their papers .
`` We are not made , '' they said , `` XXXXX hold out against a man who kills seven at a blow . ''
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