In a small town, there lived a tailor — a thin, cheerful little man who spent his days cutting cloth and sewing clothes in his tiny workshop. He was not rich, not famous, and not particularly impressive to look at. But he was clever, and he had an unshakeable belief in himself.
One summer morning, the tailor was sitting at his workbench, sewing a jacket, when a peasant woman came down the street selling jam. "Good jam! Fresh jam!" she called.
The tailor bought a pot of jam, spread some on a piece of bread, and set it aside while he finished his sewing. "I'll eat that in a minute," he said. But while he worked, the smell of jam attracted a swarm of flies. By the time the tailor reached for his bread, seven flies were sitting on it, helping themselves to his breakfast.
"I didn't invite you to dinner!" he said crossly. He grabbed a cloth and swung it at the flies with a mighty SMACK!
When he lifted the cloth, all seven flies were dead.
The tailor was tremendously impressed with himself. "Seven at one blow!" he exclaimed. "The whole world should know about this!"
He cut a length of cloth and embroidered a belt with the words: "SEVEN AT ONE BLOW" in big, bold letters. He put on the belt, looked at himself in the mirror, and decided that a man of such extraordinary abilities should not be stuck in a tiny workshop sewing jackets.
"The world awaits!" he declared. He packed a piece of cheese and a small bird he found caught in a bush outside his window (thinking they might come in handy), and set off to seek his fortune.