Seven Heroes Fairy Tale

One day, seven brave heroes happened to meet. The first one's name was Schultz, the second was Jakli, the third was Marli, the fourth was Ergli, the fifth was Michel, the sixth was Hans, and the seventh was Veitli. The seven of them decided to travel together, seeking adventures and displaying their feats to the world. "Better safe than sorry," they thought, and went to a blacksmith to ask him to forge a spear for them.

They had a single spear made, but it was long and sturdy. All seven grabbed hold of it. Leading the group was the truly brave and strong Schultz. Following him was Jakli, then Marli, Ergli, Michel, Hans, and finally, Veitli brought up the rear. They traveled for one day, two days, and by the third day, as dusk fell, they reached a meadow. In the meadow lay cut grass. A bee flew by them, not just casually, but buzzing loudly. Schultz was so startled that he almost dropped the spear.

“Oh!” he exclaimed to his companions.

“Listen, listen! There’s the sound of drums!” Jakli said.

“Ah-Ah! I smell gunpowder. They’re going to fire a cannon!” he added. Hearing this, Schultz became even more frightened, dropped the spear, and ran away. In his haste, he accidentally stepped on a rake lying in the grass, and its handle hit him on the forehead.

“Oh no!” yelled Schultz.

“I surrender willingly, take us prisoner!” Jakli, Marli, Ergli, Michel, Hans, and Veitli all dropped their spears and shouted:

“If you surrender, we will too! Take us all prisoner!” They shouted back and forth, realizing that there was no one to capture them: there was no one else in the meadow. “Let’s not speak of this incident,” Schultz said. “Otherwise, we’ll be mocked. The seven of us agreed to remain silent until one of us speaks up. After several days, the seven faced an even more terrifying situation. They were walking through a field when they spotted a rabbit basking in the sun and dozing off in the distance. Its ears were perked up, its eyes as big as glass. Our heroes were taken aback: “What should we do, should we run away or confront this monster?” they began to think.

“Brothers,” Schultz said, “we are facing a dangerous battle ahead. The more we hesitate, the sooner we’ll be defeated. That’s how I see it.”

“I think the same,” Jakli said.

“Me too,” said Marli.

“Me too,” Ergli said.

“Me too,” Michel said.

“Me too,” said Hans.

“Me too,” said Veitli, who was trailing behind. They all grabbed the spear together and rushed towards the rabbit. They ran for a while before stopping. At the back, Veitli called out:

“Hero Schultz, don’t hold back, we’re right behind you!” Schultz replied, “Veitli, you’re the loudest! You go ahead!” The seven began to argue about who should go first. Meanwhile, the rabbit sat still, not moving an inch. Finally, Schultz seized his courage and ran again, with the other heroes following behind.

“Say it! Look! Say-say!” Schultz shouted.

“Say it! Look! Say-say!” Jakli shouted.

“Say it! Look! Say-say!” Marli shouted.

“Say it! Look! Say-say!” Ergli shouted.

“Say it! Look! Say-say!” Veitli, trailing behind, shouted louder than anyone. At that moment, the rabbit woke up from its nap and jumped away.

“Oh no,” Schultz said, “we’ve been humiliated again, it was just a rabbit.” The seven continued on their way. They came to the bank of a large river, with no boat in sight and no bridge. How would they cross? On the other side, a fisherman was sitting, casting his line. Schultz called out to the fisherman:

“How do we get to the other side?”

“Look for a crossing!” the fisherman shouted back. The fisherman’s words sounded to Schultz like “Come over yourself.” He jumped into the water and started swimming. After a few steps, he stopped, unable to go any further. The river was deep, and his feet seemed to be tangled in the weeds. As his hat floated away, a frog hopped onto his head. The frog began croaking.

“Ribbit, ribbit! Schultz is calling us. Come on, let’s go!” said Jakli. They all jumped into the water, but their feet got tangled in the weeds.

“Oh no, we’re drowning! Help us, we’re sinking!” they shouted. Until the fisherman came with his boat to rescue them, they remained stuck like that. The heroes warmed up, dried off, and went home.

“I will never go on an adventure again,” Schultz said.

“Of course, it’s better to stay at home,” Jakli said.

“Home is warm,” Marli said.

“Home is dry,” Ergli said.

“At home, no one bothers us,” Michel said.

“At home, I’m not afraid of anyone,” said Veitli, who now took the lead. And that’s how these heroes were.