- Genre
- Mythological legend
- Source status
- folkloric
- Motifs
- impossible commission, tailor, invisible support, collapsing clothes
The story
During serfdom, a lord ordered a tailor to make him a suit without seams. The tailor could not think how to do it and began to weep: failure would mean a whipping.
A devil came and asked what was wrong. After hearing the problem, it told him not to worry. He only had to cut the cloth and place the pieces together; they would hold. The tailor followed the advice.
The lord put on the new suit and wore it to festivities. Everyone marvelled that no seams could be seen and praised the tailor’s skill.
One day the lord went to church. When holy water was sprinkled, the devil fled in fear. Nothing remained to hold the separate pieces together, and the suit fell apart. The lord was left in his shirt and underclothes.
Reading the story
The ending reverses the lord’s threat: the man who imposes the impossible task is humiliated, rather than the craftsman. Supernatural help works, but only through the helper’s continued presence.
Recorded by I. Augustinavičius in Liutkūnai, Rozalimas district, in 1903; LMD I 301(33).
Source and retelling
Lietuvių tautosaka, IV (1967), Nr. 488, p. 514–515: „Pasiūtas be siūlių“. An original retelling of the recorded traditional narrative cited here. The sequence of events and ending are retained in modern language.