The Fairy Tale Parables

Off he went, puzzled and bewildered by the sudden confidence that others had heaped on him. It didn’t take long to find the giants… they were noisy, smelly, and were surrounded by the ruin that their rampage had inflicted upon the world. The giants were grappling with each other and laughing at their sport, squashing homes, businesses, and people caught in their path. The tailor, a bit put off at first at their size and violence, thanked God for His daily faithfulness and, with peace in his heart, stepped up to the gang of giants. The six giants, each locking arms around the head of another, nearly did not see him, but when their yellow and bloodshot eyes alighted on him, they paused in their scufflings. The six horrible and ugly giants each had his named branded into the flesh of his forehead. Their names were “Cruelty”, “Pride”, “Sloth”, “Anger”, “Resentment”, and “Greed”. Cruelty had a burning hot iron; Pride had an iron crown; Sloth a huge, but filthy pillow; Anger a double-edged sword; Resentment an enormous book with scarlet letters on its cover; and Greed a bag that clinked as gold coins do when they’re moved about.

“Well,” the brave, little tailor said as he looked up at the titanic troupe before him, “I’ve been sent to defeat you and banish you from the land.” The giants looked at him, then they looked at each other, and then began to roar with laughter. And as they rolled about on the ground, they guffawed so loudly that they could be heard all the way back in the town (to the dismay of the inhabitants who assumed that the tailor had come to an untimely end). Meanwhile, the tailor simply took up in his hand the one and only tool that he had and faced the giants. In six swift stitches, he bound the giants together, one strong thread for each of the evil brothers. For Cruelty he stitched Kindness; for Pride he sewed Humility; for Sloth there was Encouragement; for Anger he had Forgiveness; for Resentment he stitched Praise; and for Greed he sewed Contentment. By the time the six giants stopped laughing they were already bound and made captive to the brave, little tailor.