The Story of the False Prince by Wilhelm Hauff. Short summary

5 seconds

Tailor Labacan poses as a prince, but he is exposed. The healer who killed the girl discovers that he helped avenge the murdered family. The vigilante becomes Orbazan, the leader of the bandits.

1 minute

Labacan, the tailor, steals the king’s outfit that has fallen into the workshop and escapes. He meets Omar, who is to meet his father the Tsar many years later. The tailor steals the Tsar´s dagger from his fellow traveller and pretends to be the Prince. The Sultaness does not recognise him as her son. The young man is put to the test — he is ordered to sew a caftan.

Labacan sews it, but Omar refuses. The Sultan brings two chests from the fairy. One has «honour and glory» written on it, and the other has «happiness and wealth» written on it. The false prince chooses wealth. The box contains a needle and thread. Omar chooses honor. He has a crown in the box. The deceiver is driven out of the country. Labacan discovers that the needle sews itself, and the thread does not run out. He becomes the richest tailor in Alexandria.

The healer Tzaleikos comes to Cairo with his caravan. He meets the man in the red cloak again. It turns out that the governor’s daughter has ruined his brother and her father’s entire family. With the help of the healer who cut off the girl’s head, the stranger has avenged the loss of his home. Now he is an outlaw, the lord of the desert Orbazan.