拇指姑娘

Once upon a time, a woman wanted a little child. An old witch gave her a seed. "Plant it in a flowerpot," she said.

A big flower grew. The woman kissed it, and pop! It opened. Inside sat a tiny girl, no bigger than a thumb. So the woman called her Thumbelina.

Thumbelina slept in a walnut shell. Her blanket was a rose petal. In the day, she sailed on a plate of water in a tulip petal boat, and she sang.

One night, a big ugly toad came in through the window. "She will be a wife for my son!" said the toad. She took Thumbelina and put her on a lily pad in the river.

Thumbelina cried. The little fish felt sorry for her. They bit the stem, and the leaf floated away. A white butterfly helped pull it along.

Then a beetle flew down and took her up a tree. "She has only two legs!" said the other beetles. "How ugly!" So the beetle left her on a flower.

All summer, Thumbelina lived alone in the forest. She drank dew and ate honey. Then winter came. Snow fell, and she was very cold.

A field mouse let her stay in her warm home. Her neighbor was a mole. He was rich, but he hated the sun and flowers. "Marry the mole," said the field mouse.

In the mole's tunnel lay a swallow. Everyone thought it was dead. But Thumbelina put her head on its chest. Thump, thump! Its heart was beating. All winter, she kept it warm. In spring, the swallow was well. "Come with me," it said. But Thumbelina did not want to leave the field mouse.

In autumn, it was time to marry the mole. Thumbelina went out to say goodbye to the sun. "Tweet, tweet!" It was the swallow! "Winter is coming. Come with me to a warm land!" This time, Thumbelina climbed onto its back.

They flew far away, to a land of flowers. In a white flower stood a tiny prince with a crown and wings. "Will you be my queen?" he asked. "Yes," said Thumbelina. Then she got a pair of wings too, and she flew happily from flower to flower.