"Tom Thumb" - The Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm

A Poor Peasant sat one evening by his hearth and poked the fire, while his Wife sat opposite spinning. He said : ' What a sad thing it is that we have no children ; our home is so quiet, while other folk's houses are noisy and cheerful.'

' Yes,' answered his Wife, and she sighed ; ' even if it were an only one, and if it were no bigger than my thumb, I should be quite content ; we would love it with all our hearts.'

Now, some time after this, she had a little boy who was strong and healthy, but was no bigger than a thumb. Then they said : ' Well, our wish is fulfilled, and, small as he is, we will love him dearly ' ; and because of his tiny stature they called him Tom Thumb. They let him want for nothing, yet still the child grew no bigger, but remained the same size as when he was born. Still, he looked out on the world with intelligent eyes, and soon showed himself a clever and agile creature, who was lucky in all he attempted.

One day, when the Peasant was preparing to go into the forest to cut wood, he said to himself : ' I wish I had some one to bring the cart after me.'

' O Father ! ' said Tom Thumb, ' I will soon bring it. You leave it to me ; it shall be there at the appointed time.'

Then the Peasant laughed, and said : ' How can that be ? You are much too small even to hold the reins.'

' That doesn't matter, if only Mother will harness the horse,' answered Tom. ' I will sit in his ear and tell him where to go.'

' Very well,' said the Father ; ' we will try it for once.'

When the time came, the Mother harnessed the horse, set Tom in his ear, and then the little creature called out ' Gee-up ' and ' Whoa ' in turn, and directed it where to go. It went quite well, just as though it were being driven by its master ; and they went the right way to the wood. Now it happened that while the cart was turning a corner, and Tom was calling to the horse, two strange men appeared on the scene.

' My goodness,' said one, ' what is this ? There goes a cart, and a driver is calling to the horse, but there is nothing to be seen.'

' There is something queer about this,' said the other ; ' we will follow the cart and see where it stops.'

The cart went on deep into the forest, and arrived quite safely at the place where the wood was cut.

When Tom spied his Father, he said : ' You see, Father, here I am with the cart ; now lift me down.' The Father held the horse with his left hand, and took his little son out of its ear with the right. Then Tom sat down quite happily on a straw.

When the two strangers noticed him, they did not know what to say for astonishment.

Then one drew the other aside, and said : ' Listen, that little creature might make our fortune if we were to show him in the town for money. We will buy him.'

So they went up to the Peasant, and said : ' Sell us the little man ; he shall be well looked after with us.'

' No,' said the Peasant ; ' he is the delight of my eyes, and I will not sell him for all the gold in the world.'

But Tom Thumb, when he heard the bargain, crept up by the folds of his Father's coat, placed himself on his shoulder, and whispered in his ear : ' Father, let me go ; I will soon come back again.'

Then his Father gave him to the two men for a fine piece of gold.

' Where will you sit ? ' they asked him.

' Oh, put me on the brim of your hat, then I can walk up and down and observe the neighbourhood without falling down.'

They did as he wished, and when Tom had said good-bye to his Father, they went away with him.

They walked on till it was twilight, when the little man said : ' You must lift me down.'

' Stay where you are,' answered the Man on whose head he sat.

' No,' said Tom ; ' I will come down. Lift me down immediately.'

The Man took off his hat and set the little creature in a field by the wayside. He jumped and crept about for a time, here and there among the sods, then slipped suddenly into a mouse-hole which he had discovered.

' Good evening, gentlemen, just you go home without me,' he called out to them in mockery.

They ran about and poked with sticks into the mouse-hole, but all in vain. Tom crept further and further back, and, as it soon got quite dark, they were forced to go home, full of anger, and with empty purses.

When Tom noticed that they were gone, he crept out of his underground hiding-place again, ' It is dangerous walking in this field in the dark,' he said ; ' one might easily break one's leg or one's neck.' Luckily, he came to an empty snail shell. ' Thank goodness,' he said ; ' I can pass the night in safety here,' and he sat down.

Not long after, just when he was about to go to sleep, he heard two men pass by. One said : ' How shall we set about stealing the rich parson's gold and silver ? '