Once upon a time there was a Woodcutter and his wife who had seven
children, all boys; the eldest was but ten years old, and the youngest
only seven. People wondered that the Woodcutter had had so many
children in so short a time; but the fact is, that his wife not only
had them very fast, but seldom presented him with less than two at a
birth. They were very poor, and their seven children troubled them
greatly, as not one of them was yet able to gain his livelihood. What
grieved them still more was that the youngest was very delicate, and
seldom spoke, which they considered a proof of stupidity instead of
good sense. He was very diminutive, and, when first born, scarcely
bigger than one's thumb, which caused them to call him Little Thumbling.
This poor child was the scapegoat of the house, and was blamed for
everything that happened. Nevertheless he was the shrewdest and most
sensible of all his brothers, and if he spoke little, he listened
a great deal. There came a very bad harvest, and the famine was so
severe that these poor people determined to get rid of their children.
One evening, when they were all in bed, and the Woodman was sitting
over the fire with his wife, he said to her, with an aching heart,
"Thou seest clearly that we can no longer find food for our children.
I cannot let them die of hunger before my eyes, and I am resolved to
lose them to-morrow in the wood, which will be easily done, for whilst
they are occupied in tying up the faggots, we have but to make off
unobserved by them." "Ah!" exclaimed the Woodcutter's wife, "Canst
thou have the heart to lose thine own children?" Her husband in vain
represented to her their exceeding poverty; she could not consent to
the deed. She was poor, but she was their mother. Having, however,
reflected on the misery it would occasion her to see them die of
hunger, she at length assented, and went to bed weeping.
Little Thumbling heard everything they had said, for having
ascertained, as he lay in his bed, that they were talking of their
affairs, he got up quietly, and slipped under his father's stool to
listen, without being seen. He went to bed again, and slept not a wink
the rest of the night, thinking what he should do. He rose early and
repaired to the banks of a rivulet, where he filled his pockets with
small white pebbles, and then returned home. They set out all together,
and Little Thumbling said nothing of what he had heard to his brothers.
They entered a very thick forest, wherein, at ten paces distant, they
could not see one another. The Woodcutter began to cut wood, and
his children to pick up sticks to make faggots with. The father and
mother, seeing them occupied with their work, stole away gradually, and
then fled suddenly by a small winding path. When the children found
themselves all alone, they began to scream and cry with all their
might. Little Thumbling let them scream, well knowing how he could
get home again, for as he came he had dropped all along the road the
little white pebbles he had in his pockets. He said to them then, "Fear
nothing, brothers, my father and mother have left us here, but I will
take you safely home, only follow me." They followed him, and he led
them back to the house by the same road that they had taken into the
forest. They feared to enter immediately, but placed themselves close
to the door to listen to the conversation of their father and mother.
Just at the moment that the Woodcutter and his wife arrived at home,
the lord of the manor sent them ten crowns which he had owed them a
long time, and which they had given up all hope of receiving. This was
new life to them, for these poor people were actually starving. The
Woodcutter sent his wife to the butcher's immediately. As it was many
a day since they had tasted meat, she bought three times as much as
was necessary for the supper of two persons. When they had satisfied
their hunger, the Woodcutter's wife said, "Alas! where now are our
poor children; they would fare merrily on what we have left. But it
was thou, Guillaume, who wouldst lose them. Truly did I say we should
repent it. What are they now doing in the forest! Alas! Heaven help
me! the wolves have, perhaps, already devoured them! Inhuman that thou
art, thus to have destroyed thy children!" The Woodcutter began to lose
his temper, for she repeated more than twenty times that they should
repent it, and that she had said they would. He threatened to beat her
if she did not hold her tongue. It was not that the Woodcutter was
not, perhaps, even more sorry than his wife, but that she made such a
noise about it, and that he was like many other men who are very fond
of women who can talk well, but are exceedingly annoyed by those whose
words always come true. The wife was all in tears. "Alas! where are
now my children, my poor children?" She uttered this, at length, so
loudly, that the children, who were at the door, heard her, and began
to cry altogether, "We are here! we are here!" She ran quickly to open
the door to them, and, embracing them, exclaimed, "How happy I am to
see you again, my dear children; you are very tired and hungry. And how
dirty thou art, Pierrot; come here and let me wash thee." Pierrot was
her eldest son, and she loved him better than all the rest because he
was rather red-headed, and she was slightly so herself. They sat down
to supper, and ate with an appetite that delighted their father and
mother, to whom they related how frightened they were in the forest,
speaking almost always all together. The good folks were enchanted to
see their children once more around them, and their joy lasted as long
as the ten crowns; but when the money was spent they relapsed into
their former misery, and resolved to lose the children again, and to do
so effectually they determined to lead them much further from home than
they had done the first time.
They could not talk of this so privately, but that they were overheard
by Little Thumbling, who reckoned upon getting out of the scrape by the
same means as before; but though he got up very early to collect the
little pebbles, he could not succeed in his object, for he found the
house door double locked. He knew not what to do, when the Woodcutter's
wife, having given them each a piece of bread for their breakfast, it
occurred to him that he might make the bread supply the place of the
pebbles by strewing crumbs of it along the path as they went, and so
he put his piece in his pocket. The father and mother led them into
the thickest and darkest part of the forest; and as soon as they had
done so, they gained a by-path, and left them there. Little Thumbling
did not trouble himself much, for he believed he should easily find
his way back by means of the bread which he had scattered wherever he
had passed; but he was greatly surprised at not being able to find a
single crumb. The birds had eaten it all up! Behold the poor children
then, in great distress, for the further they wandered the deeper they
plunged into the forest. Night came on, and a great wind arose, which
terrified them horribly. They fancied they heard on every side nothing
but the howling of wolves, hastening to devour them. They scarcely
dared to speak or look behind them. It then began to rain so heavily
that they were soon drenched to the skin; they slipped at every step,
tumbling into the mud, out of which they scrambled in a filthy state,
not knowing what to do with their hands. Little Thumbling climbed up
a tree to try if he could see anything from the top of it. Having
looked all about him, he saw a little light like that of a candle,
but it was a long way on the other side of the forest. He came down
again, and when he had reached the ground he could see the light no
longer. This distressed him greatly; but having walked on with his
brothers for some time in the direction of the light, he saw it again
on emerging from the wood. At length they reached the house where the
light was, not without many alarms, for they often lost sight of it,
and always when they descended into the valleys. They knocked loudly at
the door, and a good woman came to open it. She asked them what they
wanted. Little Thumbling told her they were poor children who had lost
their way in the forest, and who begged a night's lodging for charity.
The woman, seeing they were all so pretty, began to weep, and said
to them, "Alas! my poor children, whither have you come? Know that
this is the dwelling of an Ogre who eats little boys!" "Alas, Madam!"
replied Little Thumbling, who trembled from head to foot, as did all
his brothers; "what shall we do?--It is certain that the wolves of the
forest will not fail to devour us to-night, if you refuse to receive us
under your roof, and that being the case, we had rather be eaten by
the gentleman; perhaps he may have pity upon us, if you are kind enough
to ask him." The Ogre's wife, who fancied she could contrive to hide
them from her husband till the next morning, allowed them to come in,
and led them where they could warm themselves by a good fire, for there
was a whole sheep on the spit roasting for the Ogre's supper. Just as
they were beginning to get warm, they heard two or three loud knocks
at the door. It was the Ogre who had come home. His wife immediately
made the children hide under the bed, and went to open the door. The
Ogre first asked if his supper was ready and if she had drawn the wine,
and with that he sat down to his meal. The mutton was all but raw, but
he liked it all the better for that. He sniffed right and left, saying
that he smelt fresh meat. "It must be the calf I have just skinned that
you smell," said his wife. "I smell fresh meat, I tell you once more,"
replied the Ogre, looking askance at his wife; "there is something
here that I don't understand." In saying these words, he rose from the
table and went straight to the bed--"Ah!" he exclaimed, "it is thus,
then, thou wouldst deceive me, cursed woman! I know not what hinders me
from eating thee also! It is well for thee that thou art an old beast!
Here is some game, which comes in good time for me to entertain three
Ogres of my acquaintance who are coming to see me in a day or two." He
dragged them from under the bed one after the other. The poor children
fell on their knees, begging mercy; but they had to deal with the
most cruel of all the Ogres, and who, far from feeling pity for them,
devoured them already with his eyes, and said to his wife they would be
dainty bits, when she had made a good sauce for them. He went to fetch
a great knife, and as he returned to the poor children, he whetted it
on a long stone that he held in his left hand. He had already seized
one, when his wife said to him, "What would you do at this hour of the
night? will it not be time enough to-morrow?" "Hold thy peace," replied
the Ogre, "they will be the more tender." "But you have already so
much meat," returned his wife; "Here is a calf, two sheep, and half a
pig." "Thou art right," said the Ogre; "give them a good supper, that
they may not fall away, and then put them to bed." The good woman was
enchanted, and brought them plenty for supper, but they couldn't eat,
they were so paralysed with fright. As for the Ogre, he seated himself
to drink again, delighted to think he had such a treat in store for his
friends. He drained a dozen goblets more than usual, which affected his
head a little, and obliged him to go to bed.
The Ogre had seven daughters who were still in their infancy. These
little Ogresses had the most beautiful complexions, in consequence of
their eating raw flesh like their father; but they had very small,
round, grey eyes, hooked noses, and very large mouths, with long teeth,
exceedingly sharp, and wide apart. They were not very vicious as yet;
but they promised fairly to be so, for they already began to bite
little children, in order to suck their blood. They had been sent to
bed early, and were all seven in a large bed, having each a crown of
gold on her head. In the same room was another bed of the same size.
It was in this bed that the Ogre's wife put the seven little boys to
sleep, after which she went to sleep with her husband.
Little Thumbling, who had remarked that the Ogre's daughters had golden
crowns on their heads, and who feared that the Ogre might regret that
he had not killed him and his brothers that evening, got up in the
middle of the night, and, taking off his own nightcap and those of his
brothers, went very softly and placed them on the heads of the Ogre's
seven daughters, after having taken off their golden crowns, which he
put on his brothers and himself, in order that the Ogre might mistake
them for his daughters, and his daughters for the boys whose throats he
longed to cut.
Matters turned out exactly as he anticipated, for the Ogre awaking at
midnight, regretted having deferred till the morning what he might
have done the evening before. He therefore jumped suddenly out of bed,
and seizing his great knife, "Let us go," said he, "and see how our
young rogues are by this time; we won't make two bites at a cherry."
Therewith he stole on tiptoes up to his daughters' bed-room, and
approached the bed in which lay the little boys, who were all asleep
except Thumbling, who was dreadfully frightened when the Ogre placed
his hand upon his head to feel it, as he had in turn felt those of all
his brothers.
The Ogre, who felt the golden crowns, said, "Truly, I was about to do
a pretty job! It's clear I must have drunk too much last night." He
then went to the bed where his daughters slept, and having felt the
little nightcaps that belonged to the boys. "Aha!" cried he. "Here
are our young wags! Let us to work boldly!" So saying, he cut without
hesitation the throats of his seven daughters. Well satisfied with this
exploit, he returned and stretched himself beside his wife. As soon as
Little Thumbling heard the Ogre snoring, he woke his brothers, and bade
them dress themselves quickly and follow him. They went down softly
into the garden and jumped over the wall. They ran nearly all night
long, trembling all the way, and not knowing whither they were going.
The Ogre, awaking in the morning, said to his wife, "Get thee up stairs
and dress the little rogues you took in last night." The Ogress was
astonished at the kindness of her husband, never suspecting the sort
of dressing he meant her to give them, and fancying he ordered her to
go and put on their clothes; she went up stairs, where she was greatly
surprised to find her daughters murdered and swimming in their blood.
The first thing she did was to faint (for it is the first thing that
almost all women do in similar circumstances). The Ogre, fearing that
his wife would be too long about the job he had given her to do, went
upstairs to help her. He was not less surprised than his wife, when he
beheld this frightful spectacle. "Hah! what have I done?" he exclaimed.
"The wretches shall pay for it, and instantly!" He then threw a jugfull
of water in his wife's face, and having brought her to, said, "Quick!
give me my seven-league boots, that I may go and catch them." He set
out, and after running in every direction, came at last upon the track
of the poor children, who were not more than a hundred yards from their
father's house. They saw the Ogre striding from hill to hill, and who
stepped over rivers as easily as if they were the smallest brooks.
Little Thumbling, who perceived a hollow rock close by where they were,
hid his brothers in it, and crept in after them, watching all the while
the progress of the Ogre. The Ogre, feeling very tired with his long
journey to no purpose (for seven-league boots are very fatiguing to the
wearer), was inclined to rest, and by chance sat down on the very rock
in which the little boys had concealed themselves. As he was quite worn
out, he had not rested long before he fell asleep, and began to snore
so dreadfully that the poor children were not less frightened than they
were when he took up the great knife to cut their throats.
Little Thumbling was not so much alarmed, and told his brothers to run
quickly into the house while the Ogre was sound asleep, and not to
be uneasy about him. They took his advice and speedily reached home.
Little Thumbling having approached the Ogre, gently pulled off his
boots, and put them on directly. The boots were very large and very
long; but as they were fairy boots, they possessed the quality of
increasing or diminishing in size according to the leg of the person
who wore them, so that they fitted him as perfectly as if they had been
made for him. He went straight to the Ogre's house, where he found his
wife weeping over her murdered daughters. "Your husband," said Little
Thumbling to her, "is in great danger, for he has been seized by a band
of robbers, who have sworn to kill him if he does not give them all his
gold and silver. At the moment they had their daggers at his throat
he perceived me, and entreated me to come and tell you the situation
he was in, and bid you give me all his ready cash, without keeping
back any of it, as otherwise they will kill him without mercy. As time
pressed, he insisted I should take his seven-league boots, which you
see I have on, in order that I might make haste, and also that you
might be sure I was not imposing upon you."
The good woman, very much alarmed, immediately gave him all the money
she could find, for the Ogre was not a bad husband to her, although he
ate little children. Little Thumbling, thus laden with all the wealth
of the Ogre, hastened back to his father's house, where he was received
with great joy.
There are many persons who differ in their account of this part of
the story, and who pretend that Little Thumbling never committed this
robbery, and that he only considered himself justified in taking the
Ogre's seven-league boots, because he used them expressly to run after
little children. These people assert that they have heard it from good
authority, and that they have even eaten and drunk in the Woodcutter's
house. They assure us that when Little Thumbling had put on the Ogre's
boots, he went to Court, where he knew they were in much trouble about
an army which was within two hundred leagues of them, and anxious to
learn the success of a battle that had been fought. They say he went
to seek the King, and told him that if he desired it, he would bring
him back news of the army before the end of the day. The King promised
him a large sum of money if he did so. Little Thumbling brought news
that very evening, and this first journey having made him known, he
got whatever he chose to ask; for the King paid most liberally for
taking his orders to the army, and numberless ladies gave him anything
he chose for news of their lovers, and they were his best customers.
He occasionally met with some wives who entrusted him with letters
for their husbands, but they paid him so poorly, and the amount was
altogether so trifling, that he did not condescend to put down amongst
his receipts what he got for that service. After he had been a courier
for some time, and saved a great deal of money, he returned to his
father, where it is impossible to imagine the joy of his family at
seeing him again. He made them all comfortable. He bought newly-made
offices for his father and his brothers, and by these means established
them all, making his own way at Court at the same time.
Often is the handsome boy
Made, alone, his father's joy;
While the tiny, timid child
Is neglected or reviled.
Notwithstanding, sometimes he
Lives, of all, the prop to be.