In the days of the great Prince Arthur, there lived a mighty magician,
named Merlin, the most learned and skillful enchanter the world has
ever seen.
This famous magician, who could take any form he pleased, was
travelling about as a poor beggar, and being very tired he stopped at
the cottage of a Ploughman to rest himself, and asked for some food.
The countryman bade him welcome, and his wife, who was a very
good-hearted woman, brought him some milk in a wooden bowl and some
coarse brown bread on a platter.
Merlin was much pleased with the kindness of the Ploughman and his
wife; but he could not help noticing that though everything was neat
and comfortable in the cottage, they both seemed to be very unhappy. He
therefore asked them why they were so melancholy, and learned that they
were miserable because they had no children.
The Poor Woman said, with tears in her eves: “I should be the happiest
creature in the world if I had a son although he was no bigger than my
husband’s thumb.”
Merlin was so much amused with the idea of a boy no bigger than a man’s
thumb that he determined to grant the Poor Woman’s wish. Accordingly,
in a short time after, the Ploughman’s wife had a son, who, wonderful
to relate! was not a bit bigger than his father’s thumb.
The Queen of the fairies, wishing to see the little fellow, came in at
the window, while the mother was sitting up in bed admiring him. The
Queen kissed the child, and, giving it the name of Tom Thumb, sent for
some of the fairies, who dressed her little godson according to her
orders:
An oak-leaf hat he had for his crown;
His shirt of web by spiders spun;
With jacket wove of thistle’s down;
His trousers were of feathers done.
His stockings, of apple rind, they tie
With eyelash from his mother’s eye:
His shoes were made of mouse’s skin,
Tann’d with the downy hair within.
Tom never grew any larger than his father’s thumb, but as he got older
he became very cunning and full of tricks. When he was old enough to
play with the boys, and had lost all his own cherry stones, he used to
creep into the bags of his play-fellows, fill his pockets, and, getting
out without their noticing him, would again join in the game.
One day, as he was coming out of a bag of cherry stones, where he had
been stealing as usual, the boy to whom it belonged chanced to see him.
“Ah, ah! my little Tommy,” said the boy, “so I have caught you stealing
my cherry stones at last, and you shall be rewarded for your thievish
tricks.” On saying this, he drew the string tight round his neck, and
gave the bag such a hearty shake that poor little Tom’s legs, thighs
and body were sadly bruised. He roared out with pain and begged to be
let out, promising never to steal again.
A short time afterwards his mother was making a batter pudding, and
Tom, being anxious to see how it was made, climbed up to the edge of
the bowl; but his foot slipped, and he plumped over head and ears into
the batter, without his mother noticing him, who stirred him into the
pudding-bag, and put him in the pot to boil.
The batter filled Tom’s mouth, and prevented him from crying; but, upon
feeling the hot water, he kicked and struggled so much in the pot that
his mother thought that the pudding was bewitched, and, pulling it out
of the pot, she threw it outside the door. A poor tinker, who was
passing by, lifted up the pudding, put it in his bag, and walked off.
As Tom had now got his mouth cleared of the batter, he began to cry
aloud, which so frightened the tinker that he flung down the pudding
and ran away. The pudding being broke to pieces by the fall, Tom crept
out covered all over with the batter, and walked home. His mother, who
was very sorry to see her darling in such a woeful state, put him into
a teacup and soon washed off the batter; after which she kissed him and
laid him in bed.
Soon after the adventure of the pudding, Tom’s mother went to milk her
cow in the meadow, and she took him along with her. As the wind was
very high, for fear of being blown away, she tied him to a thistle with
a piece of fine thread. The cow soon observed Tom’s oak-leaf hat, and
liking the appearance of it, took poor Tom and the thistle at one
mouthful. While the cow was chewing the thistle Tom was afraid of her
great teeth, which threatened to crush him in pieces, and he roared out
as loud as he could: “Mother, mother!”
“Where are you, Tommy, my dear Tommy?” said his mother.
“Here, mother,” replied he, “in the red cow’s mouth.”
His mother began to cry and wring her hands; but the cow, surprised at
the odd noise in her throat, opened her mouth and let Tom drop out.
Fortunately his mother caught him in her apron as he was falling to the
ground, or he would have been dreadfully hurt. She then put Tom in her
bosom and ran home with him.
Tom’s father made him a whip of barley straw to drive the cattle with,
and having one day gone into the fields, Tom slipped a foot and rolled
into the furrow. A raven, which was flying over, picked him up and flew
with him over the sea, and there dropped him.
A large fish swallowed Tom the moment he fell into the sea, which was
soon after caught and bought for the table of King Arthur. When they
opened the fish in order to cook it, every one was astonished at
finding such a little boy, and Tom was quite delighted at being free
again. They carried him to the King, who made Tom his dwarf, and he
soon became a great favorite at court; for by his tricks and gambols he
not only amused the King and Queen, but also the Knights of the Round
Table.
It is said that when the King rode out on horseback he often took Tom
along with him, and if a shower came on he used to creep into his
Majesty’s waistcoat pocket, where he slept till the rain was over.
King Arthur one day asked Tom about his parents, wishing to know if
they were as small as he was, and whether they were well off. Tom told
the King that his father and mother were as tall as anybody about the
court, but in rather poor circumstances. On hearing this, the King
carried Tom to his treasury, the place where he kept all his money, and
told him to take as much money as he could carry home to his parents,
which made the poor little fellow caper with joy. Tom went immediately
to procure a purse which was made of a water-bubble, and then returned
to the treasury, where he received a silver three-penny piece to put
into it.
Our little hero had some difficulty in lifting the burden upon his
back; but he at last succeeded in getting it placed and set forward on
his journey. Without meeting with any accident, and after resting
himself more than a hundred times by the way, in two days and two
nights he reached his father’s house in safety.
Tom had traveled forty-eight hours with a huge silver piece on his
back, and was almost tired to death, when his mother ran out to meet
him and carried him into the house. But he soon returned to court.
As Tom’s clothes had suffered much in the batter pudding and the inside
of the fish, his Majesty ordered him a new suit of clothes, and to be
mounted as a knight on a mouse.
Of Butterfly’s wings his shirt was made,
His boots of chicken’s hide;
And by a nimble fairy blade,
Well learned in the tailoring trade,
His clothing was supplied.
A needle dangled by his side;
A dapper mouse he used to ride,
Thus strutted Tom in stately pride!
It was certainly very amusing to see him in this dress and mounted on
the mouse, as he rode out a-hunting with the King and nobility, who
were all ready to expire with laughter at Tom and his fine prancing
charioteer.
The King was so charmed with his address that he ordered a little chair
to be made, in order that Tom might sit upon his table, and also a
palace of gold, a span high, with a door an inch wide, to live in. He
also gave him a coach, drawn by six small mice.
The Queen was so enraged at the honors conferred on Sir Thomas that she
resolved to ruin him, and told the King that the little knight had been
saucy to her.
The King sent for Tom in great haste, but being fully aware of the
danger of royal anger, he crept into an empty snail shell, where he lay
for a long time until he was almost starved with hunger; at last he
ventured to peep out, and seeing a fine large butterfly on the ground,
near the place of his concealment, he got close to it and jumping
astride on it was carried up into the, air. The butterfly flew with him
from tree to tree and from field to field, at last returned to the
court, where the King and nobility all strove to catch him; but at last
poor Tom fell from his seat into a watering-pot, in which he was almost
drowned.
When the Queen saw him she was in a rage, and said he should be
beheaded; and he was again put into a mouse trap until the time of his
execution.
However, a cat, observing something alive in the trap, patted it about
till the wires broke, and set Thomas at liberty.
The King received Tom again into favor, which he did not live to enjoy,
for a large spider one day attacked him; and although he drew his sword
and fought well, yet the spider’s poisonous breath at last overcame
him.
King Arthur and his whole court were so sorry at the loss of their
little favorite that they went into mourning and raised a fine white
marble monument over his grave with the following epitaph:
Here lies Tom Thumb, King Arthur’s knight,
Who died by a spider’s cruel bite.
He was well known in Arthur’s court,
Where he afforded gallant sport;
He rode a tilt and tournament,
And on a mouse a-hunting went.
Alive he filled the court with mirth;
His death to sorrow soon gave birth.
Wipe, wipe your eyes, and shake your head
And cry,—Alas! Tom Thumb is dead!