_It matters not how small one is if only he has wits and is not
afraid._
A poor woodman and his wife had no children and were very sad and
lonely. One day his wife said:
“I should be very happy if I had a child even if he were no bigger
than my thumb.”
It came to pass as she wished. One day a little boy was born and he
was no bigger than her thumb. No matter how much she fed him he
never grew any larger, so she called him Tom Thumb.
One day the woodman started into the wood to cut fuel. Tom said:
“Let me drive the horse after you to bring home the fuel. I will
climb into his ear and tell him which way to go.”
The father thought this would be a fine plan and agreed. So Tom
climbed up into the horse’s ear, and said: “Go on,” and the horse
started. Then, “Go this path,” or “Go that path,” and the horse
went along just as Tom told him, and finally came to the place
where the woodman was cutting fuel.
A man came by and saw Tom sitting on a little stick watching his
father. “What a funny little man,” he said. “If I could buy him
he would make my fortune.” And so he bargained for Tom and gave
his father a big lump of gold. Tom crept up his father’s coat and
whispered in his ear:
“Never mind, father! I will be back before long.” Then they were
off, Tom sitting on the rim of the man’s hat to see the country as
they passed along.
After a while it grew dark, and the man sat down and laid his hat
on the ground. Tom cried out: “Good-by, my master! I’m gone!” And
with that he ran over a furrow in the field and slipped into a
mouse hole. The man ran after him and poked about with his stick,
but Tom was away down in the ground by this time.
By and by he heard two men passing. One of them said:
“How can we manage to get the farmer’s money?” The other said: “If
we only had some little boy to help us!” Tom followed them down the
road listening to this talk and finally called out:
“I will help you get the farmer’s money.” They were greatly
surprised to see such a little man, but finally agreed to take him
along.
They came to the farmer’s house and Tom slipped through a crack in
the boards, and called out very loud: “Here is the money! Hold your
hand while I hand it out to you!” This, of course, woke up the cook
who struck a light, and the robbers ran away leaving Tom in the
house. The cook could not find anybody, for Tom had slipped into
the barn and gone to sleep on the hay.
Next morning the farmer came out to feed the cow, and taking a fork
full of hay pitched it over in the rack. Tom was in the hay fast
asleep, and when he woke up he was in the cow’s stomach, and more
hay kept on coming down until Tom could hardly find room to turn
round. And there we will leave him until to-morrow.