Once upon a time there was a woman who always wanted a child, but she couldn’t get pregnant.She especially wanted a very small baby, even if it was only as big as her finger.
One day she went to ask a very powerful grandmother for advice.This grandmother knew many strange things, and everyone called her “Witch”.
The woman said, “I want to have a baby, can you help me figure it out?”
The witch smiled and said, “It’s not hard!You take this barley grain home, plant it in a pot, and when it grows, you’ll be surprised!”
The woman was delighted and gave the witch three silver coins, then went home and did as she was told.
She carefully buried the barley grain in the soil.Within a few days, a big red flower came out of the earth.The flower looked like a tulip, with its leaves packed tightly together like a bud.
The woman thought the flower was so beautiful that she couldn’t help but kiss the petals.Just as she did so, the flower opened with a pop!
In the center of the flower sat a little girl.She was white and tender, with a smile on her face.She was only half as long as a human thumb, so people called her “Thumbelina”.
Thumbelina’s life
Thumbelina lived in a little bed made of walnut shells, with blue violet petals on the bottom and pink rose petals on the top.At night, this is where she sleeps.
During the day, she liked to play on the table.The woman also had a plate on the table filled with water on which floated a few petals.Thumbelina had fun sitting on the petals and paddling around with her two thin horsetail hairs as paddles.
She also sings. Her voice is so soft and sweet, it sounds like a bird singing.
Unwelcome guest
One night, Thumbelina was sleeping in a walnut shell.Suddenly, an ugly toad jumped in through the broken window.The toad was big, slippery and ugly.
She jumped onto the table just in time to see Thumbelina sleeping.
“This little girl is so pretty, she could be my son’s bride!”When Toad finished speaking, she grabbed the pecan shell and jumped out the window and into the garden with Thumbelina on her back.
Her son lived by a stream.It was a wet and dirty place.Toad’s son was as ugly as his mother, and as soon as he saw Thumbelina he said, “Quack!Woah-woah!”
Toad said, “Don’t talk so loud or you’ll wake her up and she’ll run away.”
So they put Thumbelina on a great big water lily leaf, which floated on the water like a little island.Toad thought, “Then she won’t be able to get away.”
Early the next morning, Thumbelina woke up.She found herself floating alone in the middle of the water, surrounded by water, with no way to get back to shore.She was sad and cried.
The little fish came to help
At that moment, the little fish in the water saw the scene.They all sympathized with Thumbelina.One smart little fish said, “How can such a lovely little girl marry an ugly monster?No way!We have to help her!”
The little fish gathered together under the leaf and bit off the leaf stalk.The leaf began to float away with the current.
Thumbelina left her original home and drifted farther and farther away.
On the way, she met a white butterfly, which flew over to keep her company.She was so happy that she tied her belt around the butterfly and tied it to a leaf so that they would not be separated.
Then a golden tortoise flew by, and he grabbed Thumbelina by the hand and flew her off into the woods.But the white butterfly, tied to the leaf, had no way to follow and had to stay behind.
The Golden Turtle’s Misunderstanding
The Golden Turtle took Thumbelina to a leaf on a tree and gave her nectar to eat.He also told the other golden turtles that he had found a beautiful girl.
But the other golden turtles said, “She has only two legs, no tentacles, and her waist is too thin, unlike us.She’s so ugly!”
Even though Thumbelina was actually pretty, listening to these remarks, the golden turtle began to think she was unattractive too.Finally, he decided he didn’t want her anymore and left her alone on a daisy.
Thumbelina looked at the departing Golden Turtle and cried sadly.She felt that she really had no one left.
Winter is coming
Summer is over, fall is over, and winter is coming.It got colder and colder, the leaves all fell off the trees, and the flowers were gone.
Thumbelina had no house and no clothes.She could only build a little nest on blades of grass, drink dew as water, and pick nectar from flowers for food.
She shivered in the snow in her tattered clothes.Because she was only inches tall, every snowflake was like a chunk of ice crashing down on her.
She couldn’t take it anymore, so she looked around for a place to hide.Finally, she found a vole’s hole.
Meet the vole and the mole
The vole was a good and warm-hearted neighbor.She took Thumbelina in and let her stay in her house for the winter.Every day, Thumbelina cleaned her room and told stories to the field mouse.
The vole added, “My neighbor is very rich and is a mole.He wears black velvet clothes and lives in a house twenty times bigger than mine!If you will marry him, you will have a good life afterward.”
But Thumbelina didn’t like Mole at all.She didn’t want to marry a man who couldn’t see the sunshine and hated flowers.
Once, Mole showed them around his tunnels.On the way, they found a frozen swallow.
Thumbelina was sad to see the swallow.She gently covered the swallow with cotton and leaves and kissed his forehead.
Unexpectedly, the swallow slowly woke up.It turned out that he was just frozen.
Swallow’s story
When the swallow woke up, he thanked Thumbelina for saving him.He stayed at her house for the whole winter and regained his strength.
When spring came, the swallow was ready to fly to the warm south.He asked Thumbelina if she wanted to go with him.Thumbelina was eager to go along, but she couldn’t bear to take care of her field mice.
The swallow flew away and Thumbelina stood in the doorway, watching him go with tears in her eyes.
Marry the mole?
Mole would soon be married.The field mouse forced Thumbelina to put on a new dress and prepare to marry him.Thumbelina was reluctant, but the vole said, “You must marry him!Or I’ll bite you!”
On the day of the wedding, Thumbelina walked out the door to say goodbye to the sun.She hugged a red flower and said, “If you see that swallow, please say hello to him for me.”
Just then, a familiar cry came from the sky, “Drii!Tili!”
It was the swallow that had returned!
Meeting again
When the swallow heard that Thumbelina was going to marry Mole, he flew back to her in a hurry.
He said to her, “Come with me!I can take you to a warm place where it’s always summer and the flowers bloom especially beautifully.”
Thumbelina thought about it and nodded.She sat on the swallow’s back and tied herself down securely, and then they flew off into the distance together.
They flew over the forest, the sea, and over snowy mountains.Thumbelina hid in the swallow’s feathers to keep warm, enjoying the beautiful scenery along the way.
A new world
They came to a warm country where the sun shone brightly and the air smelled of flowers.There were tall marble pillars by the lake, and in the center of the pillars was a white flower.
The swallow landed on the flower with Thumbelina.At that moment a little boy came out of the flower.He wore a golden crown and had wings on his back and was as pretty as an angel.
He was the prince of the flower.He fell in love with Thumbelina at once and asked her to be his bride.
Thumbelina happily agreed.All the little elves from the flowers came to celebrate by giving her gifts, the most special of which were wings for her.
From that day on, Thumbelina became the queen of the flowers, with a new name, Maya.
Epilogue
The swallow said goodbye to Thumbelina and flew back north.He told a little writer about this marvelous experience.
And so came the story – Thumbelina.
