A STORY A DAY : THUMBELINA

THUMBELINA

There was once an old woman who wanted a daughter more than anything else in the world.

She went to see a witch who gave her a seed to be plant.

The seed grew into a beautiful flower and when the flower opened with a Pop! A tiny little girl was sitting in the middle.

The girl was no bigger than the woman’s thumb, so she called her Thumbelina and loved her like a daughter.

The woman gave Thumbelina a walnut shell to sleep in and made sure she had everything she wanted. Thumbelina was very happy living with her mother.

One night, an old toad-woman passed by an open window.

Hop, hoppity, hop!

She saw Thumbelina as she lay asleep in her walnut shell.

“What a tiny girl,” she thought to herself.

“She would make a lovely bride for my son.”

And the toad-woman carried Thumbelina away.

Poor Thumbelina was horrified when she woke-up and saw a big warty face staring at her.

“Who are you?” she gasped.

“I am toad and you’ll be my wife,” said the ugly creature.

And he hopped off, leaving Thumbelina stranded on a lily pad, while he and his mother set to work preparing the wedding.

Thumbelina could think of nothing worse than being married with a toad.

She wept bitter tears, which fell into the river with a SPALSH!

Some of the fish swam up to the surface, thinking the tear drops were insects that they could eat.

When they saw the tiny girl crying her heart out, the fish took pity on her.

“SNIFF! If I can’t escape from here, I’ll have to marry a toad,” sobbed Thumbelina.

The helpful fish nibbled through the stem of lily pad, and Thumbelina floated away down the river.

The lily pad landed on the river bank near a corn field, and Thumbelina clambered off.

She felt all alone in the world and began to weep again.

A field-mouse scuttled past and stopped to see what was the matter.

“I am far from home,” she sobbed.

“I have nobody to care for me.”

The field-mouse felt very sorry for Thumbelina.

He could not leave such a pretty creature crying alone.

“Come and live with me, I’ll look after you,” he offered.

So Thumbelina lived underground where she was safe and warm.

The field-mouse was very kind to her and they spent many happy days together.

The field-mouse’s best friend was a mole, and he grew so fond of Thumbelina that he wanted to marry her.

But the thought of living underground for the rest of her life made Thumbelina sad.

She missed the open air and sunshine.

One day, as Thumbelina was walking through an underground passage, she saw a swallow.

There seems to be no life in the poor creature and, thinking he had died from cold, she wrapped him up.

But the bird wasn’t dead.

When she had warmed up he began to stir with a flitter, flutter!

The swallow was very grateful to Thumbelina and wanted to help her.

“Come away with me,” said the swallow.

“We can fly off to a warmer land.”

Thumbelina climbed onto the swallow’s back, and together they flew over the bleak winter landscape until they noticed that the air was getting warmer and the land was becoming greener.

The swallow swooped down into a meadow full of flowers.

Thumbelina thought it was the most beautiful place she had ever seen.

The ground was thick with colorful blooms and the air was full of birds singing.       

The sun shone all day along and Thumbelina felt warm and happy.

“I would like to stay here,” she said.

So the swallow landed, and Thumbelina jumped down from his back.

Thumbelina climbed into a lovely pink flower and breathed in its heady scent.

As she looked around the meadow, she noticed that each of the flowers had a tiny sprite living in it.

They were just like Thumbelina, and she felt as if she were home at last.

The king of the flowers sprites flew to Thumbelina and welcomed her.

When he saw Thumbelina’s happy face, he fell in love and asked her to marry him.

Thumbelina agreed and they had a very beautiful wedding, filled with flowers and sunshine.

THUMBELINA BECAME THE QUEEN OF THE FLOWER SPRITES, AND LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER.