Speaker 1: Long ago, in the merry days of good King Arthur,
Speaker 1: there lived a plowman and his wife. They were very poor,
Speaker 1: but would have been contented and happy if only they
Speaker 1: could have had a little child. One day, having heard
Speaker 1: of the great fame of the magician Merlin, who was
Speaker 1: living at the court of King Arthur, the wife persuaded
Speaker 1: her husband to go and tell him of their trouble.
Speaker 1: Having arrived at the court, the man besought Merlin, with
Speaker 1: tears in his eyes, to give them a child, saying
Speaker 1: that they would be quite content, even though it should
Speaker 1: be no bigger than his thumb. Merlin determined to grant
Speaker 1: the request, and what was the countryman's astonishment to find
Speaker 1: when he reached home that his wife had a son, who,
Speaker 1: wonderful to relate, was no bigger than his father's thumb.
Speaker 1: The parents were now very happy, and the christening of
Speaker 1: the little fellow took place with great ceremony. The fairy Queen,
Speaker 1: attended by all her company of the elves, was present
Speaker 1: at the feast. She kissed the little child, and giving
Speaker 1: it the name of Tom Thumb, told her fairies to
Speaker 1: fetch the tailors of her court, who dressed her little godsend.
Speaker 1: According to her orders, his hat was made of a
Speaker 1: beautiful oak leaf, his shirt of a fine spider's web,
Speaker 1: and his hose and doublet were a thistle down. His
Speaker 1: stockings were made with the rind of a delicate green apple,
Speaker 1: and the garters were two of the finest little hairs imaginable,
Speaker 1: plucked from his mother's eyebrows, while his shoes were made
Speaker 1: of the skin of a little mouse. When he was
Speaker 1: thus dressed, the fairy Queen kissed him once more, and,
Speaker 1: wishing him all good luck, flew off with the fairies
Speaker 1: to her court. As Tom grew older, he became very
Speaker 1: amusing and full of tricks, so that as mother was
Speaker 1: afraid to let him out of her sight. One day,
Speaker 1: while she was making a batter pudding, Tom stood on
Speaker 1: the edge of the bowl with a lighted candle in
Speaker 1: his hand, so that she might see that the pudding
Speaker 1: was made properly. Unfortunately, however, when her back was turned,
Speaker 1: Tom fell into the bull, and his mother, not missing him,
Speaker 1: stirred him up in the pudding, tied it in a cloth,
Speaker 1: and put it into the pot. The batter filled Tom's
Speaker 1: mouth and prevented him from calling out, but he had
Speaker 1: no sooner felt the hot water than he kicked and
Speaker 1: struggled so much that the pudding jumped about in the pot,
Speaker 1: and his mother, thinking the pudding was bewitched, was nearly
Speaker 1: frightened out of her wits. Pulling it out of the pot,
Speaker 1: she ran with it to her door and gave it
Speaker 1: to a tinker who was passing. He was very thankful
Speaker 1: for it and looked forward to having a better dinner
Speaker 1: than he had enjoyed for many a long day. But
Speaker 1: his pleasure did not last long, for as he was
Speaker 1: getting over a stile, he happened a sneeze very hard,
Speaker 1: and Tom, who had been quite quiet inside the pudding
Speaker 1: for some time, called out at the top of his
Speaker 1: little voice, hallo pickins. This so terrified the tinker that
Speaker 1: he flung away the pudding and ran off as fast
Speaker 1: as he could. The pudding was all broken to pieces
Speaker 1: by the fall, and Tom crept out, covered with batter,
Speaker 1: and ran home to his mother, who had been looking
Speaker 1: everywhere for him and was delighted to see him again.
Speaker 1: She gave him a bath in a cup, which soon
Speaker 1: washed off all the pudding, and he was none the
Speaker 1: worse for his adventure. A few days after this, Tom
Speaker 1: accompanied his mother when she went into the fields to
Speaker 1: milk the cows, and, fearing he might be blown away
Speaker 1: by the wind, she tied him to a sofitle with
Speaker 1: a little piece of thread. While she was milking, a
Speaker 1: cow came by, bit off the thistle and swallowed up Tom.
Speaker 1: Poor Tom did not like her big teeth, and called
Speaker 1: out loudly, mother, mother, but where are you Tommy? My,
Speaker 1: dear Tommy, cried out his mother, wringing her hands. Here, Mother,
Speaker 1: he shouted inside the red cow's mouth, and saying that
Speaker 1: he began to kick and scratch till the poor cow
Speaker 1: was nearly mad, and at length tumbled him out of
Speaker 1: her mouth. On seeing this, his mother rushed to him,
Speaker 1: caught him in her arms, and carried him safely home.
Speaker 1: Some days after this, his father took him to the
Speaker 1: fields a plowing, and gave him a whip made of
Speaker 1: a barley straw with which to drive the oxen. But
Speaker 1: little Tom was soon lost in a furrow. An eagle,
Speaker 1: seeing him, picked him up and flew with him to
Speaker 1: the top of a hill where stood a giant's castle.
Speaker 1: The giant put him at once into his mouth, intending
Speaker 1: to swallow him up. But Tom made such a great
Speaker 1: disturbance when he got inside that the monster was soon
Speaker 1: glad to get rid of him, and threw him far
Speaker 1: away into the sea. But he was not drowned, for
Speaker 1: he had scarcely touched the water before he was swallowed
Speaker 1: by a large fish, which was shortly afterwards captured and
Speaker 1: brought to King Arthur as a present by the fisherman.
Speaker 1: When the fish was opened, every one was astonished at
Speaker 1: finding Tom inside. He was at once carried to the King,
Speaker 1: who made him his court dwarf. Long time he lived
Speaker 1: in jollity, beloved of the court, and none like Tom
Speaker 1: was so esteemed amongst the better sort. The Queen was
Speaker 1: delighted with the little boy and made him dance a
Speaker 1: galliard on her left hand. He danced still well. The
Speaker 1: King Arthur gave him a ring, which he wore round
Speaker 1: his waist like a girdle. Tom soon began to long
Speaker 1: to see his parents again, and begged the King to
Speaker 1: allow him to go home for a short time. This
Speaker 1: was readily permitted, and the King told him he might
Speaker 1: take with him as much money as he could carry.
Speaker 1: And so away goes lusty Tom, with threepence at his back,
Speaker 1: a heavy burthen which should make his very bones to crack.
Speaker 1: He had to rest more than a hundred times by
Speaker 1: the way, but after two days and two nights he
Speaker 1: reached his father's house in safety. His mother saw him
Speaker 1: coming and ran out to meet him, and there was
Speaker 1: great rejoicing at his arrival. He spent three happy days
Speaker 1: at home, and then set out for the court once more.
Speaker 1: Shortly after his return, he one day displeased the king, so,
Speaker 1: fearing the royal anger, he crept into an empty flower pot,
Speaker 1: where he lay for a long time. At last he
Speaker 1: ventured to peep out, and, seeing a fine, large butterfly
Speaker 1: on the ground close by, he stole out of his
Speaker 1: hiding place, jumped on its back, and was carried up
Speaker 1: into the air. The king and nobles all strove to
Speaker 1: catch him, but at last poor Tom fell from his
Speaker 1: seat into a watering pot, in which he was almost drowned.
Speaker 1: Only luckily the gardener's child saw him and pulled him out.
Speaker 1: The King was so pleased to have him safe once
Speaker 1: more that he forgot to scold him and made much
Speaker 1: of him instead. Tom afterwards lived many years at court.
Speaker 1: One of the best beloved of King Arthur's knights. Thus
Speaker 1: he at tilt and tournament was entertained, so that all
Speaker 1: the rest of Arthur's knights did him much pleasure, show
Speaker 1: with good Sir Launcelot, du Lake, Sir Tristram, and Sir Guy.
Speaker 1: Yet none compared to Brave Tom Thumb in Acts of Chivalry.
Speaker 1: End of Tom Thumb by L. Leslie Brooke