LITTLE TINY OR THUMBELINA

                                  1872

                 FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN

                       LITTLE TINY OR THUMBELINA

                       by Hans Christian Andersen



THERE was once a woman who wished very much to have a little

child, but she could not obtain her wish. At last she went to a fairy,

and said, "I should so very much like to have a little child; can

you tell me where I can find one?"

"Oh, that can be easily managed," said the fairy. "Here is a

barleycorn of a different kind to those which grow in the farmer's

fields, and which the chickens eat; put it into a flower-pot, and

see what will happen."

"Thank you," said the woman, and she gave the fairy twelve

shillings, which was the price of the barleycorn. Then she went home

and planted it, and immediately there grew up a large handsome flower,

something like a tulip in appearance, but with its leaves tightly

closed as if it were still a bud. "It is a beautiful flower," said the

woman, and she kissed the red and golden-colored leaves, and while she

did so the flower opened, and she could see that it was a real

tulip. Within the flower, upon the green velvet stamens, sat a very

delicate and graceful little maiden. She was scarcely half as long

as a thumb, and they gave her the name of "Thumbelina," or Tiny,

because she was so small. A walnut-shell, elegantly polished, served

her for a cradle; her bed was formed of blue violet-leaves, with a

rose-leaf for a counterpane. Here she slept at night, but during the

day she amused herself on a table, where the woman had placed a

plateful of water. Round this plate were wreaths of flowers with their

stems in the water, and upon it floated a large tulip-leaf, which

served Tiny for a boat. Here the little maiden sat and rowed herself

from side to side, with two oars made of white horse-hair. It really

was a very pretty sight. Tiny could, also, sing so softly and

sweetly that nothing like her singing had ever before been heard.

One night, while she lay in her pretty bed, a large, ugly, wet toad

crept through a broken pane of glass in the window, and leaped right

upon the table where Tiny lay sleeping under her rose-leaf quilt.

"What a pretty little wife this would make for my son, said the

toad, and she took up the walnut-shell in which little Tiny lay

asleep, and jumped through the window with it into the garden.

In the swampy margin of a broad stream in the garden lived the

toad, with her son. He was uglier even than his mother, and when he

saw the pretty little maiden in her elegant bed, he could only cry,

"Croak, croak, croak."

"Don't speak so loud, or she will wake," said the toad, "and

then she might run away, for she is as light as swan's down. We will

place her on one of the water-lily leaves out in the stream; it will

be like an island to her, she is so light and small, and then she

cannot escape; and, while she is away, we will make haste and

prepare the state-room under the marsh, in which you are to live

when you are married."

Far out in the stream grew a number of water-lilies, with broad

green leaves, which seemed to float on the top of the water. The

largest of these leaves appeared farther off than the rest, and the

old toad swam out to it with the walnut-shell, in which little Tiny

lay still asleep. The tiny little creature woke very early in the

morning, and began to cry bitterly when she found where she was, for

she could see nothing but water on every side of the large green leaf,

and no way of reaching the land. Meanwhile the old toad was very

busy under the marsh, decking her room with rushes and wild yellow

flowers, to make it look pretty for her new daughter-in-law. Then

she swam out with her ugly son to the leaf on which she had placed

poor little Tiny. She wanted to fetch the pretty bed, that she might

put it in the bridal chamber to be ready for her. The old toad bowed

low to her in the water, and said, "Here is my son, he will be your

husband, and you will live happily in the marsh by the stream."

"Croak, croak, croak," was all her son could say for himself; so

the toad took up the elegant little bed, and swam away with it,

leaving Tiny all alone on the green leaf, where she sat and wept.

She could not bear to think of living with the old toad, and having

her ugly son for a husband. The little fishes, who swam about in the

water beneath, had seen the toad, and heard what she said, so they

lifted their heads above the water to look at the little maiden. As

soon as they caught sight of her, they saw she was very pretty, and it

made them very sorry to think that she must go and live with the

ugly toads. "No, it must never be!" so they assembled together in

the water, round the green stalk which held the leaf on which the

little maiden stood, and gnawed it away at the root with their

teeth. Then the leaf floated down the stream, carrying Tiny far away

out of reach of land.

Tiny sailed past many towns, and the little birds in the bushes

saw her, and sang, "What a lovely little creature;" so the leaf swam

away with her farther and farther, till it brought her to other lands.

A graceful little white butterfly constantly fluttered round her,

and at last alighted on the leaf. Tiny pleased him, and she was glad

of it, for now the toad could not possibly reach her, and the

country through which she sailed was beautiful, and the sun shone upon

the water, till it glittered like liquid gold. She took off her girdle

and tied one end of it round the butterfly, and the other end of the

ribbon she fastened to the leaf, which now glided on much faster

than ever, taking little Tiny with it as she stood. Presently a

large cockchafer flew by; the moment he caught sight of her, he seized

her round her delicate waist with his claws, and flew with her into

a tree. The green leaf floated away on the brook, and the butterfly

flew with it, for he was fastened to it, and could not get away.

Oh, how frightened little Tiny felt when the cockchafer flew

with her to the tree! But especially was she sorry for the beautiful

white butterfly which she had fastened to the leaf, for if he could

not free himself he would die of hunger. But the cockchafer did not

trouble himself at all about the matter. He seated himself by her side

on a large green leaf, gave her some honey from the flowers to eat,

and told her she was very pretty, though not in the least like a

cockchafer. After a time, all the cockchafers turned up their feelers,

and said, "She has only two legs! how ugly that looks." "She has no

feelers," said another. "Her waist is quite slim. Pooh! she is like

a human being."

"Oh! she is ugly," said all the lady cockchafers, although Tiny

was very pretty. Then the cockchafer who had run away with her,

believed all the others when they said she was ugly, and would have

nothing more to say to her, and told her she might go where she liked.

Then he flew down with her from the tree, and placed her on a daisy,

and she wept at the thought that she was so ugly that even the

cockchafers would have nothing to say to her. And all the while she

was really the loveliest creature that one could imagine, and as

tender and delicate as a beautiful rose-leaf. During the whole

summer poor little Tiny lived quite alone in the wide forest. She wove

herself a bed with blades of grass, and hung it up under a broad leaf,

to protect herself from the rain. She sucked the honey from the

flowers for food, and drank the dew from their leaves every morning.

So passed away the summer and the autumn, and then came the winter,-

the long, cold winter. All the birds who had sung to her so sweetly

were flown away, and the trees and the flowers had withered. The large

clover leaf under the shelter of which she had lived, was now rolled

together and shrivelled up, nothing remained but a yellow withered

stalk. She felt dreadfully cold, for her clothes were torn, and she

was herself so frail and delicate, that poor little Tiny was nearly

frozen to death. It began to snow too; and the snow-flakes, as they

fell upon her, were like a whole shovelful falling upon one of us, for

we are tall, but she was only an inch high. Then she wrapped herself

up in a dry leaf, but it cracked in the middle and could not keep

her warm, and she shivered with cold. Near the wood in which she had

been living lay a corn-field, but the corn had been cut a long time;

nothing remained but the bare dry stubble standing up out of the

frozen ground. It was to her like struggling through a large wood. Oh!

how she shivered with the cold. She came at last to the door of a

field-mouse, who had a little den under the corn-stubble. There

dwelt the field-mouse in warmth and comfort, with a whole roomful of

corn, a kitchen, and a beautiful dining room. Poor little Tiny stood

before the door just like a little beggar-girl, and begged for a small

piece of barley-corn, for she had been without a morsel to eat for two

days.

"You poor little creature," said the field-mouse, who was really a

good old field-mouse, "come into my warm room and dine with me." She

was very pleased with Tiny, so she said, "You are quite welcome to

stay with me all the winter, if you like; but you must keep my rooms

clean and neat, and tell me stories, for I shall like to hear them

very much." And Tiny did all the field-mouse asked her, and found

herself very comfortable.

"We shall have a visitor soon," said the field-mouse one day;

"my neighbor pays me a visit once a week. He is better off than I

am; he has large rooms, and wears a beautiful black velvet coat. If

you could only have him for a husband, you would be well provided

for indeed. But he is blind, so you must tell him some of your

prettiest stories.

But Tiny did not feel at all interested about this neighbor, for

he was a mole. However, he came and paid his visit dressed in his

black velvet coat.

"He is very rich and learned, and his house is twenty times larger

than mine," said the field-mouse.

He was rich and learned, no doubt, but he always spoke slightingly

of the sun and the pretty flowers, because he had never seen them.

Tiny was obliged to sing to him, "Lady-bird, lady-bird, fly away

home," and many other pretty songs. And the mole fell in love with her

because she had such a sweet voice; but he said nothing yet, for he

was very cautious. A short time before, the mole had dug a long

passage under the earth, which led from the dwelling of the

field-mouse to his own, and here she had permission to walk with

Tiny whenever she liked. But he warned them not to be alarmed at the

sight of a dead bird which lay in the passage. It was a perfect

bird, with a beak and feathers, and could not have been dead long, and

was lying just where the mole had made his passage. The mole took a

piece of phosphorescent wood in his mouth, and it glittered like

fire in the dark; then he went before them to light them through the

long, dark passage. When they came to the spot where lay the dead

bird, the mole pushed his broad nose through the ceiling, the earth

gave way, so that there was a large hole, and the daylight shone

into the passage. In the middle of the floor lay a dead swallow, his

beautiful wings pulled close to his sides, his feet and his head drawn

up under his feathers; the poor bird had evidently died of the cold.

It made little Tiny very sad to see it, she did so love the little

birds; all the summer they had sung and twittered for her so

beautifully. But the mole pushed it aside with his crooked legs, and

said, "He will sing no more now. How miserable it must be to be born a

little bird! I am thankful that none of my children will ever be

birds, for they can do nothing but cry, 'Tweet, tweet,' and always die

of hunger in the winter."

"Yes, you may well say that, as a clever man!" exclaimed the

field-mouse, "What is the use of his twittering, for when winter comes

he must either starve or be frozen to death. Still birds are very high

bred."

Tiny said nothing; but when the two others had turned their

backs on the bird, she stooped down and stroked aside the soft

feathers which covered the head, and kissed the closed eyelids.

"Perhaps this was the one who sang to me so sweetly in the summer,"

she said; "and how much pleasure it gave me, you dear, pretty bird."

The mole now stopped up the hole through which the daylight shone,

and then accompanied the lady home. But during the night Tiny could

not sleep; so she got out of bed and wove a large, beautiful carpet of

hay; then she carried it to the dead bird, and spread it over him;

with some down from the flowers which she had found in the

field-mouse's room. It was as soft as wool, and she spread some of

it on each side of the bird, so that he might lie warmly in the cold

earth. "Farewell, you pretty little bird," said she, "farewell;

thank you for your delightful singing during the summer, when all

the trees were green, and the warm sun shone upon us. Then she laid

her head on the bird's breast, but she was alarmed immediately, for it

seemed as if something inside the bird went "thump, thump." It was the

bird's heart; he was not really dead, only benumbed with the cold, and

the warmth had restored him to life. In autumn, all the swallows fly

away into warm countries, but if one happens to linger, the cold

seizes it, it becomes frozen, and falls down as if dead; it remains

where it fell, and the cold snow covers it. Tiny trembled very much;

she was quite frightened, for the bird was large, a great deal

larger than herself,- she was only an inch high. But she took courage,

laid the wool more thickly over the poor swallow, and then took a leaf

which she had used for her own counterpane, and laid it over the

head of the poor bird. The next morning she again stole out to see

him. He was alive but very weak; he could only open his eyes for a

moment to look at Tiny, who stood by holding a piece of decayed wood

in her hand, for she had no other lantern. "Thank you, pretty little

maiden," said the sick swallow; "I have been so nicely warmed, that

I shall soon regain my strength, and be able to fly about again in the

warm sunshine."

"Oh," said she, "it is cold out of doors now; it snows and

freezes. Stay in your warm bed; I will take care of you."

Then she brought the swallow some water in a flower-leaf, and

after he had drank, he told her that he had wounded one of his wings

in a thorn-bush, and could not fly as fast as the others, who were

soon far away on their journey to warm countries. Then at last he

had fallen to the earth, and could remember no more, nor how he came

to be where she had found him. The whole winter the swallow remained

underground, and Tiny nursed him with care and love. Neither the

mole nor the field-mouse knew anything about it, for they did not like

swallows. Very soon the spring time came, and the sun warmed the

earth. Then the swallow bade farewell to Tiny, and she opened the hole

in the ceiling which the mole had made. The sun shone in upon them

so beautifully, that the swallow asked her if she would go with him;

she could sit on his back, he said, and he would fly away with her

into the green woods. But Tiny knew it would make the field-mouse very

grieved if she left her in that manner, so she said, "No, I cannot."

"Farewell, then, farewell, you good, pretty little maiden," said

the swallow; and he flew out into the sunshine.

Tiny looked after him, and the tears rose in her eyes. She was

very fond of the poor swallow.

"Tweet, tweet," sang the bird, as he flew out into the green

woods, and Tiny felt very sad. She was not allowed to go out into

the warm sunshine. The corn which had been sown in the field over

the house of the field-mouse had grown up high into the air, and

formed a thick wood to Tiny, who was only an inch in height.

"You are going to be married, Tiny," said the field-mouse. "My

neighbor has asked for you. What good fortune for a poor child like

you. Now we will prepare your wedding clothes. They must be both

woollen and linen. Nothing must be wanting when you are the mole's

wife."

Tiny had to turn the spindle, and the field-mouse hired four

spiders, who were to weave day and night. Every evening the mole

visited her, and was continually speaking of the time when the

summer would be over. Then he would keep his wedding-day with Tiny;

but now the heat of the sun was so great that it burned the earth, and

made it quite hard, like a stone. As soon, as the summer was over, the

wedding should take place. But Tiny was not at all pleased; for she

did not like the tiresome mole. Every morning when the sun rose, and

every evening when it went down, she would creep out at the door,

and as the wind blew aside the ears of corn, so that she could see the

blue sky, she thought how beautiful and bright it seemed out there,

and wished so much to see her dear swallow again. But he never

returned; for by this time he had flown far away into the lovely green

forest.

When autumn arrived, Tiny had her outfit quite ready; and the

field-mouse said to her, "In four weeks the wedding must take place."

Then Tiny wept, and said she would not marry the disagreeable

mole.

"Nonsense," replied the field-mouse. "Now don't be obstinate, or I

shall bite you with my white teeth. He is a very handsome mole; the

queen herself does not wear more beautiful velvets and furs. His

kitchen and cellars are quite full. You ought to be very thankful

for such good fortune."

So the wedding-day was fixed, on which the mole was to fetch

Tiny away to live with him, deep under the earth, and never again to

see the warm sun, because he did not like it. The poor child was

very unhappy at the thought of saying farewell to the beautiful sun,

and as the field-mouse had given her permission to stand at the

door, she went to look at it once more.

"Farewell bright sun," she cried, stretching out her arm towards

it; and then she walked a short distance from the house; for the

corn had been cut, and only the dry stubble remained in the fields.

"Farewell, farewell," she repeated, twining her arm round a little red

flower that grew just by her side. "Greet the little swallow from

me, if you should see him again."

"Tweet, tweet," sounded over her head suddenly. She looked up, and

there was the swallow himself flying close by. As soon as he spied

Tiny, he was delighted; and then she told him how unwilling she felt

to marry the ugly mole, and to live always beneath the earth, and

never to see the bright sun any more. And as she told him she wept.

"Cold winter is coming," said the swallow, "and I am going to

fly away into warmer countries. Will you go with me? You can sit on my

back, and fasten yourself on with your sash. Then we can fly away from

the ugly mole and his gloomy rooms,- far away, over the mountains,

into warmer countries, where the sun shines more brightly- than

here; where it is always summer, and the flowers bloom in greater

beauty. Fly now with me, dear little Tiny; you saved my life when I

lay frozen in that dark passage."

"Yes, I will go with you," said Tiny; and she seated herself on

the bird's back, with her feet on his outstretched wings, and tied her

girdle to one of his strongest feathers.

Then the swallow rose in the air, and flew over forest and over

sea, high above the highest mountains, covered with eternal snow. Tiny

would have been frozen in the cold air, but she crept under the bird's

warm feathers, keeping her little head uncovered, so that she might

admire the beautiful lands over which they passed. At length they

reached the warm countries, where the sun shines brightly, and the sky

seems so much higher above the earth. Here, on the hedges, and by

the wayside, grew purple, green, and white grapes; lemons and

oranges hung from trees in the woods; and the air was fragrant with

myrtles and orange blossoms. Beautiful children ran along the

country lanes, playing with large gay butterflies; and as the

swallow flew farther and farther, every place appeared still more

lovely.

At last they came to a blue lake, and by the side of it, shaded by

trees of the deepest green, stood a palace of dazzling white marble,

built in the olden times. Vines clustered round its lofty pillars, and

at the top were many swallows' nests, and one of these was the home of

the swallow who carried Tiny.

"This is my house," said the swallow; "but it would not do for you

to live there- you would not be comfortable. You must choose for

yourself one of those lovely flowers, and I will put you down upon it,

and then you shall have everything that you can wish to make you

happy."

"That will be delightful," she said, and clapped her little

hands for joy.

A large marble pillar lay on the ground, which, in falling, had

been broken into three pieces. Between these pieces grew the most

beautiful large white flowers; so the swallow flew down with Tiny, and

placed her on one of the broad leaves. But how surprised she was to

see in the middle of the flower, a tiny little man, as white and

transparent as if he had been made of crystal! He had a gold crown

on his head, and delicate wings at his shoulders, and was not much

larger than Tiny herself. He was the angel of the flower; for a tiny

man and a tiny woman dwell in every flower; and this was the king of

them all.

"Oh, how beautiful he is!" whispered Tiny to the swallow.

The little prince was at first quite frightened at the bird, who

was like a giant, compared to such a delicate little creature as

himself; but when he saw Tiny, he was delighted, and thought her the

prettiest little maiden he had ever seen. He took the gold crown

from his head, and placed it on hers, and asked her name, and if she

would be his wife, and queen over all the flowers.

This certainly was a very different sort of husband to the son

of a toad, or the mole, with my black velvet and fur; so she said,

"Yes," to the handsome prince. Then all the flowers opened, and out of

each came a little lady or a tiny lord, all so pretty it was quite a

pleasure to look at them. Each of them brought Tiny a present; but the

best gift was a pair of beautiful wings, which had belonged to a large

white fly and they fastened them to Tiny's shoulders, so that she

might fly from flower to flower. Then there was much rejoicing, and

the little swallow who sat above them, in his nest, was asked to

sing a wedding song, which he did as well as he could; but in his

heart he felt sad for he was very fond of Tiny, and would have liked

never to part from her again.

"You must not be called Tiny any more," said the spirit of the

flowers to her. "It is an ugly name, and you are so very pretty. We

will call you Maia."

"Farewell, farewell," said the swallow, with a heavy heart as he

left the warm countries to fly back into Denmark. There he had a

nest over the window of a house in which dwelt the writer of fairy

tales. The swallow sang, "Tweet, tweet," and from his song came the

whole story.

                         THE END

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