A poor childless woodman and his wife sat by their cottage fire on a cold winter evening thinking how lonely their
lives were.
“I should be so happy if we had a child,” sighed the wife, “however small it was. Nay, even if it were only as small as my thumb I would still love it dearly.”
Now it so happened that the woman’s wish came true, exactly as she had desired, for some time afterwards she had a little boy who was healthy and strong but not much bigger than a man’s thumb. They gave him plenty of food and exercise, yet, although he became very sharp and clever, he never grew any bigger, and so they called him Tom Thumb. Both of them loved him very much.
As he grew older he helped his father with his horse and cart in the forest. His father would put Tom Thumb in the horse’s ear and Tom would guide the horse to the forest by shouting instructions to it.
One day two strangers saw the horse and cart being guided by a voice which seemed to come from nowhere, so they followed it into the forest where they were extremely surprised to see Tom emerge from the horse’s ear on to his father’s hand.
“If we took that urchin to the great fair in the city we could make our fortune with him,” said one of the men to his companion. So they went to the woodman and asked him to sell Tom to them.
“He is my son and I would not sell him for all the gold in the world,” said the woodman. But Tom whispered in his father’s ear. “Take the money, father, and let them have me. I will soon come back to you.”
The woodman reluctantly took the money and handed Tom to one of the men, who put the little boy on the rim of his hat. Then he and his companion walked away congratulating themselves on their good fortune. When darkness fell they stopped by the side of the road and put Tom on the ground. The little fellow immediately ran down a mouse-hole, where he remained hidden until the men had given up looking for him and gone on their way grumbling. Then he came out and found an empty snail-shell to sleep in for the night.
Soon, however, two thieves came by and Tom heard them discussing how they could steal a rich parson’s gold and silver. “I will help you, “shouted Tom, and when the men had got over their surprise at the size of the little fellow, he explained to them that he could get into the parson’s house by slipping through the bars on the window, then he would pass whatever they wanted through to them. They readily agreed, but when they reached the house and put Tom on the window-sill he shouted so loud that the owner of the house woke up and the men ran away. Tom then walked into the barn and settled down to sleep in some warm hay.
Unfortunately, next morning the servant got up early to feed the cow. While Tom was snoring happily away, the hay in which he was sleeping was picked up on a large fork and put in front of the cow, who promptly ate it. Tom was quite unhurt but he did not want to remain in the cow’s stomach, so he thought of a plan. “ Don’t bring me any more hay!” he shouted as loudly as he could. The servant was frightened and ran to tell his master that the cow was talking.
When the parson came to the barn with the servant, Tom shouted from the cow’s stomach.. “O master! I am bewitched and will surely die unless John, the woodman, comes to remove the spell from me.” The parson hastily sent his servant for the woodman. When he arrived, Tom shouted, “Father! Father! Here I am in the cow’s stomach.”
By this time the cow was so upset by this strange voice that came from her stomach that she began to cough. As the woodman approached the cow gave a mighty sneeze and Tom popped out of her mouth high into the air, where his father caught him. As they went home happily together, the woodman swore that he would not sell his son again for all the wealth in the world.