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 ma*d," 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 *r 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 *n 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 *tterly when she found where she was, for
she could see nothing but water on *ry 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
hu*and, 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 hu*and. 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 n*r 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 *rds 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 *r, 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,
beli*d all the others when they said she was ugly, and would have
nothing * 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 *n 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 *ry morning.
so passed away the summer and the autumn, and then came the winter,- the long, cold winter. all the *rds 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 hu*and, 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. how*r, 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 n*r seen them.
tiny was obliged to sing to him, "lady-*rd, lady-*rd, 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 when*r she liked. but he warned them not to be alarmed at the
sight of a dead *rd which lay in the passage. it was a perfect
*rd, 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
*rd, 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 *rd had evidently died of the cold.
it made little tiny very sad to see it, she did so love the little
*rds; 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 * now. how miserable it must be to be born a little *rd! i am thankful that none of my children will *r be
*rds, 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 cl*r 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 *rds are very high
bred."
tiny said nothing; but when the two others had turned their
backs on the *rd, 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 *rd."
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 *rd, 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 *rd, so that he might lie warmly in the cold
earth. "farewell, you pretty little *rd," 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 *rd's breast, but she was alarmed immediately, for it
seemed as if something inside the *rd went "thump, thump." it was the *rd'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 *rd was large, a great deal
larger than herself,- she was only an inch high. but she took courage,
laid the wool * 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 *rd. 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 *, 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 gri*d 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 *rd, 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. *ry *ning 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. *ry morning when the sun rose, and *ry *ning 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 n*r 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 *te you with my white teeth. he is a very handsome mole; the
queen herself does not wear * 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 n*r 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 *.
"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
n*r to see the bright sun any *. 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 * 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 *rd'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 *rd's warm feathers, keeping her little head uncovered, so that she might ad*e 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 * butterflies; and as the
swallow flew farther and farther, *ry place appeared still *
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 *rything 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 *ry 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 *rd, 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 *r 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 hu*and 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
n*r to part from her again.
"you must not be called tiny any *," 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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written by anderson
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