Thumbelina

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Thumbelina to sing for the blind mole. Thumbelina did. The mole immediately fell in love with Thumbelina. 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 there grew up a large, handsome flower, somewhat like a tulip in appearance, but with its leaves tightly closed, as if it were still a bud. A tiny but beautiful girl grows from a barleycorn which has been enchanted by a witch. She is found when a woman kisses the petal on the flower and she is named Thumbelina on account of her size. She is kidnapped by a toad who wants her to marry her son and is left on a lily pad. Fish rescue her by gnawing the lily pad loose so that it floats downstream but Thumbelina is once again snatched away, this time by a beetle. She is later abandoned by the beetle, after other beetles convince him that Thumbelina is ugly because she is not like them. just a little bit larger than Thumbelina herself. He was alarmed at the size of the bird but once he saw Thumbelina standing next to it, he approached Thumbelina and immediately fell in Opie, Iona; Opie, Peter (1974). The Classic Fairy Tales. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-211559-6.

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 peasant wife had placed a plate full of water. At last they reached the warm countries. There the sun shone much brighter than here, the sky seemed twice as high, on the hedges grew the most beautiful blue and green grapes, lemons and oranges hung in the woods, the air was fragrant with myrtles and balsams, and on the roads the loveliest children ran about, playing with the large gay butterflies. But the swallow flew still farther, and it became more and more beautiful. Under the magnificent green trees by the blue lake stood a palace of dazzling white marble, of the olden time. Vines wound themselves round the lofty pillars, and at the top were many swallows’ nests, in one of which lived the swallow who carried Thumbelina. hungry that she decided to search for shelter and something to eat. She wandered farther than she ever had into the meadow beside a field of corn. There she found a small hole beside a tree. She climbed inside and was surprised to find a field mouse standing in a large room filled with pebbles of corn. You poor little creature,” said the field-mouse—for really she was a good old field-mouse—“come into my warm room and have some food with me!” The mole now stopped up the hole through which the daylight shone, and showed the ladies home. But at night Thumbelina could not sleep at all; so she got up out of her bed, and plaited a large beautiful carpet of hay, and took it and spread it over the dead bird, and laid some soft cotton-wool which she had found in the field-mouse’s room at the bird’s sides, so that he might lie warm on the cold ground.

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At the wedding, the fairy kingdom rejoiced in the king and queen’s newfound happiness. Thumbelina sang beautiful songs for all to hear. She was given many gifts, but her most

Just outside the wood where she was now living lay a great cornfield, but the corn had been gone a long time and only the dry, bare stubble was left standing in the frozen ground. This made a forest for her to wander about in. All at once she came across the door of a field mouse, who had a little hole under a corn stalk. There the mouse lived warm and snug; with a store room full of corn, a splendid kitchen and dining room. Poor little Thumbelina went up to the door and begged for a little piece of barley, for she had not had anything to eat for the last two days. The 2002 animated film The Adventures of Tom Thumb and Thumbelina is loosely based on the fairy tale. [13] Mattel's Barbie: Thumbelina from 2009 was also presented as a modern retelling of the story, while its plot has little-to-nothing to do with Andersen's tale. [14] 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 Thumbelina stood before the door, just like a little beggar girl, and asked for a small piece of barleycorn, for she had been without a morsel to eat for two days. 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." informed Thumbelina that he would be flying away for the winter to the land of summer, where the sun was always shining and the birds sang beautiful songs just like Thumbelina. He, once more,

Hans Christian Andersen

field mouse said, “The mole has announced that he would like to marry you. With help, I will make you the nicest wedding dress. You will live a lavish life with him as your husband.”

There was once a woman who wished for a tiny little child, but she did not know where she could get one. So she went to an old witch and said: The mole closed up the hole again which let in the light, and then escorted the ladies home. But Thumbelina could not sleep that night, so she got out of bed and plaited a great big blanket of straw and carried it off, spread it over the dead bird, and piled upon it thistledown as soft as cotton wool, which she had found in the fieldmouse’s room, so that the poor little thing should lie warmly buried. He is very rich and learned, and his house is twenty times larger than mine," said the field-mouse. became very cold and even more alone. She could only warm herself with the dried leaves that had fallen off the trees during autumn.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. sadness during the summer months by surrounding herself with all the flowers and sun she could. She became friends with butterflies, and dragonflies, and bumblebees. She could hear the At the end of winter, the mouse suggests Thumbelina marry the mole, but Thumbelina finds the prospect of being married to such a creature repulsive because he spends all his days underground and never sees the sun or sky, even though he is impressive with his knowledge of ancient history and lots of other topics. The field mouse keeps pushing Thumbelina into the marriage, insisting the mole is a good match for her. Eventually Thumbelina sees little choice but to agree, but cannot bear the thought of the mole keeping her underground and never seeing the sun.