There was a woman who had no children, so she went to a fairy to ask for a child.
The fairy gave her a seed and told her to plant it in a flowerpot.
Before long, the seed grew into a large flower, and soon after, the flower bloomed. On top of the flower’s pistil was a very tiny little girl, smaller than half a thumb, so everyone called her Thumbelina.
The woman was overjoyed; she finally had a child, and such a beautiful and adorable one at that.
But where should such a small child sleep?
She carefully selected a walnut shell to use as a cradle, and used flower petals as a mattress and blanket.
At night, Thumbelina slept in the walnut shell, and during the day, she played on the table.
The mother always watched over her, and they both felt very happy.
But one night, while Thumbelina was sleeping, a toad hopped into the room.
Upon seeing Thumbelina’s beauty and cuteness, the toad decided to take her home and marry her to her son.
The toad placed her on a water lily leaf in a pond. Thumbelina only discovered all this when she woke up, and she didn’t like the little toad at all, let alone marrying him. So, she cried.
The fish in the water felt very sorry for her, and they discussed, “A beautiful and lovely girl like her deserves only a handsome prince. While the toad is away, let’s help her escape!”
The fish bit off the lotus leaf, and the lotus leaf floated away with Thumbelina.
At this moment, a golden beetle saw Thumbelina, took a liking to her, and grabbed her, bringing her to his home in the tree.
The golden beetle wanted to marry Thumbelina, but she didn’t like him at all.
At this moment, the lady beetles came to visit. They were very jealous of the beautiful Thumbelina and deliberately called her ugly.
Believing their words, the golden beetle no longer wanted Thumbelina and abandoned her in the forest.
The poor Thumbelina had to survive on her own in the forest. She wove a bed from grass, drank nectar when hungry, quenched her thirst with dew, and sang when bored.
Her voice was lovely, and the forest animals loved to hear her sing, especially a swallow that would fly over and quietly listen from a tree.
Life was free like this.
But soon winter arrived, and the cold wind made Thumbelina shiver.
She couldn’t find any nectar to eat, as the flowers had withered away.
Before long, it started to snow, and the falling snowflakes nearly crushed her, since she was only as small as a thumb.
Poor Thumbelina was cold and hungry, so she went to the field mouse’s door, hoping for some food, as she hadn’t eaten in three days.
The kind field mouse felt sorry for her and said, “You can stay at my house, but you must clean and tell me stories.”
Thumbelina thanked the field mouse and moved into her home. Every day, she told the field mouse stories and kept the house nice and clean. They got along quite happily.
But one day, the old field mouse said, “My neighbor, Mr. Mole, though blind, is wealthy. If you marry him, you’ll never have to worry about food and clothing again.”
Thumbelina didn’t like the mole, but the old field mouse insisted she marry him, making Thumbelina feel gloomy.
One day, Thumbelina found a swallow freezing, unconscious on the ground.
Thumbelina recognized that this swallow was the one that often came to listen to her sing.
She covered him with a blanket and lit a fire to warm him up.
Under Thumbelina’s care, the swallow recovered.
He thanked Thumbelina for saving his life. In their conversation, the swallow learned about Thumbelina’s experiences and how the field mouse forced her to marry the mole.
The swallow said, “You saved my life, now let me help you. I’ll take you away from here!”
So, Thumbelina climbed onto the swallow’s back, and the swallow flew them over high mountains and across the sea to a warm place full of blooming flowers.
Pointing to a nest in a tree, the swallow said, “We’ve arrived. This is my home. Look, underneath my nest are beautiful flowers. You can choose one flower to make your house, and I’ll place you there. From now on, we’ll be neighbors.”
Thumbelina chose the most beautiful flower, and the swallow placed her there.
However, Thumbelina discovered that this flower was already inhabited by a handsome young man, who was the same size as Thumbelina but with a pair of wings.
It turned out that each flower in this place was home to a little person, and this handsome young man was the prince of the flowers.
Thumbelina fell in love with the prince as soon as she saw him, and the prince also loved the beautiful and adorable Thumbelina.
They got married, and the owners of the other flowers came to give gifts.
They gave Thumbelina a pair of wings. From then on, Thumbelina could fly among the flowers with the prince, and they lived happily ever after.
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