Tom Thumb

Once, a farmer and his wife had their first child after many years of marriage. The boy was as small as his father’s thumb. The queen of fairies came dancing and named him Tom Thumb.

One day, while Tom’s mother was making pudding, Tom, who was playing nearby, slipped inside the bowl and was drowned in the batter. He started kicking and thrashing to save himself. The move­ment in the pudding scared his

mother, who was unable to see Tom inside. She gave the bat­ter away to a beggar, who later discovered little Tom inside. Tom came back from the beg­gar’s house and told his par­ents all that had happened and his mother felt very sorry for what she had done.

A few days later, a raven picked up little Tom and dropped him in the sea. A magnificent fish swallowed him. After a while, some fisher­men caught the fish and gave it to King Arthur’s servants. When the servants cut the fish,

they were surprised to see Tom inside and presented him to King Arthur. The king was delighted and kept Tom who entertained everyone with his funny tricks. Later, Tom was knighted and became Sir Thomas Thumb.

One day, the queen of fairies took Tom to fairyland but by the time he returned, King Arthur and all his knights had died. Tom stayed with the new king in his palace and contin­ued to entertain everyone with his tricks for a long time to come.