THE LITTLE THUMB GIRL

 

There is a lonely and poor woman. She wants to have a daughter. She always prays to God. 

One of her neighbours feels pity for this woman. She gives her a magic barleycom. She wants her to sow it in a flower-pot. 

 

And says:

 

_ So, you are going to have a child. The woman doesn't believe this. However, she decides to try it. She sows the barleycom in the flower-pot. A month passes. A very nice flower opens in the flower-pot. The woman bends over and kisses it. She stares in amazement. There is someone in the flower. 

 

It is a tiny girl as little as a thumb. The woman is surprised but happy. She has a daughter now.Even if the girl is as little as a thumb. Besides, the girl is so beautiful. She looks like a fairy. 

The woman makes a cradIe for her from a nutshell. Her bed is a leaf of violet. Her quilt is a leaf of rose. Mother and daughter live happily. One day, a frog eomes to their house. it sees the thumb girl, And kidnaps her to make friend with its ehild.it ties her to aleaf. The thumb girl is eared. She eontinuously cries. All of the fish feel pity for her. They gnaw the petiole of the leaf. The water drifts the le af. A eoekehafer sees it. 

 

The girl on the leaf is very beautiful. it takes the thumb girl to its nest, But the other beetles don't like her. They don't take her to their nest, They leave the thumb girl under a tree. She mains alone in the forest, Long time passes and the autumn comes. The thumb girl begins to feel cold. 

She looks for a shelter. Finally she finds a hole. This is the house of a field mouse. The field mouse acts her well. it serves food and makes room for her. One day, the mouse says: 

 

- Our neighbour mole is going to visit us! He is very rich. Act him well. Sing songs for him. At last, the male comes. The thumb girl acts him well. She sings songs for him. The mole likes the thumb girl very much. 

 

While he is leaving, he says to the field mouse: 

 

- i want to marry her! 

 

if she accepts my offer, we may get married in the summer. The field mouse tells this offer to the thumb girl and asks her to accept it. The thumb girl accepts this offer in order not to make her friend sad. The field mouse immediately begins the preparations. 

 

One day, the mole visits them. And says: 

 

- i want to show you my home! They set out altogether. 

 

They walk inside a narrowand dark tunnel. They see a body of bird samewhere in the tunnel. 

 

The mole gets angry and says: 

 

- These swallows are strange creatures! They sing songs in the summer .. 

 

But they die when the winter comes. it tells everything to the thumb girl. The swallow flies to the distant countries with its friends in the autumn. One day, it flies again together with its friends. But its wing is tangled in a wire. Its friends fly away. it is injured. it can't fly. it falls in a faint. The weather is very cold. it is about to freeze. if the thumb gir! didn't help, it would die. 

 

The thumb girl promises to take care of it. She says: 

 

- i am going to take care of you until the summer! 

 

You may die if you go out. The swallow accepts this offer. Later, it listens to the story of the thumb girl. Her story is also tragic. Marriage with the mole means death for her. How can she always liye in the dark? She wants to see the sun and the sky. 

 

She enjoys to look at the trees and the flow- ers. it is impossible to do all these under the ground. She is unhappy. She cries. 

The swallow says: - Don't worry! We find a way when the summer comes. The thumb girl looks after the swallow throughout the winter. She feeds it. They secretly make conversations. The field mouse prepares the dowry. The mole is excited because he is going to marry a very beautiful girL. Finally, the spring comes. it is time for the swallow to fly away. But it can't leave its good-hearted friend. 

 

it says: 

 

- Do you want to come with me? Let me take you. 

 

You are going to see the trees, flowers and skyagain. The thumb girl accepts this offer. She climbs the top of the swallowand holds tightly. They go outside the hale and fly. ' it is very nice to fly. They arrive at the swallow's house towards The swallow leaves the thumb girl at the bottom of a flower in the garden. She elimbes the flower. Suddenly she cries out. She can't believe her eyes. 

She sees a man as little as herself on the flowe She looks around. There is someone on each flower. 

 

The man in front of :er says:

 

_ Welcome, the thumb girL. i am the king of the country of flowers. You may liye here together with us. You may be the queen. 

Let me call you "the fairy of flower." The thumb girl is the fairy of flower now. She is happy in the country of flowers. She looks at the sky and the sun. And srnells the flowers. She sin gs songs. Life is very nice for her now.