And now for a read aloud of Tom Thumb
Once there was a farmer who used to sit and poke at the fire in the evening while his
wife sat at her spinning wheel.
The farmer would sigh and say, “How sad it is that we have no children.
Our house is so quiet, while other people’s houses are so noisy and cheerful.”
“Yes,” said the wife.
“If only we had a child.”
A year later, the woman gave birth to a little boy.
He was strong and healthy, but he was no bigger than a thumb.
His parents named him Tom Thumb.
As Tom grew up, he proved to be a very clever and intelligent lad.
One day when his father was going out to cut wood, he said, “I wish there was someone
who could bring the cart out later.”
“I’ll do it!” said Tom.
“But, Tom,” said his father, “How can you?
You’re too small to hold the reins.”
“Never mind,” said Tom.
“Have Mother harness the horse.
Then I’ll sit in the horse’s ear and tell him which way to go.”
And so Tom’s mother harnessed the horse and put Tom in the horse’s ear.
Tom called out, “Giddy up!” and the horse started walking.
Now it happened that as the horse and cart turned a corner, a strange man was walking
by, and heard Tom calling out directions to the horse.
“Look!” he said to himself.
“There goes a wagon, and the driver is calling to his horse, but the driver is nowhere to
be seen!”
So the man followed the horse and wagon to the place where Tom’s father was chopping
wood.
When Tom spotted his father, he cried out, “Whoa, boy!”
Then he said, “Look, Father!
Here I am!”
Tom’s father lifted his son down from the horse and set him ona stump.
When the stranger saw this, he thought, “Look here.
That little fellow could be useful!
I should take him to town and have him do little jobs for me.”
He went up to Tom’s father and said, “See here, old man.
How about letting the little man go to town with me?
I’ll take good care of him, and even give you this money for your trouble.”
“No!”
Tom’s father said.
“He is the apple of my eye, and I would be too sad to see him go.”
Tom crept up onto his father’s shoulder and whispered, “Go ahead, Father.
Let me go, and I’ll be back in no time.”
“But, Tom,” his father began.“Trust me,” Tom broke in.
“I’ll take care of everything.”
So Tom’s father let him go with the man.
Off went Tom, riding on the brim of the man’s hat.
That night, after traveling for several hours, the man came to a barn that was located next
to a quiet house.
He decided that the barn would be a good place to sleep and rest up for travels the next
day.
When he was all settled in for the night, the man took off his hat.
At that moment, Tom scampered away and slipped into a mouse hole, crying out, “So long,
my good fellow!
Have a good trip without me!”
The man got down on his hands and knees and poked sticks into holes, but he could not
find Tom.
Eventually, he gave up.
When the man left, Tom came out of his hole.
He found an empty snail shell and said, “This looks like a safe place to spend the night.”
But just as he lay down, he heard the voices of two robbers whispering.
“Yes,” said one of the robbers.
“This is the house.
The mayor won’t be back until tomorrow, so now is the time to rob hishouse.
But how can we do it?
Although the mayor is away, the cook and maid are still there, so we will have to be quiet
to avoid waking them.”
Tom knew he had to do something to stop the robbers, so he
sprang out of his shell and shouted, “I have an idea!”
“Who was that?” asked one of the frightened robbers.
“Take me with you and I’ll help you,” said Tom.
“Who’s talking?
Where are you?” asked the robbers.
“Down here!” cried Tom.
The robbers looked down, and there they saw Tom, waving to them.
One robber lifted him up and said, “What’s this, little one?
How are you going to help us rob the mayor?”
“It will be easy,” said Tom.
“The mayor keeps his money behind iron bars, right?
I can slip between the bars and hand the money out to you.”
“Hee-hee!
That’s a fine idea, little one,” said the robbers, and they snickered all the way
to the mayor’s house.
Then they fell quiet and whispered to Tom, “Speak softly, you hear?
We don’t want to get caught!”
“Of course!” said Tom.
He sneaked into the mayor’s house and slipped betweenthe bars where the money was kept.
Then he called out to the robbers, in his loudest voice, “HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT?
DO YOU WANT IT ALL?”
9 “Shh!” hissed the robbers.
“Be quiet!
You’ll wake the cook and the maid.
We can hear you fine.
Just start handing out the money.”
But Tom pretended not to hear them, and once again he shouted, “WHAT’S THAT YOU SAY?
YOU WANT TO TAKE ALL THE MONEY?
I’LL GIVE YOU EVERYTHING.
JUST HOLD OUT YOUR HANDS.”
All of the commotion woke the cook and the maid and they came running to see what all
the noise was about.
When they burst in, the robbers ran away.
Tom slipped away to the barn.
All of the excitement had made him sleepy, so he went to sleep on a big pile of hay.
The next morning the maid came to the barn and pitched a large bundle of hay—with Tom
still sleeping in it!
The cow ate up the hay—and poor Tom slid down into the cow’s stomach.
“Goodness me,” Tom said, sleepily.
“Somebody forgot to put windows in this house!”
Suddenly, splish!
Something wet and heavy fell on Tom’s head.
It was a mouthful of hay!
The cow was eating again, and more wet, sticky hay fell on Tom.
He called out, “That’s enough!
No more hay!
I’m quite full, thank you!”
The milkmaid was milking the cow, and when she heard the voice come out of the cow, she
fell off her milking stool.
When the milkmaid fell off her milking stool, she startled the cow, who then sneezed a big
sneeze.
The sneeze caused Tom to come flying out!
Yuck!
Tom landed onto a garbage heap, where the milkmaid’s family had thrown the remains
of their dinner!
Tom struggled to get up, surrounded by pieces of meat and vegetables.
He had just managed to start to stand up when— a hungry wolf snapped up the piece of meat
Tom was caught on and ran off with it.
As the wolf ran, Tom bounced along and thought, “Well, this is an odd place to be!”
Then he said to the wolf, “Mr. Wolf, wouldn’t you rather eat some delicious treats instead
of this old piece of meat?
I can show you where to find such treats.”
“And where might that be?”
growled the wolf.
“In a house I know,” said Tom.
“It’s full of lots of delicious, fresh food.”
Tom led the wolf back to his mother’s and father’s house.
When they got there, the wolf ate until he was stuffed.
Then Tom called out, “Help!
Help!
There’s a wolf in the house!”
Tom’s father came running with a big stick.
He chased the wolf with the stick and sent him howling into the woods.
“Good work, Father!” said Tom.
His father looked down and cried out, “Tom, where have you been?
We’ve been so worried about you!”
“Well, Father,” said Tom, “I’ve been in too many places to count!
And I think that from now on I would rather stay with you.”
“Oh, my dear boy,” said his father, “I never should have let you go—and I never
will again!”
The End