Once upon a time, a woman was longing for a lovely baby,
but she could not obtain her wish.
At last, she went to a witch.
The witch gave her a grain of barley and said, ""put it in a flower-pot. See what will happen.""
The woman went home and planted the grain in the flower-pot.
And behold!
A beautiful flower had grown from the grain and it looked very much like a tulip.
"What a pretty flower," said the woman, kissing the flower with its petals closed tightly.
As she did so, the flower opened, blossoming.
In the middle, sat an adorable little girl.
The girl was no more than the size of half of the woman’s thumb,
and so she was named Thumbelina.
Thumbelina could also sing beautifully and everybody was fascinated by her sweet voice.
One night, Thumbelina was sleeping in her walnut-shell bed,
when an ugly toad hopped in through the window into her bedroom.
""She could make a great bride for my son,"" thought the toad and took her away in the walnut-shell..
His son lived in a swamp.
The toad brought her there.
Thumbelina was still sleeping.
The toad placed her on a leaf of a water-lily.
The next morning,
she awoke and was surprised to see that she was in a different place,
surrounded by water.
There was no way to escape.
She cried very sadly for she had to marry the son of the ugly toad.
The fishes had heard everything, so they caught a glimpse of the little girl.
They thought, how lovely she is!
""This must not happen!"", said one little fish.
They gnawed through the stalk of the leaf.
The leaf floated down the stream, carrying Thumbelina far away.
Thumbelina finally reached dry land again.
She was happy now that she was free, but she was very hungry.
As she walked around, she found a house of a field-mouse.
She visited and explained everything that happened to her.
The field-mouse said,
""You poor thing.""
The field-mouse let Thumbelina stay.
They lived together and had a lot of fun.
The field-mouse had a neighbor, a rich mole.
He had fallen in love at first sight and was wishing to marry Thumbelina.
One day, Thumbelina found an injured swallow and saved it.
Thanks to her great care, the swallow recovered.
It was time for the swallow to bid farewell to Thumbelina.
He thanked her and asked her if she wanted to come with him to the forest.
Thumbelina did like the swallow so she was very happy, but she declined.
""I cannot leave the field-mouse alone. She took care of me.""
As soon as the swallow left, the mole asked Thumbelina to marry her.
She now had to marry the mole.
She cried very sadly,
for she would never be able to sunbathe again nor see the swallow after marrying the mole.
""TWEET TWEET.""
At that time, the swallow came back
and asked her to go to a warm island in the South together.
""You can sit on my back!""
Thumbelina made up her mind.
She rode on his back and flew off into the sky.
They, then, arrived on the warm island.
The swallow gently landed Thumbelina on a big flower.
She looked around.
To her surprise, in the middle of the flower, sat a tiny handsome man.
He was actually the prince of the Flower Fairies!
He was delighted and thought she was the prettiest girl in the world!
The prince got down on one knee before her, and asked,
""Will you marry me?""
Thumberlina, of course, answered yes.
They married and lived happily ever after.