Chapter Chapter 3 · Little Thumb

. Little Thumb

Once upon a time there was a fagot-maker and his wife, who had seven

children, all boys. The eldest was but ten years old, and the youngest

only seven.

They were very poor, and their seven children were a great source of

trouble to them because not one of them was able to earn his bread. What

gave them yet more uneasiness was that the youngest was very delicate,

and scarce ever spoke a word, which made people take for stupidity that

which was a sign of good sense. He was very little, and when born he was

no bigger than one's thumb; hence he was called Little Thumb.

The poor child was the drudge of the household, and was always in the

wrong. He was, however, the most bright and discreet of all the

brothers; and if he spoke little, he heard and thought the more.

There came a very bad year, and the famine was so great that these poor

people resolved to rid themselves of their children. One evening, when

they were in bed, and the fagot-maker was sitting with his wife at the

fire, he said to her, with his heart ready to burst with grief:--

"You see plainly that we no longer can give our children food, and I

cannot bear to see them die of hunger before my eyes; I am resolved to

lose them in the wood to-morrow, which may very easily be done, for,

while they amuse themselves in tying up fagots, we have only to run away

and leave them without their seeing us."

"Ah!" cried out his wife, "could you really take the children and lose

them?"

In vain did her husband represent to her their great poverty; she would

not consent to it. She was poor, but she was their mother.

However, having considered what a grief it would be to her to see them

die of hunger, she consented, and went weeping to bed.

Little Thumb heard all they had said; for, hearing that they were

talking business, he got up softly and slipped under his father's seat,

so as to hear without being seen. He went to bed again, but did not

sleep a wink all the rest of the night, thinking of what he had to do.

He got up early in the morning, and went to the brookside, where he

filled his pockets full of small white pebbles, and then returned home.

They all went out, but Little Thumb never told his brothers a word of

what he knew.

[Illustration: "SLIPPED UNDER HIS FATHER'S SEAT." p. 30.]

They went into a very thick forest, where they could not see one

another at ten paces apart. The fagot-maker began to cut wood, and the

children to gather up sticks to make fagots. Their father and mother,

seeing them busy at their work, got away from them unbeknown and then

all at once ran as fast as they could through a winding by-path.

When the children found they were alone, they began to cry with all

their might. Little Thumb let them cry on, knowing very well how to get

home again; for, as he came, he had dropped the little white pebbles he

had in his pockets all along the way. Then he said to them, "Do not be

afraid, my brothers,--father and mother have left us here, but I will

lead you home again; only follow me."

They followed, and he brought them home by the very same way they had

come into the forest. They dared not go in at first, but stood outside

the door to listen to what their father and mother were saying.

The very moment the fagot-maker and his wife reached home the lord of

the manor sent them ten crowns, which he had long owed them, and which

they never hoped to see. This gave them new life, for the poor people

were dying of hunger. The fagot-maker sent his wife to the butcher's at

once. As it was a long while since they had eaten, she bought thrice as

much meat as was needed for supper for two people. When they had eaten,

the woman said:--

"Alas! where are our poor children now? They would make a good feast of

what we have left here; it was you, William, who wished to lose them. I

told you we should repent of it. What are they now doing in the forest?

Alas! perhaps the wolves have already eaten them up; you are very

inhuman thus to have lost your children."

The fagot-maker grew at last quite out of patience, for she repeated

twenty times that he would repent of it, and that she was in the right.

He threatened to beat her if she did not hold her tongue. The

fagot-maker was, perhaps, more sorry than his wife, but she teased him

so he could not endure it. She wept bitterly, saying:--

"Alas! where are my children now, my poor children?"

She said this once so very loud that the children, who were at the door,

heard her and cried out all together:--

"Here we are! Here we are!"

She ran immediately to let them in, and said as she embraced them:--

"How happy I am to see you again, my dear children; you are very tired

and very hungry, and, my poor Peter, you are covered with mud. Come in

and let me clean you."

Peter was her eldest son, whom she loved more than all the rest, because

he was red haired, as she was herself.

They sat down to table, and ate with an appetite which pleased both

father and mother, to whom they told how frightened they were in the

forest, nearly all speaking at once. The good folk were delighted to see

their children once more, and this joy continued while the ten crowns

lasted. But when the money was all spent, they fell again into their

former uneasiness, and resolved to lose their children again. And, that

they might be the surer of doing it, they determined to take them much

farther than before.

They could not talk of this so secretly but they were overheard by

Little Thumb, who laid his plans to get out of the difficulty as he had

done before; but, though he got up very early to go and pick up some

little pebbles, he could not, for he found the house-door double-locked.

He did not know what to do. Their father had given each of them a piece

of bread for their breakfast. He reflected that he might make use of the

bread instead of the pebbles, by throwing crumbs all along the way they

should pass, and so he stuffed it in his pocket. Their father and mother

led them into the thickest and most obscure part of the forest, and

then, stealing away into a by-path, left them there. Little Thumb was

not very much worried about it, for he thought he could easily find the

way again by means of his bread, which he had scattered all along as he

came; but he was very much surprised when he could not find a single

crumb: the birds had come and eaten them all.

They were now in great trouble; for the more they wandered, the deeper

they went into the forest. Night now fell, and there arose a high wind,

which filled them with fear. They fancied they heard on every side the

howling of wolves coming to devour them. They scarce dared to speak or

turn their heads. Then it rained very hard, which wetted them to the

skin. Their feet slipped at every step, and they fell into the mud,

covering their hands with it so that they knew not what to do with them.

Little Thumb climbed up to the top of a tree, to see if he could

discover anything. Looking on every side, he saw at last a glimmering

light, like that of a candle, but a long way beyond the forest. He came

down, and, when upon the ground, he could see it no more, which

grieved him sadly. However, having walked for some time with his

brothers toward that side on which he had seen the light, he discovered

it again as he came out of the wood.

They arrived at last at the house where this candle was, not without

many frights; for very often they lost sight of it, which happened

every time they came into a hollow. They knocked at the door, and a good

woman came and opened it.

She asked them what they wanted. Little Thumb told her they were poor

children who were lost in the forest, and desired to lodge there for

charity's sake. The woman, seeing them all so very pretty, began to weep

and said to them: "Alas! poor babies, where do you come from? Do you

know that this house belongs to a cruel Ogre who eats little children?"

"Alas! dear madam," answered Little Thumb (who, with his brothers, was

trembling in every limb), "what shall we do? The wolves of the forest

surely will devour us to-night if you refuse us shelter in your house;

and so we would rather the gentleman should eat us. Perhaps he may take

pity upon us if you will be pleased to ask him to do so."

The Ogre's wife, who believed she could hide them from her husband till

morning, let them come in, and took them to warm themselves at a very

good fire; for there was a whole sheep roasting for the Ogre's supper.

As they began to warm themselves they heard three or four great raps at

the door; this was the Ogre, who was come home. His wife quickly hid

them under the bed and went to open the door. The Ogre at once asked if

supper was ready and the wine drawn, and then sat himself down to

table. The sheep was as yet all raw, but he liked it the better for

that. He sniffed about to the right and left, saying:--

"I smell fresh meat."

"What you smell," said his wife, "must be the calf which I have just now

killed and flayed."

"I smell fresh meat, I tell you once more," replied the Ogre, looking

crossly at his wife, "and there is something here which I do not

understand."

As he spoke these words he got up from the table and went straight to

the bed.

"Ah!" said he, "that is how you would cheat me; I know not why I do not

eat you, too; it is well for you that you are tough. Here is game, which

comes very luckily to entertain three Ogres of my acquaintance who are

to pay me a visit in a day or two."

He dragged them out from under the bed, one by one. The poor children

fell upon their knees and begged his pardon, but they had to do with one

of the most cruel of Ogres, who, far from having any pity on them, was

already devouring them in his mind, and told his wife they would be

delicate eating when she had made a good sauce.

He then took a great knife, and, coming up to these poor children,

sharpened it upon a great whetstone which he held in his left hand. He

had already taken hold of one of them when his wife said to him:--

"What need you do it now? Will you not have time enough to-morrow?"

"Hold your prating," said the Ogre; "they will eat the tenderer."

"But you have so much meat already," replied his wife; "here are a calf,

two sheep, and half a pig."

"That is true," said the Ogre; "give them a good supper that they may

not grow thin, and put them to bed."

The good woman was overjoyed at this, and gave them a good supper; but

they were so much afraid that they could not eat. As for the Ogre, he

sat down again to drink, being highly pleased that he had the

wherewithal to treat his friends. He drank a dozen glasses more than

ordinary, which got up into his head and obliged him to go to bed.

The Ogre had seven daughters, who were still little children. These

young Ogresses had all of them very fine complexions; but they all had

little gray eyes, quite round, hooked noses, a very large mouth, and

very long, sharp teeth, set far apart. They were not as yet wicked, but

they promised well to be, for they had already bitten little children.

They had been put to bed early, all seven in one bed, with every one a

crown of gold upon her head. There was in the same chamber a bed of the

like size, and the Ogre's wife put the seven little boys into this bed,

after which she went to bed herself.

Little Thumb, who had observed that the Ogre's daughters had crowns of

gold upon their heads, and was afraid lest the Ogre should repent his

not killing them that evening, got up about midnight, and, taking his

brothers' bonnets and his own, went very softly and put them upon the

heads of the seven little Ogresses, after having taken off their crowns

of gold, which he put upon his own head and his brothers', so that the

Ogre might take them for his daughters, and his daughters for the little

boys whom he wanted to kill.

Things turned out just as he had thought; for the Ogre, waking about

midnight, regretted that he had deferred till morning to do that which

he might have done overnight, and jumped quickly out of bed, taking his

great knife.

"Let us see," said he, "how our little rogues do, and not make two jobs

of the matter."

He then went up, groping all the way, into his daughters' chamber; and,

coming to the bed where the little boys lay, and who were all fast

asleep, except Little Thumb, who was terribly afraid when he found the

Ogre fumbling about his head, as he had done about his brothers', he

felt the golden crowns, and said:--

"I should have made a fine piece of work of it, truly; it is clear I

drank too much last night."

Then he went to the bed where the girls lay, and, having found the boys'

little bonnets:--

"Ah!" said he, "my merry lads, are you there? Let us work boldly."

And saying these words, without more ado, he cruelly murdered all his

seven daughters. Well pleased with what he had done, he went to bed

again.

So soon as Little Thumb heard the Ogre snore, he waked his brothers, and

bade them put on their clothes quickly and follow him. They stole softly

into the garden and got over the wall. They ran about, all night,

trembling all the while, without knowing which way they went.

The Ogre, when he woke, said to his wife: "Go upstairs and dress those

young rascals who came here last night." The Ogress was very much

surprised at this goodness of her husband, not dreaming after what

manner she should dress them; but, thinking that he had ordered her to

go up and put on their clothes, she went, and was horrified when she

perceived her seven daughters all dead.

She began by fainting away, as was only natural in such a case. The

Ogre, fearing his wife was too long in doing what he had ordered, went

up himself to help her. He was no less amazed than his wife at this

frightful spectacle.

"Ah! what have I done?" cried he. "The wretches shall pay for it, and

that instantly."

He threw a pitcher of water upon his wife's face, and having brought her

to herself, "Give me quickly," cried he, "my seven-leagued boots, that I

may go and catch them."

He went out into the country, and, after running in all directions, he

came at last into the very road where the poor children were, and not

above a hundred paces from their father's house. They espied the Ogre,

who went at one step from mountain to mountain, and over rivers as

easily as the narrowest brooks. Little Thumb, seeing a hollow rock near

the place where they were, hid his brothers in it, and crowded into it

himself, watching always what would become of the Ogre.

The Ogre, who found himself tired with his long and fruitless journey

(for these boots of seven leagues greatly taxed the wearer), had a great

mind to rest himself, and, by chance, went to sit down upon the rock in

which the little boys had hidden themselves. As he was worn out with

fatigue, he fell asleep, and, after reposing himself some time, began to

snore so frightfully that the poor children were no less afraid of him

than when he held up his great knife and was going to take their lives.

Little Thumb was not so much frightened as his brothers, and told them

that they should run away at once toward home while the Ogre was asleep

so soundly, and that they need not be in any trouble about him. They

took his advice, and got home quickly.

Little Thumb then went close to the Ogre, pulled off his boots gently,

and put them on his own legs. The boots were very long and large, but as

they were fairy boots, they had the gift of becoming big or little,

according to the legs of those who wore them; so that they fitted his

feet and legs as well as if they had been made for him. He went straight

to the Ogre's house, where he saw his wife crying bitterly for the loss

of her murdered daughters.

"Your husband," said Little Thumb, "is in very great danger, for he has

been taken by a gang of thieves, who have sworn to kill him if he does

not give them all his gold and silver. At the very moment they held

their daggers at his throat he perceived me and begged me to come and

tell you the condition he was in, and to say that you should give me all

he has of value, without retaining any one thing; for otherwise they

will kill him without mercy. As his case is very pressing, he desired me

to make use of his seven-leagued boots, which you see I have on, so that

I might make the more haste and that I might show you that I do not

impose upon you."

The good woman, being greatly frightened, gave him all she had; for this

Ogre was a very good husband, though he ate up little children. Little

Thumb, having thus got all the Ogre's money, came home to his father's

house, where he was received with abundance of joy.

There are many people who do not agree in regard to this act of Little

Thumb's, and pretend that he never robbed the Ogre at all, and that he

only thought he might very justly take off his seven-leagued boots

because he made no other use of them but to run after little children.

These folks affirm that they are very well assured of this, because they

have drunk and eaten often at the fagot-maker's house. They declare that

when Little Thumb had taken off the Ogre's boots he went to Court, where

he was informed that they were very much in trouble about a certain

army, which was two hundred leagues off, and anxious as to the success

of a battle. He went, they say, to the King and told him that if he

desired it, he would bring him news from the army before night.

The King promised him a great sum of money if he succeeded. Little Thumb

returned that very same night with the news; and, this first expedition

causing him to be known, he earned as much as he wished, for the King

paid him very well for carrying his orders to the army. Many ladies

employed him also to carry messages, from which he made much money.

After having for some time carried on the business of a messenger and

gained thereby great wealth, he went home to his father, and it is

impossible to express the joy of his family. He placed them all in

comfortable circumstances, bought places for his father and brothers,

and by that means settled them very handsomely in the world, while he

successfully continued to make his own way.