Thumbling's Big Adventures

A poor couple, longing desperately for a child of any size at all, were overjoyed when a son was finally born to them, even though he grew to be no larger than a thumb and never any bigger, however many years passed. Rather than seeing this as a misfortune, the boy, whom everyone called Thumbling, grew up clever, brave, and remarkably resourceful, using his tiny size to his advantage at every turn.

When his father needed help guiding the cart horse to the forest, Thumbling rode inside the horse's ear, directing it perfectly, and this unusual sight soon attracted two passing thieves who, seeing his cleverness, kidnapped him to help with a robbery, reasoning his tiny size would let him slip through spaces no grown man could ever fit through. Thumbling agreed to help, but on his own terms, deliberately shouting loudly at the crucial moment to wake the household and foil the theft entirely, then escaping the furious thieves by hiding in a mouse hole.

His adventures continued in similarly astonishing fashion: swallowed accidentally by a cow while hiding in hay, he shouted from inside until the startled farmer slaughtered the confused animal to free him; sewn into a sausage by mistake soon after, he was swallowed again, this time by a hungry wolf, and cleverly convinced the wolf, from inside its own stomach, that he knew exactly where to find an easy, delicious feast — leading the wolf straight back to Thumbling's own house, where his father killed the wolf and freed his son at last. Reunited with his overjoyed parents, Thumbling declared he had seen enough of the wide world for now and settled in gladly, having proven throughout his adventures that being small was never actually the disadvantage everyone assumed it to be.