One night, a poor woodcutter sat by the fire with his wife. "How lonely it is," he said. "Other people have children to play with, but we have none."
"You are right," his wife sighed. "If only we had a child! Even if he were as small as my thumb, I would love him very much."
A short time later, her wish came true. They had a little boy who was healthy and strong, but he was no bigger than a thumb. They called him Tom Thumb. Although they gave him plenty of food, he never grew any bigger. However, Tom was a very clever boy and always knew what to do.
One day, the woodcutter was preparing to go to the forest. "I wish someone could bring the horse and cart to me later," he said.
"I will do it, father!" cried Tom.
The woodcutter laughed. "How? You are too small to hold the horse’s bridle."
"If mother harnesses the horse," Tom explained, "I will sit in the horse’s ear and tell him where to go."
The mother agreed. She put Tom in the horse’s ear, and the little man shouted, "Go on!" or "Stop!" The horse walked perfectly to the forest. As they went, two strangers saw the cart. They heard a voice talking to the horse but could see no one. They were so curious that they followed the cart.
When they saw the tiny boy, the strangers thought, "This little fellow could make us rich! We can show him to people for money." They offered the woodcutter a piece of gold for his son. At first, the father refused, but Tom whispered in his ear, "Take the money, father. I will find a way to come back soon."
The strangers took Tom away. When it got dark, Tom asked to get down for a moment. As soon as they put him on the ground, he ran into a mouse-hole. "Goodnight, masters!" he shouted. The men tried to find him with their sticks, but Tom crawled deep into the hole. Finally, the men gave up and went away.
Tom found an empty snail-shell and decided to sleep there. But soon, he heard two thieves talking. They wanted to rob the local priest’s house.
"I can help you!" Tom shouted. The thieves were surprised to find such a small boy, but they took him to the house. Tom slipped between the iron bars of the window. Once inside, he began to shout as loudly as he could, "Do you want everything in here?"
The thieves were terrified. "Be quiet!" they whispered. but Tom continued to yell. The noise woke up the cook, and the thieves ran away. Tom hid in the hay in the barn and fell asleep.
The next morning, the cook came to the barn to feed the cows. She picked up a bundle of hay—with Tom inside it—and gave it to a cow. Tom woke up as he was being swallowed! He managed to avoid the cow’s teeth and landed in her stomach. "It’s very dark in here!" he cried.
He began to jump and shout, "No more hay! No more hay!" The cook was so frightened by the "talking cow" that she ran to the priest. The priest thought the cow was under a magic spell and ordered his men to kill it. The cow’s stomach was thrown onto a pile of rubbish.
Tom tried to climb out, but a hungry wolf arrived and swallowed the stomach in one gulp. Tom did not lose hope. He called out from inside the wolf, "Friend, I know where you can find a wonderful feast!" He described his father’s house.
The wolf ran to the house, crawled through a small hole into the kitchen, and ate until he was very full. He became so fat that he couldn't fit back through the hole to escape. This was Tom’s plan! Tom began to shout and sing as loudly as possible.
The woodcutter and his wife woke up and grabbed an axe and a scythe. "Father!" Tom cried. "I am here, inside the wolf!"
The woodcutter killed the wolf and carefully cut him open. Tom jumped out, safe and sound. "Oh, my dear son!" his father cried. "We will never sell you again, not for all the gold in the world."