The Best English Fairy Tales / Лучшие английские сказки. Отсутствует

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      When the guests saw such a young and beautiful cook, they were surprised. But the Baron was very angry. So the girl went up to him with her hand before her with the ring on it, and she put it down before him on the table. Then at last, the Baron saw that no one could fight against Fate, and he handed her to a seat and announced to all the company that this was his son’s true wife. And he took her and his son home to his castle, and they all lived happy.

      Tom Thumb [22]

      Grimm Brothers

      One night a poor woodman sat in his cottage, his wife sat by his side spinning.

      “How lonely it is, wife,” said he, “for you and me to sit here by ourselves, without any children to play about. Other people seem so happy with their children!”

      “Agree,” said the wife, “how happy would I be if I had one child! If it were no bigger than my thumb, I would love it!”

      Not long afterwards her dream came true. She had a little boy, who was healthy and strong. But he was not much bigger than her thumb. So she said, “Well, now we have got what we wished for, and, little as he is, we will love him!” And they called him Thomas Thumb.

      The husband and his wife fed him well, but he never grew bigger. His eyes were smart and he was a clever little fellow.

      One day, as the woodman was getting ready to go into the wood to cut fuel, he said,

      “I wish I had someone to bring the cart after me.”

      “Oh, father,” cried Tom, “I will take care of that; the cart will be in the wood by the time you want it.”

      The woodman laughed, and said,

      “How can that be? You can’t reach up to the horse.”

      “Never mind that, father,” said Tom, “I will get into his ear and tell him which way to go.”

      “Well,” said the father, “we will try then.”

      His mother put Tom into the horse’s ear. The little man told the horse how to go, crying out, “Go on!” and “Stop!”. The horse went on just as well as if the woodman had driven it himself into the wood[23]. The horse was going a little too fast, and Tom was calling out, “Gently! gently!” when two strangers came up.

      “Strange”!’ said one: “there is a cart going along, and I hear someone talking to the horse, but I can see no one.”

      “Strange, indeed,” said the other; “let us follow the cart, and see where it goes.”

      So they went on into the wood and came to the place where the woodman was.

      Then Tom Thumb, seeing his father, cried out, “See, father, here I am with the cart, all right and safe!”

      The two strangers did not know what to say. At last one said,

      “That little boy will make us rich if we get him, and carry him about from town to town as a show. We must buy him!” So they went up to the woodman, and asked him what he would take for the little man.

      “I won’t sell him at all,” said the father, “my own flesh and blood is dearer to me than all the silver and gold in the world.”

      But Tom had a plan. He jumped to his father’s shoulder and whispered in his ear,

      “Take the money, father, and let them have me. I’ll soon come back to you.”

      At last the woodman said he would sell Tom to the strangers for a large piece of gold, and they paid the price.

      “Where would you like to sit?” asked one of the strangers.

      ‘Oh, put me on your hat. I can walk about there and see the country as we go along.”

      So they did as he wished.

      They started their journey. When it was getting dark, then the little man said, “Let me get down, I’m tired.”

      So the man took off his hat, and put him down. But Tom ran to an old mouse-hole and hid himself.

      “Good night, my masters!” said he, “I’m off[24]! Look better after me the next time.”

      The strangers tried to get him out of the mouse-hole, but they couldn’t. Tom only crawled farther and farther in. And at last it became quite dark, so that they went their way without their prize.

      When Tom found they were gone, he came out of his hiding place.

      “What dangerous walking it is,” said he.

      At last he found a large empty snail-shell.

      “This is lucky,” said he, “I can sleep here very well.”

      Just as he was falling asleep, he heard two men talking to each other. And one said to the other, “How can we rob that rich man’s house?”

      “I’ll tell you!” cried Tom.

      “What is it?” said the thief, frightened, “I’m sure I heard someone speaking.”

      They stood still listening, and Tom said,

      “Take me with you, and I’ll show you how to get the money.”

      “But where are you?” asked they.

      “Look about on the ground,” answered he.

      At last the thieves found him out, and lifted him up in their hands.

      “You’re so small!” they said, “what can you do for us?”

      “I can get into the house, and throw you out whatever you want.”

      “Hm,” said the thieves; “yes, you can help us, come along.”

      When they came to the rich man’s house, Tom slipped through the window-bars into the room. And then he cried loudly, “Will you have all that is here?”

      The thieves were frightened, because Tom was very loud. He said, “Quiet! They may wake up!” But Tom cried out again,

      “How much will you have? Shall I throw it all out?”

      The cook woke up in the next room and listened. The thieves were frightened, but they said, “Stop making jokes, throw us out some money.”

      Then Tom cried out as loud as he could, “Very well! Hold your hands! Here it comes.”

      The cook heard it, so she jumped out of bed, and ran to open the door. The thieves ran off as if a wolf was at their tails. The cook found nothing, and she went to bed. She СКАЧАТЬ