The Golden Goose Book | Page 6

just as the Wolf was coming
down, took off the cover of the pot, and in fell the Wolf. And the little
Pig put on the cover again in an instant, boiled him up, and ate him for
supper, and lived happy ever after.

TOM THUMB
Long ago, in the merry days of good King Arthur, there lived a
ploughman and his wife. They were very poor, but would have been
contented and happy if only they could have had a little child. One day,
having heard of the great fame of the magician Merlin, who was living
at the Court of King Arthur, the wife persuaded her husband to go and
tell him of their trouble. Having arrived at the Court, the man besought
Merlin with tears in his eyes to give them a child, saying that they
would be quite content even though it should be no bigger than his
thumb. Merlin determined to grant the request, and what was the
countryman's astonishment to find when he reached home that his wife
had a son, who, wonderful to relate, was no bigger than his father's
thumb!
The parents were now very happy, and the christening of the little
fellow took place with great ceremony. The Fairy Queen, attended by
all her company of elves, was present at the feast. She kissed the little
child, and, giving it the name of Tom Thumb, told her fairies to fetch
the tailors of her Court, who dressed her little godson according to her
orders. His hat was made of a beautiful oak leaf, his shirt of a fine
spider's web, and his hose and doublet were of thistledown, his
stockings were made with the rind of a delicate green apple, and the
garters were two of the finest little hairs imaginable, plucked from his
mother's eyebrows, while his shoes were made of the skin of a little
mouse. When he was thus dressed, the Fairy Queen kissed him once
more, and, wishing him all good luck, flew off with the fairies to her
Court.
As Tom grew older, he became very amusing and full of tricks, so that

his mother was afraid to let him out of her sight. One day, while she
was making a batter pudding, Tom stood on the edge of the bowl, with
a lighted candle in his hand, so that she might see that the pudding was
made properly. Unfortunately, however, when her back was turned,
Tom fell into the bowl, and his mother, not missing him, stirred him up
in the pudding, tied it in a cloth, and put it into the pot. The batter filled
Tom's mouth, and prevented him from calling out, but he had no sooner
felt the hot water, than he kicked and struggled so much that the
pudding jumped about in the pot, and his mother, thinking the pudding
was bewitched, was nearly frightened out of her wits. Pulling it out of
the pot, she ran with it to her door, and gave it to a tinker who was
passing. He was very thankful for it, and looked forward to having a
better dinner than he had enjoyed for many a long day. But his pleasure
did not last long, for, as he was getting over a stile, he happened to
sneeze very hard, and Tom, who had been quite quiet inside the
pudding for some time, called out at the top of his little voice, "Hallo,
Pickens!" This so terrified the tinker that he flung away the pudding,
and ran off as fast as he could. The pudding was all broken to pieces by
the fall, and Tom crept out, covered with batter, and ran home to his
mother, who had been looking everywhere for him, and was delighted
to see him again. She gave him a bath in a cup, which soon washed off
all the pudding, and he was none the worse for his adventure.
A few days after this, Tom accompanied his mother when she went into
the fields to milk the cows, and, fearing he might be blown away by the
wind, she tied him to a sow-thistle with a little piece of thread. While
she was milking, a cow came by, bit off the thistle, and swallowed up
Tom. Poor Tom did not like her big teeth, and called out loudly,
"Mother, mother!" "But where are you, Tommy, my dear Tommy?"
cried out his mother, wringing her hands. "Here, mother," he shouted,
"inside the red cow's mouth!" And, saying that, he began to kick and
scratch till the poor cow was nearly mad, and at length tumbled him out
of her mouth. On seeing this, his mother rushed to him, caught him in
her arms, and carried him safely home.
Some days after this,