Once there was a married couple who loved each other very much and got along well. Only one thing bothered them – they had no children yet, although they wanted one so much. One day, fortune finally smiled on them and a baby boy was born. He was as small as a thumb, so they named him Tom Thumb.
But he was not just any boy, he was quite different from the other children, and not only in height. As soon as he was born, he helped with everything at home. And he had a very cheerful disposition.
One day, when he was barely a few days old, Tom Thumb was left alone at home with his mother, because his father had gone with their ox to plough the fields. Mama was preparing lunch and her son was singing to her:
“I’m Tom Thumb, a tiny boy,
Helping brings my heart such joy.
When mum’s busy and Dad’s not near,
Little Tom Thumb is always here!”
Mom laughed at that, at least it made her feel better. When she was done cooking, she put one serving in a basket to take to her husband in the field.
“Mummy, I’ll take lunch to daddy so you can rest,” Tom Thumb offered. “Oh, I don’t know, my dear boy, I don’t think you can lift the basket,” smiled Mom. But to her surprise, Tom Thumb picked up the basket like nothing and went into the field where daddy worked.
The journey was not easy for such a little boy, Tom Thumb had to face many obstacles, but he didn’t give up and just kept going and going. He was almost in the field, he could see his dad ploughing, only now there was a stream in the way and the footbridge was nowhere to be seen. Tom Thumb thought for a while, scratched his head, and then exclaimed: “Sure, that’s the way I’ll do it!” He pulled a spoon out of the basket, made a boat out of it, used the fork as a paddle, and swam across to the other bank with the basket tied to his waist.
Dad noticed that the basket suddenly appeared at the edge of the field, so he ran over and found that his little son had arrived with the basket.
“Daddy, you eat your lunch and I’ll plough for you,” Tom Thumb suggested as they greeted each other properly.
“But you can’t plough, Tom Thumb. You can’t hold a whip in your little hands. How would you like to goad the ox?”
“If I can’t hold the whip, I’ll do it another way. I’ll get into the ox’s ear.” As he said, so he did, and he climbed into their ox’s ear, where he began to call out, “Heigh-ho, just plough!” What can I tell you? Tom Thumb and the ox plowed more in a moment than a man a hundred times bigger could have done in that time.
A rich farmer rode by and saw the herdsman sitting while his ox plowed the field by himself. He immediately began to wonder how this was possible.
“What’s going on here, how come the ox is plowing by himself?” The farmer immediately asked, wondering how he himself could make profit from it.
“Because I’m driving the ox!”
“Who? What? Where are you?” asked the farmer in wonder.
“Here, in the wolf’s ear,” laughed Tom Thumb, jumping out of the ear.
“I could use a ploughman like that. He doesn’t eat much, and he’ll do the work of two. Sell him to me, I’ll pay you well,” urged the farmer.
The father couldn’t imagine giving up his longed-for, recently born boy, but Tom Thumb saw it differently. “Don’t worry, Daddy, It will turn out well in the end, you’ll see.” After he had said this, he winked at his father slyly. So his father reluctantly agreed and sold Tom Thumb to the farmer. The farmer gave him a purse full of gold in exchange for his son. Tom Thumb hugged him goodbye, then the farmer put him in the sack and set off with him to his farmyard.
The father arrived at the cottage all broken-hearted. His wife immediately asked questions: “Where is Tom Thumb, my dear? He left the house to bring you lunch, have you not met him?”
“Yes, he brought me lunch, helped me with the work in the fields, but then a rich farmer came and bought Tom Thumb. Here’s a purse full of gold for him.”
“What?!? You sold our Tom Thumb?” his wife nearly fainted.
They both burst into tears when suddenly a voice came from the ground, “Mama, Papa, why are you crying? Your Tom Thumb is here with you.” What a joy! And of course Little Tom Thumb told them how he had escaped from the farmer – he had chewed a hole in the sack, through which he had fallen out, and had run straight to his mother and father.
From that time on they have lived together happily and never parted.
