Page:Fairy tales and stories (Andersen, Tegner).djvu/342

310 Through the garden ran a broad stream; near its banks the ground was marshy and muddy, and here the toad lived with her son. Ugh! How ugly and hideous he was, just like his mother! "Croak, croak!" was all he could say when he saw the lovely little girl in the walnut shell.

"Don't talk so loud, or else she will wake up," said the old toad; "she might easily run away from us, for she is as light as swan's-down. We will put her in the stream on one of the large leaves of the water-lily. It will be like an island to her, for she is so small and light. She cannot run away from there while we are getting the best room ready under the marsh, where you two shall settle down and keep house."

Out in the stream there grew a great many water-lilies, with the large green leaves which appeared to be floating on the water. The leaf which was farthest out was also the largest of all, and to this the old toad swam out and put the walnut shell with Thumbeline on it.

The tiny little creature awoke quite early next morning, and when she saw where she was she began to cry most bitterly, for there was water on all sides of the great green leaf, so that she could not get ashore.

The old toad was sitting down in the mud decorating her room with rushes and the yellow brandy-bottle, for she wanted to make the place look pretty for her new daughter-in-law. She then swam out with her ugly son to the leaf where Thumbeline was standing; they had come to fetch her pretty bed, which was to he placed in the bridal chamber before she went there herself. The old toad courtesied deeply in the water before her and said: "Here is my son! He is going to be your husband, and you two will be very comfortable down there in the mud!"

"Croak, croak!" was all that her son could say.

They then took the pretty little bed and swam away with it; but Thumbeline sat quite alone on the green leaf and cried, for she did not want to live with the ugly old toad