Page:Fairy tales and stories (Andersen, Tegner).djvu/343

Rh or have her hideous son for a husband. The small fishes which were swimming about in the water must have seen the toad and heard what she said, and so they put their heads above the water, just to have a look at the little girl. As soon as they saw how beautiful she was, they felt sorry that she should have to go down to the ugly toad. No, that should never happen. They assembled round the green stalk which supported the leaf on which she stood, and gnawed it through with their teeth, so that the leaf drifted down the stream, carrying Thumbeline along with it, far away where the toad could not reach her.

Thumbeline sailed past many places, and the little birds who sat on the bushes and saw her sang, "What a lovely little maiden!" The leaf carried her farther and farther away, and thus Thumbeline came to foreign lands.

A beautiful little white butterfly kept fluttering round about her, and at last he settled down on the leaf, because he had taken such a fancy to Thumbeline, who was also much pleased, for now the toad could not reach her, and everything around her where she sailed was so beautiful; the sun was shining on the water, which glittered like the brightest gold. She then took her girdle and tied one end to the butterfly and the other she fastened to the leaf, which then glided onward much faster with Thumbeline standing on it.

Just then a big cockchafer came flying past and saw her; the next moment he had caught hold of her round her slender waist with his claws and flew up with her into a tree, while the green leaf floated down the stream and the butterfly flew with it, for he was fastened to the leaf and could not get away.

Oh, how frightened poor Thumbeline was when the cockchafer flew up into the tree with her! But she was greatly distressed about the beautiful white butterfly, whom she had tied fast to the leaf. If he could not get away from it, he must starve to death. But the cockchafer did not trouble himself about that. He sat down with her on the largest green leaf on the tree, gave her the sweet part of a flower to eat, and told her she was very beautiful, although she was not at all like a cockchafer. Later on the other cockchafers who lived in the tree came to pay a visit and to have a look at Thumbeline. The young lady cockchafers turned up their feelers and said, "She has got only two legs. What a miserable