{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_1988/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_1988","id":"gutenberg_1988","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1988","summary":null,"tags":["Category: British Literature","Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Children's stories","Fairy tales -- England"],"text":"Produced by An Anonymous Volunteer\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB\n\n\nTo which are added\n\nTHE STORIES OF THE CAT AND THE MOUSE\n\nand\n\nFIRE! FIRE! BURN STICK!\n\n\nEdited by Henry Altemus\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB\n\nIt is said that in the days of the famed Prince Arthur, who was king of\nBritain, in the year 516, there lived a great magician, called Merlin,\nthe most learned and skilful enchanter in the world at that time.\n\nThis great magician, who could assume any form he pleased, was\ntravelling in the disguise of a poor beggar, and being very much\nfatigued, he stopped at the cottage of an honest ploughman to rest\nhimself, and asked for some refreshment.\n\nThe countryman gave him a hearty welcome, and his wife, who was a very\ngood-hearted, hospital woman, soon brought him some milk in a wooden\nbowl, an some coarse brown bread on a platter.\n\nMerlin was much pleased with this homely repast and the kindness of\nthe ploughman and his wife; but he could not help seeing that though\neverything was neat and comfortable in the cottage, they seemed both\nbe sad and much cast down. He therefore questioned them on the cause\nof their sadness, and learned they were miserable because they had no\nchildren.\n\nThe poor woman declared, with tears in her eyes, that she should be the\nhappiest creature in the world if she had a son; and although he was no\nbigger than her husband's thumb, she would be satisfied.\n\nMerlin was so much amused with the idea of a boy no bigger than a man's\nthumb, that he made up his mind to pay a visit to the queen of the\nfairies, and ask her to grant the poor woman's wish. The droll fancy of\nsuch a little person among the human race pleased the fairy queen\ntoo, greatly, and she promised Merlin that the wish should be granted.\nAccordingly, a short time after, the ploughman's wife had a son, who,\nwonderful to relate! was not bigger than his father's thumb.\n\nThe fairy queen, wishing to see the little fellow thus born into the\nworld, came in at the window while the mother was sitting up in bed\nadmiring him. The queen kissed the child, and, giving it the name of Tom\nThumb, sent for some of the fairies, who dressed her little favorite as\nshe bade them.\n\n   \"An oak-leaf hat he had for his crown;\n      His shirt of web by spiders spun;\n   With jacket wove of thistle's down;\n      His trowsers were of feathers done.\n\n   His stockings, of apple-rind they tie\n   With eyelash from his mother's eye:\n   His shoes were made of mouse's skin\n   Tann'd with the downy hair within.\"\n\nIt is remarkable that Tom never grew any larger than his father's thumb,\nwhich was only of an ordinary size; but as he got older he became very\ncunning and full of tricks. When he was old enough to play with the\nboys, and had lost all his own cherry-stones, he used to creep into\nthe bags of his playfellows, fill his pockets, and, getting out unseen,\nwould again join in the game.\n\nOne day, however, as he was coming out of a bag of cherrystones, where\nhe had been pilfering as usual, the boy to whom it belonged chanced to\nsee him. \"Ah, ha! my little Tommy,\" said the boy, \"so I have caught you\nstealing my cherrystones at last, and you shall be rewarded for your\nthievish tricks.\" On saying this, he drew the string tight around his\nneck, and gave the bag such a hearty shake, that poor little Tom's legs,\nthighs, and body were sadly bruised. He roared out in pain, and begged\nto be let out, promising never to be guilty of such bad practices again.\n\nA short time afterwards his mother was making a batter-pudding, and Tom\nbeing very anxious to see how it was made, climbed up to the edge of the\nbowl; but unfortunately his foot slipped and he plumped over head and\nears into the batter, unseen by his mother, who stirred him into the\npudding-bag, and put him in the pot to boil.\n\nThe batter had filled Tom's mouth, and prevented him from crying; but,\non feeling the hot water, he kicked and struggled so much in the pot,\nthat his mother thought that the pudding was bewitched, and, instantly\npulling it out of the pot, she threw it to the door. A poor tinker, who\nwas passing by, lifted up the pudding, and, putting it into his budget,\nhe then walked off. As Tom had now got his mouth cleared of the batter,\nhe then began to cry aloud, which so frightened the tinker that he flung\ndown the pudding and ran away. The pudding being broke to pieces by the\nfall, Tom crept out covered over with the batter, and with difficulty\nwalked home. His mother, who was very sorry to see her darling in such\na woeful state, put him into a tea-cup, and soon washed off the batter;\nafter which she kissed him, and laid him in bed.\n\nSoon after the adventure of the pudding, Tom's mother went to milk her\ncow in the meadow, and she took him along with her. As the wind was very\nhigh, fearing lest he should be blown away, she tied him to a thistle\nwith a piece of fine thread. The cow soon saw the oak-leaf hat, and,\nliking the look of it, took poor Tom and the thistle at one mouthful.\nWhile the cow was chewing the thistle Tom was afraid of her great teeth,\nwhich threatened to crush him in pieces, and he roared out as loud as he\ncould:\n\n\"Mother, mother!\"\n\n\"Where are you, Tommy, my dear Tommy?\" said his mother.\n\n\"Here, mother,\" replied he, \"in the red cow's mouth.\"\n\nHis mother began to cry and wring her hands; but the cow, surprised\nat the odd noise in her throat, opened her mouth and let Tom drop out.\nFortunately his mother caught him in her apron as he was falling to the\nground, or he would have been dreadfully hurt. She then put Tom in her\nbosom and ran home with him.\n\nTom's father made him a whip of barley straw to drive the cattle with,\nand having one day gone into the fields, he slipped a foot and rolled\ninto the furrow. A raven, which was flying over, picked him up and flew\nwith him to the top of a giant's castle that was near the seaside, and\nthere left him.\n\nTom was in a dreadful state, and did not know what to do; but he was\nsoon more dreadfully frightened; for old Grumbo, the giant, came up to\nwalk on the terrace, and seeing Tom, he took him up and swallowed him\nlike a pill.\n\nThe giant had no sooner swallowed Tom than he began to repent what he\nhad done; for Tom began to kick and jump about so much that he felt very\nuncomfortable, and at last threw him up again into the sea. A large\nfish swallowed Tom the moment he fell into the sea, which was soon after\ncaught, and bought for the table of King Arthur. When they opened the\nfish in order to cook it, every on was astonished at finding such a\nlittle boy, and Tom was quite delighted to be out again. They carried\nhim to the king, who made Tom his dwarf, and he soon grew a great\nfavorite at court: for by his tricks and gambols he not only amused the\nking and queen, but also all the knights of the Round Table.\n\nIt is said that when the kind rode out on horseback he often took\nTom along with him, and if a shower came on he used to creep into his\nmajesty's waistcoat pocket, where he slept till the rain was over.\n\nKing Arthur one day asked Tom about his parents, wishing to know if they\nwere as small as he was, and whether rich or poor. Tom told the king\nthat his father and mother were as tall as any of the persons about\nthe court, but rather poor. On hearing this the king carried Tom to the\ntreasure, the place where he kept all his money, and told him to take\nas much money as he could carry home to his parents, which made the poor\nlittle fellow caper with joy. Tom went immediately to fetch a purse,\nwhich was made of a water-bubble, and then returned to the treasury,\nwhere he got a silver three-penny-piece to put into it.\n\nOur little hero had some trouble in lifting the burden upon his back;\nbut he at last succeeded in getting it placed to his mind, and set\nforward on his journey. However, without meeting with any accidents, and\nafter resting himself more than a hundred times by the way, in two days\nand two nights he reached his father's house in safety.\n\nTom had travelled forty-eight hours with a huge silver-piece on his\nback, and was almost tired to death, when his mother ran out to meet\nhim, and carried him into the house.\n\nTom's parents were both happy to see him, and the more so as he had\nbrought such an amazing sum of money with him; but the poor little\nfellow was excessively wearied, having travelled half a mile in\nforty-eight hours, with a huge silver three-penny-piece on his back.\nHis mother, in order to recover him, placed him in a walnut shell by the\nfireside, and feasted him for three days on a hazel nut, which made him\nvery sick; for a whole nut used to serve him a month.\n\nTom was soon well again; but as there had been a fall of rain, and the\nground was very wet, he could not travel back to King Arthur's court;\ntherefore his mother, one day when the wind was blowing in that\ndirection, made a little parasol of cambric paper, and tying Tom to it,\nshe gave him a puff into the air with her mouth, which soon carried him\nto the king's palace.\n\nJust at the time when Tom came flying across the courtyard, the cook\nhappened to be passing with the king's great bowl of furmenty, which was\na dish his majesty was very fond of; but unfortunately the poor little\nfellow fell plump into the middle of it, and splashed the hot furmenty\nabout the cook's face.\n\nThe cook, who was an ill-natured fellow, being in a terrible rage at Tom\nfor frightening and scalding him with the furmenty, went straight to the\nking, and said that Tom had jumped into the royal furmenty, and thrown\nit down out of mere mischief. The king was so enraged when he heard\nthis, that he ordered Tom to be seized and tried for high treason; and\nthere being no person who dared to plead for him, he was condemned to be\nbeheaded immediately.\n\nOn hearing this dreadful sentence pronounced, poor Tom fell a-trembling\nwith fear, but, seeing no means of escape, and observing a miller close\nto him gaping with his great mouth, as country boobies do at a far, he\ntook a leap, and fairly jumped down his throat. This exploit was done\nwith such activity that not one person present saw it, and even the\nmiller did not know the trick which Tom had played upon him. Now, as\nTom had disappeared, the court broke up, and the miller went home to his\nmill.\n\nWhen Tom heard the mill at work he knew he was clear of the court, and\ntherefore he began to tumble and roll about, so that the poor miller\ncould get no rest, thinking he was bewitched; so he sent for a doctor.\nWhen the doctor came, Tom began to dance and sing; and the doctor, being\nas much frightened as the miller, sent in haste for five other doctors\nand twenty learned men.\n\nWhen they were debating about this extraordinary case, the miller\nhappened to yawn, when Tom, seizing the chance, made another jump, and\nalighted safely upon his feet in the middle of the table.\n\nThe miller, who was very much provoked at being tormented by such a\nlittle pygmy creature, fell into a terrible rage, and, laying hold of\nTom, ran to the king with him; but his majesty, being engaged with state\naffairs, ordered him to be taken away and kept in custody till he sent\nfor him.\n\nThe cook was determined that Tom should not slip out of his hands this\ntime, so he put him into a mouse-trap, and left him to peep through the\nwires. Tom had remained in the trap a whole week, when he was sent for\nby King Arthur, who pardoned him for throwing down the furmenty,\nand took him again into favor. On account of his wonderful feats of\nactivity, Tom was knighted by the king, and went under the name of the\nrenowned Sir Thomas Thumb. As Tom's clothes had suffered much in the\nbatter-pudding, the furmenty, and the insides of the giant, miller, and\nfishes, his majesty ordered him a new suit of clothes, and to be mounted\nas a knight.\n\n   \"Of Butterfly's wings his shirt was made,\n      His boots of chicken's hide;\n   And by a nimble fairy blade,\n      Well learned in the tailoring trade,\n\n      His clothing was supplied.--\n   A needle dangled by his side;\n   A dapper mouse he used to ride,\n   Thus strutted Tom in stately pride!\"\n\n  It was certainly very diverting to see Tom in this dress, and\nmounted on the mouse, as he rode out a-hunting with the king and\nnobility, who were all ready to expire with laughter at Tom and his fine\nprancing charger.\n\nOne day, as they were riding by a farmhouse, a large cat, which was\nlurking about the door, made a spring, and seized both Tom and his\nmouse. She then ran up a tree with them, and was beginning to devour the\nmouse; but Tom boldly drew his sword, and attacked the cat so fiercely\nthat she let them both fall, when one of the nobles caught him in his\nhat, and laid him on a bed of down, in a little ivory cabinet.\n\nThe queen of fairies came soon after to pay Tom a visit, and carried him\nback to Fairy-land, where he lived several years. During his residence\nthere, King Arthur, and all the persons who knew Tom, had died; and as\nhe was desirous of being again at court, the fairy queen, after dressing\nhim in a suit of clothes, sent him flying through the air to the palace,\nin the days of king Thunstone, the successor of Arthur. Every one\nflocked round to see him, and being carried to the king, he was asked\nwho he was--whence he came--and where he lived? Tom answered:\n\n   \"My name is Tom Thumb,\n   From the fairies I've come.\n   When King Arthur shone,\n   His court was my home.\n   In me he delighted,\n   By him I was knighted;\n   Did you never hear of Sir Thomas Thumb?\"\n\nThe king was so charmed with this address that he ordered a little\nchair to be made, in order that Tom might sit upon his table, and also\na palace of gold, a span high, with a door an inch wide, to live in. He\nalso gave him a coach, drawn by six small mice.\n\nThe queen was so enraged at the honor paid to Sir Thomas that she\nresolved to ruin him, and told the king that the little knight had been\nsaucy to her.\n\nThe king sent for Tom in great haste, but being fully aware of the\ndanger of royal anger, he crept into an empty snail-shell, where he lay\nfor a long time, until he was almost starved with hunger; but at last he\nventured to peep out, and seeing a fine large butterfly on the ground,\nnear his hiding-place, he approached very cautiously, and getting\nhimself placed astride on it, was immediately carried up into the air.\nThe butterfly flew with him from tree to tree and from field to field,\nand at last returned to the court, where the king and nobility all\nstrove to catch him; but at last poor Tom fell from his seat into a\nwatering-pot, in which he was almost drowned.\n\nWhen the queen saw him she was in a rage, and said he should be\nbeheaded; and he was again put into a mouse-trap until the time of his\nexecution.\n\nHowever, a cat, observing something alive in the trap, patted it about\ntill the wires broke, and set Thomas at liberty.\n\nThe king received Tom again into favor, which he did not live to enjoy,\nfor a large spider one day attacked him; and although he drew his sword\nand fought well, yet the spider's poisonous breath at last overcame him;\n\n   \"He fell dead on the ground where he stood,\n   and the spider suck'd every drop of his blood.\"\n\nKing Thunstone and his whole court were so sorry at the loss of their\nlittle favorite, that they went into mourning, and raised a fine white\nmarble monument over his grave, with the following epitaph:\n\n   \"Here lyes Tom Thumb, King Arthur's knight,\n   Who died by a spider's cruel bite.\n   He was well known in Arthur's court,\n   Where he afforded gallant sport;\n   He rode at tilt and tournament,\n   And on a mouse a-hunting went.\n   Alive he filled the court with mirth;\n   His death to sorrow soon gave birth.\n   Wipe, wipe your eyes, and shake your head,\n   And cry,--Alas!  Tom Thumb is dead!\"\n\n\n*****\n\n\n\n\nTHE CAT AND THE MOUSE\n\n   The cat and the mouse\n      Played in the malt-house:\n\nThe cat bit the mouse's tail off. \"Pray, puss, give me my tail.\" \"No,\"\nsays the cat, \"I'll not give you your tail, till you go to the cow and\nfetch me some milk.\"\n\n   First she leapt, and then she ran,\n   Till she came to the cow, and thus began,--\n\n\"Pray, cow, give me milk, that I may give cat milk, that cat may give me\nmy own tail again.\" \"No,\" said the cow, \"I will give you no milk, till\nyou go to the farmer and get me some hay.\"\n\n   First she leapt, and then she ran,\n   Till she came to the farmer, and thus began,--\n\n\"Pray, farmer, give me hay that I may give cow hay, that cow may give me\nmilk, that I may give cat milk, that cat may give me my own tail again.\"\n\n\"No,\" says the farmer, \"I'll give you no hay, till you go to the butcher\nand fetch me some meat.\"\n\n   First she leapt, and then she ran,\n   Till she came to the butcher, and thus began,--\n\n\"Pray, butcher, give me meat, that I may give farmer meat, that farmer\nmay give me hay, that I may give cow hay, that cow may give me milk,\nthat I may give cat milk, that cat may give me my own tail again.\"\n\n\"No,\" says the butcher, \"I'll give you no meat till you go to the baker\nand fetch me some bread.\"\n\n   First she leapt, and then she ran,\n   Till she came to the baker, and thus began,--\n\n\"Pray, baker, give me bread, that I may give butcher bread, that butcher\nmay give me meat, that I may give farmer meat, that farmer may give me\nhay, that I may give cow hay, that cow may give me milk, that I may give\ncat milk, that cat may give me my own tail again.\"\n\n   \"Yes,\" says the baker, \"I'll give you some bread,\n   But if you eat my meal, I'll cut off your head.\"\n\nThen the baker gave mouse bread, and mouse gave butcher bread, and\nbutcher gave mouse meat, and mouse gave farmer meat, and farmer gave\nmouse hay, and mouse gave cow hay, and cow gave mouse milk, and mouse\ngave cat milk, and cat gave mouse her own tail again!\n\n\n*****\n\n\n\n\nFIRE! FIRE! BURN STICK!\n\nAnd old woman was sweeping her house, and she found a little crooked\nsixpence. \"What,\" said she, \"shall I do with this little sixpence? I\nwill go to market and buy a little pig.\" As she was coming home she came\nto a stile; the piggy would not go over the stile.\n\nShe went a little farther, and she met a dog. So she said to the dog,\n\"Dog! bit pig; piggy won't go over the stile, and I shan't get home\nto-night.\" But the dog would not.\n\nShe went a little farther, and she met a stick. So she said, \"Stick!\nstick! beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile, and\nI shan't get home to-night.\" But the stick would not.\n\nShe went a little farther, and she met a fire. So she said, \"Fire! fire!\nburn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get\nover the stile, and I shan't get home to-night.\" But the fire would not.\n\nShe went a little farther, and she met some water. So she said, \"Water!\nwater! quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick wont beat dog; dog\nwon't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile, and I shan't get home\nto-night.\" But the water would not.\n\nShe went a little farther, and she met an ox. So she said, \"Ox! ox!\ndrink water; water won't quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't\nbeat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile, and I\nshan't get home to-night.\" But the ox would not.\n\nShe went a little farther, and she met a butcher. So she said, \"Butcher!\nbutcher! kill ox; ox won't drink water; water won't quench fire; fire\nwon't burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't\nget over the stile, and I shan't get home to-night.\" But the butcher\nwould not.\n\nShe went a little father, and she met a rope. So she said, \"Rope! rope!\nhang butcher; butcher won't kill ox; ox won't drink water; water won't\nquench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite\npig; piggy won't get over the stile, and I shan't get home to-night.\"\nBut the rope would not.\n\nSo she went a little farther, and she met a rat. So she said, \"Rat!\nrat! gnaw rope; rope won't hang butcher; butcher won't kill ox; ox won't\ndrink water; water won't quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick\nwon't beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile and I\nshan't get home to-night.\" But the rat would not.\n\nSo she went a little farther, and she met a cat. So she said, \"Cat! cat!\nkill rat; rat won't gnaw rope; rope won't hang butcher; butcher won't\nkill ox; ox won't drink water; water won't quench fire; fire won't burn\nstick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over\nthe stile, and I shan't get home to-night.\" But the cat said to her, \"If\nyou will go to yonder cow and fetch me a saucer of milk, I will kill the\nrat.\" So away went the old woman to the cow.\n\nBut the cow said to her, \"If you will go to yonder haystack and fetch me\na handful of hay, I'll give you the milk.\" So away went the old woman to\nthe haystack; and she brought the hay to the cow.\n\nAs soon as the cow had eaten the hay she gave the old woman the milk,\nand away she went with it in a saucer to the cat.\n\nAs soon as the cat had lapped up the milk, the cat began to kill the\nrat; the rat began to gnaw the rope; the rope began to hang the butcher;\nthe butcher began to kill the ox; the ox began to drink the water; the\nwater began to quench the fire; the fire began to burn the stick; the\nstick began to beat the dog; the dog began to bite the pig; the little\npig in a fright jumped over the stile; and so the old woman got home\nthat night.","title":"The History of Tom Thumb: To Which Are Added the Stories of the Cat and the Mouse and Fire! Fire! Burn Stick!","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":4045}