“Thank you, pretty little maiden,” said the sick swallow; “I have been so beautifully warmed that soon I shall regain my strength and be able to fly about again in the warm sunshine.”
“Oh, no!” said she; “it is very cold out of doors now; it snows and freezes. Stay in your warm bed; I will take care of you.”
She brought the swallow water in a flower leaf; and after he had drunk, he told her that he had torn one of his wings on a thorn bush and could not fly as fast as the others, who had flown far away to warm countries. At last he had fallen to the ground and could remember nothing more, nor how he came to be where she had found him.
All winter the swallow remained underground, and Thumbelina nursed and cared [[95]]for him tenderly. Neither the mole nor the field mouse knew anything about it, for they could not bear swallows.
Very soon the springtime came, and the sun warmed the earth. Then the swallow bade farewell to Thumbelina and opened the hole in the roof which the mole had made. The sun shone in upon them so beautifully that the swallow asked her if she would go with him. She could sit on his back, he said, and he would fly away with her into the green woods. But she knew it would grieve the field mouse if she left her in that manner, so she said, “No, I cannot.”
“Farewell then, farewell, you good, pretty little maiden,” said the swallow; and he flew out into the sunshine.
Thumbelina looked after him, and the tears rose in her eyes. She was very fond of the swallow.
“Tweet, tweet,” sang the bird as he flew out into the green woods, and Thumbelina felt very sad. She was not allowed to go out into the warm sunshine. The corn [[96]]which had been sown in the field over the house of the field mouse had grown up high in the air, and made a thick forest for Thumbelina, who was only an inch high.
“You are going to be married, little one,” said the field mouse. “My neighbor has asked for you. What good fortune for a poor child like you! Now we will set to work at your wedding clothes. You must have woolen and linen. Nothing must be wanting if you are to become the wife of the mole.”
Thumbelina had to turn the spindle, and the field mouse hired four spiders to weave for her day and night. Every evening the mole visited her and talked of the time when the summer would be over. Then he would set the wedding day for Thumbelina; but now the heat of the sun was so great that it burned the earth and made it hard like stone. Yes, as soon as the summer was over the wedding should take place. But Thumbelina was not at all pleased, for she did not like the tiresome mole. [[97]]