When I was a little boy, children’s books were not quite as plenty, or as cheap, or as good as they are now. In those days, children did not often have a present of a pretty book with beautiful pictures; but when they did get one, it was highly prized.
We had Cock Robin, and Jack the Giant Killer, and Blue Beard, and The Forty Thieves, and many other amusing but not very instructive tales. Tom Thumb was one of the number, and was a favorite book of mine, although I knew the story was not true, and that there were no such beings as magicians and fairies. Perhaps my little readers would like to know what kind of stories we old folks read when we were such little bodies as you are now. I think I remember enough of Tom Thumb to be able to tell you the story.
MERLIN AND THE FAIRY QUEEN.
Once on a time, Merlin, a famous magician, was traveling, and being weary, he stopped at a plowman’s cottage to ask for some refreshment. The plowman’s wife kindly brought him a bowl of milk, and a wooden plate of good brown bread, which she urged him to partake of.
Merlin could not help seeing, that the honest couple looked quite sad and sorrowful; so he asked the cause, and learned that they had no children; the wife declaring, with tears in her eyes, that she should be happy if she had a son, even if he were no bigger than his father’s thumb!
Merlin was much amused with the idea of a boy no bigger than a man’s thumb, and sending for the queen of the fairies, he told her of the desire of the plowman’s wife. The queen was no less pleased than Merlin, and she said the wish should be granted. Accordingly, the plowman’s wife had a son, who was just the size of his father’s thumb, and was named by the queen, Tom Thumb.
