TOM RIDING ON A BUTTERFLY.
Tom remained at home for some time; but at last getting weary of his humble life, he watched for an opportunity to reach king Arthur’s court again. One day he sauntered out into the fields, and seeing a butterfly seated on the ground, he ventured to get astride of him. The butterfly soon took wing, and mounting into the air with Tom on his back, flew from field to field, till at last he reached the king’s court.
The king, queen, and nobles, all tried to catch the butterfly, but could not. At last poor Tom, having no saddle or bridle, slipped off and tumbled into a watering-pot, where he was nearly drowned before he could be taken out. But he soon recovered from this mishap, and once more became the pride and ornament of king Arthur’s court.
At last, a huge spider one day attacked him, and though he drew his sword and fought well, yet the spider’s poisonous breath at last overcame him.
King Arthur and his whole court went into mourning for little Tom Thumb. They buried him under a rose-bush, and raised a white marble monument over his grave, with this epitaph on it, in letters of gold:
Here lies Tom Thumb, a gallant knight,
Who died by a cruel spider’s bite.
He was well known in king Arthur’s court,
Where he afforded pleasant sport;