In the lake floated a large tulip leaf. This was Thumbelinas little boat. Seated there she sailed from side to side of her little lake, rowing cleverly with two white horse hairs. As she rowed backwards and forwards she sang softly to herself. The woman listening hardly, and thought she had never known so sweet a song.

　　And now such a sad thing happened.

　　In through the broken window-pane hopped a big toad, oh! such an ugly big toad. She hopped right on to the table, where Thumbelina lay dreaming in her tiny cradle, under the pale pink rose leaf.

　　How handsome she thought him! But he was really very ugly. Indeed, he was exactly like his mother.

　　When he saw little Thumbelina in her tiny cradle, he croaked with delight.

　　Do not make so much noise, said his mother, or you will wake the tiny creature. We may lose her if we are not careful. The slightest breeze would waft her far away. She is as light as gossamer.

　　Then the old toad carried Thumbelina out into the middle of the stream. She will be safe here, she said, as she laid her gently on one of the leaves of a large water lily, and paddled back to her son.

　　We will make ready the best rooms under the mud,she told him, and then you and the little maiden will be married.

　　Poor little Thumbelina! She had not seen the ugly big toad yet, nor her ugly son.

　　When she woke up early in the morning, how she wept! Water all around her! How could she reach the shore? Poor little Thumbelina!

　　Down under the mud the old toad was very busy, decking the best room with buttercups and buds of water-lilies to make it gay for her little daughter-in-law, Thumbelina.

　　Now we will go to bring her little bed and place it ready, said the old toad, and together she and her son swam out to the leaf where little Thumbelina sat.

　　Croak, croak, was all the young toad could say, as he looked at his pretty little bride.

　　Then they took away the tiny little bed, and Thumbelina was left alone.

　　How the tears stained her pretty little face! How fast they fell into the stream! Even the fish as they swam hither and thither thought, How it rains to-day, as the tiny drops fell thick and fast.

　　They popped up their heads and saw the forlorn little maiden.

　　She shall not marry the ugly toad, they said, as they looked with eager eyes at the pretty child. No, she shall not marry the ugly toad.

　　But what could the little fish do to help Thumbelina?

　　Oh! they were such clever little fish!

　　They found the green stem which held the leaf on which Thumbelina sat. They bit it with their little sharp teeth, and they never stopped biting, till at last they bit the green stem through; and away, down the stream, floated the leaf, carrying with the little Thumbelina.

　　Free, free!; she sang, and her voice tinkled as a chime of fairy bells. ;Free, free! ; she sang merrily as she floated down the stream, away, far way out of reach of the ugly old toad and her ugly son.

　　And as she floated on, the little wild birds sang round her, and on the banks the little wild harebells bowed to her.

　　Butterflies were flitting here and there in the sunshine. A pretty little white one fluttered on to the leaf on which sat Thumbelina. He loved the tiny maiden so well that he settled down beside her.

　　Now she was quite happy! Birds around here, flowers near her, and the water gleaming like gold in the summer sunshine. What besides could little Thumbelina wish?

　　She took off her sash and threw one end of it round the butterfly. The other end she fastened firmly to the leaf. On and on floated the leaf, the little maiden and the butterfly.

　　Suddenly a great cockchafer buzzed along. Alas! he caught sight of little Thumbelina. He flew to her, put his claw round her tiny waist and carried her off, up on to a tree.

　　Poor little Thumbelina! How frightened she was! How grieved she was, too. Would he fly away, she wondered, or would her sash hold him fast?

　　The cockchafer was charmed with the little maiden. He placed her tenderly on the largest leaf he could find. He gathered honey for her from the flowers, and as she sipped it, he sat near and told her how beautiful she looked.

　　But there were other chafers living in the tree, and when they came to see little Thumbelina, they said, ;She is not pretty at all.

　　She only has two legs, said one.

　　She has no feelers,said another.

　　Some said she was too thin, others said she was too fat, and then they all buzzed and hummed together, How ugly she is, how ugly she is! But all the time little Thumbelina was the prettiest, daintiest little maiden that ever lived.

　　And now the cockchafer who had flown off with little Thumbelina thought he had been rather foolish to admire her.

　　He looked at her again. Pretty? No, after all she was not very pretty. He would have nothing to do with her, and away he and all the other chafers flew. Only first they carried little Thumbelina down from the tree and placed her on a daisy. She wept because she was so ugly - so ugly that the chafers could not live with her. But all the time, you know, she was the prettiest little maiden in the world.

　　湖里漂著一片大郁金香葉子,這是拇指姑娘的小船。她靈巧的用兩根白馬尾做漿,把小船從湖的這頭劃到那頭。她來(lái)來(lái)回回劃船時(shí)輕輕地哼著歌兒,女人豎著耳朵聽(tīng)著,她覺(jué)得從來(lái)沒(méi)聽(tīng)過(guò)這么一首甜美的歌。

　　可是就在這時(shí)發(fā)生了一件令人傷心的事。

　　一只大癩蛤蟆從破窗格子里跳了進(jìn)來(lái)。天啊,多么丑陋的一只癩蛤蟆,她一下子跳到桌上,拇指姑娘此刻正蓋著粉紅的玫瑰花瓣,躺在小搖籃里做著美夢(mèng)呢。

　　這只丑蛤蟆偷窺著她,

　　呱呱,這姑娘真漂亮!正好做我那漂亮兒子的新娘!于是她抓起拇指姑娘正睡著的小搖籃,從破窗格子跳了出去,跳進(jìn)了花園。

　　花園底下有一條寬寬的小溪,癩蛤蟆和她兒子就住在這泥濘的岸邊。

　　癩蛤蟆覺(jué)得她兒子長(zhǎng)的好看極了,但事實(shí)上他非常丑。他和他媽簡(jiǎn)直就是一個(gè)模子里鑄出來(lái)的!

　　當(dāng)他看見(jiàn)小床里的拇指姑娘時(shí),興奮的呱呱大叫起來(lái)。

　　別吵!他媽說(shuō),你會(huì)把這小可愛(ài)吵醒的!我們不小心點(diǎn)的話會(huì)讓她跑掉的!微風(fēng)都能把她吹走,她就像紗一樣輕啊。

　　老蛤蟆把拇指姑娘背到河中央,她在這里會(huì)很安全,她說(shuō),把她輕輕地放在一片大睡蓮的葉子上,然后游回到兒子身邊。

　　我們要在泥巴下建幾間最好的屋子,老蛤蟆說(shuō),這樣你和她就可以結(jié)婚啦!

　　可憐的拇指姑娘!她還從沒(méi)見(jiàn)過(guò)這兩只丑癩蛤蟆啊。

　　拇指姑娘一早醒來(lái)發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的處境后,傷心的哭泣起來(lái),她的四周都是水!怎么回到岸上呢?可憐的拇指姑娘啊!

　　地底下呢, 老癩蛤蟆正忙著用燈芯草和黃睡蓮把房間裝飾了一番——新媳婦要住在里面,當(dāng)然應(yīng)該收拾得漂亮一點(diǎn)才對(duì)。

　　好了,現(xiàn)在我們要把她的小床搬來(lái)放到洞房里,老蛤蟆說(shuō),隨后她就和她的兒子向那片托著拇指姑娘的葉子游去。

　　閣!閣!呱!呱!呱!這位少爺看著他漂亮的小新娘所能講出的話,就只有這一點(diǎn)。

　　他們搬走了小床,把拇指姑娘一個(gè)人留在那里。

　　拇指姑娘哭花了她的小臉,眼淚滴進(jìn)了小河里。她哭得越來(lái)越傷心,眼淚滴得越來(lái)越快,游來(lái)游去的魚(yú)兒都在想,下大雨了呀?

　　他們探出小腦袋來(lái),看見(jiàn)了這個(gè)可憐的小姑娘。

　　他們焦急的看著這么個(gè)可人兒,大家一致認(rèn)為:她不能嫁給那個(gè)丑癩蛤蟆

　　但是小魚(yú)能幫上拇指姑娘什么忙呢?

　　喔,他們真是聰明的小東西!

　　它們找到了托著那片綠葉的梗子——拇指姑娘就坐在那上面。它們用小尖牙咬那個(gè)梗子,不停地咬,直到把它咬斷為止,使得這片葉子順著水流走了,帶著拇指姑娘流走了.

　　自由啦,自由啦,拇指姑娘唱起歌來(lái),歌聲像仙女的鈴鐺叮當(dāng)響。自由啦,自由啦,她一邊順著河漂流一邊愉快地唱歌,越漂越遠(yuǎn),漂到癩蛤蟆夠不著她的地方。

　　小鳥(niǎo)圍繞著她唱歌,岸邊野地里的藍(lán)鈴花也向她鞠躬。

　　蝴蝶在陽(yáng)光下飛來(lái)飛去,一只很可愛(ài)的白蝴蝶飛落到拇指姑娘坐著的葉子上來(lái),它是那么喜歡拇指姑娘于是它停在了她的身邊。

　　拇指姑娘真是太開(kāi)心了!小鳥(niǎo)兒在旁邊飛,花兒也陪伴她左右,河水在夏日陽(yáng)光的照耀下閃爍著金光。除此之外小小拇指姑娘還賒求什么呢?

　　她解下腰帶,把一端系在蝴蝶身上,把另一端緊緊地系在葉子上。葉子帶著拇指姑娘一起很快地在水上流走了。

　　突然一只很大的金龜子嗡嗡嗡飛過(guò)。哎呀,他看到了她。他飛向她,用爪子抓住她纖細(xì)的腰,把她帶到一棵樹(shù)上去了。

　　可憐的拇指姑娘!她是多么地害怕!她又是多么地傷心!他飛走了沒(méi)有?腰帶會(huì)不會(huì)把他系的太緊了?

　　金龜子為這個(gè)小少女而傾倒,他溫柔地把她放在最大的一片葉子上,還取出蜜糖給她吃,她吸吮著蜜糖,他坐在旁邊告訴她是多么漂亮。

　　樹(shù)林里還住著其它金龜子,他們都跑來(lái)看拇指姑娘,呦,她長(zhǎng)的一點(diǎn)都不好看吶。

　　有一個(gè)說(shuō):她不過(guò)只有兩條腿罷了!

　　她連觸須都沒(méi)有!另一個(gè)說(shuō)。

　　他們七嘴八舌,有的說(shuō)她太瘦了,有的說(shuō)她太胖了, 然后所有的金龜子一齊叫道,她多么丑啊!太丑了!但不管怎么說(shuō)拇指姑娘確實(shí)是這個(gè)世界上最美麗,最嬌艷的姑娘。

　　于是現(xiàn)在呢,金龜子覺(jué)得自己崇拜她真是太傻了,他再仔細(xì)端詳她,真的很美嗎?不,并不是很美。他再也沒(méi)興趣為她做任何事情了,他和其他金龜子一起飛走 了。他們帶著她從樹(shù)上飛下來(lái),把她放在一朵雛菊上面。她在那上面哭得怪傷心的,因?yàn)樗�長(zhǎng)得那么丑,連金龜子也不要她了�？墒撬�仍然是人們所想象不到的一個(gè) 最美麗的人兒。

　�。ū疚霓D(zhuǎn)自互聯(lián)網(wǎng)）

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