Once upon a time, there was a woman who wanted a baby very much, so she went to ask a witch for help. The witch gave her a magic seed, and the woman planted the seed in a flowerpot. Before long, a beautiful flower grew in the flowerpot, and in the very center of the flower sat a little girl no bigger than a thumb. She was Thumbelina. Thumbelina was extremely cute. She lived in a dainty little house made of a walnut shell and played in the flower bushes every day, making friends with butterflies and bees.
One day, an ugly toad saw Thumbelina. The toad thought to itself how wonderful it would be if such a lovely girl could be its daughter - in - law. So, while Thumbelina was asleep, the toad took her to its home, which was a dark and damp mud hole. When Thumbelina woke up, she was very frightened. She didn't want to stay in this dreadful place, surrounded by gooey mud and ugly toads.
Thumbelina tried hard to find a chance to escape. Finally, one day, when the toad family wasn't paying attention, she quietly slipped out of the mud hole. She ran along the stream and, when tired, hid under the leaves to rest. She was hungry and thirsty and missed her little house and her friends in the flower bushes very much.
Thumbelina came to a pond. She saw a large lotus leaf and sat on it to rest. At this time, a beetle flew over. The beetle also thought Thumbelina was very novel when it saw her, so it took her to the tree. But the beetles on the tree all laughed at Thumbelina for being too small and said she was not as beautiful as they were. Thumbelina was very sad and silently shed tears.
While Thumbelina was sad, she accidentally fell from the tree and into the mole's burrow. The mole took her in and let her live in the burrow. But the mole always made Thumbelina do a lot of housework. Although Thumbelina was very hard - working, she still longed for freedom and true friendship.
One day, an injured swallow fell into the mole's burrow. Thumbelina felt very sorry for the swallow. She carefully took care of the swallow and bandaged its wound. After the swallow recovered from its injury, it became friends with Thumbelina. The swallow told Thumbelina that there was a very beautiful place outside, where there were many kind - hearted creatures like her.
Thumbelina asked the swallow to take her away, and the swallow agreed. The swallow took Thumbelina to a warm country. There were beautiful flowers everywhere, and there were also elves as small as Thumbelina. Thumbelina was very happy here. She sang and danced with the elves.
In this warm country, Thumbelina met the Flower Prince. The Flower Prince was attracted by Thumbelina's kindness and beauty, and he proposed to Thumbelina. Thumbelina happily agreed, and they held a grand wedding in this beautiful place. Since then, Thumbelina and the Flower Prince have lived happily ever after and never experienced hardship or sorrow again.
