Bedtime Tale: Tom Thumb

Hello,

Dear one.

My name is Jessica Amos,

But you can call me Jessa.

Tonight,

I will be reading you the story of Tom Thumb.

But first,

Let's settle in.

Make yourself comfortable,

Close your eyes,

And take a deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth.

Relax your body and let your mind draw pictures of this story as I read you these words.

At the court of King Arthur,

Who lived,

As we all know,

When knights were bold and ladies were fair indeed,

One of the most famous of men was the wizard Merlin.

Never before or since was there such a wizard.

All that was to be known of wizardry he knew,

And his advice was always good and kindly.

One day,

When Merlin was traveling,

Disguised as a beggar,

He happened upon the house of an honest farmer and his wife,

Who,

After giving him a hearty welcome,

Cheerfully offered him a big wooden bowl of fresh milk and some coarse brown bread on a wooden platter.

Although the man and the woman,

And the little cottage where they lived,

Were neat and tidy,

Merlin noticed that neither the husband nor the wife seemed very happy.

When he asked them why,

They said it was because they had no children.

If only I had a son,

Even if he were no bigger than my good man's thumb,

Said the poor woman,

We would be quite content.

Now,

This idea of a boy no bigger than a man's thumb so tickled wizard Merlin's fancy that he promised the man and his wife right away that such a son should come in due time to bring the good couple much happiness.

He then went off at once to pay a visit to the Queen of the Fairies,

As Merlin felt that the little people would best be able to carry out his promise.

And sure enough,

The very idea of a little man who was no bigger than his father's thumb tickled the Fairy Queen too,

And she set about the task at once.

Soon,

The good couple was blessed with the tiniest of little boys.

The parents were now very happy,

And the christening of the little fellow took place with great ceremony.

The Fairy Queen,

Attended by her company of elves,

Was present at the feast.

She kissed the little child,

And giving him the name of Tom Thumb,

Told her fairies to fetch the tailors of her court,

Who dressed her little godson exactly as she asked.

His hat was made of a beautiful oak leaf,

His shirt of a fine spider's web,

And his leggings and jacket were of thistledown.

His stockings were made with the rind of a delicate green apple,

And the garters were two of the finest little hairs imaginable plucked from his mother's eyebrow.

And his shoes were made from the skin of a little mouse.

When he was dressed in his new clothes,

The Fairy Queen kissed him once more,

And wishing him all good luck,

Flew off with the fairies of her court.

As Tom grew older,

He became very amusing and full of tricks,

So his mother was afraid to let him out of her sight.

One day,

While she was making a batter of pudding,

Tom stood on the edge of the bowl with a lighted candle in his hand,

So that she might see the pudding was properly made.

Unfortunately,

When her back was turned,

Tom fell into the bowl and his mother,

Not noticing he was missing,

Stirred him into the pudding.

Then she tied the bowl in a cloth and put it into a pot of boiling water.

The batter filled Tom's mouth and prevented him from calling out,

But he had no sooner felt the hot water than he kicked and struggled so much that the pudding jumped about in the pot.

His mother,

Thinking the pudding was bewitched,

Was nearly frightened out of her wits.

She pulled the bowl out of the pot,

Ran with it to her door,

And gave it to a tinker who was passing by.

The tinker was very grateful for the pudding,

And looked forward to having the better dinner than he had enjoyed for many days.

But his pleasure did not last long,

For,

As he was climbing over a fence,

He happened to sneeze very hard,

And Tom,

Who had been quite quiet inside the pudding for some time,

Called out at the top of his little voice,

Bless you!

This so terrified the tinker that he flung down the pudding and ran off as fast as he could.

The bowl was broken in pieces and Tom crept out,

Covered with batter,

And ran home to his mother,

Who had been looking for him everywhere and was delighted to see him again.

She gave him a bath in a cup,

Which soon washed off all the pudding,

And he was none the worse for his adventure.

A few days later,

Tom and his mother went into the fields to milk the cows,

And fearing Tom might be blown away by the wind,

His mother tied him to a sow thistle with a little piece of thread.

While she was milking,

A cow came by and bit off the thistle,

And the thread,

And Tom!

Poor Tom did not like the cow's big teeth,

And he called out loudly,

Mother!

Mother!

But where are you,

Tommy,

My dear Tommy?

Cried his worried mother,

Wringing her hands.

Here,

Mother,

Tom shouted,

Inside the red cow's mouth.

And saying that,

Tom began to kick and scratch until the poor cow was nearly mad and he finally tumbled out of her mouth.

His mother rushed to him,

Caught him in her arms,

And carried him safely home.

Some days later,

Tom's father took him to the fields to plow and gave him a whip made of barley straw,

With which to drive the oxen.

But little Tom was soon lost in a furrow.

As usual,

Birds followed the plow that morning,

Looking for freshly unearthed grubs,

Or some other tiny creature to eat for breakfast.

One happened to be a nearsighted hawk,

Who,

Mistaking Tom for a plump toad,

Seized him and flew off over the treetops.

It was only after Tom called out that the bird realized his mistake,

And having no interest in making a meal of a boy,

He let Tom fall.

Below,

A giant was getting some air on the roof of his castle tower when Tom landed on his head.

The giant raised his great hand,

Expecting to catch a pesky fly,

But finding something that smelled like human flesh,

One of his favorite meals,

He simply dropped poor Tom into his mouth like a piece of candy.

In a moment,

The giant was sorry he had tried to make a snack of the little human.

Tom kicked and scratched more wildly than he had in the mouth of the cow.

With a mighty spit,

The giant sent him flying again through the air,

Over the battlements,

And down into the sea.

No sooner had he hit the water than a big fish swallowed him up.

This very well may have been the end of Tom Thumb,

But nearby fishermen caught the great fish and took it to the royal kitchen.

Imagine the cook's astonishment when,

Upon opening the fish,

Out jumped little Tom Thumb.

Soon,

Tom had the whole kitchen staff laughing wildly at his jokes and pranks.

And what is more,

He soon became a favorite of the whole court.

When the king went out riding,

Tom sat in the pocket of his waistcoat,

Ready to amuse lords and ladies,

The king and queen,

And all the great knights of the round table.

Tom soon began to miss his parents and begged the king to allow him to go home for a short time.

The king readily agreed and told Tom he could take with him as much money as he could carry.

Tom had to rest more than 100 times along the way,

But after two days and two nights,

He reached his father's house in safety.

His mother ran to meet him,

And there was great rejoicing at his arrival.

He spent three happy days at home and then set out for the castle once more.

One day,

Shortly after his return,

Tom displeased the king,

And fearing the royal anger,

He crept into an empty flowerpot where he lay for a long time.

At last,

Tom ventured to peep out,

And seeing a fine large butterfly on the ground nearby,

He climbed out of his hiding place,

Jumped on its back,

And was carried up into the air.

The king and the nobles all tried to catch him,

But at last,

Poor Tom Thumb fell from his seat into a watering pot in which he almost drowned.

Luckily,

The gardener's child saw him and pulled him out.

The king was so pleased to have Tom safe once more that he forgot to scold him and made much of him instead.

As a token of his fondness for the mischievous Tom,

The king ordered the court tailor to make a wonderful little suit of clothes.

The royal harness maker made a tiny saddle and bridle that transformed a castle mouse into a miniature charger.

And so,

With a needle from the queen's own sewing basket for his sword,

Tom Thumb set forth in quest of another adventure.

Afterward,

Tom lived many years at the castle and became one of the best beloved of King Arthur's knights.

The End Okay,

My darling,

Thank you so much for being here with me as I read you this story.

It's time to go to sleep.

I want you to know you are so very loved and your heart is good.

Sleep tight.

May your dreams be full of love and light.