Contents Thumbelina Little Red Riding Hood The Steadfast Tin Soldier Hansel and Gretel Cinderella
Puss in Boots Snow White The Emperor’s New Clothes The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep The Little Mermaid Rapunzel The Snow Queen
Thumbelina A
long, long time ago there was a woman, who was very lonely. She wanted to become a mother more than anything in the world. Years have passed, but her home remained empty. ‘I have a lot of love to give, but no one to take it’ she sighed. One day the woman visited a witch and told her about her trouble. ‘Here, take this little seed’ said the witch. ‘Plant it in a pot, take good care of it, and wait and see what will happen.’ The woman did all what the witch had advised her, and awaited for a change of fate. The seed sprouted and was growing more and more every day. Finally, a big bud appeared. The woman was surprised that such tiny seed was able to produce a beautiful flower. She wrapped her hands around the bud and kissed it, and thanks to a magic spell, the bud flourished and opened, and the woman witnessed something incredible. At the bottom of the flower, among the pink petals, there was a tiny girl. Still sleepy, she stretched herself, flickered pollen from her skirt and looked at the woman. ‘Good morning’ she greeted the woman politely. The woman could not believe her eyes. Her dream finally came true, she could take care of a small child. She noticed that the girl was not taller that a thumb, hence she named her Thumbelina. She got the girl everything she needed. She made her a tiny bed out of
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a walnut shell, a small boat our of bronze bark. She used delicate yarn to sew her small, charming dresses. The woman devoted her heart to that tiny little being, who suddenly appeared in her home. Thumbelina spent every day merrily playing and singing in her beautiful voice. One evening, when she was sleeping soundly in her shell, an old, disgusting toad jumped inside the house through a half-open window. ‘What a charming little creature!’ the toad said harshly. ‘An ideal candidate for a wife for my handsome son!’ And, without giving it another thought, she kidnapped Thumbelina along with her walnut bed. ‘Look, sonny, who I brought for you!’ she said proudly, showing him the sleeping girl. Her son, who was a really disgusting creature, did not say anything when he saw Thumbelina, just clicked his long, repulsive tongue and croaked. The swampy house of the old toad and her son was located nearby a rapid river. There were lots of water lilies floating. Their leaves looked just like tiny green rafts.
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‘We will place her on the leaf at the centre of the river’ the old toad croaked. ‘So that she won’t escape!’ she added, and placed the walnut shell with Thumbelina inside on the biggest lily leaf. ‘In the meantime, my lovely son, I will return to our swamp and make all the preparations for the wedding.’ She said and disappeared in the cold, dark river. At the same moment Thumbelina opened her sleepy eyes. She looked at the toad. ‘Where am I? What do you want?’ she asked in terror. ‘You will be my wife! Croak! Croak!’ the toad laughed. ‘Wait here, don’t move!’ he said, putting his ugly face closer to Thumbelina. ‘Soon, everything will be ready’ he whispered to her ear and swam towards the swamp. The girl shivered at the thought of spending her life with the repulsive toad. She looked around. ‘What should I do?’ she thought. ‘I can’t swim, and the leaf is so very far away from the shore!’ When she realised that probably no one could save her, she put her tiny head in her hands and started crying. ‘This is the end!’ she cried. ‘I will be the wife of that slimy toad!’ Small silvery fishes heard Thumbelina’s lament and felt sorry for her. They bit through the stalk of the lily and the leaf could float freely on the surface of the river. The leaf went with the river flow further and further from the stinky swamp, where the girl had evaded the terrible fate the toad’s wife. When the current finally diminished, a beautiful butterfly flew to the leaf and offered his help to Thumbelina. The girl passed him a leaf of grass she was using as an oar, and the butterfly grabbed it and pulled it with the water lily leaf. Thanks to the help of her winged friend, Thumbelina was moving quickly down the river and with each passing moment she was becoming more and more certain that the evil toad would never find her. She was relieved that the danger was over, and suddenly a fat stag beetle flew in and violently grabbed Thumbelina. ‘What are you doing?!’ said the frightened girl, watching as her colourful butterfly friend slowly disappeared from sight.
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The stag beetle, not explaining anything, took Thumbelina straight to a tall tree. When they reached his house, the moustachioed beetle sat comfortably in his armchair and, looking at Thumbelina, said: ‘I must admit, young lady, that you are easy on the eye!’ Thumbelina blushed. She didn’t know what to think of the compliments from the fat, moustachioed stag beetle. Then the guests arrived. It was his beetle family members who were invited to the engagement dinner. ‘And just who is that oddity?!’ asked the beetle’s cousin. ‘It’s really hideous’, said another cousin. ‘This thing doesn’t even have wings!’ the paternal uncle laughed. ‘Tell me, dear, where did you find this ugly thing?’ the aunt asked. ‘Actually, I’m not sure’ said the stag beetle. ‘I think I agree with you. Indeed, this is one extraordinarily ugly creature’ he said and asked her to leave. ‘We don’t need you here, you ugly thing. I don’t know what I was thinking inviting you here.’ ‘Please don’t say such things, mister beetle’ said Thumbelina with tears in her eyes. ‘Off you go’ said the kidnapper. Poor Thumbelina believed that what beetle and his family said was true. She recognized that since the beetle family treated her that way, she had to be really ugly. But she was so wrong! She was the most beautiful and sweetest girl imaginable! Thumbelina was forced to spend a long summer all alone in a big and dangerous forest. Since she was very resourceful, she made herself quite comfortable there, and even became fond of her new forest home. She lived under the sorrel leaf, she slept on the soft moss, and she feasted on morning dew and the fruits of the forest. Unfortunately, the warm summer does not last forever. After a few plentiful months, autumn comes. There are fewer fruits and it’s more difficult to find a warm shelter. One day Thumbelina felt that a snowflake landed on her frozen cheek. She understood that winter has come, and that could mean only one thing: she would die of starvation or cold. The poor girl curled under the yellow
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sorrel leaf and started crying. Then she saw a small, grey head a mouse emerging from a nearby burrow. ‘Why are you crying, little girl?’ asked the mouse. ‘I’m very cold and hungry’ Thumbelina replied. ‘Come to my place, you poor thing! In my burrow you will get warm and eat a decent, hot meal’ The mouse opened the door and invited the girl inside. The burrow was really cosy. Soup was simmering on the cooker and the larder was choke-full of supplies. ‘You can stay here, sweetie’ said the mouse. ‘Can you sing?’ ‘Of course’ said Thumbelina shyly. ‘So you will clean the house and sew, and when I get bored, you will sing me some songs’ the mouse commanded.
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Thumbelina gratefully helped her new landlady who saved her life. One day the girl overheard, that they are expecting a very important visitor. It was a mole, their neighbour, a very influential and learned gentleman, so the mouse was doing her best to impress him with her hospitality. ‘You must look great, little one’ she instructed Thumbelina. ‘Maybe the mole will like you and then, who knows? You might even become his wife. ‘But I don’t want to be the mole’s wife’ she replied. ‘Don’t be silly!’ the mouse gave her a slating. ‘This is the best candidate for a husband one can imagine. Rich, elegant, and very wise.’ ‘But moles live underground, and hate the sun’ replied Thumbelina. ‘And
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all I can dream of is to get warm in the rays of the spring sun, listen to the birds singing, and feel the scent of fresh flowers.’ ‘This is just childish’ said the mouse. ‘Watch out, the mole may hear you whining and will feel offended, and that is a very sensitive and well-mannered gentleman. Oh, here he comes! Good day, dear mole, our best neighbour!’ she said. ‘Good day?’ the mole was outraged. ‘What do you mean by day? I hate the day, I hate the sun’ he grunted. ‘Did you forget that, dear neighbour?’ ‘Oh, please forgive me, dear neighbour, silly me. Please let me introduce you to my new flatmate. Thumbelina, please bow before the honourable mole.’ ‘Pleased to meet you, mister mole’ the girl greeted the mole. ‘Oh, what a lovely voice’ the mole smiled. ‘Yes, yes’ the mouse agreed. ‘Thumbelina is kind, pretty and on top of that, she cleans and cooks very well, and she sings beautifully. A perfect candidate for a wife, dear neighbour! ‘Is that so, neighbour? Well, I have to take that into consideration. I am getting older, I should think about getting married.’ ‘Yes, you should’ said the mouse. ‘Let me invite you to my place’ said the mole and grabbed Thumbelina’s hand. The mouse clapped her hands in content. ‘Please don’t be alert, dear ladies. There is a dead bird in the corridor’ the mole warned. Thumbelina’s heart pounded. Indeed, in the mole’s dark corridor she noticed a swallow. ‘Oh, poor little thing…’ she sighed. ‘Oh, please’ the mole waved his hand. ‘Those birds are making me angry with all that happy tweets. You shouldn’t feel any regret. One pest less.’ He snapped. ‘Going back to the wedding…’ Mouse changed the subject. ‘We can organize the wedding in the autumn. By that time everything will have been prepared’ the mole decided. ‘What do you say, Thumbelina?’
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The girl remained silent. She lacked the courage to reject the mole’s proposal, despite the fact that she did fancy him. It would appear that her fate is sealed. At night poor Thumbelina wandered through the underground corridors thinking about her sad fate. She came up to the dead bird, hugged its feathers and started to cry. ‘Poor bird! You loved the sun as much as I did, and now, you are here, underground, in the dark, lifeless… The same thing will happen to me. I will never see the sun!’ she cried . And then she heard quiet thumping noise. She realised that inside swallow’s chest the heart was still beating! The bird was not dead, it was just frozen solid. There was a thorn in its wing. Thumbelina mended the bird’s wing and put some blankets on it.
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Day after day, keeping it a secret from the mouse and the mole, she took care of the wounded swallow. Slowly she brought it back to life. The spring has come. The swallow felt better and was ready to fly. ‘Come with me!’ the bird said. ‘I can’t’ she cried. ‘I gave my word that I will marry the mole. I will spend the rest of my days at his side, in darkness.’ ‘I will always remember you, Thumbelina’ the swallow promised. Thumbelina spent the whole summer in the cold and dark burrow and only from time to time, in secret, she would go outside to listen to the birds singing. The closer the autumn was, the more she was concerned, that after the wedding nothing will change for her. When the first leaves fell from the tree, she had an unexpected guest; it was the swallow who came to say goodbye before flying to warmer lands. ‘Fly with me, little one’ the bird encouraged her. ‘I’m going to a place where the winter never comes and the sun always shines. You can’t stay here in the dark.’ Thumbelina already knew that she would not stand the sad life at the mole’s side, and it’s not much time before the wedding. She decided to follow the swallow’s advice and run away to the tropics. The journey was long and perilous. When they finally arrived in the warm land, Thumbelina could not believe her eyes. The meadows were full of colourful flowers, birds were singing happily and the sky was clear. ‘It’s so beautiful’. Then the swallow placed Thumbelina on one of the most beautiful flowers. ‘From now on, this will be your new home’ she said. The girl spread the petals and was surprised to see that there was a little man inside. One quite similar to her; at least evenly beautiful. He had wonderful, glittering wings, and a golden crown. ‘Welcome, beautiful creature’ he said, impressed by her beauty. ‘I am the flower spirit, the king of all flowers.’ The king was mesmerised, and without thinking too much about it, he proposed to Thumbelina and decided to make her his queen.
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The girl accepted him and soon a great wedding took place, and every flower spirit was invited. She received beautiful wings as a wedding gift and a golden crown was placed on her head. The flower king was a great husband, so different from the repulsive toad, the malicious stag beetle or the sombre mole. From that moment the small Thumbelina lived happily under the sun, listening to singing birds.
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awno, dawno temu, żyła sobie pewna kobieta. Była bardzo samotna, dlatego z całego serca pragnęła zostać mamą. Mijały jednak lata, a dom kobiety nadal pozostawał pusty.