Once upon a time, a woman longed for a tiny child. An old witch gave her a magical barley-corn. When planted, it grew into a tulip, and from its center emerged a beautiful girl no bigger than half a thumb. She was named Thumbelina.
Thumbelina lived in a walnut-shell cradle. One night, an ugly toad stole her, intending her to marry her son. Thumbelina was placed on a water-lily leaf in a stream. Helped by sympathetic fish who nibbled the stem, the leaf floated away, carrying her to freedom.
Her journey led her to a cockchafer, who admired her but later abandoned her under peer pressure. She spent a lonely summer and faced a harsh winter. Seeking shelter, she found a kind field-mouse who took her in.
The field-mouse's neighbor, a wealthy but blind mole, wished to marry Thumbelina. While visiting the mole's tunnel, Thumbelina discovered and tenderly nursed a frozen swallow back to health. In spring, the swallow offered to take her away, but she stayed out of duty to the field-mouse.
Forced into an engagement with the mole, Thumbelina was heartbroken at the prospect of living underground forever. As she bid farewell to the sun, her swallow friend returned. She confessed her despair, and the swallow carried her away to a warm, beautiful land.
There, the swallow set Thumbelina upon a beautiful white flower. Inside, she met a tiny flower prince, who was enchanted by her beauty. He proposed, making her his queen and giving her the name May Blossom. Thumbelina found her true home among the flowers, while the swallow, though sad to part, returned to his own life.