English Original
There was once a poor peasant who sat by the hearth poking the fire, while his wife sat and spun. "How sad it is that we have no children!" he said. "Our home is so quiet, while others' are noisy and lively."
"Yes," sighed his wife. "Even if we had just one child, even if it were no bigger than a thumb, I would be satisfied, and we would love it with all our hearts."
Soon after, the woman gave birth to a child who was perfect in every way, but no larger than a thumb. They named him Thumbling. Though he never grew taller, he was wise, nimble, and everything he did turned out well.
One day, as the peasant prepared to cut wood in the forest, he wished aloud for someone to bring the cart to him. "Oh father," cried Thumbling, "I will bring the cart!" The father smiled, "But you are too small to lead the horse." "If mother harnesses the horse," Thumbling replied, "I will sit in its ear and tell it where to go."
They agreed to try. The mother harnessed the horse and placed Thumbling in its ear. "Gee up!" he cried, and the cart set off perfectly into the forest.
As they turned a corner, two strangers saw the cart moving but could see no driver. Astonished, they followed it to where the wood was being cut. There, they saw the tiny Thumbling and decided he could make their fortune. They offered to buy him from his father.
"No," said the father. "He is the apple of my eye, and no money can buy him."
But Thumbling whispered to his father, "Let me go, I will soon return." So the father agreed for a sum of money. The men placed Thumbling on the rim of a hat and set off.
At dusk, Thumbling asked to be set down. Once on the ground, he slipped into a mouse-hole, mocking the men who tried in vain to catch him. After they left, he found an empty snail-shell to sleep in for the night.
Soon, he overheard two thieves planning to steal a pastor's silver and gold. "I can help you!" Thumbling called out. The thieves found him and, intrigued by his size, took him along.
At the pastor's house, Thumbling crept inside through the bars but then shouted loudly, "Do you want everything here?" The thieves, terrified of being caught, told him to be quiet. But Thumbling shouted again, waking the maid. The thieves fled, and Thumbling hid in the granary.
Exhausted, he buried himself in the hay to sleep. At dawn, the maid gathered hay for the cows, unknowingly picking up Thumbling with it. He was swallowed by a cow.
Inside the cow's stomach, Thumbling cried, "Bring me no more fodder!" The maid, hearing the voice, was terrified and told the pastor the cow was speaking. The pastor, also alarmed, ordered the cow killed. Its stomach was thrown onto a dung heap.
As Thumbling tried to escape, a hungry wolf swallowed the whole stomach. Unfazed, Thumbling called from inside the wolf, "Dear wolf, I know where you can find a feast!" He directed the wolf to his parents' house, telling it to enter through the kitchen sink.
The wolf ate its fill in the larder but grew too fat to escape. Thumbling then began to shout and make noise inside it. The noise woke his parents, who saw the wolf and armed themselves.
"Dear father, I am here, in the wolf's body!" Thumbling cried. Overjoyed, his father killed the wolf and cut it open to rescue his son.
"Ah, father," said Thumbling, "I have been in a mouse-hole, a cow's stomach, and a wolf's belly. Now I am happy to be home."
"We will never part with you again," said his parents, embracing him. They gave him food, drink, and new clothes, for his own had been spoiled on his journey.
中文翻译
从前，一个贫穷的农夫坐在炉边拨火，他的妻子坐着纺线。农夫说：“我们没有孩子，多么可悲啊！我们家这么安静，别人家却热闹又充满生机。”
“是啊，”妻子叹气道，“哪怕我们只有一个孩子，哪怕他只有拇指那么大，我也会心满意足，我们会全心全意爱他。”
不久后，妻子生下了一个孩子，四肢健全，但只有拇指大小。他们给他取名叫大拇指汤姆。汤姆虽然长不高，但他聪明、敏捷，做的每件事都很顺利。
一天，农夫准备去森林砍柴，他自言自语道：“真希望有人能把马车给我送来！”“哦，父亲，”汤姆喊道，“我来送马车！您放心，它一定准时到森林。”父亲笑了，“可你太小了，牵不了马缰绳。”“没关系，父亲，”汤姆说，“只要母亲套好马，我就坐在马耳朵里指挥它怎么走。”
他们同意试一试。母亲套好马，把汤姆放在马耳朵里。“驾！驾！”他喊道，马车便稳稳当当地驶向森林。
转弯时，两个陌生人看到马车在动，却看不见车夫。他们惊讶地跟着马车来到伐木的地方。在那里，他们看到了小汤姆，认为他能让他们发财，于是提出要买下他。
“不，”父亲说，“他是我的掌上明珠，多少钱都不卖。”
但汤姆悄悄对父亲说：“让我去吧，我很快就会回来。”于是父亲收了一笔钱，同意了。那两人把汤姆放在帽檐上就出发了。
黄昏时，汤姆要求下来。一到地上，他就溜进一个老鼠洞，还嘲笑那两人，他们徒劳地想抓住他。他们离开后，汤姆找到一个空蜗牛壳，在里面过夜。
不久，他听到两个小偷计划去偷牧师的银子和金子。“我能帮你们！”汤姆喊道。小偷找到了他，对他的体型很感兴趣，就带他一起走了。
到了牧师家，汤姆从栏杆缝隙爬了进去，然后大声喊道：“你们想要这里所有的东西吗？”小偷怕被发现，叫他小声点。但汤姆又喊了起来，吵醒了女仆。小偷逃跑了，汤姆则躲进了谷仓。
他累坏了，钻进干草堆里睡觉。天亮时，女仆给牛取草料，不知不觉把汤姆也抱了起来。结果，汤姆被一头牛吞了下去。
在牛肚子里，汤姆喊道：“别再给我喂草料了！”女仆听到声音吓坏了，告诉牧师牛在说话。牧师也很惊慌，下令把牛杀了。牛的胃被扔到了粪堆上。
汤姆正试图爬出来时，一只饿狼把整个胃吞了下去。汤姆毫不气馁，从狼肚子里喊道：“亲爱的狼，我知道哪里有一场盛宴！”他把狼引到自己父母家，告诉它从厨房的水槽钻进去。
狼在储藏室里大吃特吃，结果吃得太胖，出不去了。汤姆开始在它肚子里大喊大叫。吵闹声吵醒了他的父母，他们看到狼，便拿起了武器。
“亲爱的父亲，我在这里，在狼的肚子里！”汤姆喊道。父亲欣喜若狂，打死了狼，剖开狼肚救出了儿子。
“啊，父亲，”汤姆说，“我去过老鼠洞、牛肚子，还有狼的肚子。现在终于回家，我真高兴。”
“我们再也不和你分开了，”父母拥抱着他说。他们给他吃的、喝的，还做了新衣服，因为他原来的衣服在旅途中弄坏了。