Encyclopedia of fairy-tale heroes: "Thumbelina". Tales of different nations
Title of the work: Thumbelina
Hans Christian Andersen
Year of writing: 1835
Genre: fairy tale
Main characters: tiny girl born from a flower
Plot
One woman had no children, and she raised her daughter in a flower. She was born very small, so she was named Thumbelina. The girl was very beautiful, and so she was kidnapped by a disgusting toad as a bride for his ugly son. Then the cockchafer fell in love with her. But after all these adventures, the girl was left alone in the forest, autumn came, and she had to look for shelter. At this difficult moment, an old mouse took in the baby, forced the girl to work, and then married her to a rich blind mole.The girl did not at all want to become the wife of a blind mole, but she was saved by a swallow, whose life the poor girl saved in winter by sheltering her and secretly bringing her food. The swallow took the baby to distant lands, where the prince of the elves fell in love with her and made her his wife.
Conclusion (my opinion)
As in everyone fairy tales, main character Many trials and troubles awaited her, but she remained the same kind, meek and sweet girl, and as a result, fate gave her happiness.A fairy tale about the fate of a little girl. About the trials she faced. The baby was kidnapped by a green toad. She had to sleep under open air in winter. And she almost married a mole. A swallow saved Thumbelina and took her to a distant happy land.
The main idea of the fairy tale is that after many difficulties happiness still comes.
Read a summary of the fairy tale Thumbelina by Andersen
The fairy tale "Thumbelina" was written by Hans Christian Andersen. It tells how one woman really wanted to have a child. Desperate, she went to some witch, who took pity on the poor woman and gave her a magic grain. He needed to be planted in the ground. The woman did just that: she put a seed in a flower pot, watered it, and soon a delicate flower appeared, which had the shape of a tulip. On its petal sat a tiny girl with long eyelashes. Because of her small stature, the girl was named Thumbelina.
It was beautiful, sunny, warm weather. Thumbelina slept in a nutshell right on the windowsill, and the gentle wind gently tugged at her curls. The girl was happy.
One night in open window When Thumbelina was sleeping sweetly, a large green toad jumped up. She grabbed the nutshell that contained the girl and galloped off to the swamp. Her loud croaking woke up Thumbelina, and she opened her eyes. Imagine her surprise when she realized that she was far from home, right on a water lily leaf. With her eyes wide open in horror, the girl looked at the toad, which was croaking something to her.
Thumbelina realized that she wanted to marry her to her son, and this made her even more upset. She sat and cried, and her tears dripped into the river. A fish swimming past volunteered to help the girl. She called a hermit crab for help, who cut off the stem with his claws and Thumbelina swam. She threw her little belt over the butterfly, and the water lily leaf floated even faster. The toad rushed after him. She almost grabbed the girl who was in last minute picked up by a beautiful beetle with large mustaches. He took Thumbelina up a tree and began to admire her beauty. But this did not last long, as the other beetles did not like the girl. Everyone laughed at her, and the kind beetle, who had just showered her with compliments, immediately changed his mind. He apologized to Thumbelina and lowered her to the ground.
The girl lived in nature all summer. She wove herself a small bed from leaves and blades of grass. In the rain she covered herself with a burdock leaf, and in clear weather she basked in the sun.
Summer is over, and it has been replaced by cold autumn with frequent showers and cold winds. And then winter came completely. The girl was literally dying from the cold and without food. One day she came across a big mouse's hole and knocked on the door. The mouse turned out to be compassionate and immediately let Thumbelina into the house. The girl ate half the grain and immediately felt better. The field mouse liked that the girl did not eat much, and she kept her with her. A blind mole lived next door. He was a recluse and did not like sunlight. His whole occupation boiled down to the fact that he constantly counted his wealth. One day, the mouse came up with a brilliant idea: she decided to marry Thumbelina to a mole. The girl resisted with all her might. One day, while walking through the mole's underground domain, she saw a large dead bird. She was lying on cold ground, and didn’t move. It was a swallow. The girl affectionately stroked her belly big bird, and suddenly heard her heart beating.
Thumbelina appeared and immediately slipped several last year's leaves under it, and also covered it from above. All winter the kind girl looked after the sick bird, and when spring came, the swallow grew stronger and flew away. At parting, she thanked Thumbelina from the bottom of her heart.
Meanwhile, the persistent mouse was preparing for the wedding. When Thumbelina had no choice but to agree, she asked to be allowed to admire the sun. The mole and the mouse were surprised by the girl’s strange request, but still agreed.
Thumbelina was saying goodbye to the sunlight when she suddenly heard someone calling her. It was the swallow again. She was flying to warmer lands, and Thumbelina decided to fly with her. She sat on the back of the cute swallow, and they flew off.
The field mouse ran out to see where Thumbelina was, and was extremely surprised to see that the girl had flown away. They flew over forests and seas, and eventually arrived in some magical land. A beautiful elf flew out of a flower to meet her and immediately captivated the heart of the charming Thumbelina.
Picture or drawing of Thumbelina
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Fairy tale Thumbelina summary:
The fairy tale “Thumbelina” is about the magical adventures of a very little girl. She lived with kind woman in a flower. But the toad stole her to marry her son. But Thumbelina ran away across the water on a leaf. Along the way, She meets cockchafers, who really liked her. Then Thumbelina ended up in a mouse hole, where she remained to spend the winter and where she found a frozen swallow. The girl became a swallow, secretly from the mole and the mouse.
The mouse decided to marry her to the rich but stingy Mole. And then the Swallow came to the aid of Thumbelina, whom the girl had once taken pity on and saved from certain death. The swallow took her to the fairyland of the elves, where among the beautiful flowers she meets the king of the elves, with whom they fall in love and from then on they lived happily ever after.
This fairy tale teaches you to be responsive and help those who need help. The fairy tale also shows that every person has a choice. And it's better to choose love than material benefit. And even if you are short or unusual in some other way, you can still be happy, like others.
Thumbelina fairy tale read:
Once upon a time there lived a woman. She really wanted to have children, especially a girl, but time passed and her wish was never fulfilled. One day she went to the witch to help her and received from her a grain of barley, which the witch said should be planted in a flower pot. She did so and the next day a wonderful flower resembling a tulip grew and blossomed in the pot. Its petals were still half-closed. The woman exclaimed in delight:
- What a beautiful flower! “She leaned towards him and gently kissed the flower petals.
At that very moment, something clicked inside the flower and it blossomed. It really was a tender tulip blue color, and in the middle of the cup of petals sat a small live girl. She was very tiny, no more than an inch tall. Hence her nickname - Thumbelina.
Her young mother was so happy about her newborn daughter. She made a cradle for Thumbelina from a shell walnut. She put violet petals in it, which served as a feather bed, and Thumbelina covered herself with a blanket of rose petals. She slept in this wonderful cradle at night, and during the day Thumbelina played on the table.
For the game, the woman put a blue plate filled with water on the table, and put tulip petals in it, and Thumbelina swam on them, like in a boat. Horse hair served as oars. She spent whole days riding on her favorite boat, swimming from one side of the plate lake to the other and singing songs. She had such a gentle voice that no one had ever heard before.
One night, when Thumbelina was fast asleep, a large ugly toad jumped onto her table through the open window. She saw Thumbelina sleeping and thought to herself:
- What a beauty! She will be a wonderful bride for my son.
And the toad grabbed the nut shell along with the sleeping girl and jumped back into the garden through the window.
A river flowed behind the garden, and right under its bank there was a swamp. Here the old toad lived with his son in the swamp mud. Her son was as wet and disgusting as his mother!
- Koas, koax, brekke-ke-cake! - he croaked when he saw a little girl in a nutshell.
Shut up! If you wake her up ahead of time, she will run away from us,” the old toad told him.
And so that Thumbelina would not run away from them, the toad carried her to the middle of the river and placed her cradle on a water lily leaf, and she returned back to the swamp to begin preparations for the wedding.
How frightened Thumbelina was when she woke up in the morning and saw where she was. She was surrounded by water on all sides, and the shore was so far away! She covered her eyes with her hands and cried bitterly.
Soon a toad and her son sailed to her, she introduced Thumbelina to her future groom, took her cradle to set up in her home, and they sailed away again.
Poor Thumbelina cried even more than ever when she learned about her bitter fate. She sat on the edge of a water lily leaf and her tears dripped into the water. Little fish swimming in the water heard the toad talking. They stuck their heads out of the water to look at the bride and when they saw Thumbelina, they felt very sorry for her and began to think about how to help her avoid the wedding. After all, such a charming little girl should not live with disgusting toads and, moreover, in a disgusting stinking swamp!
The fish found a crawling crayfish at the bottom of the river and persuaded it to cut the stem of the water lily leaf on which Thumbelina was sitting. Cancer willingly complied with their request after hearing the story of the poor girl.
And so the water lily leaf floated down the river, carrying Thumbelina with it. She swam quite quickly and was soon already far from the swamp with toads.
- Oh, what beautiful girl! - the birds sang.
One moth also wanted to help Thumbelina run away from the vile toads, and the girl took off the belt from her dress and threw one end over it, and tied the other to a leaf. So she swam even faster. And at this time, a cockchafer flies past. He saw Thumbelina and immediately fell in love, grabbed her from the leaf and carried her up the tree. A green leaf The water lilies continued to float further along with the moth, because Thumbelina tied him very tightly.
Poor Thumbelina was very frightened when the beetle grabbed her with its furry paws, and besides, she was thinking about the poor moth. What will happen to him now? Witchon will die if he cannot free himself.
And the cockchafer admired the girl. He sat her down next to him on a tree branch and said that he really liked her, although she was not like cockchafers. He was a kind beetle and soon Thumbelina was no longer afraid of him.
Then the beetle decided to show it to his friends. He grabbed her again thin waist and carried it to another tree, where fun and dancing took place. The Maybugs looked at Thumbelina with interest, and their daughters spread their wings in bewilderment:
- Look, she only has two legs!
- And there aren’t even tentacles!
“How weak and thin she is, she’ll break in half at any moment,” they laughed at Thumbelina.
And the cockchafer, who brought her, looked at Thumbelina and also thought that she was completely ugly and since his friends didn’t like her, it was better to say goodbye to her. He flew down with Thumbelina and planted her on a daisy flower.
Little Thumbelina sat on a flower and cried: she was very sad and thought that she was so ugly that even the cockchafers drove her away!
In fact, there has probably never been a prettier and sweeter girl in the world. But she didn't know that.
And Thumbelina began to live alone in the big forest. She lived there all summer. She ate sweet flower honey and drank dew from the leaves, which she found every morning on the grass. She slept in a cradle, which she wove herself from grass stems and hung it under large sheet burdock, which sheltered her from rain and sun.
Autumn has come. The leaves began to fall and it became colder every day. Birds flew south to warmer climes. The burdock leaf under which Thumbelina lived also withered and fell off. And Thumbelina went to look for a new shelter, she left the forest and went to a field that was nearby.
The cold penetrated through her. Her dress was all torn and she didn’t even have anything to warm herself with. She wrapped herself in a dried leaf and was shaking all over from the cold.
It began to snow, and for Thumbelina, each snowflake was like a whole shovel of snow, because she was so small!
It was even colder in the field than in the forest, and Thumbelina was very cold as she made her way among the dried stems.
Then she approached a field mouse hole. The entrance to her hole was tightly covered with leaves. The field mouse lived very well. She was warm and her pantry was filled to the brim with supplies for the winter. Thumbelina knocked on the door and asked the mouse for food, even a piece of barley grain - she had not eaten anything for two days.
- Oh, you poor thing! - the field mouse took pity on her (she was a kind old lady). Come here, eat and warm up with me!
Thumbelina happily went down into her hole, warmed herself by the fire and ate.
When the mouse saw how little the girl was eating, she decided to keep her.
“Stay with me for the winter,” she told her. - I will feed you, and you will clean my house and tell me fairy tales - I love them very much!
And Thumbelina, of course, stayed.
She carried out all the orders of the old mouse and lived quite well in her warm, secluded hole.
One day a field mouse told Thumbelina that guests would come to them:
— My neighbor the mole always visits me. He is very rich and lives much better than me. He has big house underground, and you’ve probably never seen his magnificent fur coat. And you should marry him! You'll be like him stone wall! But he’s completely blind and won’t see how pretty you are. But you will tell him your best fairy tale.
But Thumbelina did not want to marry the mole at all. Soon he actually came to visit them. He actually wore a rich fur coat - made of dark velvet. But, as he himself said, the mole hated the sun and scolded all flowers. But why be surprised here, because he had never seen them in his life.
Thumbelina sang several of her songs and the mole really liked him, although he didn’t say anything out loud, he was so important.
After visiting a field mouse, the mole dug an underground passage from her burrow to his house and invited the old woman and her adopted daughter to take a walk there. They took a lantern with them and went. Halfway there they found big bird. She lay motionless and completely lifeless.
“Don’t be afraid of her,” said the mole, “she’s dead.” You can see this for yourself.
The mole dug a small hole in the ceiling, light leaked through it and Thumbelina actually saw the dead swallow. She probably died from the cold. Thumbelina felt very sorry for her. She loved birds, their cheerful chirping, and in the summer she often admired their flight in the sky.
The mole grumbled for a while at the lifeless creature and turned to move on. And while Thumbelina was not being seen, she leaned over to the swallow, spread her feathers and kissed her right on the mirrored eyes.
“Maybe this is the same swallow that I admired in the summer and whose singing I liked so much,” the girl thought. “How much joy you brought me, dear swallow!”
That night Thumbelina could not sleep. She kept thinking about the poor swallow lying alone there in the dark dungeon. And then she got up, weaved a large carpet from dry blades of grass and, making her way into the underground gallery, covered the dead bird with it. After that, she went to the field mouse’s pantry and found warm fluff and dry moss there and wrapped it around the swallow from all sides - so she it was much warmer and softer to lie down.
“Goodbye, dear swallow,” she said. – Farewell and thank you for your wonderful songs that you sang in the summer, when the sun was warm and everything was green.
She pressed herself goodbye to the bird’s chest and suddenly heard her heart beating inside her! The swallow was not dead at all - she was only numb from the frost, but now she began to warm up and come to life.
Soon she completely came to her senses and told Thumbelina how she had injured her wing on a thorn bush and could not fly with the others to warmer lands. The cold autumn wind froze her light body. She became numb, fell to the ground dead and was covered with snow. She didn't remember anything else.
Thumbelina was so happy to see the bird awaken, she wrapped her up warmly, ran into her hole, and brought water and grain for her.
The next day she slowly made her way to the swallow again. The bird had already completely come to life, although it was still quite weak.
- Thank you, dear baby! – the sick swallow thanked. “You warmed me up so well!” Soon I will feel completely better and I will be able to fly to the sun.
- But it’s winter and frost outside, it’s snowing there! - said Thumbelina. “You better stay here, and I’ll look after you.”
And Thumbelina began to visit her friend every day. She brought her barley grains and water in a flower petal. They lived like this all winter. Thumbelina did not say a word about her secret to either the mole or the old mouse, because she knew that they did not like birds at all.
Spring came, the sun began to warm up and Thumbelina one fine day opened a window in the ceiling, which the mole had dug, and released the swallow into the wild. At parting, the swallow thanked the girl with all her heart for all the affection and care with which she surrounded her all winter and asked if she would like to fly away with her?
Thumbelina really wanted this, but she was sorry to leave the field mouse.
- No, I can’t! – she sighed in response.
- Well, then goodbye! Goodbye, sweet girl! – the swallow chirped and flew into the sky.
Thumbelina looked after her for a long time and tears rolled down her cheeks. It was very difficult for her to part with her friend.
“Our neighbor the mole wooed you and I agreed.” We need to start preparing your dowry. You are getting married to an important person and you need to have plenty of everything.
And she made Thumbelina spin yarn all day long. The old woman hired four spiders and they wove different fabrics and lace from their thin web day and night.
Thumbelina was very unhappy, but she was afraid to contradict the field mouse and did everything as she said.
Every morning and every evening she went beyond the threshold of the mouse hole to admire the sun, and sometimes she even managed to see the blue sky between the ears of the field. She always really wanted to see the swallow, but it never flew over the field. She must have built herself a nest somewhere far from here over the blue river.
And then autumn came. Thumbelina's dowry was ready and the field mouse announced to her that her wedding would be in four weeks. And, although Thumbelina began to persuade the mouse not to marry her to a boring blind mole, she only brushed her off and continued preparations.
The wedding day arrived and the mole came for his bride. Poor Thumbelina asked him to say goodbye to look at the sky and the sun once again. He laughed at her desire, but allowed it.
And she went out to look at white light for the last time. The grain in the field had already been harvested and the sky and the sun became clearly visible. The girl moved away from the mouse hole and stretched out her hands to the sun:
- Goodbye, sunshine, goodbye! Then she saw a small red flower, hugged it and said:
- Dear flower, if you see a swallow, give her a bow from Thumbelina.
- Twi-tweet, twi-tweet! - suddenly came from above her head.
Thumbelina raised her head and saw a swallow flying over the field. The swallow also saw the girl and was very happy. She sank to the ground, and Thumbelina, crying, told her friend how she did not want to marry the old gloomy mole and live with him deep underground, where the sun never looks.
- It's already coming cold winter“, said the swallow, “and I fly far, far away, to distant lands.” Do you want to fly with me? Sit on my back, just tie yourself tightly with a belt, and we will fly away from the ugly mole, we will fly far, beyond the blue seas, to warm lands where the sun shines brighter, where it is eternal summer and flowers always bloom. Come fly with me, sweet baby! You saved my life when I was freezing in a dark, cold hole.
- Yes, yes, I will fly with you! - said Thumbelina. She sat on the swallow's back and tied herself tightly with a belt to the largest and strongest feather.
The swallow took off into the sky like an arrow and flew over the dark forests, over the blue seas and high mountains, covered with snow. It was very cold here, and Thumbelina buried herself entirely in the warm feathers of the swallow, sticking out only one head to admire the magnificent places over which they flew.
Here come the warmer lands! The sun shone much brighter here, the sky seemed higher, and curly green grapes curled along the hedges. Oranges and lemons ripened in the groves, and cheerful children ran along the paths and caught large colorful butterflies.
However, the swallow flew further and further. On the shore of a clear blue lake, among spreading trees, stood an ancient white marble palace. Grapevines entwined its high columns, and above, under the roof, were birds' nests. A swallow lived in one of them.
- This is my house! - she said. - And you choose the most beautiful flower for yourself. I will put you in his cup, and you will heal perfectly.
Thumbelina really liked the new place. Here, in the tall grass, flowers grew large and white, like snow. The swallow landed on the flowers and helped the girl move onto a large petal of one of them. But what suddenly happened? A small elf emerged from the cup of this flower; he was all light and seemed transparent, as if he was made of crystal or flower dew. He had wings behind his shoulders, and on his head a small golden crown shone in the light of the sun, and the elf was not a little taller than our Thumbelina. This was the real king of the elves.
When he saw Thumbelina, he fell in love with her at first sight. He joyfully approached her and asked:
-What is your name, beauty?
- Thumbelina! - she responded.
“Dear, gentle Thumbelina,” said the elf, “I ask you, marry me and become the queen of all flowers.” Do you agree?
Thumbelina also fell in love with the elf king from the first moment and happily agreed. And since then, Thumbelina lives in the land of flowers and she and the king live happily and cheerfully. Maybe someday you will be able to meet them and they will take you through the fields and meadows and show you their wonderful kingdom.
A childless woman, on the advice of a witch, raised an inch-tall girl, Thumbelina, from a tulip seed. A nut shell became a cradle for her, a tulip petal in a dish with water and flowers became a boat, where the girl swam and sang. One night the toad stole her away to make her a bride for his ugly son. The cry of Thumbelina, sitting on a water lily leaf while the toads were decorating their home, moved the fish to pity - they gnawed the stem and the girl swam with the flow, harnessing a moth to her boat. The beauty was carried away by the cockchafer, but his relatives did not like the frail girl, and he left her in the chamomile. Thumbelina burst into tears because she considered herself ugly, although in fact she was very pretty.
In winter, the girl left the forest and walked to the hole of a field mouse. She warmed and fed the poor thing, kept her with her and advised her to marry a rich mole. While visiting this enviable groom, Thumbelina saw a swallow - everyone thought she was dead, but the girl, covering the bird with a blanket of grass, heard the bird’s heart beating. All winter Thumbelina looked after the swallow, which was injured on a thorn bush and fell behind its relatives, and in the spring it flew away, inviting the girl to fly with her (she refused - it was a pity to leave the mouse).
Meanwhile, a mole had already wooed Thumbelina, and everyone was preparing for the wedding. In the fall, the dowry was ready, and when the girl said that she did not want to marry the mole, the mouse threatened with its teeth. On the wedding day, the bride went out to say goodbye to the sun and flowers, and met a swallow. The bird again offered to fly away, and this time Thumbelina did not refuse. In a warm land, a swallow planted her friend in a flower where the king of the elves sat. He proposed to the beauty; She was given a pair of beautiful wings for her wedding.
Hans Christian Andersen has long been popular in our country. "Thumbelina" summary which will be presented in the article, is one of the favorite fairy tales of the Danish writer.
Story
In December 1835, the work was first published in Copenhagen. Critics reacted with disapproval. And only one wrote that the fairy tale was amazing. The children really liked "Thumbelina". A summary of the tale cannot fully convey its charm. It's better to buy the book in a store.
The image of the main character
This is a little girl. It's only an inch in size. She is courageous, patient and constant. The girl had kind heart and always tried to help everyone who was in trouble.
Andersen, "Thumbelina": summary
The fairy tale tells about a woman who did not have children, but really wanted to. And on the advice of one witch, she raised a little girl from a barley grain. A walnut shell became her cradle. She slept in it at night and played on the table during the day. There the girl had a whole lake, more precisely, a deep plate of water, and flowers were laid out along the edge. Thumbelina swam across her small lake and sang songs. She had a wonderful and gentle voice, better than which no one had heard.
But one day a large toad burst into Thumbelina’s calm and joyful life. At night she snuck into the window where the girl’s cradle stood. The Toad stole Thumbelina to marry her ugly son. The girl was carried to the middle of the river and placed on a leaf so that she would not run away and the wedding could be organized.
When the toads left to prepare a home for the newlyweds, Thumbelina began to cry. The fish heard her and decided to help. They gnawed the stem of the leaf, and the cute little girl swam away from these toads. And then she ended up with the cockchafer, but his friends considered the girl too puny and ugly. Then he left Thumbelina on the daisy. Upset, she sat and cried. She thought she was ugly, although in fact she was pretty.
Thumbelina reached the place where she was warmed and fed. She advised the girl to marry a rich mole. But he was old and the heroine didn’t like him; she dreamed of running away, but didn’t know where.
Throughout the winter, Thumbelina looked after the Swallow, whom everyone considered dead. But the girl heard the bird’s heart beating. In the spring, the swallow had to fly away, and she called her savior with her. But she refused because she did not want to leave the field mouse. When things began to move towards a wedding with the mole, the girl began to regret that she had not flown away with the bird. And on the main day before the wedding, Thumbelina asked to go outside to say goodbye to the sun, where she met a swallow. And this time she did not refuse to fly away with her.
They flew away together to a warm land, where Thumbelina ended up on a flower, next to the king of the elves. At the end of the fairy tale, the elf king proposes to her, and the girl receives a pair of wings for the wedding.
Every child and adult must read the work “Thumbelina,” a brief summary of which is outlined above, in its entirety.
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