Thumbelina (part 3).
Thumbelina told the field mouse of the horrible frog who took her away from her home. She told her how much she couldn't wait to get back to her mother and her garden. The field mouse invited Thumbelina to stay with her for the Winter. Together they gathered nuts, grains, and berries for the cold months ahead. Thumbelina sang songs and told stories, while the field mouse cokked their dinner or sewed by the fire. One day it began to snow lightly. Thumbelina had never seen snow before, so she opened the door to peek outside. But as she looked outside, she saw something strange. Lying near the front door was a young sparrow with a broken wing. He was shivering and he looked sad. Thumbelina called the field mouse. Together they helped the sparrow into the burrow and fed him some soup. Thumbelina, the sparrow, and the old field mouse spent the Winter together in the burrow. Thumbelina helped to mend the sparrow's wing so that he would be able to fly again. She told them stories of her kind mother and the beautiful garden where she was born. She hoped she would see her home again. One day, Thumbelina poked her head outside the burrown again. Tiny green shoots were beginning to appear all over the meadow. "Spring is coming!" she shouted to her friends. Soon the days were warm and sunny. The sparrow decided it was time to leave the burrow. "Thumbelina," he said, "you saved my life. Now I woiuld like to help you find your mother." Thumbelina said good-bye to her field mouse friend and climbed on top of the sparrow. She held on tight to the sparrow's feathers as he flew high above the trees. "Do you think we will ever find my mother?" Thumbelina asked the sparrow. "Yes, but first I have something special to show you," said the sparrow. He flew deep into the forest and landed gently in a thicket. All around them, beautiful flowers blossomed. No sooner had they landed, than a lily opened and out stepped a tiny boy. He wore a crown on his head, and he had a pair of shiny wings. "I am the Prince of the Flowers,: said the boy. "Live with us and be the Princess of the Flowers." He gave her a tiny pair of silvery wings and a beautiful crown. But Thumbelina missed her mother. She agreed to come back to the prince, but she had to see her mother. When Thumbelina flew into her mother's garden, the woman was so overjoyed to see her tiny daughter that she laughed and cried for joy. |