One day, there was a poor belt maker living with his wife in a house near the forest. They had seven children. The youngest was a very delicate and sensitive child who didn’t talk much, to the extent that people described him as stupid. When this child was born, his size didn’t exceed that of a thumb, so they named him Thumb. But in reality, he was wiser than all his brothers, despite being the smallest in size and youngest in age.
The poor father worked and toiled, but unfortunately, the father remained without work for a long time. The father no longer found food to feed his children. One evening, he sat with his wife near the fire and said to her with great sadness that they must get rid of the seven children by leaving them in the forest before they died of hunger.
The mother rejected this idea at first and screamed at her husband, “How can we leave them in the forest so wolves eat them?” He said to her, “That’s better than watching them die of hunger.” Little Thumb was awake at that time and heard his parents’ conversation. He didn’t sleep and stayed awake until dawn.
Before his father woke up, Little Thumb sneaked out of the house, gathered a large amount of white pebbles, then returned to his home. When the parents woke up, they told their children that they had to go with them to the forest to gather firewood. When they reached a far place inside the forest, their father asked them to go far away to gather firewood, and the parents returned to the home.
The children searched for their parents and didn’t find them. They sat crying, but Little Thumb told them that their parents were waiting for them at home and that they must calm down and follow him until they returned to their home. At that time, the parents were sitting in the cottage, feeling sad about leaving their children. At the same time, the owner of the farm where they lived came and gave them ten coins he owed to the belt maker.
The mother said, “Unfortunately, we won’t be able to feed our children now.” But suddenly, the children entered through the door. The mother and father rejoiced. They bought food and fed their children. But after several days, the money ran out, and the food ran out. The father thought about returning the children to the forest. He said to his wife that he would leave them in the forest the next day. Little Thumb heard their conversation again, but this time, the father locked the door well.
In the morning, the father gave a piece of bread to each child. Little Thumb crumbled the bread into small pieces and scattered them on the way. But birds came and ate the bread crumbs, so the children got lost inside the forest. Little Thumb reassured them and said to them that they must walk together and look for shelter.
Suddenly, they found a beautiful cottage in the forest. They knocked on the door. A kind lady opened for them and asked them what they wanted. Little Thumb said to her that they were lost in the forest. The lady felt sad and said to them, “Unfortunately, you poor children. This house is the ogre’s house. He loves eating children.”
Little Thumb said to her, “But if we stay in the forest, wolves will eat us.” She said to them, “Good, I’ll hide you under the bed until morning.” She placed delicious food for them and made them sit in front of the fireplace. But suddenly, they heard the ogre’s voice. They ran and hid under the bed.
When the ogre entered, his wife had prepared a sheep for him for dinner. He said to her, “I smell fresh meat.” She said to him, “This is the sheep’s meat.” But he said to her that he smelled children’s meat and started searching all over the house until he found them. The children were very afraid. His wife said to him, “They are small children and won’t satisfy you when you eat them. What do you think about feeding them today and devouring them tomorrow?”
The ogre agreed to that idea and asked his wife to prepare a lot of food for them. But Thumb knew that the ogre wouldn’t wait until morning. The ogre had seven small daughters, and they were sleeping in one room on one bed. Above the head of each small ogre of them was a golden crown.
After the ogre fell asleep, Thumb sneaked, took the hats on his brothers’ heads, and placed them on the heads of the ogre’s daughters. He placed the crowns on his brothers’ heads. A while later, the ogre sneaked, carrying a knife, and entered the room in the dark. He killed the seven girls because he thought they were the children, then returned to his room.
Thumb was awake and saw the ogre. He woke his brothers quietly, and they sneaked out of the house. In the morning, the ogre entered the room to eat the children, but he found that he had killed his daughters. He felt severe anger. As for his good wife, she sat crying and said to him, “What have you done?”
The ogre quickly went out to search for the children. But their little brother, Thumb, led them through the forest until they found a small cave with a large rock in front of it. He put his brothers inside the cave and stood watching the forest until he saw the ogre coming. He hid with his brothers. But the ogre had tired from searching, so he sat on the rock and fell asleep.
The ogre was wearing a magic shoe. Thumb sneaked, took the ogre’s shoe, which was a shoe that grew and shrunk according to the size of the person wearing it, and also helped the person wearing it run very fast. Thumb asked his brothers to sneak quietly. They went out of the cave and walked quickly until they finally reached their home, with them the golden crowns.
The children gave the crowns to their parents. They bought a lot of food and fed the town’s people. But some people in the village told Little Thumb that he shouldn’t have stolen the ogre’s shoe. Little Thumb said to them that the ogre used the shoe to chase small children.
The news of Little Thumb and the magic shoe reached the king. He sent for Little Thumb and said to him that he needed him in his service. The enemy army had approached their town, and he wanted Little Thumb to go quickly and deliver a message to the army standing far from the village, get a response from them, then return quickly to inform the king about the army’s condition.
Indeed, Little Thumb performed his mission successfully. The king gave him a large reward. The village people also used him to deliver messages quickly for money. Little Thumb was able to earn a lot of money and used it to spend on his parents and brothers, who were no longer poor at all.
Translated from: LITTLE THUMB