Thumbling aka Tom Thumb by the Brothers Grimm, is a bit different from the famous Tom Thumb, the first fairy tale printed in the English language. We'll summarize it with the help of black and white drawings created by Franz Stassen.
The story starts with an already elderly pair, a husband and wife who are desperately wishing for a child. They would like to have one even if it's little as a thumb. One day their wish comes true. A small boy is born and they love him very much. He is named Thumbling (or Tom Thumb).
One day Thumbling gets out with his father, comfortably sitting in the horse's ear, giving directions directly by talking into it. Two strangers notice him and ask his father if he is willing to sell the boy because they believe they could make him famous and earn a fortune. Thumbling convinces his father to accept the deal and later tricks the men into putting him down so he can escape into a mouse hole.
In the night, he is awakened by two robbers who plan to steal from the pastor's house. Thumbling proposes to join because he could sneak into the house more easily and give the robbers everything valuable he finds.
But when he enters the house, he starts loudly asking what the robbers prefer and the residents of the house wake up. The robbers escape and Thumbling finds a nice place to sleep in the hay.
Unfortunately, a cow swallows him and he starts yelling from its stomach. The pastor hears the voices and believes a demon obsesses the animal. He orders to kill it. Her body is thrown in the wood, where the wolf starts eating it. The wolf swallows Thumbling as well.
Yet Thumbling convinces the wolf to find the house of his parents, promising it a splendid feast. Instead of that, Thumbling's parents kill the wolf and rescue their little son who promises he'll never get into trouble like that.
Thumbling may be one of the major inspirations for today much more famous fairy tale: Hans Christian Andersen's Thumbelina.
