r the Palace, and the terrible shakings
must have been caused by him in his death-throes.

The King now understood how the Queen he had had for some time past had
been so ill-tempered. He at once had a sack drawn over her head and made
her be stoned to death, and after that torn in pieces by untamed horses.
The two young fellows also told now what they had heard and seen in the
Queen's room, for before this they had been afraid to say anything about
it, on account of the Queen's power.

The real Queen was now restored to all her dignity, and was beloved by
all. The nurse was married to a nobleman, and the King and Queen gave
her splendid presents.

THUMBELINA

There was once a woman who wanted to have quite a tiny, little child,
but she did not know where to get one from. So one day she went to an
old Witch and said to her: 'I should so much like to have a tiny, little
child; can you tell me where I can get one?'

'Oh, we have just got one ready!' said the Witch. 'Here is a barley-corn
for you, but it's not the kind the farmer sows in his field, or feeds
the cocks and hens with, I can tell you. Put it in a flower-pot, and
then you will see something happen.'

'Oh, thank you!' said the woman, and gave the Witch a shilling, for
that was what it cost. Then she went home and planted the barley-corn;
immediately there grew out of it a large and beautiful flower, which
looked like a tulip, but the petals were tightly closed as if it were
still only a bud.

'What a beautiful flower!' exclaimed the woman, and she kissed the red
and yellow petals; but as she kissed them the flower burst open. It
was a real tulip, such as one can see any day; but in the middle of the
blossom, on the green velvety petals, sat a little girl, quite tiny,
trim, and pretty. She was scarcely half a thumb in height; so they
called her Thumbelina. An elegant polished walnut-shell served
Thumbelina as a cradle, the blue petals of a violet were her mattress,
and a rose-leaf her coverlid. There she lay at night, but in the
day-time she used to play about on the table; here the woman had put a
bowl, surrounded by a ring of flowers, with their stalks in water, in
the middle of which floated a great tulip pedal, and on this Thumbelina
sat, and sailed from one side of the bowl to the other, rowing herself
with two white horse-hairs for oars. It was such a pretty sight! She
could sing, too, with a voice more soft and sweet than had ever been
heard