with the ugly toad to live. No; that must not happen. They
assembled in the water round the green stalk which supported the leaf
on which she was sitting, and nibbled the stem in two. Away floated the
leaf down the stream, bearing Thumbelina far beyond the reach of the
toad.

On she sailed past several towns, and the little birds sitting in the
bushes saw her, and sang, 'What a pretty little girl!' The leaf floated
farther and farther away; thus Thumbelina left her native land.

A beautiful little white butterfly fluttered above her, and at
last settled on the leaf. Thumbelina pleased him, and she, too,
was delighted, for now the toads could not reach her, and it was so
beautiful where she was travelling; the sun shone on the water and made
it sparkle like the brightest silver. She took off her sash, and tied
one end round the butterfly; the other end she fastened to the leaf, so
that now it glided along with her faster than ever.

A great cockchafer came flying past; he caught sight of Thumbelina, and
in a moment had put his arms round her slender waist, and had flown off
with her to a tree. The green leaf floated away down the stream, and
the butterfly with it, for he was fastened to the leaf and could not get
loose from it. Oh, dear! how terrified poor little Thumbelina was when
the cockchafer flew off with her to the tree! But she was especially
distressed on the beautiful white butterfly's account, as she had tied
him fast, so that if he could not get away he must starve to death. But
the cockchafer did not trouble himself about that; he sat down with her
on a large green leaf, gave her the honey out of the flowers to eat, and
told her that she was very pretty, although she wasn't in the least like
a cockchafer. Later on, all the other cockchafers who lived in the same
tree came to pay calls; they examined Thumbelina closely, and remarked,
'Why, she has only two legs! How very miserable!'

'She has no feelers!' cried another.

'How ugly she is!' said all the lady chafers--and yet Thumbelina was
really very pretty.

The cockchafer who had stolen her knew this very well; but when he heard
all the ladies saying she was ugly, he began to think so too, and would
not keep her; she might go wherever she liked. So he flew down from the
tree with her and put her on a daisy. There she sat and wept, because
she was so ugly that the cockchafer would have nothing to do with her;
and yet she was the most beautiful creature