e to weave day and night. Every evening the mole visited
her and was continually speaking of the time when the summer would be
over. Then he would keep his wedding day with Thumbelina; but now the
heat of the sun was so great that it burned the earth and made it hard,
like stone. As soon as the summer was over the wedding should take
place. But Thumbelina was not at all pleased, for she did not like the
tiresome mole.

Every morning when the sun rose and every evening when it went down she
would creep out at the door, and as the wind blew aside the ears of corn
so that she could see the blue sky, she thought how beautiful and bright
it seemed out there and wished so much to see her dear friend, the
swallow, again. But he never returned, for by this time he had flown far
away into the lovely green forest.

When autumn arrived Thumbelina had her outfit quite ready, and the field
mouse said to her, "In four weeks the wedding must take place."

Then she wept and said she would not marry the disagreeable mole.

"Nonsense," replied the field mouse. "Now don't be obstinate, or I shall
bite you with my white teeth. He is a very handsome mole; the queen
herself does not wear more beautiful velvets and furs. His kitchens and
cellars are quite full. You ought to be very thankful for such good
fortune."

So the wedding day was fixed, on which the mole was to take her away to
live with him, deep under the earth, and never again to see the warm
sun, because _he_ did not like it. The poor child was very unhappy at
the thought of saying farewell to the beautiful sun, and as the field
mouse had given her permission to stand at the door, she went to look at
it once more.

"Farewell, bright sun," she cried, stretching out her arm towards it;
and then she walked a short distance from the house, for the corn had
been cut, and only the dry stubble remained in the fields. "Farewell,
farewell," she repeated, twining her arm around a little red flower that
grew just by her side. "Greet the little swallow from me, if you should
see him again."

"Tweet, tweet," sounded over her head suddenly. She looked up, and there
was the swallow himself flying close by. As soon as he spied Thumbelina
he was delighted. She told him how unwilling she was to marry the ugly
mole, and to live always beneath the earth, nevermore to see the bright
sun. And as she told him, she wept.

"Cold winter is coming," said the swallow, "and I am going to fly away
in