to warmer countries. Will you go with me? You can sit on my back and
fasten yourself on with your sash. Then we can fly away from the ugly
mole and his gloomy rooms--far away, over the mountains, into warmer
countries, where the sun shines more brightly than here; where it is
always summer, and the flowers bloom in greater beauty. Fly now with me,
dear little one; you saved my life when I lay frozen in that dark,
dreary passage."

"Yes, I will go with you," said Thumbelina; and she seated herself on
the bird's back, with her feet on his outstretched wings, and tied her
girdle to one of his strongest feathers.

The swallow rose in the air and flew over forest and over sea--high
above the highest mountains, covered with eternal snow. Thumbelina would
have been frozen in the cold air, but she crept under the bird's warm
feathers, keeping her little head uncovered, so that she might admire
the beautiful lands over which they passed. At length they reached the
warm countries, where the sun shines brightly and the sky seems so much
higher above the earth. Here on the hedges and by the wayside grew
purple, green, and white grapes, lemons and oranges hung from trees in
the fields, and the air was fragrant with myrtles and orange blossoms.
Beautiful children ran along the country lanes, playing with large gay
butterflies; and as the swallow flew farther and farther, every place
appeared still more lovely.

At last they came to a blue lake, and by the side of it, shaded by trees
of the deepest green, stood a palace of dazzling white marble, built in
the olden times. Vines clustered round its lofty pillars, and at the
top were many swallows' nests, and one of these was the home of the
swallow who carried Thumbelina.

"This is my house," said the swallow; "but it would not do for you to
live there--you would not be comfortable. You must choose for yourself
one of those lovely flowers, and I will put you down upon it, and then
you shall have everything that you can wish to make you happy."

"That will be delightful," she said, and clapped her little hands for
joy.

A large marble pillar lay on the ground, which, in falling, had been
broken into three pieces. Between these pieces grew the most beautiful
large white flowers, so the swallow flew down with Thumbelina and placed
her on one of the broad leaves. But how surprised she was to see in the
middle of the flower a tiny little man, as white and transparent as if
he had been