nny
piece into it, with much labour and difficulty got it upon his back;
and after travelling two days and nights, arrived at his father's
house. His mother met him at the door, almost tired to death, having
in forty-eight hours travelled almost half a mile with a huge silver
threepence upon his back. Both his parents were glad to see him,
especially when he had brought such an amazing sum of money with him.
They placed him in a walnut-shell by the fireside, and feasted him for
three days upon a hazel-nut, which made him sick, for a whole nut
usually served him for a month. Tom got well, but could not travel
because it had rained: therefore his mother took him in her hand, and
with one puff blew him into King Arthur's court; where Tom entertained
the king, queen, and nobility at tilts and tournaments, at which he
exerted himself so much that he brought on a fit of sickness, and his
life was despaired of. At this juncture the queen of the fairies came
in a chariot, drawn by flying mice, placed Tom by her side, and drove
through the air, without stopping till they arrived at her palace;
when, after restoring him to health and permitting him to enjoy all
the gay diversions of Fairyland, she commanded a fair wind, and,
placing Tom before it, blew him straight to the court of King Arthur.
But just as Tom should have alighted in the courtyard of the palace,
the cook happened to pass along with the king's great bowl of
furmenty (King Arthur loved furmenty), and poor Tom Thumb fell plump
into the middle of it, and splashed the hot furmenty into the cook's
eyes. Down went the bowl.

"Oh dear! oh dear!" cried Tom.

"Murder! murder!" bellowed the cook; and away poured the king's nice
furmenty into the kennel.

The cook was a red-faced, cross fellow, and swore to the king that Tom
had done it out of mere mischief; so he was taken up, tried, and
sentenced to be beheaded. Tom hearing this dreadful sentence, and
seeing a miller stand by with his mouth wide open, he took a good
spring, and jumped down the miller's throat, unperceived by all, even
by the miller himself.

Tom being lost, the court broke up, and away went the miller to his
mill. But Tom did not leave him long at rest: he began to roll and
tumble about, so that the miller thought himself bewitched, and sent
for a doctor. When the doctor came, Tom began to dance and sing; the
doctor was as much frightened as the miller, and sent in great haste
for five more doctors an