She had had nothing to eat for two long days. Oh, she
was very hungry!
"What a tiny thing you are!" said the field-mouse, as she opened the
door and saw Thumbelina. "Come in and dine with me."
How glad Thumbelina was, and how she enjoyed dining with the
field-mouse.
She behaved so prettily that the old field-mouse told her she might
live with her while the cold weather lasted. "And you shall keep my
room clean and neat, and you shall tell me stories," she added.
That is how Thumbelina came to live with the field-mouse and to meet
Mr. Mole.
"We shall have a visitor soon," said the field-mouse. "My neighbor,
Mr. Mole, comes to see me every week-day. His house is very large, and
he wears a beautiful coat of black velvet. Unfortunately, he is blind.
If you tell him your prettiest stories he may marry you."
Now the mole was very wise and very clever, but how could little
Thumbelina ever care for him? Why, he did not love the sun, nor the
flowers, and he lived in a house underground. No, Thumbelina did not
wish to marry the mole.
However she must sing to him when he came to visit his neighbor the
field-mouse. When she had sung "Ladybird, Ladybird, fly away home,"
and "Boys and girls come out to play," the mole was charmed, and
thought he would like to marry the little maiden with the beautiful
voice.
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