Tom's parents were both happy to see him, and the more so as he had
brought such an amazing sum of money with him; but the poor little
fellow was excessively wearied, having traveled half a mile in
forty-eight hours, with a huge silver threepenny-piece on his back.
His mother, in order to recover him, placed him in a walnut shell by
the fireside, and feasted him for three days on a hazel-nut, which
made him very sick; for a whole nut used to serve him a month.
Tom was soon well again; but as there had been a fall of rain, and the
ground was very wet, he could not travel back to King Arthur's Court;
therefore his mother, one day when the wind was blowing in that
direction, made a little parasol of cambric paper, and tying Tom
to it, she gave him a puff into the air with her mouth, which soon
carried him to the King's palace.
Just at the time when Tom came flying across the courtyard, the cook
happened to be passing with the King's great bowl of porridge, which
was a dish his Majesty was very fond of; but unfortunately the poor
little fellow fell plump into the middle of it, and splashed the hot
porridge about the cook's face.
The cook, who was an ill-natured fellow, being in a terrible rage at
Tom for frightening and scalding him with the porridge, went straight
to the King, and said that Tom had jumped into the royal porridge, and
thrown it down out of mere mischief.
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