One day, as they were riding by a farmhouse, a large cat, which was
lurking about the door, made a spring, and seized both Tom and his
mouse. She then ran up a tree with them, and was beginning to devour
the mouse; but Tom boldly drew his sword, and attacked the cat so
fiercely that she let them both fall, when one of the nobles caught
him in his hat, and laid him on a bed of down, in a little ivory
cabinet.
The queen of the fairies came soon after to pay Tom a visit, and
carried him back to Fairyland, where he lived several years. During
his residence there, King Arthur, and all the persons who knew Tom,
had died; and as he was desirous of being again at court, the fairy
queen, after dressing him in a suit of clothes, sent him flying
through the air to the palace, in the days of King Thunstone, the
successor of Arthur. Every one flocked round to see him, and being
carried to the King, he was asked who he was--whence he came--and
where he lived? Tom answered:
"My name is Tom Thumb,
From the fairies I've come.
When King Arthur shone,
His Court was my home.
In me he delighted,
By him I was knighted;
Did you never hear of Sir Thomas Thumb?"
The King was so charmed with this address that he ordered a little
chair to be made, in order that Tom might sit upon his table, and also
a palace of gold, a span high, with a door an inch wide, to live in.
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