“ Just at this time the queen of the fairies came in a coach drawn by six flying mice, and placing Tom by her side, drove through the air to her palace in fairy land, where she kept him till he was restored to health. Then, taking advantage of a fair wind, she blew him straight to the court of king Arthur. But just as Tom was about to land in the palace-yard, the king’s cook happened to pass with a huge bowl of soup, into which Tom fell plump, and splashed the hot soup all in the cook’s face and eyes. ”

“ Merlin was much amused with the idea of a boy no bigger than a man’s thumb, and sending for the queen of the fairies, he told her of the desire of the plowman’s wife. The queen was no less pleased than Merlin, and she said the wish should be granted. Accordingly, the plowman’s wife had a son, who was just the size of his father’s thumb, and was named by the queen, Tom Thumb. ”

“ In those days, children did not often have a present of a pretty book with beautiful pictures; but when they did get one, it was highly prized.
We had Cock Robin, and Jack the Giant Killer, and Blue Beard, and The Forty Thieves, and many other amusing but not very instructive tales. ”