An old man lived with an old woman. Once the old woman was chopping cabbage and accidentally cut off her finger. She wrapped it in a rag and placed it on the bench.
Suddenly I heard someone on the bench crying. She unfolded the rag, and in it lay a boy as tall as a finger.
The old woman was surprised and frightened:
Who are you?
I am your son, born from your little finger.
The old woman took him and looked - the boy was tiny, tiny, barely visible from the ground. And she named him Little Thumb.
He began to grow with them. The boy did not grow in height, but he turned out to be smarter than the big one.
This is what he says once:
Where is my father?
I went to the arable land.
I'll go to him and help him.
Go, child.
He came to the arable land:
Hello, father!
The old man looked around:
I am your son. I came to help you plow. Sit down, father, have a snack and rest a little!
The old man was delighted and sat down to dinner. And the Little Boy climbed into the horse’s ear and began to plow, and punished his father:
If anyone sells me, sell me boldly: I bet! - I won’t disappear, I’ll come back home.
Here is a gentleman riding past, looking and marveling: the horse is coming, the plow is yelling, but there is no man!
This has never been seen before, nor even heard of, that a horse can plow by itself!
The old man says to the master:
What, are you blind? Then my son plows.
Sell it to me!
No, I won’t sell it: we have only joy with the old woman, only joy that the Boy is like Thumb.
Sell it, grandpa!
Well, give me a thousand rubles.
Why is it so expensive?
You can see for yourself: the boy is small, but smart, quick on his feet, and easy to send! The master paid a thousand rubles, took the boy, put him in his pocket and went home.
And the Boy, the size of a finger, gnawed a hole in his pocket and left the master.
He walked and walked and caught him dark night. He hid under a blade of grass near the road and fell asleep.
A hungry wolf came running and swallowed him. A boy the size of a wolf’s belly sits alive, and he has little grief!
The gray wolf had a bad time: he sees the herd, the sheep are grazing, the shepherd is sleeping, and as soon as he sneaks up to carry off the sheep, a boy as big as a finger will scream at the top of his lungs:
Shepherd, shepherd, sheep spirit! Sleeping; - and the wolf drags the sheep!
The shepherd will wake up, rush to run at the wolf with a club, and even poison him with the dogs, and the dogs will tear him apart - only shreds fly! The gray wolf will barely get away!
The wolf became completely emaciated and had to starve. He asks Little Thumb:
Take me home to my father, to my mother, and I’ll get out.
Nothing to do. The wolf ran into the village and jumped straight into the old man’s hut.
A little boy the size of a finger immediately jumped out of the wolf’s belly:
Beat the wolf, beat the gray one!
The old man grabbed the poker, the old woman grabbed the grip - and let's beat the wolf. Then they decided to take care of him, skinned him and made a sheepskin coat for his son.
An old man lived with an old woman. Once the old woman was chopping cabbage and accidentally cut off her finger. She wrapped it in a rag and placed it on the bench.
Suddenly I heard someone on the bench crying. She unfolded the rag, and in it lay a boy as tall as a finger.
The old woman was surprised and frightened:
Who are you?
I am your son, born from your little finger.
The old woman took him and looked - the boy was tiny, tiny, barely visible from the ground. And she named him Little Thumb.
He began to grow with them. The boy did not grow in height, but he turned out to be smarter than the big one.
This is what he says once:
Where is my father?
I went to the arable land.
I'll go to him and help him.
Go, child.
He came to the arable land:
Hello, father!
The old man looked around:
I am your son. I came to help you plow. Sit down, father, have a snack and rest a little!
The old man was delighted and sat down to dinner. And the Little Boy climbed into the horse’s ear and began to plow, and punished his father:
If anyone sells me, sell me boldly: I bet! - I won’t disappear, I’ll come back home.
Here is a gentleman riding past, looking and marveling: the horse is coming, the plow is yelling, but there is no man!
This has never been seen before, nor even heard of, that a horse can plow by itself!
The old man says to the master:
What, are you blind? Then my son plows.
Sell it to me!
No, I won’t sell it: we have only joy with the old woman, only joy that the Boy is like Thumb.
Sell it, grandpa!
Well, give me a thousand rubles.
Why is it so expensive?
You can see for yourself: the boy is small, but smart, quick on his feet, and easy to send! The master paid a thousand rubles, took the boy, put him in his pocket and went home.
And the Boy, the size of a finger, gnawed a hole in his pocket and left the master.
He walked and walked, and the dark night overtook him. He hid under a blade of grass near the road and fell asleep.
A hungry wolf came running and swallowed him. A boy the size of a wolf’s belly sits alive, and he has little grief!
The gray wolf had a bad time: he sees the herd, the sheep are grazing, the shepherd is sleeping, and as soon as he sneaks up to carry off the sheep, a boy as big as a finger will scream at the top of his lungs:
Shepherd, shepherd, sheep spirit! Sleeping; - and the wolf drags the sheep!
The shepherd will wake up, rush to run at the wolf with a club, and even poison him with the dogs, and the dogs will tear him apart - only shreds fly! The gray wolf will barely get away!
The wolf became completely emaciated and had to starve. He asks Little Thumb:
Take me home to my father, to my mother, and I’ll get out.
Nothing to do. The wolf ran into the village and jumped straight into the old man’s hut.
A little boy the size of a finger immediately jumped out of the wolf’s belly:
Beat the wolf, beat the gray one!
The old man grabbed the poker, the old woman grabbed the grip - and let's beat the wolf. Then they decided to take care of him, skinned him and made a sheepskin coat for his son.
An old man lived with an old woman. Once the old woman was chopping cabbage and accidentally cut off her finger. She wrapped it in a rag and placed it on the bench.
Suddenly I heard someone on the bench crying. She unfolded the rag, and in it lay a boy as tall as a finger.
The old woman was surprised and frightened:
-Who are you?
- I am your son, born from your little finger.
The old woman took him and looked - the boy was tiny, tiny, barely visible from the ground. And she named him Little Thumb.
He began to grow with them. The boy did not grow in height, but he turned out to be smarter than the big one.
This is what he says once:
- Where is my father?
- I went to the arable land.
“I’ll go to him and help him.”
- Go, child.
He came to the arable land:
- Hello, father!
The old man looked around:
- I am your son. I came to help you plow. Sit down, father, have a snack and rest a little!
The old man was delighted and sat down to dinner. And the Little Boy climbed into the horse’s ear and began to plow, and punished his father:
- If anyone sells me, sell me boldly: I bet! - I won’t disappear, I’ll come back home.
Here is a gentleman riding past, looking and marveling: the horse is coming, the plow is yelling, but there is no man!
“It’s never been seen before, it’s never been heard of, that a horse can plow by itself!”
The old man says to the master:
- What, are you blind? Then my son plows.
- Sell it to me!
- No, I won’t sell it: we have only joy with the old woman, only joy that the Boy is like Thumb.
- Sell it, grandpa!
- Well, give me a thousand rubles.
- Why is it so expensive?
“You see for yourself: the boy is small, but smart, quick on his feet, and easy to send!” The master paid a thousand rubles, took the boy, put him in his pocket and went home.
And the Boy, the size of a finger, gnawed a hole in his pocket and left the master.
He walked and walked, and the dark night overtook him. He hid under a blade of grass near the road and fell asleep.
A hungry wolf came running and swallowed him. A boy the size of a wolf’s belly sits alive, and he has little grief!
The gray wolf had a bad time: he sees the herd, the sheep are grazing, the shepherd is sleeping, and as soon as he sneaks up to carry off the sheep, a boy as big as a finger will scream at the top of his lungs:
- Shepherd, shepherd, sheep spirit! Sleeping; - and the wolf is dragging the sheep!
The shepherd will wake up, rush to run at the wolf with a club, and even poison him with the dogs, and the dogs will tear him up - only shreds fly! The gray wolf will barely get away!
The wolf became completely emaciated and had to starve. He asks Little Thumb:
- Get out!
- Take me home to my father, to my mother, and I’ll get out.
Nothing to do. The wolf ran into the village and jumped straight into the old man’s hut.
A little boy the size of a finger immediately jumped out of the wolf’s belly:
- Beat the wolf, beat the gray one!
The old man grabbed the poker, the old woman grabbed the grip - and let's beat the wolf. Then they decided to take care of him, skinned him and made a sheepskin coat for his son.
AND or there was an old man and an old woman. One day, an old woman was chopping cabbage and accidentally cut off her finger. She wrapped it in a cloth and placed it on the bench.
Suddenly the old woman heard someone on the bench crying. She unwrapped the rag and saw that a boy as tall as a finger was lying in it.
The old woman was surprised and frightened:
Who are you?
I am your son, born from your little finger.
The old woman took him and looked - the boy was tiny, tiny, barely visible from the ground. And she named him Little Thumb.
He began to live with them. The boy did not grow in height, but he turned out to be smarter than the big one.
One day he asks the old woman:
Where is my father?
He went to the arable land to plow.
I will go to him and help him.
Go, child, help.
Came to the arable land:
Hello, my father!
The old man looked around:
It's me, your son. I came to help you plow. Sit down, father, have a snack and rest a little!
The old man was delighted with these words and sat down to have lunch. And Little Boy climbed into the horse’s ear and began to plow. And he punished his father:
If someone sells me to you, sell it boldly: don’t be afraid - I won’t disappear, I’ll come home back.
Here's a gentleman passing by. He looks and marvels: the horse is walking along the furrow by itself, the plow is screaming, but there is no man at all!
I’ve never seen this before, I’ve never even heard of a horse plowing on its own!
The old man answers the master:
What, master, are you blind? This is my son plowing.
Sell it to me, old man!
No, I won’t sell him to you: the old woman and I have only joy, only joy, that our Little Thumb Boy.
Sell it, grandpa, I won’t be stingy!
Well, then give me a thousand rubles.
Why are you asking so much?
You see for yourself: my boy is small, but smart. Easy on delivery, quick on foot!
The master agreed and paid the old man a thousand rubles. He picked up the boy, put him in his pocket and drove home.
And the Boy, the size of his finger, gnawed a hole in his pocket and left the master.
He walked and walked, and a dark night overtook him on the road.
He hid near the road under a blade of grass and fell asleep.
Then a hungry wolf came running and swallowed him.
A boy the size of a finger is sitting alive in a wolf's belly, and knows no grief!
But the gray wolf had a bad time: he saw a flock of sheep grazing, while the shepherd was sleeping at that time. And as soon as the wolf creeps up to carry away the sheep, a boy as big as a finger shouts at the top of his lungs:
Shepherd, shepherd, sheep spirit! You are sleeping, and the wolf wants to drag away the sheep!
The shepherd will wake up, rush to run with a club at the wolf, and even poison him with dogs. And let the dogs tear the wolf - only shreds fly from him! The gray wolf will barely get away!
The wolf became completely emaciated and had to die of hunger. He then asks Little Thumb:
Get out, please!
You take me to my father, to my mother’s house, then I’ll get out.
The wolf has nothing to do. He ran to the village and jumped straight into the old man’s hut.
The boy, about the size of a finger, immediately jumped out of the wolf’s belly:
Beat the wolf, beat the gray one!
The old man grabbed the poker, the old woman grabbed the grip - and let's beat the wolf. So they decided it. They took off his skin and sewed a sheepskin coat out of it for my son.
- END -
An old man lived with an old woman. Once the old woman was chopping cabbage and accidentally cut off her finger. She wrapped it in a rag and placed it on the bench.
Suddenly I heard someone on the bench crying. She unfolded the rag, and in it lay a boy as tall as a finger.
The old woman was surprised and frightened:
-Who are you?
- I am your son, born from your little finger.
The old woman took him and looked - the boy was tiny, tiny, barely visible from the ground. And she named him Little Thumb.
He began to grow with them. The boy did not grow in height, but he turned out to be smarter than the big one.
This is what he says once:
- Where is my father?
- I went to the arable land.
“I’ll go to him and help him.”
- Go, child.
He came to the arable land:
- Hello, father!
The old man looked around:
- I am your son. I came to help you plow. Sit down, father, have a snack and rest a little!
The old man was delighted and sat down to dinner. And the Little Boy climbed into the horse’s ear and began to plow, and punished his father:
- If anyone sells me, sell me boldly: I bet! - I won’t disappear, I’ll come back home.
Here is a gentleman riding past, looking and marveling: the horse is coming, the plow is yelling, but there is no man!
“It’s never been seen before, it’s never been heard of, that a horse can plow by itself!”
The old man says to the master:
- What, are you blind? Then my son plows.
- Sell it to me!
- No, I won’t sell it: we have only joy with the old woman, only joy that the Boy is like Thumb.
- Sell it, grandpa!
- Well, give me a thousand rubles.
- Why is it so expensive?
“You see for yourself: the boy is small, but smart, quick on his feet, and easy to send!” The master paid a thousand rubles, took the boy, put him in his pocket and went home.
And the Boy, the size of a finger, gnawed a hole in his pocket and left the master.
He walked and walked, and the dark night overtook him. He hid under a blade of grass near the road and fell asleep.
A hungry wolf came running and swallowed him. A boy the size of a wolf’s belly sits alive, and he has little grief!
The gray wolf had a bad time: he sees the herd, the sheep are grazing, the shepherd is sleeping, and as soon as he sneaks up to carry off the sheep, a boy as big as a finger will scream at the top of his lungs:
- Shepherd, shepherd, sheep spirit! Sleeping; - and the wolf is dragging the sheep!
The shepherd will wake up, rush to run at the wolf with a club, and even poison him with the dogs, and the dogs will tear him up - only shreds fly! The gray wolf will barely get away!
The wolf became completely emaciated and had to starve. He asks Little Thumb:
- Get out!
- Take me home to my father, to my mother, and I’ll get out.
Nothing to do. The wolf ran into the village and jumped straight into the old man’s hut.
A little boy the size of a finger immediately jumped out of the wolf’s belly:
- Beat the wolf, beat the gray one!
The old man grabbed the poker, the old woman grabbed the grip - and let's beat the wolf. Then they decided to take care of him, skinned him and made a sheepskin coat for his son.
Alternative text:
— Russian folk tale adapted by A.N. Tolstoy
— Russian folk tale processed by A.N. Afanasyev.