Thumbling as Journeyman (Grimm)
Short summary
A tailor had a son named Thumbling who was no bigger than a thumb.
Despite his size, he was courageous and decided to venture into the world. His father gave him a darning needle with sealing wax as a sword. While checking what his mother cooked for his farewell meal, steam from the pot carried him up the chimney and out into the world.
Thumbling worked for various masters but found the food inadequate. When a mistress tried to strike him, he hid under a thimble and in cloth crevices, mocking her until she drove him out. Later, robbers recruited him to steal from the King's treasury, as he could slip through keyholes. He threw coins to them while evading guards by hiding under thalers and confusing them with his voice.
After the heist, Thumbling took only a kreuzer and worked at an inn. The maids, angry that he exposed their thefts, tricked him. One mowed him up with grass and fed him to a black cow. When the cow was to be killed, Thumbling cried out from inside. During butchering, he avoided the knife.
Now poor Thumbling was in trouble, but trouble sharpens the wits, and he sprang out so adroitly between the blows that none of them touched him
He ended up in a black pudding, smoked in the chimney. When served to a guest, he escaped but was swallowed by a fox. Thumbling promised the fox his father's chickens for freedom. The fox carried him home, where his father gladly gave up the fowls to have his son back. Thumbling presented his father with the kreuzer he had earned on his travels.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
Thumbling leaves home and encounters the hostile mistress
A tailor had a son no bigger than a thumb, who was called Thumbling.
He had, however, some courage in him, and said to his father, 'Father, I must and will go out into the world.' 'That's right, my son,' said the old man
The father made him a sword from a darning-needle with a sealing-wax knob.
Before leaving, Thumbling wanted one last meal with his family. He hopped into the kitchen to see what his mother had cooked, but when he peered into the dish, steam caught him and carried him up the chimney. He rode on the steam until he sank down outside, now truly in the wide world. Thumbling traveled and found work with a master tailor, but the food was poor. He threatened to write on the door with chalk about too many potatoes and too little meat. The mistress grew angry and tried to strike him with a dishcloth.
Thumbling nimbly hid under a thimble and put his tongue out at her. She tried to catch him, but he hopped into the cloth, then into a table crevice, and finally into a drawer, mocking her all the while. Eventually she caught him and drove him from the house.
Adventure with robbers and stealing the kings treasure
Thumbling journeyed to a great forest where he met a band of robbers planning to steal the King's treasure.
'Hollo,' cried one of them, 'thou giant Goliath, wilt thou go to the treasure-chamber with us? Thou canst slip thyself in and throw out the money.'
Thumbling agreed and went with them to the treasure-chamber. He found a crack in the door wide enough to slip through. One of the two sentries mistook him for a spider and wanted to kill him, but the other guard showed mercy.
Thumbling entered the chamber and began throwing out thalers to the waiting robbers. When the King came to inspect his treasure, Thumbling hid quickly.
The King noticed missing thalers but couldn't understand how they were stolen, as locks and bolts remained secure. He warned the sentries to watch carefully. When Thumbling resumed his work, the guards heard the clinking coins and rushed in to catch the thief. But Thumbling was too quick, hiding under thalers and calling out mockingly from different corners.
And thus he made fools of them, and drove them so long round about the treasure-chamber that they were weary and went away. Then by degrees he threw all the thalers out
After exhausting the guards, he threw out the last thaler with all his might, hopped upon it, and flew down through the window. The robbers praised his bravery and offered to make him their captain, but Thumbling declined, saying he wanted to see more of the world first. They divided the treasure, but Thumbling only took a kreuzer since he couldn't carry more.
Working at the inn and being swallowed by the cow
Thumbling worked with various masters but found no satisfaction. Eventually he hired himself as a manservant at an inn. The maids couldn't endure him because he saw all their secret activities and reported their thievery to the master and mistress.
The maids plotted revenge against him. When one was mowing in the garden and saw Thumbling jumping among the plants, she quickly mowed him up with the grass, tied everything in a cloth, and secretly threw it to the cows. A great black cow swallowed him without harm, but inside was completely dark. When the cow was being milked, Thumbling cried out.
'Strip, strap, strull, Will the pail soon be full?' But the noise of the milking prevented his being understood.
Later, the master of the house announced that the cow would be killed the next day.
Alarmed, Thumbling cried out clearly that he was shut up inside the black cow. The master heard the voice but couldn't understand where it came from and left confused.
Life inside the cow and escape from the sausage
The next morning the cow was killed. Fortunately, Thumbling avoided the cutting blows and ended up among the sausage-meat. When the butcher began chopping, Thumbling cried out desperately not to chop too deep, but the noise of the knife drowned out his voice. He sprang adroitly between the blows and escaped unharmed. However, he couldn't get away and was thrust into a black-pudding with bacon bits. His quarters were confined, and he was hung in the chimney to be smoked, where time hung heavily on his hands.
In winter, the black-pudding was taken down to serve to a guest. When the hostess began cutting it into slices, Thumbling carefully avoided stretching his head too far. Finally seeing his opportunity, he cleared a passage and jumped out. But he wouldn't stay in a house where he fared so poorly and immediately set out on his journey again.
The foxs bargain and return to father
His liberty didn't last long. In the open country, a fox snapped him up absent-mindedly.
Thumbling called out from the fox's throat, asking to be set free. The fox agreed to release him if he promised all the fowls in his father's yard. Thumbling readily agreed, and the fox carried him home. When the father saw his dear son again, he willingly gave the fox all the chickens. Thumbling presented his father with the kreuzer he had earned on his travels, explaining that a father's love for his child far exceeds the value of fowls in the yard.