Hans Christian Andersen THERE Was Once a Woman Who Wished Very

“Thumbelina” the name of “Thumbelina,” or Tiny, because she was so small. A walnut-shell, Hans Christian Andersen elegantly polished, served her for a cradle; her bed was formed of blue violet- 7 THERE was once a woman who wished very leaves, with a rose-leaf for a counterpane. Here she slept at night, but during the much to have a little child,1 but she could day she amused herself on a table, where the woman had placed a plateful of not obtain her wish. At last she went to a water. Round this plate were wreaths of flowers with their stems in the water, and fairy,2 and said, “I should so very much like upon it floated a large tulip-leaf, which served Tiny for a boat. Here the little to have a little child; can you tell me where I maiden sat and rowed herself from side to side, with two oars made of white horse- 8 can find one?”3 hair. It really was a very pretty sight. Tiny could, also, sing so softly and sweetly 9 “Oh, that can be easily managed,” that nothing like her singing had ever before been heard. One night, while she lay 10 said the fairy. “Here is a barleycorn of a in her pretty bed, a large, ugly, wet toad crept through a broken pane of glass in different kind to those which grow in the farmer’s fields, and which the chickens eat; put it into a flower-pot, and see what will 6 Scarcely half as long as a thumb: Some Andersen students have suggested that the model for Thumbelina is Andersen’s close friend Henriette Wulff, who was very small, frail, and slightly happen.” hunchbacked. No written evidence supports that theory. “Thank you,” said the woman, and she gave the fairy twelve shillings, which was the price of the barleycorn. Then she went home and planted it, and 7 A walnut-shell, elegantly polished, served her for a cradle; her bed was formed of blue violet-leaves, with a rose-leaf for a counterpane: A counterpane is a bed covering or immediately there grew up a large handsome flower, something like a tulip in an embroidered quilt/blanket. Thumbelina is consistently associated with natural objects, appearance, but with its leaves tightly closed as if it were still a bud. “It is a particularly flowers, like the tulip in which she was 'born'.. The walnut shares with all nuts the beautiful flower,” said the woman, and she kissed the red and golden-colored symbolism of hidden wisdom, also fertility and longevity; it was served at Greek and Roman weddings as such and this symbolic value will have resonance as the story develops. The violet leaves, and while she did so the flower opened, and she could see that it was a real represents hidden beauty and virtue; modesty while the rose is perfection; completion; the tulip.4 Within the flower, upon the green velvet stamens, sat a very delicate and mystery of life; the heart-center of life; the unknown; beauty; grace; happiness, but also graceful little maiden.5 She was scarcely half as long as a thumb,6 and they gave her voluptuousness; the passions and associated with wine, sensuality and seduction. At the start of the tale, these concepts may not be particularly relevant, but their value can be seen as it develops. 1 Wished very much to have a little child: A common plight in folklore and fairy tales, it also hearkens back to many Bible stories, beginning with Sarah and Abraham in the Book of 8 It really was a very pretty sight: Thumbelina's early life with her mother was idyllic. Genesis. It is also worth noting that there is no reference made to either a husband or a potential In Individuation in Fairy Tales, Marie Von Franz describes this as follows: "[t]he beginning of father. This woman seems determined to have a child alone. the story is characterized by a kind of innocent childhood paradisiacal situation, the mother- daughter paradise. Everything is all right, but a bit too beautiful. It would be marvelous if it were 2 At last she went to a fairy: There exist many kinds of fairies. In medieval French and Celtic like that! ... But in the beginning the male element is completely lacking. There is no father ... It literature, fairy women are tall, more beautiful than any mortal woman, and very richly dressed. is the feminine atmosphere which is described as ideal" (60-61). They are also immortal and may usually be found in forests or near natural sources of water. In some translations the fairy is simply an old woman, or, more explicitly, a witch. The use of the 9 term 'witch' thus suggests that this story could take a very sinister turn. Tiny could, also, sing so softly and sweetly that nothing like her singing had ever before been heard: Thumbelina is here compared to a siren (a bird-woman) or a 3 I should so very much like to have a little child; can you tell me where I can find mermaid, both of whom possessed singing voices so sweet that they would enchant men to one?: According to the Andersen biographer, Elias Bredsdorff, some nineteenth-century the point of causing their deaths. The mermaids would sing to sailors aboard ships, causing versions bowdlerized this passage — to prevent children from asking where children came from. them to crash upon the rocks and drown. Thumbelina's voice attracts potential mates - the Bredsdorff quotes Mary Howitt’s version, which began: 'Once upon a time, a beggar woman went toad and the mole - albeit against her will. This recalls the age-old idea that women in to the house of a poor peasant and asked for something to eat'" (76). general are seductive temptresses who can bring about the downfall of men as individuals and as a race. Thumbelina is thus set alongside Eve. Thumbelina's beautiful singing voice 4 Tulip is the Persian symbol of perfect love. The love in this case is a mother's love, and it is a reminds Andersen scholars of his crush on Jenny Lind, one of the most popular singers mother's kiss that opens the flower and gives her a child. The idea of a kiss bringing a child into during his lifetime. While Lind was kind to Andersen and became his friend, she did not existence also exists in the (medieval) apocryphal tales of the Virgin Mary's conception. Anna, return his love. The two had many common qualities, such as their piety, plain physical her mother, became pregnant when she and her husband Joachim kissed. The colors of the appearances, and their individual rise to fame for their talents in the arts. Unlike flower also have symbolic resonance. Red is the color of the pulsing blood and of fire, for the Thumbelina, Jenny Lind was considered very plain, even rather ugly by some. Most of her surging and tearing emotions. In other words, it is life. Gold corresponds to the mystic aspect of audience, Andersen included, forgot her appearance when she sang. the sun and this resonates with Thumbelina's love of sunlight throughout her story. 10 A large, ugly, wet toad: In fairy tales, the toad is usually a malevolent creature, or a symbol 5 Within the flower, upon the green velvet stamens, sat a very delicate and graceful of another character's evil. These ideas exist outside the fairy tale genre as well. In her article little maiden: A similar image appears in E.T.A. Hoffmann’s tale 'Prinzessin Brambilla' (1821) 'The Truculent Toad in the Middle Ages', Mary Robbins describes how the creature "usually the window, and leaped right upon the table where Tiny lay sleeping under her and prepare the state-room under the marsh,16 in which you are to live when you rose-leaf quilt. “What a pretty little wife this would make for my son,”11 said the are married.” toad, and she took up the walnut-shell in which little Tiny lay asleep, and jumped Far out in the stream grew a number of water-lilies, with broad green through the window with it into the garden. leaves, which seemed to float on the top of the water. The largest of these leaves In the swampy margin of a broad stream in the garden12 lived the toad, appeared farther off than the rest, and the old toad swam out to it with the walnut- with her son. He was uglier even than his mother, and when he saw the pretty little shell, in which little Tiny lay still asleep. The tiny little creature woke very early in maiden in her elegant bed, he could only cry, “Croak, croak, croak.”13 the morning, and began to cry bitterly when she found where she was, for she “Don’t speak so loud, or she will wake,” said the toad, “and then she might could see nothing but water on every side of the large green leaf, and no way of run away, for she is as light as swan’s down.14 We will place her on one of the reaching the land. Meanwhile the old toad was very busy under the marsh, decking water-lily leaves out in the stream;15 it will be like an island to her, she is so light her room with rushes and wild yellow flowers, to make it look pretty for her new and small, and then she cannot escape; and, while she is away, we will make haste daughter-in-law.

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