The fish was soon after caught, and sent as a present to King Arthur.  When it was cut open, every body was delighted with little Tom Thumb.  The king made him his dwarf; he was the favourite of the whole court; and, by his merry pranks, often amused the queen and the knights of the Round Table.  The king, when he rode on horseback, frequently took Tom in his hand; and, if a shower of rain came on, he used to creep into the king’s waist-coat pocket, and sleep till the rain was over.  The king also, sometimes questioned Tom concerning his parents; and when Tom informed his majesty they were very poor people, the king led him into his treasury, and told him he should pay his friends a visit, and take with him as much money as he could carry.  Tom procured a little purse, and putting a threepenny piece into it, with much labour and difficulty got it upon his back; and, after travelling two days and nights, arrived at his father’s house.

His mother met him at the door, almost tired to death, having in forty-eight hours travelled almost half a mile with a huge silver threepence upon his back.  His parents were glad to see him, especially when he had brought such an amazing sum of money with him.  They placed him in a walnut shell by the fire side, and feasted him for three days upon a hazel nut, which made him sick, for a whole nut usually served him a month.  Tom got well, but could not travel because it had rained; therefore his mother took him in her hand, and with one puff blew him into King Arthur’s court; where Tom entertained the king, queen, and nobility at tilts and tournaments, at which he exerted himself so much that he brought on a fit of sickness, and his life was despaired of.  At this juncture the queen of the fairies came in a chariot drawn by flying mice, placed Tom by her side, and drove through the air, without stopping till they arrived at her palace; when, after restoring him to health, and permitting him to enjoy all the gay diversions of Fairy Land, the queen commanded a fair wind, and, placing Tom before it, blew him straight to the court of King Arthur.  But just as Tom should have alighted in the court-yard of the palace, the cook happened to pass along with the king’s great bowl of firmity (King Arthur loved firmity), and poor Tom Thumb fell plump into the middle of it and splashed the hot firmity into the cook’s eyes.  Down went the bowl.  “Oh dear; oh dear!” cried Tom; “Murder! murder!” bellowed the cook! and away ran the king’s nice firmity into the kennel.  The cook was a red-faced, cross fellow, and swore to the king, that Tom had done it out of mere mischief; so he was taken up, tried, and sentenced to be beheaded.  Tom hearing this dreadful sentence, and seeing a miller stand by with his mouth wide open, he took a good spring, and jumped down the miller’s throat, unperceived by all, even by the miller himself.