Viaje en familia con Forti Club

Fortithumb

Once upon a time there was a poor farmer. One night he was sat down, poking the fire, whilst his wife sat spinning next to him. Both of them regretted that there were no children in the house.

- It is very sad not to have children! -he said.- It is always silent in this house, but there is always a lot of noise and happiness in all the other houses...
- That’s true! -answered his wife with a sigh-. We would be happy if we at least had one, even if he was very small, not bigger than my thumb, we would love him with both our hearts.

And so it happened that the woman’s belly started to grow and after seven months she had a son who was completely normal in every way, except for the fact that he was no bigger than a thumb.
- He is just as we wanted. He is going to be our beloved son.

Because he was so small, they called him Forti Thumb. They gave him plenty of food, but the boy didn’t grow and he stayed just how he was at the moment he came into the world. Despite this, he had an intelligent look in his eye and he soon started to show that he was a smart and skilful boy, good at anything he put his mind to.

One day, the farmer was getting ready to go into the forest to cut wood and said to himself:
- I wish I had someone who could drive the cart for me.
- Father! -shouted Forti-thumb- I will drive the cart for you! You can trust me! The cart will be in the forest right when you need it.

The man started to laugh and said:
- How are you going to do that? You are too small to lift the horse’s reins.
- That doesn’t matter father! If mother hitches the horse up, I will sit in the horse’s ear so that I can tell it where to go.
- Fine! -answered his father-, let’s try it once.

When the time came, the mother hitched the horse to the cart and placed Forti Thumb in the horse’s ear, where he started to shout at the horse to tell him where to go by saying “Hay”, or “Gee-up”. Everything went just as well as if an experienced driver was driving the cart, and it drove in a straight line towards the forest.

The cart was just about to go around a corner when the little boy shouted “Hey”! “Hey!” , getting it just right to pass by two strangers.

- What’s this! - said one of them- What is going on here? There is a cart there, and someone is spurring on the horse; but I can’t see anyone driving.
- It is all very strange – said the other one-. Let’s follow the cart to see where it stops.

But the cart turned off into the middle of the forest and stopped right where the cut wood had been piled up. When Forti Thumb saw his father, he shouted to him:

- You see father? I have driven the cart here. Lift me down from the horse now.

His father took the horse’s reins with one hand, and took his son out of the horse’s ear with the other. Forti Thumb sat happily on a blade of grass. When the two strangers saw him, they were so surprised that they didn’t know what to say. They both hid, one saying to the other:

- Hey, that little one could make us a fortune if we exhibited him in the city and charged people to see him. Let’s buy him.

They approached the farmer and said to him:
- Sell us the little one; he will do very well with us.
- No –answered the father- he is my beloved son and I wouldn’t sell him for all the gold in the world.

But when he heard the offer, Forti Thumb climbed up through the folds in his father’s clothes, stood on his shoulder and whispered into his ear:
- Father, sell me, as I already know how I am going to return home.

So the father gave him to the two men in exchange for a goodly amount of money.
- Where do you want to sit? -they asked him.
- It doesn’t matter! Put me on the brim of a hat; up there I can move from one side to the other to enjoy the scenery, and I won’t fall.

They did as he asked and left as soon as Forti Thumb had said goodbye to his father. They travelled until nightfall when Forti Thumb said:
- Let me down for a moment, I have to go to the bathroom.
- No, stay up there – the man carrying him on his head answered-. I don’t mind. The birds also sometimes drop something up there.
- No – replied Forti Thumb-, I also know all about good manners. Let me down immediately.

The man took his hat off and put Forti Thumb by some plants at the edge of the road. For a moment he leaped between the clods of earth then suddenly he jumped inside a burrow that he had seen from above.
-Good night gentlemen, carry on without me! - he shouted in a mocking way.

The men ran towards him and prodded the rat’s burrow with their canes, all to no avail. Forti Thumb dragged himself further and further in and as it was almost totally dark, the two men were forced to leave, outwitted and with empty hands.

When Forti Thumb realised that they had gone, he crawled out of the burrow.
- It is dangerous to cross these fields at night - he though-; it would be very easy to fall over and break a bone.

Luckily, he came across an empty snail shell.
- Thank goodness! -he exclaimed- I can pass the night here with no worries.

And he crawled inside the shell. A moment later, when he was just about to fall asleep, he heard two men pass by, one of whom said:
- How can we steal all the gold and silver from the rich priest?
- I can tell you how! - Forti Thumb started to shout.
- What was that? - said one of the frightened thieves-; I heard someone say something.

They stayed quiet, listening and Forti Thumb shouted again:
- Take me with you and I will help you.
- Where are you?
- Look on the ground and try to follow my voice – he answered.

In the end the thieves found him and lifted him up.
- Well, shorty, how are you going to help us?
- Listen! I will slip through the railings of the priest’s room and I will pass you anything you want.
- Fine! Let’s see what you know how to do.

When they got to the priest’s house, Forti Thumb got into the room and started to shout at the top of his voice.
- Do you want everything that is here?
Both of the thieves trembled and said to him:
- Keep your voice down so nobody wakes up.
But Forti Thumb pretended he hadn’t heard them and carried on shouting:
- What do you want? - Do you want everything that is here?

The cook who was sleeping in the room next door, heard these shouts. She sat up in bed and started to listen, but the scared thieves had moved away a bit. Finally they gathered up their courage.
- That shorty wants to make fun of us.

They returned and whispered to him:
- Come on, enough jokes, just pass us something.

Then Forti Thumb started to shout again at the top of his voice:
- Yes, I want to give you everything; you just have to reach through the railings.

The cook had heard everything clearly and jumped out of bed and went running to the door. The thieves were frightened and fled as if they were being chased by the devil. The cook, who hadn’t seen anything, went to light a candle.

When she came back, Forti Thumb had hidden in the haystack without being discovered.

After checking all corners of the house and not finding anything, the servant went back to bed and must have stayed awake all night.

Forti Thumb had climbed up on the hay and had found a good place to sleep. He wanted to rest there until daybreak, when he would go back to his parents, but a lot of things were still to happen to him before he could go back home.

As normal, the servant got up before daybreak to give the animals their food. She went to the haystack first and took an armful of hay precisely from the place where Forti Thumb was sleeping. He was sleeping so deeply that he didn’t notice anything, and he didn’t wake up until he was inside the mouth of the cow that had eaten the hay.
- My goodness! -he cried-, How have I fallen into this grinder?

But he soon realised where he was. It was all he could do to avoid being ground up by the cow’s teeth; he couldn’t help slipping down towards the stomach.
- They have forgotten to make a window in this tiny room – he said to himself-, the sun doesn’t come in and I don’t see any light.

He didn’t like this place at all, and the worst part was that more and more hay kept coming through the door, and the space was getting smaller all the time. Then, close to panic, he shouted at the top of his voice:
- Don’t bring me any more fodder! - Don’t bring me any more fodder!

The maid was milking the cow when she heard a voice without seeing anyone, and recognised the same voice that she had heard in the night. She was so afraid that the pail fell over and spilt all of the milk. She ran as fast as she could to find her master and said to him:
- Help me master, the cow talked to me!
- You’re mad! - replied the priest.

And he went to the cowshed to see what was happening; he had barely got through the door when Forti Thumb started to shout again:
- Don’t bring me any more fodder! - Don’t bring me any more fodder!

Hearing this, the priest himself was also frightened. He thought that it was the work of the devil and ordered the cow to be killed. So the cow was cut up and the stomach, where Forti Thumb was trapped, was thrown onto the dung heap. Our friend made a great effort to get out of there and then, when he finally managed to get his head out, another bad thing happened to him. A hungry wolf who just happened to be passing through, swallowed the stomach in one big mouthful.

Forti Thumb didn’t give up hope. «Maybe, -he though- this wolf will be understanding». And he started to shout from inside the stomach:
- Dear wolf, I know where to find a good meal for you!
- Where do I have to go?- asked the wolf.
- To such and such a house. The only thing that you have to do is go in through the kitchen’s trap door and you will find cakes, bacon and sausages, as much as you want to eat.

And Forti Thumb described his parent’s house in detail.

The wolf didn’t need to be told twice. That night, he entered the kitchen through the trap door and ate everything in the larder with great pleasure. When he couldn’t eat any more, he wanted to leave, but he had grown so fat that he couldn’t fit through the door. Forti Thumb, who had seen this coming, started to shout and stamp his feet inside the wolf’s stomach.

- Will you be quiet? -said the wolf-.You’re going to wake everyone up.
I shan’t! -answered the boy-. You’ve had a lot of fun here, haven’t you? Now I want to have a bit of fun too.

And he started to shout again at the top of his voice. The screams finally woke up his parents, who went running towards the larder and looked through a crack. When they saw the wolf, the father went running for the axe, and the woman for the scythe.
- Stay behind me – said the father as he walked into the larder-. I will hit him first with the axe, but if he still isn’t dead, clobber him with the scythe and open his stomach.

When Forti Thumb heard his father’s voice, he shouted:
- Dear father, I’m here; here in the wolf’s stomach!
- Thank goodness! -said his father-. Our beloved son has appeared at last!

And he told his wife to not use the scythe, so as not to injure Forti Thumb. Then, wielding the axe, he gave the wolf such a blow on the head that it fell down dead. Then they went to fetch a knife and scissors, opened up the wolf’s stomach and lifted their little boy out.
- Fine! -said his father-. You don’t know how worried we were about you!
- Yes father! I have had a thousand adventures. Thank goodness that I can breathe fresh air again!
- But, where have you been?
- Oh, father! I have been in a rat’s burrow, in a cow’s stomach and in a wolf’s stomach. And now, at last, I am with you.
- And we wouldn’t sell you again, not for all the gold in the world.

And they gave their beloved Forti Thumb lots of hugs and kisses; they gave him something to eat and drink, they bathed him and dressed him with new clothes, as the ones that he was wearing had been torn during his eventful trip.

THE END (based on the story Tom Thumb)