This Tiny Girl

The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.

- Nature Boy

The last two days have been quite emotional, but one of my strengths is my ability to compartmentalize things. I have to put this issue into a box and will channel my energy into my upcoming performance at the Great Boston Burlesque Expo. As a returning champion, I want to wow the crowd with something that is slow, sensual and spectacular - which is very different from my usual numbers. Li'l Relly is best known for comedic burlesque, but for this event the performance is a titillating representation of the Hans Christian Andersen story, Thumbelina. Therefore, today's question is: what is the story of Thumbelina?

A:

A woman is desperate to have a child and buys enchanted barleycorn from a fairy. Once planted, a tiny girl, Thumbelina (Tommelise), emerges from its flower. One night, Thumbelina, asleep in her walnut-shell cradle, is carried off by a toad who wants the miniature maiden as a bride for her son. With the help of friendly fish and a butterfly, Thumbelina escapes the toad and her son, and drifts on a lily pad until captured by a stag-beetle. The insect discards her when his friends reject her company. Thumbelina tries to protect herself from the elements, but when winter comes, she is in desperate straits. She is finally given shelter by an old fieldmouse and tends her dwelling in gratitude. The mouse suggests Thumbelina marry her neighbor, a mole, but Thumbelina finds the prospect repulsive. She escapes the situation by fleeing to a far land with a swallow she nursed back to health during the winter. In a sunny field of flowers, Thumbelina meets a tiny flower-fairy prince just her size and to her liking, and they wed. She receives a pair of wings to accompany her husband on his travels from flower to flower.

Source:

Hans Christian Andersen: Little Tiny or Thumbelina

Wikipedia: Thumbelina