She wanted to fetch the pretty cradle to put it into her room before Thumbelina herself came there . The old toad bowed low in the water before her , and said : ` Here is my son ; you shall marry him , and live in great magnificence down under the marsh . ' ` Croak , croak , croak ! ' was all that the son could say . Then they took the neat little cradle and swam away with it ; but Thumbelina sat alone on the great green leaf and wept , for she did not want to live with the clammy toad , or marry her ugly son . The little fishes swimming about under the water had seen the toad quite plainly , and heard what she had said ; so they put up their heads to see the little girl . When they saw her , they thought her so pretty that they were very sorry she should go down with the ugly toad to live . No ; that must not happen . They assembled in the water round the green stalk which supported the leaf on which she was sitting , and nibbled the stem in two . Away floated the leaf down the stream , bearing Thumbelina far beyond the reach of the toad . On she sailed past several towns , and the little birds sitting in the bushes saw her , and sang , ` What a pretty little girl ! ' The leaf floated farther and farther away ; thus Thumbelina left her native land . A beautiful little white butterfly fluttered above her , and at last settled on the leaf . Thumbelina pleased him , and she , too , was delighted , for now the toads could not reach her , and it was so beautiful where she was travelling ; the sun shone on the water and made it sparkle like the brightest silver . She took off her sash , and tied one end round the butterfly ; the other end she fastened to the leaf , so that now it glided along with her faster than ever . A great cockchafer came flying past ; he caught sight of Thumbelina , and in a moment had put his arms round her slender waist , and had flown off with her to a tree . The green leaf floated away down the stream , and the butterfly with it , for he was fastened to the leaf and could not get loose from it . Oh , dear ! how terrified poor little Thumbelina was when the cockchafer flew off with her to the tree ! But she was especially distressed on the beautiful white butterfly 's account , as she had tied him fast , so that if he could not get away he must starve to death .
But the cockchafer did not trouble himself about that ; he sat down XXXXX her on a large green leaf , gave her the honey out of the flowers to eat , and told her that she was very pretty , although she was n't in the least like a cockchafer .
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