The Seven-League Boots (2)

The Seven-League Boots (2)

Then came a very difficult year, when the land was hit by famine and these poor people had to make the decision to get rid of their children.
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famine 飢饉

One evening, when the children were in bed, the woodcutter and his wife sat in front of the fire, talking.

He said to her, his heart broken with grief, " I cannot stand seeing our children starve in front of my eyes, so I have decided to lose them in the woods tomorrow. We will set them to gathering wood, and we will slip away without them seeing. "

" Ah ! " cried his wife, " could you really be so cruel as to lose your children ? "

Her husband explained again how poor they were, but she could not consent to the plan.

However, after considering what a great grief it would be to see them starve in front of her eyes, she finally agreed and went to bed in tears.

Thumbkin had been listening to everything they said ; he had got up quietly and slid under the staircase to be able to hear them without being seen.



(2/20)