n according to her
orders. His hat was made of a beautiful oak leaf, his shirt of a fine
spider's web, and his hose and doublet were of thistledown, his stockings
were made with the rind of a delicate green apple, and the garters were
two of the finest little hairs imaginable, plucked from his mother's
eyebrows, while his shoes were made of the skin of a little mouse. When he
was thus dressed, the Fairy Queen kissed him once more, and, wishing him
all good luck, flew off with the fairies to her Court.

As Tom grew older, he became very amusing and full of tricks, so that his
mother was afraid to let him out of her sight. One day, while she was
making a batter pudding, Tom stood on the edge of the bowl, with a lighted
candle in his hand, so that she might see that the pudding was made
properly. Unfortunately, however, when her back was turned, Tom fell into
the bowl, and his mother, not missing him, stirred him up in the pudding,
tied it in a cloth, and put it into the pot. The batter filled Tom's
mouth, and prevented him from calling out, but he had no sooner felt the
hot water, than he kicked and struggled so much that the pudding jumped
about in the pot, and his mother, thinking the pudding was bewitched, was
nearly frightened out of her wits. Pulling it out of the pot, she ran with
it to her door, and gave it to a tinker who was passing. He was very
thankful for it, and looked forward to having a better dinner than he had
enjoyed for many a long day. But his pleasure did not last long, for, as
he was getting over a stile, he happened to sneeze very hard, and Tom,
who had been quite quiet inside the pudding for some time, called out at
the top of his little voice, "Hallo, Pickens!" This so terrified the
tinker that he flung away the pudding, and ran off as fast as he could.
The pudding was all broken to pieces by the fall, and Tom crept out,
covered with batter, and ran home to his mother, who had been looking
everywhere for him, and was delighted to see him again. She gave him a
bath in a cup, which soon washed off all the pudding, and he was none the
worse for his adventure.

A few days after this, Tom accompanied his mother when she went into the
fields to milk the cows, and, fearing he might be blown away by the wind,
she tied him to a sow-thistle with a little piece of thread. While she was
milking, a cow came by, bit off the thistle, and swallowed up Tom. Poor
Tom did not like her big teeth, and called out loudl