Books Should Be Free Loyal Books Free Public Domain Audiobooks & eBook Downloads |
|
Piccolissima By: Eliza Lee Cabot Follen (1787-1860) |
---|
![]()
BY MRS. FOLLEN With illustrations by Gammatt Billings and others
PREFACE. This little story I have translated from the French of Mademoiselle
Montgolfier. If children enjoy it as much as I have, and think it as
pretty, they will not regret that I have preferred it to any thing I
could write for them. Mademoiselle Montgolfier says in her preface to the little book,
"Notwithstanding the fanciful character of this story, it is, in
fact, simply a little lesson in Natural History," and that "she
would engage for the truth of all that Piccolissima relates of the
manners and customs of the insects with whom she makes acquaintance." It may also interest our young, and, perhaps, our more advanced
readers, to know, that Mademoiselle Montgolfier is the daughter of
the celebrated Montgolfier who invented balloons, and made the first
ascension. I had, when in France, the pleasure of seeing this very
interesting lady, and know her affection for children; and I am sure
that it will please her to know that her tiny naturalist is welcomed
by the American children. I therefore feel a particular pleasure in
introducing the wonderfully small Piccolissima to their
acquaintance, and recommending her to their affectionate regard. E. L. F. BROOKLINE, October, 1857.
PICCOLISSIMA.
Piccolissima was descended on the father's side from the famous Tom
Thumb, so well known to all children. On the mother's side, her
lineage was no less distinguished. Mignonette Littlepin (this was
the family name of Madam Tom Thumb) was the great granddaughter of
the wonderful Princess, who once lodged in a spectacle case, out of
which she came so splendidly attired that the brilliancy of her
little person illuminated all surrounding objects. A trustworthy
biographer tells us that nothing occurred in the history of Mr. and
Mrs. Tom Thumb to disgrace their illustrious parentage, and they
were considered none the less good citizens because they were rather
smaller than other people. In the mean while, however, our humble couple became suddenly
celebrated by the birth of our heroine; this small creature was so
delicate, so exquisite, so pretty, and so lively and full of spirit,
that from the age of two years she became the object of general
admiration. She was not more than one inch in height, and her
mother, who had prepared the cradle and baby linen for a child of
the usual size, was puzzled to know what to do. Finally, the half of
a cocoanut shell, lined, and furnished with soft cushions of thistle
down, made a good bed for the little wonder; and the nursery maid,
wife of a neighboring clockmaker, and a person of ingenuity,
conceived the admirable idea of suspending the cocoanut cradle from
the pendulum of a great clock, in order that the infant might be
rocked all the time. Madam Tom Thumb was enchanted with the
invention. She adhered to the old fashioned notions, and could not
suppose it possible that her little one could sleep without rocking.
What the good little mother found the most trouble from, in the
extreme smallness and delicacy of the limbs of her new born doll
baby, was the impossibility of swathing and dressing it. So she was
forced to resign herself to doing as the birds do, and bring up her
little one on a bed of moss and down. She hardly dared to put upon
the little arm, smaller than her own little finger, a little shift
made of the fine white skin of the inside of an eggshell. The boots
of the little one had soles cut out of the inside husks of the corn;
a poppy leaf made her an ample bonnet. The spider's web which the
dew whitens, and the wind winds up in balls, seemed too coarse too
weave her sheets with, and the cup of an acorn was big enough for
Piccolissima. Her parents obtained all her wardrobe, and all the
small furniture for her use from those thousands of skilful
laborers, so adroit, and yet of whom we think so little, who hide
themselves in all the walls, in the leaves of the trees turned up
like horns, under the bark of the trees; in short, that are found in
all the corners and crevices of creation... Continue reading book >>
|
Genres for this book |
---|
Fiction |
Literature |
Teen/Young adult |
eBook links |
---|
Wikipedia – Eliza Lee Cabot Follen |
Wikipedia – Piccolissima |
eBook Downloads | |
---|---|
ePUB eBook • iBooks for iPhone and iPad • Nook • Sony Reader |
Kindle eBook • Mobi file format for Kindle |
Read eBook • Load eBook in browser |
Text File eBook • Computers • Windows • Mac |
Review this book |
---|