He drank a dozen glasses more than usual, which went to his head and he had to go to bed.

The ogre had seven daughters, all little children. They all had very fine complexions because, like their father, they were used to eating fresh meat. However, they had little round grey eyes, hooked noses, wide mouths and very long teeth set at a good distance one from the other. They were not too mischievous yet, but they had great promise, for they already bit little children in order to suck their blood. They had been put to bed early, all in the same big bed together, each one with a golden crown on her head. In the same chamber there was another bed the same size, and it was into this bed that the ogre’s wife put the seven little boys, after which she went to bed with her husband.

Tom Thumb had seen that the ogre’s daughters had golden crowns on their heads. He was afraid that the ogre might regret not having killed them and he got up at about midnight. Taking his brother’s caps and his own, he very gently put them on the heads of the seven little ogresses, having removed their golden crowns. He put the crowns on his own head and his brothers’ heads, so that the ogre might mistake them for his daughters, and his daughters for the little boys he wanted to kill. All this went according to his plan, for the ogre woke at about midnight and, regretting that he had put off until morning what he could have done the night before, threw himself out of bed and picked up his big knife.

“Let us see,” he said, “how our little rogues are, and get on with the job.”

He groped his way up to his daughters’ chamber, and came to the bed where the little boys lay. All of them were fast asleep, except Tom Thumb, who was dreadfully afraid when he felt the ogre fumbling around his head, as he had done around his brothers’ heads. The ogre, feeling the golden crowns said,

“I could have made a big mistake – I think I drank too much last night.”

Then he went to the bed where the girls lay and found the little boys’ caps.

“Hah!” he said, “My fine boys, are you there? Let’s get to work!”

And, without more ado, he cut the throats of all his seven daughters.

Well pleased with himself he went to bed again beside his wife. As soon as Tom Thumb heard the ogre snoring, he woke his brothers and told them to get dressed and follow him. They crept down softly into the garden and climbed over the wall. They kept running all night, shaking, with no idea where they were going.

When the ogre woke up, he said to his wife, “Go upstairs and dress those young rascals who came here last night.”

The ogress was very surprised by her husband’s goodness, not dreaming how he intended her to dress them, but believing that he had ordered her to go up and get them into their clothes. She went up and was horrified to find her seven daughters dead, soaked in their own blood. She fainted, which is the first thing almost all women do in these situations. The ogre, concerned that his wife was taking too long to do what he had ordered, went up to help her. He was no less amazed than his wife at the dreadful sight.

“Oh! What have I done?” he cried. “The cursed wretches will pay for this, and at once!”

He then threw a pitcher of water over his wife’s face, and as soon as she came to he cried, “Give me my seven-league boots, so that I can go and catch them!”

He went out, and having quickly covered a great deal of ground, he came at last to the very road where the poor children were, no more than 100 paces from their father’s house. They spotted the ogre, who went with one step from mountain to mountain, and over rivers as easily as the smallest streams. Tom Thumb, seeing a hollow rock nearby, made his brothers hide themselves in it, and then squeezed himself into it, thinking about what would happen to the ogre.

The ogre, who was feeling very tired after his long and fruitless journey (for these seven-league boots are very tiring for the wearer), decided to take a rest. By chance, he sat down on the rock where the little boys had hidden themselves. He was worn out and he fell asleep. After resting for a little while he began to snore so dreadfully that the children were just as afraid of him as when he had held up his big knife and was about to cut their throats. Tom Thumb, who was not as frightened as his brothers, told them that they should run straight home while the ogre was so soundly asleep. They took his advice and had soon reached their home. Tom Thumb came up to the ogre, gently pulled off his boots and put them on his own feet. The boots were very long and large, but because they were enchanted, they had the gift of becoming big and little, depending on the legs of those who wore them, so they fitted his feet and legs as well as if they had been made for him.

Tom Thumb went immediately to the ogre’s house, where he found the ogress weeping bitterly for her murdered daughters.

“Your husband,” said Tom Thumb, “is in very great danger, having been captured by a gang of thieves, who have sworn to kill him if he does not give them all his gold and silver. Just as they held their daggers at his throat he saw me and asked me to come and tell you about his predicament, and said that you should give me everything valuable that he owns, without holding back anything, for otherwise they will kill him without mercy.