marriages that were not unmon in the bourgeoisie of that time”, and as a “straightforward fable about being true to your heart” that also upholds “the traditional notion that fame and fortune aren’t worth a hill of beans pared to the love of a good old - fashioned prince”.

拇指姑娘也可以被看作是英勇的大拇指湯姆（英國民間故事中的一個著名角色）的女性對應角色。

thumbelina can also be seen as a female counterpart to the heroic tom thumb.

兩者都是身材矮小的生物，歷經各種磨難，在重重困難下倖存下來。

both are diminutive creatures who suffer through all manner of ordeals and survive against all odds.

拇指姑娘因一次同情之舉（救活燕子）而贏得好運併成為王后，大拇指湯姆則運用智謀打敗食人魔，然後回家與父母和兄弟姐妹像國王般生活。

thumbelina earns her good fortune and bees a queen after an act of passion (reviving the swallow), and tom thumb uses his cunning to defeat the ogre and return home to live like a king with his parents and siblings.

根據印度教信仰，一種拇指大小、被稱為內心自我或靈魂的存在棲息在所有人類和動物的心中。

According to hindu belief, a thumb - sized being known as the innermost self or soul dwells in the heart of all humans and animals.

這個概念最有可能傳入了歐洲民間傳說，以大拇指湯姆和拇指姑娘的形式出現，他們可被視為尋求變形和救贖的人物。

most likely the concept migrated into European folklore, surfacing in the form of tom thumb and thumbelina, both of whom can be seen as figures seeking transfiguration and redemption.

注意，拇指姑娘被重新命名為瑪雅。

Note that thumbelina is renamed maya.

“tommelise” 是這個故事的丹麥語標題。

“tommelise” is the danish title of the tale.

這個故事的首批英語譯本使用了 “小埃莉”、“小托蒂” 和 “小瑪雅” 這些名字。

the