Then Thumbling got safely through the crevice into the treasurechamber， opened the window beneath which the robbers were standing， and threw out to them one taler after another. When the little tailor was in the full swing of his work， he heard the king coming to inspect his treasurechamber， and crept hastily into a hidingplace. The king noticed that several solid talers were missing， but could not conceive(conceive vt.构思， 以为， 持有) who could have stolen them， for locks and bolts(bolt n.门闩， 螺钉， 闪电， 跑掉) were in good condition， and all seemed well guarded. Then he went away again， and said to the sentries， be on the watch， someone is after the money. When therefore Thumbling recommenced his labors， they heard the money moving， and a sound of klink， klink， klink. They ran swiftly in to seize the thief， but the little tailor， who heard them coming， was still swifter， and leapt into a corner and covered himself with a taler， so that nothing could be seen of him， and at the same time he mocked(mock v.嘲笑， 骗， 挫败， 嘲弄) the sentries and cried， “Here am I.” The sentries ran thither， but as they got there， he had already hopped into another corner under a taler， and was crying， “Ho， ho， here am I.” And thus he made fools of them， and drove them so long round about the treasurechamber that they were weary and went away. Then by degrees he threw all the talers out， dispatching(dispatch vt.分派， 派遣) the last with all his might， then hopped nimbly upon it， and flew down with it through the window.The robbers paid him great compliments(compliment n.称赞， 恭维， 致意， 问候， 道贺). “You are a valiant(valiant adj.勇敢的， 英勇的) hero，” said they， “will you be our captain.” Thumbling， however， declined， and said he wanted to see the world first. They now divided the booty(booty n.战利品， 获得之物)， but the little tailor only asked for a kreuzer(kreutzer n.(旧时德国和奥地利的)十字硬币(硬币上铸有十字)) because he could not carry more.
这样，大拇指儿就侥幸地钻进了库中，打开了强盗们等在外边的那扇窗户，把银币一枚一枚地扔给他们。小裁缝干得正带劲儿，听见国王视察他的金库来了，急忙躲了起来。国王发现少了许多银元，却想不通谁偷了他们，因为锁和门闩全都完好无损，保卫工作看来毫无问题。国王离开金库时告诉卫兵：“你们得留神，有人在偷钱。”当大拇指儿重新干起来的时候，他们听见里边有响动：咔啦，丁当，丁当，咔啦。他们迅速冲进去抓贼，可小裁缝听见他们来了很快就逃，跳到角落里，拿一块银币盖在头上，没有留一丝痕迹。与此同时竟然还寻卫兵们开心，冲他们喊：“我在这儿！”卫兵们跑过来，可刚一到他就跳进另一个角落，钻到另一枚银币底下喊：“喂，这儿啦！”卫兵们紧追过去，大拇指又跳到第三个角落，喊道：“呵，这儿，这儿！”他就如此地愚弄卫兵们，逗得他们长时间地在库里团团转，直到累得他们自动走开。接着，他一枚一枚地把全部银币扔了出去，扔最后一枚他拼足了全身的力气，同时自己敏捷地趁势跳到银币上，随着飞出了窗户。强盗们大加称赞他：“你真是个了不起的英雄，”他们说，“当我们的头儿好不好？”大拇指儿谢绝了，说他想先去外面见见世面。强盗们开始分赃，小裁缝只要了一个十字硬币，因为多了他也拿不动。
Then he once more buckled(buckle v.扣住， 变弯曲) on his sword， bade the robbers goodbye， and took to the road. First， he went to work with some masters， but he had no liking(liking n.爱好， 嗜好) for that， and at last he hired himself as manservant(manservant n.仆役， 男仆) in an inn. The maids， however， could not endure(endure v.耐久， 忍耐) him， for he saw all they did secretly， without their seeing him， and he told their employers what they had taken off the plates， and carried away out of the cellar， for themselves. Then said they， “Wait， and we will pay you out， and arranged with each other to play him a trick.” Soon afterwards when one of the maids was mowing(mow v.刈， 扫除， 收割庄稼， 扫倒) in the garden， and saw Thumbling jumping about and creeping up and down the plants， she mowed him up quickly with the grass， tied all in a great cloth， and secretly threw it to the cows. Now amongst them there was a great black one， who swallowed(swallow vt.咽， 淹没， 吞没， 取消， 忍受， 轻信， 压制， 耗尽) him down without hurting him.Down below， however， it did not suit him， for it was quite dark， neither was any candle burning. When the cow was being milked he cried， “when will the pail be full.”