随后，大拇指又把剑挂在身上，对强盗们道声“再会”，继续漫游去了。他一路上给好几位师傅帮过工，却总是不对他的胃口。终于，他在一家旅馆当了佣人，可女仆们又不喜欢他，因为在她们看不见他的情况下，他却看得清她们偷偷摸摸干的一切，并且去向老板告发她们从盘子里拿了什么，从地窖中弄走了什么东西。所以女仆们说：“等着吧，我们会跟你算账的。”她们私下商量好整一整他。不久，一个女仆在园子里割草，看见大拇指儿在旁边跳跳蹦蹦，在草里爬上爬下，就很快连他一起割下来，通通裹进一大块布里，再悄悄扔到牛群跟前。牛群中有条大黑母牛，它和着草吞掉了大拇指儿，但没有咬痛他。他很不喜欢呆在牛肚子里，因为那地方太黑，又没点灯。给母牛挤奶的时候，他就喊：
“牛奶快要装满桶了。”
But the noise of the milking prevente(dprevent v.防止， 预防) his being understood. After this the master of the house came into the stall(stall v.(使)停转， (使)停止， 迟延) and said， “That cow shall be killed tomorrow.” Then Thumbling was so alarmed that he cried out in a clear voice， “Let me out first， I am sitting inside her.” The master heard that quite well， but did not know from whence the voice came. “Where are you.” asked he. “In the black one.” answered Thumbling， but the master did not understand what that meant， and went out.
但是挤奶的声音很大，没谁听出他的声音。随后，老板来到牛圈，说：“明天把这头牛宰掉。”大拇指一听着了急，扯起嗓门喊：“先放我出来，我还在里边哩！”老板听见了，可不明白声音是从哪儿来的。“你在哪儿呀？”他问。“在黑牛肚子里边。”大拇指儿回答。老板感到莫名其妙，只好走了。
Next morning the cow was killed. Happily Thumbling did not meet with one blow at the cutting up and chopping， he got among the sausagemeat. And when the butcher(butcher n.屠夫， 屠户) came in and began his work， he cried out with all his might， “Don"t chop too deep， don"t chop too deep， I am amongst it.” No one heard this because of the noise of the choppingknife. Now poor Thumbling was in trouble， but trouble sharpens the wits， and he sprang out so adroitly(adroitly adv.熟练地， 敏捷地) between the blows that none of them touched him， and he escaped with a whole skin. But still he could not get away， there was nothing for it but to let himself be thrust into a blackpudding with the bits of bacon(bacon n.咸肉， 熏肉). His quarters there were rather confined， and besides that he was hung up in the chimney to be smoked， and there time did hang terribly heavy on his hands.At length in winter he was taken down again， as the blackpudding had to be set before a guest. When the hostess(hostess n.女主人， 女房东， 女老板， 女服务员， 舞女) was cutting it in slices(slice n.薄片， 切片， 一份， 部分， 片段)， he took care not to stretch outstretch (out v.伸手， 开始大踏步走) his head too far lest a bit of it should be cut off， at last he saw his opportunity， cleared a passage for himself， and jumped out.
第二天早上，牛被宰了。幸好切牛肉时刀子没碰着大拇指儿，不过呢他却掉进了灌香肠的肉堆中。当屠户进来干活儿时，大拇指儿拼命喊：“别剁太深呀，别剁太深呀，我在下面哩！”可谁听得见他哟，剁肉的声音那么响。可怜的大拇指儿真是大难临头，然而他急中生智，机灵地从两把刀之间穿过，于是脱离了险境。可是他还未完全自由。他别无出路，只好和肥肉一起让人灌进一根香肠里。那地方真有些拥挤，而且他还被挂在烟囱里熏，这让他觉着度日如年。终于到了冬天，他被取了下来，因为香肠要拿去招待客人。当老板娘把香肠切成片片的时候，他总当心，生怕他的头给一块儿切下去了。终于，时机到了，他捅个洞跳了出来。
The little tailor， however， would not stay any longer in a house where he fared so ill， so at once set out on his journey again. But his liberty did not last long. In the open country he met with a fox who snapped(snap：v.猛地吸住， 突然折断， 使劈啪地晌， 猛咬) him up without thinking. “Hi， there， Mr. Fox，” cried the little tailor， “it is I who am sticking in your throat， set me at liberty again.” “You are right.” answered the fox， “You are next to nothing for me， but if you will promise me the fowls in your father"s yard I will let you go.” “With all my heart.” replied Thumbling， “You shall have all the cocks and hens， that I promise you.”
在这所倒霉的房子里，小裁缝再也不肯呆下去，立刻踏上了继续漫游的路。谁知他的自由没有持续多久。在旷野里，他撞上了一头狐狸，让它一口给吞掉了。“哎，狐狸先生，”小裁缝喊，“是我呀，被卡在你喉咙管里了，放了我吧！”“你说得有道理，”狐狸回答，“我吃你简直没意思。只要你答应把你父亲院子里那些鸡送给我，我就放了你。”“非常乐意，”大拇指儿回答，“我发誓只要你放我出去，鸡全部归您。”
Then the fox let him go again， and himself carried him home. When the father once more saw his dear son， he willingly(willingly adv.自动地， 欣然地) gave the fox all the fowls(fowl n.家禽， 禽， 禽肉) which he had. “For this I likewise bring you a handsome bit of money.” said Thumbling， and gave his father the kreuzer which he earned on his travels. “But why did the fox get the poor chickens to eat.” “Oh， you silly， your father would surely love his child far more than the fowls in the yard.”
这样，狐狸又把他吐出来，并且亲自把他背回家。父亲见到自己心爱的小儿子，高高兴兴地把他所有的鸡送给了狐狸。“作为赔偿，我也给你带回来一些钱。”说着，大拇指儿把自己漫游途中挣的那个十字硬币递给了父亲。“可为什么要让狐狸吃掉那些可怜的小鸡崽？”“哎，傻瓜，比起院子里的那些鸡来，爸爸自然更疼自己孩子啊。”