Amongst the rest a steward came TOM
Who would the salmon buy, THUMB
And other fish that he did name,
But he would not comply.

The steward said, ‘You are So stout,
If so, I'll not buy any.’

So then out called Tom Thumb aloud,
‘Sir, give another penny!’

At this they all began to start
To hear the sudden joke;

Nay, some were frightened to the heart,
They thought the dead fish spoke.

The steward made no more ado
But bid a penny more,

‘Because,’ he said, ‘I never knew
A fish to speak before.’

When the fish was opened out came Tom again,
and he remained in the kitchen at Rye, and was a
Brent object of diversion to the servants.

One day he was put in the window, when a great
spider observed him and came down to him. Tom
made a gallant fight, yet the spider’s poisonous
breath at last overcame him.

He fell dead on the ground where he stood, q
And the spider sucked every drop of his blood.

When the tidings came to King Arthur he was
very sorry, and went into mourning, he and all his
knights.

Such were his deeds and noble acts,
In Arthur's court they shone,
As like in all the world beside
Was hardly seen or known. |
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