Tom offered to read some of it to her and taking up the sheet, read it with much expression. In spite of this, the Godmother shook her head. »You read very nicely what you yourself have written,« she said, »but you must learn human letters as well, so that you can read and study our books.« Therefore, she brought her book to the table, and reached for Little Tom to place him upon it, but he was nowhere to be seen. She looked all about and finally spied him clinging desperately to the table cloth. The wind caused by turning the leaves had blown him over to the very edge of the table and he had barely saved himself. He was calling for help when his Godmother rescued him from his perilous position. So it nearly happened that, at the very outset, a misfortune might have prevented the reading altogether; but, as soon as he had recovered from his fright, Tom offered at once to begin. He crawled quickly up the golden edge of the book and surveyed the broad white plain covered in every direction, with curving black lines. He ran at once to the upper left hand corner, stepping gingerly on the first large letter. After he had walked all over it, he stopped and declared confidently that it was a capital »O«. In like manner he went on to »N« and »C« and »E« and a little further, until he had no longer to run completely over a letter but could place himself in the middle and looking all about him could tell at once what it was. One after the other he spelled and his Godmother was surprised to see how quickly the reading progressed. [Illustration] It was only when he came to the end of the page that he found difficulty, for then he had to crawl down while she turned the page over; but he thought of a way to get around this. When he had reached the end of the next page he procured one of his long spears and crawling a little way down the sloping edge of the opened book, thrust his spear between the leaves and raised the sheet high enough to crawl under it. Then, on his hands and knees, he worked his way to the middle of the book and exerting all his strength, he was able to turn the page over. In a short time, he learned to read so rapidly that he could run swiftly along the lines and in this way could cover five or six pages in a day. He liked especially to linger by the pictures, looking at the little knights gazing from the battlements of the castle, or the beautiful ladies spinning or embroidering in great rooms; for it seemed to him that these were pictures of his former life and reminded him of his lost realm. But, after a moment, he would diligently continue his reading.