Soon he came to a tall, wooden gate where two huge warriors stood with long swords. There they guarded the gates and watched all the passers-by. So Tiny Finger knew that he had found the palace of the emperor at last.

Being so small, Tiny Finger nimbly jumped through an opening in the huge gate and entered the garden of the palace. Timidly he approached the front door of the palace and cried, "Hello! Hello!" But his voice was so thin that no one could hear it.

Then with all his might Tiny Finger shouted over and over again, "Hello, great lord, hello!"

And at last, hearing the weak voice calling, one of the guards noticed Tiny Finger and brought the Lord of the Palace to the doorway.

But what a strange thing -- no one was there! At least the Lord of the Palace thought that no one was there. He did not expect such a tiny visitor.

The thin little voice kept calling, "Hello! Hello! Great Lord of the Palace, I am down here by your feet! "

And when the Lord of the Palace looked down, there stood the smallest boy he had ever seen. Why, he was no longer than a finger!

The great lord bent down and in a soft voice asked of Tiny Finger, "Strange little boy, what do you want?"

Tiny Finger replied, "I am Tiny Finger, and I came here to learn to be as great a soldier as you."

The Lord of the Palace was delighted with this speech and with the bravery of the little visitor. "You shall be a soldier," he said. "Come and meet my young daughter. I think I will make you her personal guard."

So that is how Tiny Finger went to the great Japanese city of Kyoto and how he became the personal guard of the princess of that city.

Life in the castle with the princess was a wonderful experience for Tiny Finger. The princess grew to love her finger-high guard, and she had him accompany her wherever she went.

One day the princess was visiting a shrine on the outskirts of the city, and Tiny Finger went along as usual, for he was her personal attendant. On their way home they passed through a deep forest, and just as they were near the middle of the woods, a tall, fierce bandit suddenly appeared before the princess. The bandit was very bold and he gruffly caught the princess by the sleeve of her kimono.

"Help me! Help me!" the princess cried. She tried to escape from the bandit, but he was too strong, and he held her fast.

Seeing the princess in danger, Tiny Finger unsheathed his needle sword and sprang at the shaggybandit. Running and kicking, he finally succeeded in pricking the bandit in a sensitive spot with his needle sword.

"Oh! Oh! Oh! I have been cut!" roared the bandit. Then he looked all around for the one who had hurt him. But Tiny Finger was so small that he could run in and out between the bandit's feet, sticking the long needle into the bandit's big toes and into his heels. And the bandit was so tall and so clumsy that he could not catch Tiny Finger. Nor could he escape from him. Every time the bandit tried to run away, Tiny Finger would catch him by one trouser leg and stick him with his needle. This he did many, many times, and every time the bandit tried to catch Tiny Finger, the little boy would hide between the bandit's toes or in the folds of his trousers.

The bandit could not get away from the little boy, and he could not catch Tiny Finger. So he surrendered. And when Tiny Finger jumped down to the ground, the bandit escaped into the forest, leaving behind him many precious treasures and a mallet.

The princess, who had stood trembling under a tree while Tiny Finger fought with the bandit, now approached him with delight and appreciation.

To her small protector she said, "Thank you most kindly for bravely doing battle with that wicked bandit. You have saved my life. If it had not been for you, the bandit would certainly have carried me away into the forest. And he would have made my father pay a large ransom for my release. I will tell my father how brave you are, and he will reward you."

Then the princess picked up the mallet the bandit had left, and she said to Tiny Finger, "This is a wonderful and mysterious mallet, my little soldier. It is a treasure of the bandit family. If you make a wish, you will receive anything you ask of it."

Tiny Finger was most delighted, and he made a wish. "Please," he said, "make me a tall and strong boy like all the other boys of Japan."

He shouted this wish three times, and, to his astonishment, he grew several feet every time he shouted. Before the very eyes of the princess, he became a handsome and strong warrior.

There was a great feast in the banquet hall of the grand palace that night. Many soldiers praised Tiny Finger, and everyone admired his beauty and strength. The great lord was so pleased with the bravery of the young warrior that he gave his daughter in marriage to Tiny Finger.

The next day Tiny Finger and his lovely bride set out for the town where Kenta and Mori lived. But this time Tiny Finger did not sail in a rice bowl, nor did he row with a chopstick. The old lord had given the young couple a strong and sleek ship with tall white sails to help them skim over the water.

Off they went over the blue waves to visit the aging parents of the young warrior. In time, Tiny Finger became a great lord himself.
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