Patufet (, also known as '' Garbancito'' in Spanish) is the main character of one of the most famous folktales of

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

tradition. It is related to the stories of

Tom Thumb Tom Thumb is a character of English folklore. ''The History of Tom Thumb'' was published in 1621 and was the first fairy tale printed in English. Tom is no bigger than his father's thumb, and his adventures include being swallowed by a cow, tan ...

, Little Thumb or

Thumbling "Thumbling" and "Thumbling's Travels" (also known as "Thumbling as Journeyman") are two Germany, German fairy tales collected by the Brothers Grimm in ''Grimms' Fairy Tales, Grimm's fairy tales'' in 1819 (KHM 37 and 45). The two stories do not fea ...

(Catalan: Polzet; Spanish: ''Pulgarcito'').

Description

Patufet is usually represented as a very small child the size of a

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

grain or a little garbanzo bean, wearing a big red

barretina A barretina (; plural: ''barretines'', diminutive of ''barret'' "cap") is a traditional hat that was frequently worn by men in parts of the Christian cultures of the Mediterranean Sea such as Catalonia, the Valencian Community, the Balearic Isla ...

so that his parents can better spot him around the place. He is curious and mischievous, until one day he decides to show the world that he's useful and reliable. According to some versions Patufet was good-natured and hard-working from the beginning. The first task he sets about to do is to go to the shop to buy some

saffron Saffron () is a spice derived from the flower of ''Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma and styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly as a seasoning and colouring agent in ...

. Since people can't see him because he's so small, he avoids being trodden on by singing, The people he meets only see a coin that walks and sings but he manages to accomplish his task. Afterwards he decides to go to the farm fields to take lunch to his father. But Patufet is not lucky: when it starts to rain he takes refuge under a cabbage where he fell asleep; after this he accidentally gets eaten by an ox. His parents go about looking for him, calling ''"Patufeeet, on eeets?"'' (Patufeeet, where are youuu?) and he replies from inside the ox, After a while they hear Patufet's little voice and his parents feeds the ox with cabbages that make it fart faster.

Influences

This tale can be considered as a coming of age symbol.

En Patufet ''En Patufet'' was an illustrated children's magazine, written in Catalan, published in Barcelona (Spain), between 1904 and 1938. Later, between 1968 and 1973, it was resumed under the name ''Patufet''. It had a great popularity, to the point tha ...

was also the title of an influential children's magazine in Catalan published from 1904 to 1938, and again from 1968 to 1973. The figure of ''Patufet'' on the magazine was first drawn by Antoni Muntanyola.L'Any Patufet commemora el centenari de la revista amb dues exposicions
/ref> Today ''Patufet'' is a familiar word in

for a very little kid or for a children's publication. In The Triplets series there was a chapter about "Patufet".

References

Fairy tale stock characters Catalan folklore Catalan symbols {{fict-char-stub es:En Patufet#El cuento popular