Rumpelstiltskin

Once there was a poor miller who had a very beautiful daughter. One day, he went to the king’s court and claimed that his daughter could spin straw into gold. The king ordered the miller’s daughter to come to the palace. He took her to a room full of straw and said to her, “You must spin all this straw into gold tonight, or you shall die!” The miller’s daughter was locked in the room alone. She did not know what to do and began to cry. Suddenly, a dwarf came out of nowhere and asked her, “Why are you crying?” When she told him the story, he said, “Don’t worry, I will spin the straw into gold, but what will you give me in return?” “I will give you my necklace!” she promised. The dwarf spun all the straw into gold.

The next day, when the king saw this, he was astonished and pleased. He became greedier. He took the girl to a bigger room and said, “Spin all this straw into gold or you shall die!” She was locked inside again, and once again she began to cry. The tiny man came into the room once more. He said, “If I spin all the straw into gold, what will you give me this time?” She gave him her gold, ring and he sat through the night and spun all the straw into gold.

The third morning, the king was very happy to see the room full of gold. He took her to the biggest room filled with straw and said, “If you spin all this straw into gold, you shall become my wife!” The girl was locked up and once again, she began to cry. This time, when the little man came to her, she said, “I do not have anything to give you, sir! What will I do?” He said, “Promise me that you will give me your first born child when you become the queen!” The girl agreed to do so, because she was not expecting to become the king’s wife. The tiny man spun all the straw into gold in the night. The next day, the king was pleased to see the gold. He married the girl and soon they had a baby.

The tiny man came to the queen to take her baby away but she had forgotten about the promise. She cried and begged him to leave her baby alone. The tiny man said, “I will not take your baby if you can guess my name! I will give you three days!” Saying this, he disappeared. The queen tried to remember all kinds of names. The next night, when he came, she told him all the uncommon names she could think of, “Perhaps your name is Shortribs, or Sheepshanks, or Laceleg,” but he always answered, “That is not my name.” The next day the queen sent her servants all over the country to get all the possible names of the people. That night, the dwarf came to the queen again but she could not guess his real name.

On the third day, one of the queen’s servants went into the forest to find the little man. Deep in the woods, the servant found him dancing and singing happily in front of a fire. He sang, “Today I bake, tomorrow I brew, the next I’ll have the young queen’s child. Ha, glad am I that no one knew, that Rumpelstiltskin I am styled!” The servant went back to the palace and told the queen the name of the dwarf.

That night, when the little man carne to the queen, she was already prepared. The tiny man challenged, “Do you give up? Shall I take your child away?” The queen smiled and replied, “Is your name Harry? Is it Conrad? Perhaps it is Rumpelstiltskin!” Hearing his name, the tiny man screamed, “How could you possibly know my name?” Saying this, he ran away, deep into the forest never to be seen again.