Rumpelstiltskin

Once there was a miller who was poor, but who had a beautiful daughter. Now it happened that he had to go and speak with the King, and in order to make himself appear important he said to him, 'I have a daughter who can spin straw into gold.' The King was delighted to hear this, and said to the miller, 'That is an art which pleases me well; if your daughter is as clever as you say, bring her to-morrow to my palace, and I will put her to the test.'

When the girl was brought to him he led her into a room that was quite full of straw, gave her a spinning-wheel and a reel, and said, 'Now set to work, and if by to-morrow morning early you have not spun this straw into gold, you must die.' Thereupon he locked the room up, and left her alone in it.

The poor miller's daughter sat there in fear and trembling, not knowing what to do. Suddenly the door opened, and a little manikin entered. He was dressed in a little grey jacket, and said, 'Good evening, fair maiden; why do you weep so sore?' 'Alas!' answered she, 'I must spin this straw into gold, and I do not know how to do it.' 'What will you give me,' said the manikin, 'if I do it for you?' 'My necklace,' said the maiden.

He took the necklace, seated himself in front of the wheel, and whirr, whirr, whirr, three times round, and the reel was full. Then he put another on, and whirr, whirr, whirr, three times round again, and the second was full too. And so it went on until the morning, when all the straw was spun, and all the reels were full of gold.

The King came in the morning, and when he saw the gold he was astonished and delighted, but his heart became only more greedy. He had the miller's daughter taken into another room filled with straw, which was much larger, and commanded her to spin that also in one night if she valued her life. The girl was terrified, and knew not what to do. Then the door opened again, and the little manikin appeared and said, 'What will you give me if I spin that straw into gold for you?' 'The ring on my finger,' answered the maiden.

The little man took the ring, again began to turn the wheel, and by morning had spun all the straw into glittering gold.

The King was beside himself with joy when he saw it, and was still more determined to marry the miller's daughter. But she was frightened, for she knew that the King would not keep his word. When, therefore, he commanded her for the third time to spin, she had no resource left, and she cried out, 'I cannot do it; I do not know how to spin straw into gold!' In that moment the door opened, and the little man appeared and said, 'What will you give me if I spin this straw into gold for you the third time?' 'I have nothing left to give,' answered the maiden. 'Then promise me, if you should become Queen, your first child.'

'Who knows whether that will ever happen?' thought the miller's daughter; and, not knowing how else to help herself in this strait, she promised the manikin what he asked, and he spun the straw into gold.

When the King came in the morning and found everything as he had wished, he married her at once, and the miller's daughter became a Queen.

A year after, she brought a beautiful child into the world, and she never thought of the little man. But suddenly he came into her room, and said, 'Now, Queen, give me what you promised.' The Queen was horror-struck, and offered the little man all the wealth of the kingdom if he would leave her the child. But the manikin said, 'No, something alive is dearer to me than all the treasures in the world.'

Then the Queen began to weep and cry so much that the little man was sorry for her. 'I will give you three days,' said he, 'if by that time you find out my name, then shall you keep your child.'

The Queen spent the whole night thinking over all the names she had ever heard, and she sent a messenger through the land to ask far and wide what names were common. The next day, when the little man came, she began with Caspar, Melchior, Balthazar, and said all the names she knew, but at every one the little man said, 'That is not my name.'

The second day she sent messengers into the neighbouring countries to inquire what names were common there. They came back and told the Queen that this one was not named that, and that one was not named that, and that no one was called Rumpelstiltskin. 'Perhaps he is named Rumpelstiltskin!' said the Queen. On the third day a messenger came back and said, 'I have not been able to find a single new name, but as I came to a high mountain at the end of the forest, where the fox and the hare bid each other good night, there I saw a little house, and before the house a fire was burning, and round about the fire a ridiculous little man was jumping on one leg, and crying:

"Today I brew, to-day I bake, To-morrow the Queen's child I shall take. Ah! how famous it is that I am Rumpelstiltskin!"'

'You cannot imagine how glad I am,' said the Queen. 'Is your name Rumpelstiltskin?' 'Some witch told you that! Some witch told you that!' screamed the little man, and in his anger stamped his right foot so deep into the ground that he sank in up to his waist. Then in his rage he pulled at his left leg so hard with both hands that he tore himself in two.

And that was how the Queen kept her child.