Rumpelstiltskin

In a small village, there lived a miller and his daughter. The miller wasn’t very rich, but his daughter was beautiful. One day, the miller had to go and speak to the king. To make himself sound important, he said, “I have a daughter who can spin straw into gold.”

The King thought that was an amazing talent and said, “If your daughter is as clever as you say, bring her to the palace tomorrow, and I’ll see what she can do.”

So, the next day, the miller’s daughter went to the palace. The king took her to a room filled with straw and gave her a spinning wheel and a reel. He said, “Now, spin this straw into gold by tomorrow morning. If you can’t, you’ll be in big trouble.”

Then the King locked the door and left her alone. The poor miller’s daughter didn’t know what to do. She had no idea how to turn straw into gold, and she started to cry.

But suddenly, a tiny man appeared in the room. He asked, “Why are you crying?” The miller’s daughter explained, “I have to spin straw into gold, and I don’t know how to do it.”

The little man said, “I can help you, but what will you give me in return?” The miller’s daughter had a necklace, so she offered it to him. The little man started spinning the straw into gold. He did it so quickly that by the morning, all the straw had turned into shiny gold.

The King was amazed when he saw the gold, but he wanted more. He took the miller’s daughter to another room with even more straw. He said, “You must spin all of this straw into gold by tomorrow morning, or else.”

The miller’s daughter was scared. Again, the little man appeared and offered his help. This time, she gave him her ring. The little man had spun all the straw into gold by the morning.

The King was pleased but still not satisfied. He took the miller’s daughter to an even larger room filled with straw and said, “If you can spin all of this straw into gold by morning, I will marry you.”

The miller’s daughter was in big trouble. Once again, the little man appeared and offered his help. This time, she had nothing left to give him, so she promised him her first child if she became a queen someday.

The little man agreed and spun all the straw into gold. The King married the miller’s daughter, and they became the Queen and King.

A year later, the Queen had a beautiful baby. She had completely forgotten about the little man until he suddenly appeared in her room. He said, “Now, give me what you promised.”

The Queen was terrified and offered him all the treasures in the kingdom, but the little man said, “No, something living is more valuable to me than all the riches in the world.”

The Queen began to cry, and the little man gave her three days to guess his name. If she could guess his name, she could keep her baby.

For three days, the Queen thought about all the names she knew and sent messengers to find more names. But she couldn’t figure it out. On the third day, a messenger came back with an unusual name. He said he found a little house on top of a high mountain where a funny little man danced around a fire and sang to himself.

“Today do I bake?

tomorrow I brew,

The day after that, the queen’s child comes in;

And oh! I am glad that nobody knew

That the name I am called is Rumpelstiltskin!”

When the little man returned on the third day, the Queen started guessing names. She said, “Is your name Conrad?” “No.” “Is it Harry?” “No.”

Then she took a deep breath and said, “Is your name Rumpelstiltskin?” The little man was shocked and angry. He stomped his right foot into the ground so hard that it got stuck. Then he pulled on his left leg so hard that he tore himself in two.

And that’s how the clever Queen saved her baby from the tricky little man, Rumpelstiltskin. The Queen and her baby lived happily ever after, and they all learned that keeping promises is very important.