Rumpelstiltskin

Once there was a miller who was poor, but who had a beautiful daughter. Now it happened that he had an audience with the King, and in order to make himself appear as a person of importance he said to him, “I have a daughter who can spin straw into gold.” The King 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 try what she can do.”

And when the girl was brought to him he took her into a room which 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 during the night, you must die.” Thereupon he himselflocked up the room, and left her in it alone. So there sat the poormiller’s daughter, and for the life of her could not tell what to do;she had no idea how straw could be spun into gold, and she grew moreand more miserable, until at last she began to weep.

But all at once the door opened, and in came a little man, and said,“Good evening, Mistress Miller; why are you crying so?” “Alas!” answeredthe girl, “I have to spin straw into gold, and I do not know how todo it.” “What will you give me,” said the manikin, “if I do it foryou?” “My necklace,” said the girl. The little man took the necklace,seated himself in front of the wheel, and “whirr, whirr, whirr,” threeturns, and the reel was full; then he put another on, and whirr, whirr,whirr, three times round, and the second was full too.

And so it wenton until the morning, when all the straw was spun, and all the reelswere full of gold. By daybreak the King was already there, and when hesaw the gold he was astonished and delighted, but his heart became onlymore greedy. He had the miller’s daughter taken into another room fullof straw, which was much larger, and commanded her to spin that also inone night if she valued her life. The girl knew not how to help herself,and was crying, when the door again opened, and the little man appeared,

and said, “What will you give me if I spin that straw into gold foryou?” “The ring on my finger,” answered the girl. The little man tookthe ring, again began to turn the wheel, and by morning had spun allthe straw into glittering gold.

The King rejoiced beyond measure at the sight, but still he had notgold enough; and he had the miller’s daughter taken into a still largerroom full of straw, and said, “You must spin this, too, in the courseof this night; but if you succeed, you shall be my wife.” “Even if shebe a miller’s daughter,” thought he, “I could not find a richer wife inthe whole world.”

When the girl was alone the manikin came again for the third time,and said, “What will you give me if I spin the straw for you this timealso?” “I have nothing left that I could give,” answered the girl. “Thenpromise me, if you should become Queen, your first child.” “Who knowswhether that will ever happen?” thought the miller’s daughter; and, notknowing how else to help herself in this strait, she promised the manikinwhat he wanted, and for that he once more span the straw into gold.

And when the King came in the morning, and found all as he had wished,he took her in marriage, and the pretty miller’s daughter became a Queen.

A year after, she had a beautiful child, and she never gave a thought tothe manikin. But suddenly he came into her room, and said, “Now give mewhat you promised.” The Queen was horror-struck, and offered the manikin

all the riches of the kingdom if he would leave her the child. But themanikin said, “No, something that is living is dearer to me than all thetreasures in the world.” Then the Queen began to weep and cry, so thatthe manikin pitied her. “I will give you three days’ time,” said he,“if by that time you find out my name, then shall you keep your child.”

So the Queen thought the whole night of all the names that she had everheard, and she sent a messenger over the country to inquire, far andwide, for any other names that there might be. When the manikin came the

next day, she began with Caspar, Melchior, Balthazar, and said all thenames she knew, one after another; but to every one the little man said,“That is not my name.” On the second day she had inquiries made in theneighborhood as to the names of the people there, and she repeated to the

manikin the most uncommon and curious. “Perhaps your name is Shortribs, orSheepshanks, or Laceleg?” but he always answered, “That is not my name.”

On the third day the messenger came back again, and said, “I have not been able to find a single new name, but as I came to a high mountain at theend 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 quite a ridiculous little man was jumping:he hopped upon one leg, and shouted—

“To-day I bake, to-morrow brew,The next I’ll have the young Queen’s child.Ha! glad am I that no one knewThat Rumpelstiltskin I am styled.”

You may think how glad the Queen was when she heard the name! And whensoon afterwards the little man came in, and asked, “Now, Mistress Queen,what is my name?” at first she said, “Is your name Conrad?” “No.” “Isyour name Harry?” “No.”

“Perhaps your name is Rumpelstiltskin?”

“The devil has told you that! the devil has told you that!” cried thelittle man, and in his anger he plunged his right foot so deep into theearth that his whole leg went in; and then in rage he pulled at his leftleg so hard with both hands that he tore himself in two.