In a village near a wood a miller lived with his beautiful and intelligent daughter. They were very poor. But the miller had great ambition and wanted to be an important and influential person.
One day the King, out hunting, saw the miller. The man bowed and introduced his daughter too. “She is very extraordinary, Your Majesty,” boasted the miller, “She can spin straw into gold!”
The King was very curious and so he summoned them to the palace the next day. The miller was cocky, but his daughter was nervous.
The king led the girl to a large room filled with straw, with a spinning wheel in it too. He ordered her to spin the straw into gold. “By tomorrow morning, spin this into gold, or you shall die!” he said as he locked her in.
The girl tried to tell him that it was a fib told by her father, but the King would not listen. She sat at the wheel and wept bitterly.
Suddenly, the door opened and a peculiar little man, who looked like a gnome, walked in. “Good day to you, lass,” said the man, “What makes you cry?”
“This straw!” wailed the poor girl, “The King wants me to spin it into gold and I don’t know how anyone can do that!” “I can!” said the little fellow, “But what will you give me if I do this for you?” “I’ll give you my ring,” said the quick-witted girl.
The little man agreed and sat down to spin . By morning, there was a pile of gold thread in the room. The little man vanished as mysteriously as he had come. When the door was opened, the King was dazzled.
But the King wanted more. That night, he put the miller’s daughter into an even bigger room with more straw and ordered her to spin it into gold by morning. “Or you shall die!” he said as he locked her in.
Again, the poor girl wept and again the little man appeared. He asked her what she would give him this time. “My necklace!” promised the miller’s daughter. The man spun the straw into gold and then vanished, taking the necklace.
When the King entered, he was delighted. But the sight of the gold made him more greedy. That night, he put the miller’s daughter into a huge room filled with straw. “If you spin this into gold by morning, I shall marry you. You shall be the Queen!” promised the King, before locking her in “But if you fail, you shall die!”
As the girl wept, the little man came to her aid. But the miller’s daughter had nothing more to give him. He thought for a while, then said, “I’ll spin this if you give me your first-born child when you are the Queen. Will you promise?”
The miller’s daughter was so distressed that she promised him promptly. The next day, the King was so pleased with the roomful of gold that he married the miller’s daughter. There were great celebrations and the miller was thrilled.
The new Queen was very happy and a year later a lovely baby was born to her.
In her happiness, she had forgotten all about the dwarf. But one day, the peculiar little man appeared to take the child from her.
She begged and she pleaded with him not to take away her baby. She offered him wealth but the little man was firm. He wanted the baby. She broke down and wept piteously. That melted the little man a bit.
“All right,” he said, “I’ll give you a chance. You guess my name in three days. I’ll come each day to you. If you find out my name, I’ll not take the child from you. Otherwise, you will give me the baby. Do you agree?”
The Queen had no choice but to agree. And she began to find out all the names possible and made a long list. The next day, she began to read the list to him: “Absalom, Bellamy, Etienne, Hannibal, Lancelot, Zacharia, …….” But the little fellow just chuckled and laughed, and said, “No! No! That’s not my name!”
The next day, she collected all the more awkward names too. She read the absurd list to him: “Muckle-mouth; Crook-shanks; Thumper…” But again the dwarf rolled on the floor, laughing and shaking his head. “Not my name!”
The Queen was miserable. The next day, he would take away her baby! What could she do? She was in despair!
Just then, a messenger came to her. “Your Majesty, I have seen something strange as I travelled through the kingdom,” said the messenger, “Outside a hut on a mountainside one night, a small man had lit a bonfire and was dancing around it singing gleefully. I cannot remember the whole song, my lady, but it ended with the man singing, ‘I’m sure to win the game, as Rumpelstiltskin is my name.’”
The Queen was delighted, because the messenger described the little man perfectly. She thanked him and gave him a bag of gold. The next day, she waited for the dwarf.
He came in confident that he would take the child. The Queen began to recite names again: Tom Thumb, Charles, Peter, Nicholas…. Then, as he laughed and denied all the names, she asked, “Would your name possibly be Rumpelstiltskin?”
The man flew into a violent rage. “Who told you?” he shouted. “HOW DID YOU KNOW? WHO TOLD YOU?” He screamed in rage and lost all control. He jumped up and down so violently that the floor-board cracked and he got stuck in it. He was dragged out and sent away in disgrace, grumbling and muttering.
The Queen’s happiness was complete with her baby being safe.
