Rumpelstiltskin

Once upon a time there was a poor miller, but he had a beautiful daughter. One day he had to speak with the king, and to make himself important he said: "I have a daughter who can spin straw into gold." The king replied: "That is an art I like very much. If your daughter is as clever as you say, then bring her to my castle tomorrow, and I shall see what she can manage."

When the girl was brought before the king, he took her into a room that was completely full of straw. He gave her a spinning wheel and a reel, and said: "Now get to work! If you have not spun this straw into gold by morning, you must die." Then he locked the door and left her alone. There sat the poor miller's daughter, not knowing what to do. She had no idea how straw could become gold, and she grew more and more desperate, until she began to cry.

But suddenly the door opened, and in came a little man. He said: "Good evening, miller's girl. Why are you crying so?" "Alas," replied the girl, "I must spin straw into gold, and I do not know how to do it." "What will you give me," said the little man, "if I do it for you?" "My necklace," said the girl.

The little man took the necklace, sat down in front of the wheel, and whir, whir, whir – three turns, and the reel was full. Then he put on a new one, and whir, whir, whir – three more turns, and the second one was also full.

And so it continued until morning, when all the straw was spun and all the reels were full of gold.

At dawn the king came already, and when he saw the gold, he was both surprised and pleased, but his heart only became even more greedy. He had the miller's daughter taken into another room full of straw, which was much larger, and commanded her to spin this too in one night, if she valued her life.

The girl did not know how to help herself, and cried, when the door opened again and the little man appeared. He said: "What will you give me if I spin this straw into gold for you?" "The ring on my finger," replied the girl.

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

The king rejoiced beyond all measure when he saw it, but he still did not have enough gold. He had the miller's daughter taken into an even larger room full of straw, and said: "This too you must spin during the night. But if you succeed, you shall become my queen." "Even though she is only a miller's daughter," he thought, "I could not find a richer wife in all the world."

When the girl was alone, the little man came again for the third time and said: "What will you give me if I spin the straw for you this time too?" "I have nothing left to give," replied the girl. "Then you must promise me your first child, if you become queen." "Who knows if that will ever happen?" thought the miller's daughter. And since she knew no other way out, she promised the little man what he wanted, and he spun the straw into gold yet again.

When the king came in the morning and found everything as he wished, he married her, and the beautiful miller's daughter became queen.

A year later she had a beautiful child, and she no longer thought of the little man. But suddenly he came into her room and said: "Now you must give me what you promised." The queen was horrified and offered the little man all the riches of the kingdom if he would leave the child in peace.

But the little man said: "No, something living is dearer to me than all the treasures in the world." Then the queen began to cry and lament so much that the little man took pity on her. "I give you three days' time," he said.

"If during that time you find out what my name is, you shall keep your child."

So the queen thought all night about all the names she had ever heard, and she sent out a messenger across the whole land to ask far and wide for other names that existed. When the little man came the next day, she began with Caspar, Melchior, Balthazar, and said all the names she knew, one after another.

But to every name the little man said: "That is not my name." The second day she had inquiries made in the neighborhood for names of people there, and she repeated to the little man the most unusual and strange names.

"Perhaps your name is Shortrib, or Sheepbone, or Blondebone?" But he always answered: "That is not my name."

On the third day the messenger came back and said: "I have not been able to find a single new name. But when I came to a high mountain deep in the forest, where foxes and hares say good night to each other, there I saw a little house, and in front of the house a fire was burning, and around the fire a ridiculous little man was hopping. He hopped on one leg and shouted:

Today I bake, tomorrow I brew, then I'll have the queen's little new one. Ha, luckily no one knows that Rumpelstiltskin I am called!"

You can believe the queen was glad when she heard the name! And when the little man shortly after came in and asked: "Now, Queen, what is my name?" she said first: "Is your name Conrad?" "No." "Is your name Harry?" "No."

"Perhaps your name is Rumpelstiltskin?"

"The devil has told you! The devil has told you!" shouted the little man, and in anger he stamped his right foot so deep into the ground that his whole leg disappeared. And then in a rage he tore with both hands so hard at his left leg that he tore himself in two.