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Once upon
a time...
There was once upon a time a poor miller who had a very
beautiful daughter. Now it happened one day that he had an audience
with the King, and in order to appear a person of some importance he
told him that he had a daughter who could spin straw into gold. "Now
that's a talent worth having," said the King to the miller; "if your
daughter is as clever as you say, bring her to my palace to-morrow,
and I'll put her to the test." When the girl was brought to him he
led her into a room full of straw, gave her a spinning-wheel and
spindle, and said: "Now set to work and spin all night till early
dawn, and if by that time you haven't spun the straw into gold you
shall die." Then he closed the door behind him and left her alone
inside.
So the poor miller's daughter sat down, and didn't know what in the
world she was to do. She hadn't the least idea of how to spin straw
into gold, and became at last so miserable that she began to cry.
Suddenly the door opened, and in stepped a tiny little man and said:
"Good-evening, Miss Miller-maid; why are you crying so bitterly?"
"Oh!" answered the girl, "I have to spin straw into gold, and
haven't a notion how it's done." "What will you give me if I spin it
for you?" asked the manikin. "My necklace," replied the girl. The
little man took the necklace, sat himself down at the wheel, and
whir, whir, whir, the wheel went round three times, and the bobbin
was full. Then he put on another, and whir, whir, whir, the wheel
went round three times, and the second too was full; and so it went
on till the morning, when all the straw was spun away, and all the
bobbins were full of gold. As soon as the sun rose the King came,
and when he perceived the gold he was astonished and delighted, but
his heart only lusted more than ever after the precious metal. He
had the miller's daughter put into another room full of straw, much
bigger than the first, and bade her, if she valued her life, spin it
all into gold before the following morning. The girl didn't know
what to do, and began to cry; then the door opened as before, and
the tiny little man appeared and said: "What'll you give me if I
spin the straw into gold for you?" "The ring from my finger,"
answered the girl. The manikin took the ring, and whir! round went
the spinning-wheel again, and when morning broke he had spun all the
straw into glittering gold. The King was pleased beyond measure at
the sights but his greed for gold was still not satisfied, and he
had the miller's daughter brought into a yet bigger room full of
straw, and said: "You must spin all this away in the night; but if
you succeed this time you shall become my wife." "She's only a
miller's daughter, it's true," he thought; "but I couldn't find a
richer wife if I were to search the whole world over." When the girl
was alone the little man appeared for the third time, and said:
"What'll you give me if I spin the straw for you once again?" "I've
nothing more to give," answered the girl. "Then promise me when you
are Queen to give me your first child." "Who knows what may not
happen before that?" thought the miller's daughter; and besides, she
saw no other way out of it, so she promised the manikin what he
demanded, and he set to work once more and spun the straw into gold.
When the King came in the morning, and found everything as he had
desired, he straightway made her his wife, and the miller's daughter
became a queen.
When a year had passed a beautiful son was born to her, and she
thought no more of the little man, till all of a sudden one day he
stepped into her room and said: "Now give me what you promised." The
Queen was in a great state, and offered the little man all the
riches in her kingdom if he would only leave her the child. But the
manikin said: "No, a living creature is dearer to me than all the
treasures in the world." Then the Queen began to cry and sob so
bitterly that the little man was sorry for her, and said: "I'll give
you three days to guess my name, and if you find it out in that time
you may keep your child."
Then the Queen pondered the whole night over all the names she had
ever heard, and sent a messenger to scour the land, and to pick up
far and near any names he could come across. When the little man
arrived on the following day she began with Kasper, Melchior,
Belshazzar, and all the other names she knew, in a string, but at
each one the manikin called out: "That's not my name." The next day
she sent to inquire the names of all the people in the
neighbourhood, and had a long list of the most uncommon and
extraordinary for the little man when he made his appearance. "Is
your name, perhaps, Sheepshanks Cruickshanks, Spindleshanks?" but he
always replied: "That's not my name." On the third day the messenger
returned and announced: "I have not been able to find any new names,
but as I came upon a high hill round the corner of the wood, where
the foxes and hares bid each other good-night, I saw a little house,
and in front of the house burned a fire, and round the fire sprang
the most grotesque little man, hopping on one leg and crying:
"To-morrow I brew, to-day I bake, And then the child away I'll take;
For little deems my royal dame That Rumpelstiltzkin is my name!"
You can imagine the Queen's delight at hearing the name, and when
the little man stepped in shortly afterward and asked: "Now, my lady
Queen, what's my name?" she asked first: "Is your name Conrad?"
"No." "Is your name Harry?" "No." "Is your name perhaps,
Rumpelstiltzkin?"
"Some demon has told you
that! some demon has told you that!" screamed the little man, and in
his rage drove his right foot so far into the ground that it sank in
up to his waist; then in a passion he seized the left foot with both
hands and tore himself in two.
Rumpelstiltzkin
from the Blue Fairy Book
Story Edited
by Andrew Lang |
