There was once a miller who was poor, but he had a beautiful daughter. Now it so happened that he came to speak with the king, and to make himself seem important he said to him: "I have a daughter who can spin straw into gold." The king said to the miller: "That's an art much to my liking; if your daughter is as skilful as you say, bring her to my palace tomorrow and I will put her to the test." Now when the girl was brought to him he led her into a room that was filled up with straw, gave her spinning-wheel and reel, and declared: "Set to work at once, and if by morning you haven't spun this straw into gold, you shall die." Then he locked the room himself, and she was left there alone.
The poor miller's daughter sat there, and for the life of her she didn't know what to do; she had no idea how you could spin straw into gold, and she grew more and more afraid, so that in the end she began to cry. Then all at once the door opened and a little manikin stepped inside, saying: "Good evening, Miss Miller, why are you crying so much?" 'Oh dear,' replied the girl, "I'm supposed to spin straw into gold, and I don't know how to do it." Said the little man: "What will you give me if I spin it for you?" "My necklace," said the girl. The little man took the necklace, sat down at the wheel, and whirr, whirr, whirr, three times the thread was drawn - and the bobbin was full. Then he put on another, and whirr, whirr, whirr, three times the thread was drawn - and the second one was full; and so it went on until morning, and there was all the straw spun and all the bobbins were full of gold. As soon as the sun rose the king came, and when he saw the gold he was astonished and delighted, but his heart grew still more gluttonous for gold. He had the miller's daughter taken to another room full of straw - one that was much bigger - and he commanded her to spin that overnight as well, if her life was dear to her.
The girl didn't know what to do and began to cry; then the door opened again and the little manikin appeared, saying: "What will you give me if I spin the straw into gold for you?" "The ring on my finger," answered the girl. The little man took the ring, began whirring again with the wheel, and by morning he had spun all the straw into shining gold. The king was delighted beyond bounds by the sight; but he still did not have his fill of gold, but had the miller's daughter taken to an even bigger room full of straw, and he said: "You must spin this yet again tonight: but if you get it done, you shall become my consort." Even if she is a miller's daughter, he thought, I shan't find a richer wife in the whole world. When the girl was alone the little man came again for the third time, saying: "What will you give me if I spin the straw for you this time too?" "I have nothing more I can give you," answered the girl. "Then promise me, when you are queen, your first child." "Who knows how things will turn out?" thought the miller's daughter, and in her distress she had no idea what else she could do; so she promised the little man what he desired, and in return the little man once again spun the straw into gold. And when the king came in the morning and found everything as he had wished it, he celebrated his wedding with her, and the beautiful miller's daughter became a queen.
A year later she brought a beautiful child into the world, and she no longer gave a thought to the little man; then suddenly he stepped into her chamber, saying: "Now give me what you promised." The queen was stricken with fear, and offered the little man all the riches of the kingdom if he would leave her child with her. But the little man said: "No, I would rather have a living creature than all the treasure in the world." Then the queen began to weep and wail so sorrowfully that the little man took pity on her. "I'll give you three days," he declared, "and if by that time you know what my name is, you shall keep your child."
All night long the queen called to mind all the names she had ever heard, and she sent a messenger far and wide throughout the land to find out what other names there might be. The next day, when the little man came, she began with Kaspar, Melchior, Balzar, and listed all the names she knew, one after another, but at each one the little man declared: "That's not what I'm called." The second day she inquired all round the neighbourhood to find out what names people were called there, and recited the strangest and most peculiar names to the little man. "Are you called Skinnyribs perhaps, or Sheepshanks, or Pegleg?" But each time he answered: "No, I'm not." On the third day the messenger came back and told her: "I couldn't find out a single new name, but as I came upon a high mountain round the forest corner by the back of beyond, I saw a little house, and in front of the house a fire was burning, and over the fire the funniest little man was leaping and hopping on one leg and crying:
'Today I'll bake, tomorrow I'll brew,
The next I'll fetch the queen's new child;
Still no one knows it just the same,
That Rumpelstiltskin is my name.'"
Rumpelstiltskin in a rage after the queen guesses his name Illustration: Rui Tenreiro
You can imagine how glad the queen was when she heard the name, and when soon afterwards the little man stepped in and asked: "Well, Lady Queen, what's my name?" she asked first of all: "Is you name Tom?" "No." "Is your name Dick?" "No."
"Might your name perhaps be Rumpelstiltskin?"
"The devil told you, the devil told you," shrieked the little man, and in his anger he stamped his right foot so deep into the earth that he sank down as far as his waist; then he seized his left foot with both hands in a rage, and tore himself right down the middle into two.
