There was once a widower miller, and his beautiful daughter, Rose. The miller was a very vain man, and he was most vain about his daughter, and he would boast to the world of her beauty and spoilt her terribly. Rose was just as bad as her father, and was forever combing her hair, or demanding new make up or boasting.
"I am so beautiful that just by looking at it straw feels so ugly that it changes to gold." she would tell her friends.
Her father would tell his friends this as well, and soon word spread to the King. The King, like so many others with far too much money, was greedy. No matter how rich he was he would never be rich enough, and when he heard of a girl who could change straw to gold he demanded that she was brought to the castle.
He sent her to a cell filled with straw.
"You must turn all this straw to gold before morning or your head will be forfeit." and before she could explain her lie he closed the door and locked it.
That'll teach her to try and hoard her talents all to herself, he thought, which was very hypocritical as he had no intention of sharing any gold he got from her.
Rose was beautiful but she wasn't very clever as she had always relied on other people to think of things for her, so instead of searching for something to open the window (like the convenient nail in the corner) or to persuade the guards to let her out, she cried in the corner.
She cried for nearly an hour before stopping. Crying had always worked before, as soon as she started her father, or one of the young men from the village had always asked what was wrong and fixed it for her.
As she looked up from her knees she saw a little and very ugly man.
She screamed slightly and said "Who are you?"
"I'm a friend." said the little dwarf, for dwarf he was. "What is wrong?" he asked because he hated to see people crying and wished he could help her.
So Rose told him her whole story, interrupted with snuffles and the occasional flirtatious look, like she always did to any man when she wanted something.
"Well, I can help" he said after a time "I have magic, but it requires something given in return, or I can't use it."
"Then take this" she said excitedly pulling off a delicate necklace that she kept hidden under her dress. "It was my grandmothers"
She had never liked it, and the only reason she wore it was because her father liked to see her in it.
"That'll be perfect" said the dwarf, even though a necklace was completely useless to him when he could just make one with his magic.
As soon as the necklace was in his hands there was a flash the straw turned into gold.
She squealed in delight when she saw this, not even noticing that the dwarf was gone.
-*-
The next morning when the King came in and saw all the gold he was hugely pleased. But it still wasn't enough for him.
So that night the room had even more straw in it and Rose was left alone to change it to gold.
Again she started crying until the dwarf came.
"I can help" he told her even though he was still tired from the night before "But I will still need something in exchange"
Reluctantly and complaining bitterly she removed her earrings, they were her favourites and hadn't been cheep.
"I'm sorry, I wish I could just change it for you." he apologised, and it was true, he really hated seeing people having to give something they loved up.
As soon as the earrings touched his palm the straw changed to gold in a flash and he disappeared.
-*-
The King came in the next morning, but still it wasn't enough and he refilled the room with straw.
So this went on for a long time, and the poor dwarf got more and more tired, but Rose never noticed, she was too worried about where she was going to get new jewellery.
But one day the night came when Rose had nothing left to give the dwarf.
They tried to work out what to do when an idea hit Rose. "Take my first born child."
The dwarf paused, he hated to idea of removing a child from it parents, but he could see no other way to save poor Roses life.
"Yes" he agreed and they shook hands, sealing the deal, causing the straw to change to gold.
The next morning the King came in, but he didn't feel the same excitement as he had the first morning or the second or the third. He had so much gold he was growing bored of it, so he had decided; he would marry Rose and then if he ever needed it again she could make some more gold for him.
The ceremony was held within a week, and Rose was thrilled. Now she could have all the beautiful dresses her father could never have afforded, and have maids to wait on her and everyone had to bow to her.
A year later she was pregnant and the day the child turned five the dwarf arrived and said
"Your majesty, we made a deal and the magic requires it is kept, so though it breaks my heart I must ask your firstborn of you."
Rose in her time as queen had grown no less stupid or vain, and having ladies to wait on her at all times and being able to own whatever she wanted had made her pompous and self entitled. She didn't really care for the child, in fact she only saw her once a week when the nannies brought her through, but she was her child, and the idea of giving something of hers to this ugly little man repulsed her.
"Please no, there must be a way" she wined, fluttering her eye lashes.
"Maybe, I can't disobey the magic, but I can make a loop hole. If you can guess my name in three days you may keep her."
"I will find out your name" vowed Rose, and he vanished.
He reappeared in Roses daughters room, where she was eating her birthday cake. She was a very pretty child, already showing signs that she would inherit Roses beauty
"Who are you?" she asked innocently, not scared in the slightest.
"I am Rumplestiltskin" he told her and vanished again.
He had thought of a plan, if Rose was a good mother she would find out his name from her daughter, and if not she didn't deserve her child.
-*-
Three days later he returned and asked
"Have you found my name?"
"No, but it was an unfair test" she complained "No-one knows your name"
Rumpelstiltskin nodded. As he had feared she barely knew her daughter.
"Your daughter knew my name, and if you were a better mother you would have found that out. Now I will take your firstborn" he said sadly.
"No, she's mine" Rose screeched
"This kind of magic cannot be denied" he told her sharply, and Roses daughter appeared by his side.
"What's going on?"
"We're leaving" said Rumpelstiltskin "And I don't think we're coming back"
"Oh good" said the child "I didn't like Nanny, she used to hit me when no-one was around"
"I will never hit you" he promised her giving Rose a look, and together they vanished.
Roses daughter did inherit her beauty, but Rumplestiltskin made sure she didn't inherit her vanity or stupidity, and when she grew up she married a very kind farm hand and together they bought a farm and lived happily ever after
The End
