Rumpelstiltskin

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Rumpelstiltskin

Once there was a miller who was poor, but who had a beautiful daughter. Now it happened that he had to go and speak to the king, and in order to make himself appear important he said to him, "I have a daughter who can spin straw into gold."

The king said to the miller, "That is an art which pleases me well, if your daughter is as clever as you say, bring her to-morrow to my palace, and I will put her to the test."

And when the girl was brought to him he took her into a room which was quite full of straw, gave her a spinning-wheel and a reel, and said, "Now set to work, and if by to-morrow morning early you have not spun this straw into gold during the night, you must die."

Thereupon he himself locked up the room, and left her in it alone. So there sat the poor miller's daughter, and for the life of her could not tell what to do, she had no idea how straw could be spun into gold, and she grew more and more frightened, until at last she began to weep.

But all at once the door opened, and in came a little man, and said, "Good evening, mistress miller, why are you crying so?"

"Alas," answered the girl, "I have to spin straw into gold, and I do not know how to do it."

"What will you give me," said the manikin, "if I do it for you?"

"My necklace," said the girl.

The little man took the necklace, seated himself in front of the wheel, and whirr, whirr, whirr, three turns, and the reel was full, then he put another on, and whirr, whirr, whirr, three times round, and the second was full too. And so it went on until the morning, when all the straw was spun, and all the reels were full of gold.

By daybreak the king was already there, and when he saw the gold he was astonished and delighted, but his heart became only more greedy. He had the miller's daughter taken into another room full of straw, which was much larger, and commanded her to spin that also in one night if she valued her life. The girl knew not how to help herself, and was crying, when the door opened again, and the little man appeared, and said, "What will you give me if I spin that straw into gold for you?"

"The ring on my finger," answered the girl.

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

The king rejoiced beyond measure at the sight, but still he had not gold enough, and he had the miller's daughter taken into a still larger room full of straw, and said, "You must spin this, too, in the course of this night, but if you succeed, you shall be my wife."

Even if she be a miller's daughter, thought he, I could not find a richer wife in the whole world.

When the girl was alone the manikin came again for the third time, and said, "What will you give me if I spin the straw for you this time also?"

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"I have nothing left that I could give," answered the girl.

"Then promise me, if you should become queen, to give me your first child."

Who knows whether that will ever happen, thought the miller's daughter, and, not knowing how else to help herself in this strait, she promised the manikin what he wanted, and for that he once more spun the straw into gold.

And when the king came in the morning, and found all as he had wished, he took her in marriage, and the pretty miller's daughter became a queen.

A year after, she brought a beautiful child into the world, and she never gave a thought to the manikin. But suddenly he came into her room, and said, "Now give me what you promised."

The queen was horror-struck, and offered the manikin all the riches of the kingdom if he would leave her the child. But the manikin said, "No, something alive is dearer to me than all the treasures in the world."

Then the queen began to lament and cry, so that the manikin pitied her.

"I will give you three days, time," said he, "if by that time you find out my name, then shall you keep your child."

So the queen thought the whole night of all the names that she had ever heard, and she sent a messenger over the country to inquire, far and wide, for any other names that there might be. When the manikin came the next day, she began with Caspar, Melchior, Balthazar, and said all the names she knew, one after another, but to every one the little man said, "That is not my name."

On the second day she had inquiries made in the neighborhood as to the names of the people there, and she repeated to the manikin the most uncommon and curious. Perhaps your name is Shortribs, or Sheepshanks, or Laceleg, but he always answered, "That is not my name."

On the third day the messenger came back again, and said, "I have not been able to find a single new name, but as I came to a high mountain at the end of the forest, where the fox and the hare bid each other good night, there I saw a little house, and before the house a fire was burning, and round about the fire quite a ridiculous little man was jumping, he hopped upon one leg, and shouted -

'To-day I bake, to-morrow brew,

the next I'll have the young queen's child.

Ha, glad am I that no one knew

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that Rumpelstiltskin I am styled.'"

You may imagine how glad the queen was when she heard the name. And when soon afterwards the little man came in, and asked, "Now, mistress queen, what is my name?"

At first she said, "Is your name Conrad?"

"No."

"Is your name Harry?"

"No."

"Perhaps your name is Rumpelstiltskin?"

"The devil has told you that! The devil has told you that," cried the little man, and in his anger he plunged his right foot so deep into the earth that his whole leg went in, and then in rage he pulled at his left leg so hard with both hands that he tore himself in two.

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Comments

Submitted by admin on Tue, 12/16/2003 - 22:25

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I have always loved this story. I watched the movie years and years back. This story is a great story because it shoes kids that some things such as miracles do come true. When you think there is no one to help you someone will always show up and give you a hand. Also you have to be careful because they might want something in return that you may not be willing to give to them. Be careful what you promise because in the end you could be the one hurt.

Submitted by admin on Tue, 12/16/2003 - 22:28

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When I was a little kid, I think I heard a story that was kind of like this one. It has been forever since I have read a childrens story. This was a great short story because it kept you in great interest. The little man was greedy and it showed that greed is not always the best thing in the world. This story shows little kids how they should act in life. Greedy people always have bad things coming towards them.

Submitted by admin on Fri, 05/27/2005 - 06:58

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Well, it is a good story but ý coulnt decide what it really aims to give you. I mean, being greedy is not good. Rumpel suffered because of that. but what about the king? He was greedy too. and also, the miller and her daughter are liars, and rumpel really helped them. So, should we tell lies and wait for someone to get us out of trouble.

Submitted by admin on Wed, 03/28/2007 - 16:30

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I think that this is a really good childrens book. My English teacher wanted us to read this book for a project that were doing and Im glad she did!
You should make a movie for this book (if there already isnt one.)

Submitted by admin on Tue, 11/04/2008 - 05:38

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this story was good but i think the millers daughter was bad because rumpelstiltskin already helped her when she needs him but she didnt give what did she promise to rumpelstiltskin.... and the miller was a liar because he said to the king that his daughter can spin straw into gold.. tnx,,,,.....,,,,.....,,,,,,.....,,,,,,......

Submitted by admin on Tue, 11/18/2008 - 17:44

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this story is so miss leading, their geiving us alot of facts but not alot of truths
Fact:Rumpelstiltskin help the pretty millers daughter
for what reason, if he didnt helped her and went on with is life

not know what transpired in that room at the last meeting when he decided to help her the third time... within a twelve months time she has a child she should have given what was rightfuly his child

Submitted by admin on Sun, 06/07/2009 - 21:52

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I think that it should not be taken too literally, as is true of all fairy tales. They are archetypal spiritual tales. What if we look at fairy tales and their characters as parts of a whole individual? So we all have within us a greedy king, and a part of ourselves that wants to lie and impress others, and a part of ourselves that wants to have what others possess. The daughter is not so much a liar, she is one who is placed in a situation that she has not asked or wished for. We dont know what would happen to her if she told the king her dad was lying....we are left to assume. I have to think about this story, as its message is either negative or hidden from view by first observation.

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