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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 Thu, 08/06/2009 - 06:56

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luv it!..lol

Submitted by admin on Tue, 07/20/2010 - 22:20

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The moral thread in this well crafted story is rather
convoluted. Maybe an antonym for," no good deed
goes unpunished?!" Just as twisted and just as real.
Being less duplicitous or less wicked or more naive
is not usually a recipe for, "happily ever after." Mind
you this is a fairy tale. And there are exceptions to
every rule.

Thankyou Brothers Grimm

Submitted by admin on Wed, 08/25/2010 - 21:40

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whats with the whole thing at the end of it about getting torn in half!? That just ruined the whole story! He should have gotten taken away and shackeled, that would have made way more sense then getting torn in half!

Submitted by admin on Thu, 10/07/2010 - 11:26

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to me this story was well ahead of its time. This portrays modern life to a tee. people want nice things and they want it now! Throughout the story I got the feeling of act now think later, and when you have alot of one thing nice why not have more? the attitude of the the world is just that. every one seems to want "it" and want it now and are willing to do whatever it takes to get it.

Submitted by admin on Mon, 11/08/2010 - 07:37

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As our world becomes more and more rules by "a mark, a yen, a buck, or a pound" I lament. If only every child born into it could have this story of greed and its harm all future generations might survive what seems an unbeatable decline.

Submitted by admin on Mon, 11/22/2010 - 15:43

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Rumplestiltskin is like my #1 favorite fairytale since i was 4, and after seeing Rumplestiltskin the scary movie, I thought they made him awesomer! :D The old grimm fairytale always made me sad though,(Poor Rumplestiltskin, he just wanted someone to love, sob sob...) The guy saved her life for all sake, she couldve had another child!

Submitted by admin on Wed, 12/08/2010 - 21:26

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What about the father, putting her in such a spot? This is a thread no one talks about. Says something about the value of women when the story was written. She would never have had to sell all she had to save herself. The plight of some women in this world have not changed much.

Submitted by admin on Thu, 05/05/2011 - 16:24

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Great story:D I have liked it since i was like a toddler:) i mean im only 15 but its my fav grimm brothers story:)i think he did save ehr life and she couldve had another child and she couldve told her husband or something idk but im on rumpelstiltskins side:DD

Submitted by admin on Tue, 06/07/2011 - 10:40

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I hate this story. The girl is at the mercy of a vain father who wants to appear important and hands her over to a tyrant that threatens her with death if she cant perform. Later said tyrant marries her as if he is some kind of prize. What if he gets greedy again? Now the REAL gold maker has been torn in half. Rumplestiltskin was NOT the villain in this story: he was the only honest man and he had a really cool ability that he was able to cash in on. At least he gave her a chance, the other two jerks? One lied about her and the other used her. Did I mention I hate this story?

Submitted by admin on Fri, 08/19/2011 - 16:57

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I have always loved this story! It was great to find it because I had been looking for it for a while. I do think its a little funny that people think Rumpelstiltskin got a raw deal. If you read the story you will see that he told the queen: if you can find out my name you will keep your child. It dident say HOW to find his name. So she just used the resources she had. I think he should have realized that and he shouldent have been gloating.

Submitted by admin on Wed, 10/12/2011 - 12:10

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I remember the beginning differently. The millers wife made six pies and set them on the windowsill to "come again". She meant until they cooled enough to be able to eat them. I remembered that strange expression. The daughter was not very bright and thought that if she ate them, they would literally come again. So after she ate them, the father was so distraught that he was muttering over and over,"My daughter ate six pies today..." Someone of the kings court passing by heard the father and questioned him "What are you saying?" The father was too ashamed to admit it and changed it to "My daughter spun six skeins today..." And then the rest of the story followed. Has anyone else ever read that version? I first read the Grimms Fairy tales in 1935 !!

Submitted by admin on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 15:41

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I am 75 now and played the part of the millers daughter whebI was in elementery school. It was well received and we performed two nights in our church basement to a crowd. I came upon the program last night and it brought many memories back. It was produced by special arrangement with the Dramatic Publishing Company of Chicago so the program stated.

Submitted by admin on Fri, 11/25/2011 - 21:12

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Submitted by admin on Fri, 11/25/2011 - 21:12

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Submitted by admin on Wed, 01/11/2012 - 13:54

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This story doesnt make any sense. Why didnt the daughter tell the king that her father lied? Why didnt the king expect her to spin more gold after they got married? And most bizarrely, did Rumpelstiltskin say she could keep the child if she guessed his name? What kind of deal is that?

Submitted by admin on Sat, 01/21/2012 - 18:12

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There is a moral to this story and this is why Stephen Colbert used it in a campaign interview.
The king is president Obama. The father and daughter represent the 99%.
Rumplestiltskin represents the Federal Reserve bank that is able to print dollars out of fiber, ostensibly for the benefit of the king and his kingdom. When Rs identity is revealed he destroys himself (hopefully)in a fit of rage.
After reading many of the comments one wonders at the dismal level of intelligence.

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