The Story..
The tale of Rumpelstiltskin begins when a poor miller tells his king that his daughter can spin straw into gold in order to make himself seem more important. The king orders her brought to the palace so that he may test her intriguing talent. The poor miller’s daughter is put into a room filled with straw and told that she must spin it all into gold before the next day or she will die. The poor girl begins to weep because she knows she cannot complete this task and suddenly a small man walks in and asks her what is wrong. After she explains, he asks, “What will you give me if I do it for you?” She gives him her necklace and he spins all of the straw into gold for her before morning.
The king is stunned by her ability and orders her to do the same the next day with a larger room filled with straw. This time, the poor miller’s daughter gives the small man her ring and he again spins it all into gold. The king is again amazed and gives her one final test in a still larger room full of straw and proclaims that if she does this, she will be his wife and become queen. This time, the girl has nothing left of value to give to the small man and so he says, “Then promise me, if you should become Queen, to give me your first child.” The miller’s daughter agreed because she could think of nothing else to do, and the small man again spun the gold.
A year later, the poor miller’s daughter has become the Queen and has a beautiful child. The small man returns to her, wanting what she had promised him and the Queen cries and laments over having to give up her child. He takes pity on her and gives her three days to find out what his name is. If she can figure it out, she may keep the child. In short, the Queen tried every name she could possibly think of and even sent her messengers throughout the land to search for different names. Two days passed and she still had no idea what the small man’s name really was. On the third day, the messenger came back to her and said that he could find no more new names but that he had seen a little man jumping around a fire shouting,
“Today I bake, tomorrow brew,
The next I’ll have the young Queen’s child.
Ha! Glad am I that no one knew
That Rumpelstiltskin I am styled.”
Shortly after the messenger told her this, the small man came in and she guessed that his name was Rumpelstiltskin. The little man cried, “The devil has told you that!” and plunged his foot so far into the earth that when he pulled the other leg, he tore himself in two.
The king is stunned by her ability and orders her to do the same the next day with a larger room filled with straw. This time, the poor miller’s daughter gives the small man her ring and he again spins it all into gold. The king is again amazed and gives her one final test in a still larger room full of straw and proclaims that if she does this, she will be his wife and become queen. This time, the girl has nothing left of value to give to the small man and so he says, “Then promise me, if you should become Queen, to give me your first child.” The miller’s daughter agreed because she could think of nothing else to do, and the small man again spun the gold.
A year later, the poor miller’s daughter has become the Queen and has a beautiful child. The small man returns to her, wanting what she had promised him and the Queen cries and laments over having to give up her child. He takes pity on her and gives her three days to find out what his name is. If she can figure it out, she may keep the child. In short, the Queen tried every name she could possibly think of and even sent her messengers throughout the land to search for different names. Two days passed and she still had no idea what the small man’s name really was. On the third day, the messenger came back to her and said that he could find no more new names but that he had seen a little man jumping around a fire shouting,
“Today I bake, tomorrow brew,
The next I’ll have the young Queen’s child.
Ha! Glad am I that no one knew
That Rumpelstiltskin I am styled.”
Shortly after the messenger told her this, the small man came in and she guessed that his name was Rumpelstiltskin. The little man cried, “The devil has told you that!” and plunged his foot so far into the earth that when he pulled the other leg, he tore himself in two.