Predicament
Once upon a time, there was a poor miller who had a beautiful daughter. To impress the King, the miller bragged, “My daughter can spin straw into gold!” The King, intrigued by this talent, said, “Bring her to my palace tomorrow, and I will see if this is true.”
The next day, the miller’s daughter was brought before the King. He led her to a room full of straw, gave her a spinning wheel, and said, “By tomorrow morning, you must spin all this straw into gold, or you will die.” Then, he locked her inside the room.
The miller’s daughter was heartbroken. She had no idea how to spin straw into gold, and she began to cry.
Just then, the door creaked open, and in walked a tiny little man. “Why are you crying?” he asked kindly.
“I have to spin straw into gold, but I don’t know how!” she sobbed.
The little man thought for a moment, then said, “What will you give me if I do it for you?”
“I’ll give you my necklace,” she offered.
The little man agreed, sat at the spinning wheel, and within moments, “whirr, whirr, whirr,” the straw turned into shimmering gold. By morning, the entire room was filled with golden reels.
The King was delighted when he saw all the gold. But instead of being satisfied, he became greedier. He took the girl to a larger room filled with more straw and demanded, “Spin all this into gold by morning, or else.”
Once again, the girl was left alone, unsure of what to do. She cried until the little man returned.
“What will you give me this time if I help you?” he asked.
“I’ll give you my ring,” she said.
The little man took the ring, sat at the wheel, and spun all the straw into gold by morning.
The King was overjoyed, but his greed still wasn’t satisfied. He led the girl to an even larger room filled with straw and said, “If you can spin this straw into gold tonight, you will become my wife.” The girl, knowing she couldn’t do it on her own, waited for the little man.
When he returned, he asked, “What will you give me if I spin the straw for you this time?”
“I have nothing left to give,” she replied sadly.
“Then promise me your first child when you become Queen,” the little man said.
The girl, feeling hopeless, agreed to his terms. By morning, the straw had once again been spun into gold, and the King married the miller’s daughter, making her the new Queen.
The Search for a Name
A year later, the Queen gave birth to a beautiful child. She had completely forgotten about her promise to the little man, until he suddenly appeared in her room.
“Now, give me what you promised,” he said.
The Queen was horrified and offered him all the riches in the kingdom instead of her child. But the little man refused. “Something alive is worth more to me than all the treasure in the world.”
The Queen cried and pleaded with him, until finally, the little man took pity on her. “I will give you three days to guess my name. If you can guess it, you may keep your child.”
The Queen stayed up all night thinking of every name she had ever heard. When the little man returned the next day, she guessed, “Is your name Caspar? Melchior? Balthazar?”
But to each name, the little man said, “That is not my name.”
On the second day, she sent messengers throughout the kingdom to gather even the most unusual names. She tried, “Is your name Shortribs, Sheepshanks, or Laceleg?” But the little man only laughed. “That is not my name,” he said.
On the third day, a messenger returned with surprising news. “While traveling deep in the forest, I saw a little house with a fire burning outside. I heard a strange little man dancing around the fire, singing:
“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!”
The Queen was overjoyed when she heard this. When the little man came back later that day, she pretended to be unsure. “Is your name Conrad? Or perhaps Harry?”
“No,” said the little man.
Finally, the Queen smiled and said, “Is your name Rumpelstiltskin?”
The little man was furious. “The devil has told you that!” he screamed. In his anger, he stomped his foot so hard into the ground that it got stuck. In his rage, he tugged at his leg with such force that he tore himself in two.
And so, the Queen kept her child and lived happily ever after.