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 tomorrow to my palace, and I will
try what she can do."
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 tomorrow 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
miserable, 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 again opened,
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. 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?"
"I
have nothing left that I could give," answered the girl. "Then
promise me, if you should become Queen, your first child." "Who knows
whether that will ever happen?" thought the miller's daughter. Not knowing
how else to help herself in this strait, she promised the manikin what he
wanted, and for that he once more span 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
had a beautiful child, 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 that is
living is dearer to me than all the treasures in the world." Then the
Queen began to weep 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-'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.'"
You may
think 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. Then in rage he pulled
at his left leg so hard with both hands that he tore himself in two.
