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"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.
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 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?"
"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 -
'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 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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