Rumpelstiltskin

Once upon a time, in a small village, there lived a poor miller who loved to boast. One day, while talking to the king, the miller wanted to impress him and said, "Your Majesty, my daughter is so clever that she can spin straw into gold!" The king, who was greedy and loved gold, was intrigued. He ordered the miller to bring his daughter to the palace at once.

When the miller’s daughter arrived, the king led her to a room filled with straw and a spinning wheel. "If you truly can spin straw into gold," he said, "you must prove it. Spin all this straw into gold by morning, or you will face dire consequences." The poor girl was terrified. She had no idea how to spin straw into gold and began to cry.

Just as she was about to give up, a strange little man appeared in the room. He was small and odd-looking, with a mischievous grin. "Why are you crying?" he asked. The girl explained her predicament, and the little man said, "I can help you, but what will you give me in return?" The girl offered him her necklace, and the little man agreed. He sat at the spinning wheel and began to work. By morning, all the straw had been spun into gleaming gold.

The king was delighted when he saw the gold, but his greed only grew. He took the girl to a larger room filled with even more straw and said, "Spin this straw into gold by morning, or you will not leave this room alive." Once again, the girl began to cry, and once again, the little man appeared. This time, she gave him her ring in exchange for his help. By morning, the straw had been turned into gold.

The king was overjoyed, but his greed knew no bounds. He took the girl to the largest room yet, filled to the ceiling with straw. "If you spin all this straw into gold by morning," he said, "I will make you my queen." The girl was desperate. When the little man appeared again, she had nothing left to offer him. "I have no more jewelry," she said. The little man thought for a moment and said, "Promise me your firstborn child, and I will help you one last time." The girl, seeing no other way out, agreed.

By morning, the room was filled with gold, and the king kept his promise. He married the miller’s daughter and made her his queen. A year later, the queen gave birth to a beautiful baby. She had almost forgotten about the little man until he suddenly appeared in her chamber. "I have come to claim what is mine," he said, holding out his hands for the child.

The queen was heartbroken and begged the little man to let her keep her baby. Seeing her distress, he said, "I will give you one chance. If you can guess my name within three days, you may keep your child." The queen agreed, and the little man disappeared.

For two days, the queen tried every name she could think of, but none were correct. On the third day, she sent a servant into the forest to search for clues. The servant returned with news: deep in the woods, he had seen a strange little man dancing around a fire and singing, "Today I brew, tomorrow I bake, soon I’ll have the queen’s namesake! No one knows my little game, for Rumpelstiltskin is my name!"

Overjoyed, the queen waited for the little man to return. When he appeared, she asked, "Is your name Tom?" "No," he replied. "Is it Harry?" she asked. "No," he said again. Finally, she asked, "Is your name Rumpelstiltskin?" The little man’s face turned red with rage. "How did you know?!" he screamed. In his fury, he stomped his foot so hard that it sank into the ground, and he tore himself in two trying to free himself.

The queen never saw Rumpelstiltskin again, and she and her child lived happily ever after.