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Once upon a time there was a miller who had a very beautiful daughter. She was so beautiful and so clever that he was always boasting about her loveliness and the wonderful things she could do.
One day the miller had to go to the palace to see the king on business, and as he wanted to appear very important, he said to the king, “Your Majesty has very good straw here in the royal barns,but I have a daughter who can spin straw into gold.”
“Indeed,” said the king, “she must be very clever. Send your daughter up to the palace at once that I may see what she can do.”Now the king was very fond of gold.
The miller began to feel uncomfortable and to wish that he had not boasted quite so much, but he had to do as the king commanded.So he took his daughter up to the palace, and as soon as the king saw her, he led her into a large room filled with straw.
There he gave her a stool and a spinning wheel, and said, “Now,pretty one, see how quickly you can spin this straw into gold. I will come back tomorrow morning, and if it is not done then, I shall give orders that you are to be put to death.”
The poor maiden sat and wept. She had never heard of such a thing as spinning straw into gold, and to save her life she could not think how it was to be done. She wept till she could scarcely see out of her eyes; then suddenly she heard a door creak, and a funny little man came hopping into the room.
“What are you crying about?” he asked, “You will spoil your pretty eyes if you do not stop. Tell me what is the matter, and I will try to help you.”
“Oh, sir,” said the maiden, “the king has ordered me to spin all this straw into gold before tomorrow morning. If it is not done I shall lose my life, and I don’t even know how to begin.”
“What will you give me if I spin it for you?” asked the little man.
“I will give you my beautiful necklace,” answered the maiden gladly.
Then the dwarf sat down at the spinning-wheel and began to spin.Whir, whir, went the straw, and out it came in shining threads, till all the straw was gone, and the gold thread lay in a glistening heap.
“Good-bye,” said the little man, bowing and taking the necklace.Before the miller’s daughter could say “Thank you”, he had hopped out of the room.
The next morning the king came very early to see if the straw was really turned into gold. He could scarcely believe his eyes when he saw the shining pile, but it only made him want more. He led the maiden away quickly to another room, bigger than the first and also filled with straw, and told her that she must spin that into gold too.
“And if it is not done by tomorrow morning, you will know what to expect.” he said.
This was really very hard, just when the poor girl thought her life was saved. She sat down by the spinning-wheel and began to weep more bitterly than ever, for though she had watched the little dwarf spinning the straw, she did not know at all how it was turned into gold.
But the moment she began to weep, the door flew open again and the little man came hopping in just as he had done the day before.
“Come, come,” he said, “no more tears! What will you give me if I help you again?”
“I will give you my diamond ring,” said the maiden joyfully.And again the dwarf sat down at the spinning-wheel, and again the wheel went whizzing round and round till all the straw was spun into gold.
“Oh, thank you, thank you!” cried the maiden. But he was gone before she could say another word.
The king’s eyes sparkled with pleasure when he came next morning and saw the large pile of gold.
“This is really a wonderfully clever little maiden.” he said to himself.
Then he took her to a still larger room filled with straw, and smiling kindly at her, he said, “If you can spin all this straw into gold before tomorrow morning, I will marry you, and you shall be queen.” He felt sure he would never find a richer or more beautiful wife in the whole world.
The king had not been gone more than a moment when in hopped the dwarf again, and you may be sure the miller’s daughter was very glad to see him.
“What will you give me this time, if I do your work for you?”asked the little man.
Now the maiden had nothing more to give and did not know what to do. But the dwarf thought of a plan.
“You can make me a promise,” he said, “When you are queen,and your first little baby is born, you shall give it to me.”
The poor maiden thought there was very little chance of her ever being queen, so she promised at once, caring only about how she might save her life.
Then the dwarf spun the straw into gold, and the golden pile was so high that it reached the ceiling.
The next morning the king came as usual and was so pleased with the gold and the beauty of the maiden that he began to prepare at once for the wedding. He gave her the most beautiful clothes and shining jewels, and they drove away together in a golden coach to church and were married without delay.
The queen was now so happy that she forgot all her troubles,and never once thought of the promise which she had made to the dwarf. And as time went on a beautiful little baby was born, and the queen was happier than ever.
“I shall never know what it is to be sad again.” she said, as she held the baby close in her arms.
But at that very moment a door creaked, and looking up, the queen saw the same little dwarf come hopping in, just as he had done when he had come to spin the straw into gold.
“What do you want?” asked the queen, holding her baby more tightly, and looking at the dwarf with frightened eyes.
“I want the baby,” answered the little man, “Have you forgotten your promise?”
Then the poor queen remembered how she had said she would give her first little baby to the dwarf, and she burst into tears.
“Oh, take anything else, only leave me my baby!” she cried. And she wept so bitterly that the dwarf was quite sorry for her. He had a kind heart, and he thought he would give the queen one more chance.
“If you can find out what my name is in three days, you shall keep your child,” he said. Then he hopped quickly away.
The queen could not sleep that night, but lay awake thinking of all the names she had ever heard. When the little man came in the morning she began guessing the most difficult names she could think of. But to every name the dwarf answered with a merry grin,“No, that is not my name.”
The next day the queen sent messengers over the whole country to collect all the curious names they could find. When the little man appeared she asked, “Is it Spindleshanks, or Squint-eye, or Bandy-legs?”
“No, it is not!” shouted the little man, laughing.
Then the queen grew anxious, for there was only one day left,and she sent more messengers out to search for other names. But the messengers came back and said that they could find no new names. Only one had a story to tell. He told how he had searched far and near until he came to the wildest part of a dark mountain.There, on the edge of a pine forest, he had come upon a little man dancing and shouting in front of a tiny, red-roofed cottage. The little man had been baking, and he had a tray of loaves on his head.The loaves bounced up and down as he danced and sang:
“Today I brew, tonight I bake,
Tomorrow I shall the queen’s child take;
For, guess as she may, she never can know
That my name is Rumpelstiltskin, O.”
Then the queen clapped her hands with joy, for she was sure the little man was the dwarf who was coming to take away her baby.
Very early next morning the dwarf arrived and hopped into the queen’s room. He had brought a soft white blanket to wrap the baby in, for he was kind-hearted and did not want it to catch cold.
So he spread out the blanket and turned to the queen, saying gayly, “Well, have you guessed my name?”
The queen was smiling, too, but she pretended she was still trying to guess.
“Is it William?” she asked.
“No, it is not!” shouted the little man joyfully.
“Is it George?” she said.
“No, it is not!” cried the little man, hopping round on one leg.
“Is it John?” she asked sadly, as if she had come to the end of her questions.
“No, it is not John!” laughed the little man, preparing to wrap the baby up in the blanket.
“Then it must be Rumpelstiltskin!” she cried.
“The witches must have told you! The witches must have told you! Oh, bother the witches!” screamed the little man, dancing with rage and disappointment, as he hopped back to his little cottage, carrying the empty blanket. And the queen never saw Rumpelstiltskin again.
( Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm )
clever : showing skill or resourcefulness
glistening : shining brightly
anxious : nervous or worried about something
A) Answer the following questions.
1) What kind of character was the miller?
2) What words would you use to describe Rumpelstiltskin’s character?
3) The miller’s daughter was asked to do something that seemed impossible. What was it?
4) If you could ask a magician to perform any task, what would it be?
5) What is your favourite part of this story? Why?
B) What’s the word? Using the clues, write the correct words from the story.
1) cried bitterly -w _ _ _
2) a very short person -d _ _ _ _
3) very precious stones -j _ _ _ _ _
4) nice to everybody -k _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
5) extreme anger -r _ _ _
C) Summary—Write a short summary of this story.