Once there was a miller who had a very smart and witty daughter. It happened that he had to go speak to the king one day. To make himself seem more important then he actually is, he foolishly boasts that his daughter can perform a miracle. He told the king that he had a daughter who could spin straw into gold. The king, who was impressed, tyranically commanded the miller to bring his daughter to the castle so that he himself can witness with his own two eyes this miracle.
The girl came and the king brought her to a room which had a spinning-wheel and was filled with straw. He commanded her to spin the straw into gold, and failure to do so would result in a harsh and ruthless execution. The king stood there, waiting for her to perform. However, the girl, using her quick wit, told the king, “Please leave this room at once, for my powers do not work while other people are watching me.” The king fell for her ruse and left the room.
The girl began pacing the room, thinking of a way out of her predicament when the door opened and a little man came in. He was curious about her situation and the girl explained it. He said that he would help her, in exchange for her necklace to which the girl immediately agreed to. She thought to herself, “A room full of gold straw is worth much more then this necklace.”
In the morning, the king was extremely happy with what he saw, and being greedy, brought the girl to an even larger room filled with straw, and commanded her to repeat the task again. Once again, the little man came and spun the straw into gold, in exchange for the ring off her finger. The king, was impressed yet again, but driven by greed, brought her to yet another room larger in size then the previous ones with even more straw and decreed that if should she succeed, he would marry her.
The little man came yet again, however, the girl had nothing in exchange for him. Instead, he asked for her first born child. Having thought about it, the girl offered, “If I become queen, I will offer you the most powerful man in the kingdom instead of my child.” The little man thought about it, thought it was a good deal and agreed. The straw was spun and the girl became a queen.
A year later, the little man came to claim his prize. The girl told him that the king was the most powerful man in the kingdom and so the little man took the king away with him. Before leaving, the little man asked the girl what was her name, having met such a honest business partner he wanted to at least know her name. “My name is Rumpelstiltskin.”
No comments:
Post a Comment