Rumpelstiltskin

This story is called Rumpelstiltskin by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. This is a LibraryCall recording. By the side of a wood, in a country a long way off, ran a fine stream of water; and upon the stream there stood a mill. The miller’s house was close by, and the miller, you must know, had a very beautiful daughter. She was also very shrewd and clever; and the miller was so proud of her, that he one day told the king of the land, who used to come and hunt in the wood, that his daughter could spin gold out of straw. Now spinning wheels, during that time, were used to twist fibers like cotton and wool into threads or yarns. But no one had ever heard of a person spinning something like straw into such a precious substance as gold! This king happened to be very fond of money. When he heard the miller’s boast, his greediness was raised, and he sent for the girl to be brought before him. He led her to a chamber in his palace where there was a great heap of straw, and gave her a spinning-wheel, and said, “All this must be spun into gold before morning, or else!” Of course, the poor maiden could do no such thing! It was only a silly boast of her father! But the chamber door was locked, and she was left all alone. She sat down in the corner of the room, crying and wondering what to do, when all of a sudden the door opened, and a mischievous-looking little creature hobbled in, and said, “Hello, young one; what are you weeping for?” “I don’t know what to do! I must spin this straw into gold, but I don’t know how!” “What will you give me,” said the hobgoblin, “to do it for you?” “My necklace?” replied the maiden. Accepting her offer, he sat down to the wheel and started spinning. While he worked, he sang: “Round about, round about, Lo and behold! Twist and spool, twist and spool, Straw into gold!” Round about the wheel went merrily. The work was quickly done, and the straw was all spun into gold. When the king came and saw this, he was astonished and pleased; but his heart grew still more greedy for riches, so he locked the door to the chamber and told the poor miller’s daughter to keep spinning. Frustrated and miserable, she sat down once more to weep; but the strange creature soon appeared again, and asked, “What will you give me to do your task?” “The ring on my finger?” she said. So the hobgoblin took the ring, and began to work at the wheel again. “Round about, round about, Lo and behold! Twist and spool, twist and spool, Straw into gold!” Long before morning, all the work was done again. The king was delighted to see all this glittering treasure, but still he had not had enough. So, he took the miller’s daughter to an even larger heap of straw, and said, “All this must be spun tonight; and if it is, you shall have your freedom.” As soon as she was alone, the odd creature came in again, and said, “What will you give me to spin gold for you this third time?” “I have nothing left!” she said. “Then say you will give me,” said the little man, “your firstborn child to take as my apprentice.” “That’s unlikely to ever happen,” thought the miller’s daughter. And as she knew of no other way to get her task done, she said she would do what he asked. Round went the wheel again to the old song, and the hobgoblin once more spun the heap of straw into gold. The king came the next morning, and finding all the gold he wanted, he was forced to keep his word; so he unlocked the door to the chamber and allowed the girl to leave. Years later, at the birth of her first child she was overjoyed. She had forgotten all about the hobgoblin and what she had promised him in her moment of desperation. But one day, the strange creature came into her room, where she was playing with her baby. She wept at her misfortune and said she would give him anything he wanted if he would leave her family alone, but he refused. At last, her tears softened him, and he said, “I will give you three days. If, during that time, you can tell me my name, you shall keep your child.” The woman lay awake all night, thinking of all the odd names she had ever heard. The next day the little man came, and she began with TIMOTHY, ICHABOD, BENJAMIN, JEREMIAH, and all the names she could remember to ask; but to each of them he said, “Madam, that is not my name.” The second day, she began with all the unusual names she could think of, ZIGMUND, ATLAS, BRAZEN, and so on; but the hobgoblin still said to every one of them, “Madam, that is not my name.” That night, as the woman was wandering in the woods, desperate to think of new names, she spied a little hut. Before the hut was a fire, and round about the fire, the hobgoblin himself was dancing upon one leg, and singing: “Merrily I’ll dance and hum, For tomorrow, my young apprentice will come. She’ll never guess, that silly dame, Rumpelstiltskin is my name!” When the woman heard this she jumped for joy and ran home to her child! When the little creature arrived the next day, he cried out, “Now, for the last time, what is my name?” “Is it JOHN?” she asked. “No, madam!” “Is it TOMAS?” “No, madam!” “Is it ALI?” “It is not.” “Is your name… RUMPELSTILTSKIN?” said the lady slyly. “Some witch told you that!—some witch told you that!” cried the little man, and in a rage, dashed his right foot so deep into the floor that he was forced to grab it out with both hands. Then he quickly made his way off, stumbling, and the woman never saw Rumpelstiltskin again. This was Rumpelstiltskin by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. This has been a LibraryCall recording.