Reading Notes: Brothers Grimm, Rumpelstiltskin, Part A


Brothers Grimm: Rumpelstiltskin


Once upon a time, there was a miller who was poor but had a beautiful daughter. Now it happened that he got into a conversation with the king.  To impress the king, he said, " I have a daughter who can spin straw into gold."

The king replied, " That is such a great gift and art. If you say your daughter is as skillful as you say she is, then bring her to my castle and I will put her to the test.


When the girl was brought to him, he led her to a room that was filled in its entirety with straw. He gave her a spindle wheel and a reel. He said, " Get to work now. Spin all night, and if by morning you have not spun this straw into gold, then you shall have to die."
Then he locked the room, and there she stood all alone.


The poor miller's daughter sat there and for her life, she did not know what to do. She had no idea how to spin straw into gold. Her fear grew by the minute and she broke down and cried.

suddenly, the door opened. A man of little stature stepped inside and said, " Good evening, Mistress Miller. Why are you crying so?"


" I am supposed to spin straw into gold to save my life and I do not know how."

The little man asked, " what will you give me if I spin it for you."

" My necklace," she replied.

The man took the necklace, sat down and started spinning the wheel. Three time he pulled and the spool was full. This went on all night exactly like that spinning three times and filling up a spool each time. He did this all night and all the spools were filled with gold.

At sunrise, the king came in and he saw all the gold. He was surprised and happy and his heart was overtaken with greed for more gold. He took her to another bigger room filled with straw and said if she wanted to keep her life she would have to spin the star into gold into one night.

Once again she sat in despair and she began to cry. The little man returned again and asked: " what will you ask if I spin this for you?"

" The ring on my finger," she said


The little man took the rin and once again started spinning the wheel. By morning all the straw was spun into gold. The king was very pleased when he saw it. He was still not satisfied though.
Once again he took her to an even larger room filled with straw and said " You must spin this too. If you succeed then you shall become my wife."
He knew even though she was just a poor miller's daughter, there is no other woman that could make me richer.


Once again the little man returned and asked: " what will you give me this time?"

" I have nothing more to give you," she replied.

" then promise me your first child."

Not knowing what else to do, she agreed. in return the little man once again spun the straw into gold. Morning came and the king found everything he wanted and married the miller's daughter. She became queen that day.

A year later she brought a child into the world. She forgot about the little man and suddenly he appeared. " Give me what you promised," he said.


The queen took fright and offered the little man all the wealth of the kingdom if she could keep her child. The little man said, " No. Something living is dearer to me than all the treasures of the world."

Then the queen began lamenting and crying so much that the little man took pity on her and said, "I will give you three days' time. If by then you know my name, then you shall keep your child."



The queen had no idea what to do. She spent all night thinking of names. She sent a messenger into the country to inquire far and wide what other names there were. When the little man returned she began with Kaspar, Melchior, Blazer, and she said in order all the names she knew. after each one, he said, " That is not my name."

The next day she tried unusual names and she tried to find all the peculiar names that could possibly be the answer.

"Is your name perhaps Beastrib? Or Muttoncalf? Or Legstring?" she asked

But he always answered, "That is not my name." he said


on the third day, the messenger returned and said " I have not been able to find a single new name but when I was approaching a high mountain in the corner of the woods, there where the fox and the hare say goodnight. I saw a little house. A fire was burning in front of it, a comical little man was jumping around the fire, hopping on one leg and calling out.

Today I'll bake; tomorrow I'll brew,
Then I'll fetch the queen's new child;
It is good that no one knows,
Rumpelstiltskin is my name.



The Queen was so happy to know her child is now safe.
The little man returned and asked, " what is my name?"

She first asked, "Is your name Kunz?"

"No."

"Is your name Heinz?"

"No."

"Is your name perhaps Rumpelstiltskin?"


" The devil told you that! The devil told you! shouted the little man. He stomped his right foot so hard into the ground and fell in up to his waist. He was so angry he took both hands and took a hold of his left foot and ripped himself up the middle in two. 

Rumpelstiltskin


 Bibliography:
  This story is part of the Brothers Grimm unit. Story source: The Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales translated by D. L. Ashliman (1998-2013).

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