RUMPELSTILTZKIN

"Now that's a talent worth having," exclaimed the king. "If your daughter is as clever as you say, bring her to the palace tomorrow and I will put her to the test."

When the girl was brought the next day, the king led her into a room full of straw and, giving her a spinning wheel and spindle, said, "Now set to work and spin all night until dawn. If by that time you have not spun the straw into gold, you shall die!" He closed the door and the girl was left alone.

The poor miller's daughter sat down, not knowing what to do. She hadn't the least idea how to spin the straw into gold, and at last was so downhearted that she began to cry.

Suddenly the door opened and in stepped a tiny little man who said, "Good evening, Miss Millermaid, and why are you weeping so very bitterly?

"Oh," she answered, " I have to spin all this straw into gold and I haven't the first notion how it is to be done!"

"And what will you give me if I spin it for you?" he asked quite pleasantly.

"I'll give you my handsome necklace!" offered the poor girl quickly.

The tiny man took the necklace and sat down at the spinning wheel. Whir! whir! whir! the wheel went round three times and the bobbin was full. So it went on until morning, by which time all the straw was spun and all the bobbins were full of gold.

Just as the sun rose, the king entered the room, and was both astonished and delighted when he saw all the gold. But his greedy heart only lusted after more of the precious stuff. He had the miller's daughter put into another room much larger than the first. The room was full of straw, and he told her, if she valued her life, to spin all of it into gold before the next morning.

Again the girl didn't know what to do, and she sat down and cried. Then the door opened as before, and the tiny little man was there, saying, "What will you give me if I spin this straw into gold for you?"

The ring from my finger!" the girl offered quickly.

The tiny man took the ring and whir! whir! whir! went the spinning wheel again, and by morning he had spun all the straw into gold.

Again the king was pleased, but his greed was still unsatisfied, and he had the miller's daughter taken into a yet larger room full of straw. "You must spin all this into gold this night," he said. "If you succeed, you shall become my bride."

Then he went away, thinking to himself, "She's only a miller's daughter, but if I search the world over I cannot find a richer wife."

When the girl was once again alone, the tiny little man appeared for the third time. "What will you give me if I spin all this straw into gold?" he asked.

"Ah, I have nothing more to give!" she wept.

"Then promise me that when you are queen you will give me your first child," he said.

Seeing no other way to save her life, the miller's daughter promised what the tiny man asked.

The queen was in great distress and offered the man all the wealth of her kingdom. But the little man said, "No, a living baby is dearer to me than all the world's riches."

Then the queen began to cry so bitterly that the tiny man grew sorry and said, "I'll give you three days to guess my name. If you find it out in that time, you may keep your son."

When the tiny man appeared the next day, she began with Kasper, Melchior, Belshazzar; but after each one, he cried out, "That's not my name!" The following day when she said, "Is it Sheepshanks or Crookshanks or Spindleshanks?" he answered her the same.

Tomorrow I brew, today I bake,
And then the child away I'll take;
For little deems my little dame
That Rumpelstiltzkin is my name!"

"Some demon told you!" screamed the tiny man and in his fit of temper he stamped the floor so hard that he sank out of sight and was seen no more.