Rumpelstiltskin
In a far away land,
there was a beautiful wood by which ran a stream,
and close to the stream was a mill.
The owner of the mill lived nearby with his beautiful and clever daughter.
Oh, daughter, I am so tired of leading a poor man’s life.
I wish we could also be rich and have every comfort in the world.
Just then, the king of the country came passing by on a hunting trip.
The King has come to our woods, I can’t believe it!
I have to try and meet him.
Yes! This is a fine opportunity for me to impress the king.
The miller made his way to where the king was.
Bowing before the king, the miller said
Your Majesty! I am indeed honoured to meet you.
Won’t you please come this way?
I would like you to meet my beautiful and talented daughter.
Really? What special talent does your daughter have
that I would want to meet her?
Er, oh yes! Your Majesty,
my daughter can spin gold from straw.
Now the king was a very wealthy man,
but he was also greedy,
and the thought of making gold from straw
obviously tempted him.
Really! This I have to see.
Bring your daughter to the palace this evening.
The miller went home to tell his daughter that the king wanted
them to present themselves to the palace that evening,
and both of them soon left for the palace.
Arriving at the palace,
the miller and his daughter were quickly ushered in to meet the king.
The king was pleased to meet the miller and his daughter and said….
Hmm, your daughter is indeed beautiful,
and now we will see how she spins straw into gold.
So saying, the king led the daughter to a room in the palace
where there was a spinning wheel and a large pile of straw.
Now set to work and show us your talent.
All this straw must be spun into gold by morning
if you love your life.
The daughter tried to plead with the king that it
was just an empty boast that her father had made,
but all in vain,
as the king did not listen,
and locked the room and went away.
Oh, woe my fate! What has my father done?
How am I going to do this impossible task?
Just them, a funny looking old man
hobbled into the room.
Now, pretty lass, why do you weep so?
Oh, sir. I must spin all this straw into gold by morning,
or the king will kill me. I just don’t know what to do.
Hmm... If I spin this straw into gold,
what will you give me?
Can you really help me sir?
Oh, I will be so grateful.
Let me see… here, I will give you my necklace.
Okay lassie.
Now stop crying and go sit down and let me work.
The funny old man sat himself at the spinning wheel.
Whirr, whirr, spinning wheel, Do as you are told
All the straw in this room Spin into fine gold.
What an amazing sight it was!
As the miller’s daughter watched in surprise,
the pile of straw was soon turned into gold.
The old man got up and turned to leave.
Oh! I don’t know how to thank you sir.
I don’t know what I would have done without your help.
Here is my necklace.
At daybreak, the king came into the room, and lo and behold!
The sight that met his eyes made them glitter and shine.
I can’t believe what I am seeing!
Now I know you are truly talented.
However, the king’s greed became even more,
and he planned to have the miller’s daughter spin
even more gold the next day.
Tonight, my dear,
you will again spin all the straw
in the room to gold before sunrise.
I am sure you can do it once more.
The miller’s daughter again sat down in dismay,
not knowing what to do,
when the same old funny man appeared again.
Ah ha! So you have to
spin more gold tonight I see.
Oh sir, please help me again.
And what will I get in return?
Sir, I have only this ring left.
I will gladly give it to you if you help me.
Alright, I shall help you again
in return for the ring.
And so the old man sat down again at the spinning wheel.
Whirr, whirr, spinning wheel, Do as you are told
All the straw in this room spin into fine gold.
Once again, all the straw turned into gold,
and the old man picked up the ring and left.
The next morning when the king entered the room
and saw the gold, he thought to himself.
She may be just a miller’s daughter,
but she is beautiful
and can give me all the gold that I desire.
The king walked up to the miller’s daughter,
held her hands and told
My dear, I am very impressed with your beauty and talent.
Tonight you will be given even more straw to spin,
and if you can turn it into gold again,
you shall be my queen.
So once again that night,
the miller’s daughter was locked in a room filled with straw.
Soon the old man came visiting again.
Another roomful of straw to spin.
So what are you going to give me today to spin this into gold?
Oh sir, I have nothing more to give you,
but the king has said that if I spin
all this straw into gold tonight,
he will make me his queen,
then I can give you all that you desire.
The old man kept thinking for some time,
and finally told the miller’s daughter.
I have no desire for any wealth,
but you must promise me that you will
give me your first born child.
The miller’s daughter looked at the old man in amazement,
but she was so desperate and didn’t know what else to do,
so she made the promise to the old man.
He again sat at the spinning wheel.
Whirr, whirr, spinning wheel, Do as you are told
All the straw in this room spin into fine gold.
Next morning, the king entered the room
and his eyes shone when he saw all the gold.
My dear, as I said, I will now marry you and make you my queen.
Let there be rejoicing in the kingdom
to welcome the new queen!
The king and queen lived happily for many years,
and were blessed with a baby boy.
However, by now the queen had forgotten her
promise to the funny old man who had helped
until he came to visit her one day
when she was playing with her precious child.
I hope you remember me and the
promise you made to me, oh queen?
The queen was shocked
and dismayed on seeing the old man
and could not even think of parting with her bundle of joy,
and cried and begged before the old man.
Oh sir! Please do not be so cruel,
do not take away my baby from me.
I will give you anything you want,
gold, precious stones, land…..
I have no use for these things.
I beg you sir, please take pity on me.
My baby is so small….
The queen’s tears finally moved
the old man, and he said to her.
Oh well well. I give you three days,
and if in these three days you guess my name,
you can keep your baby
The fear of losing her child
kept the queen awake all night,
and she wrote down all the strange names
that she had ever heard of.
The next day,
the old man came and asked her his name.
Is your name Benjamin? Timothy? Jeremy?
The queen said all the names that she could think of,
but the old man said that was not his name.
You have tried
But what my name is, a guess you could not make.
You have two days more,
then your baby I will take.
So saying, the old man went away.
I have to somehow guess what the old man’s name is,
I cannot even think of giving my baby away.
Oh, what shall I do?
The next day, the queen dispatched messengers
across the kingdom to find out all the possible strange names.
However, when the old man came,
though she repeated all the names the messengers had given her,
she could not guess the old man’s name.
She was now extremely worried and desperate.
She once again sent the messengers
and told them to visit the most remote corners of the kingdom
to find any strange names they could.
The messengers came back with no new names,
but one messenger told the queen that
he wished to have a word with her.
Your majesty, I could not find any new names,
but I saw a strange sight today.
As I was climbing down a hill, I entered a forest,
and among the tall trees was a small cottage.
There was a fire burning outside
and a strange figure dancing around it
and singing, Today I brew, tomorrow I bake,
And after that the child I'll take.
Never can the queen guess,
That Rumpelstiltskin is my name".
The queen was overjoyed
and rewarded the messenger
with gold and precious jewels.
Ah, now I’ll see how he will take my baby,
the funny old man.
The next day, all the courtiers gathered around the queen
where she sat on her throne,
and the nurse stood beside her with the baby in her arms,
when the old man arrived.
Oh, sir, I have been thinking
and thinking of what your name could be.
Is it Tom?
Is it Jemmy?
The queen kept on saying names,
and each time the old man kept shaking his head,
his smile growing wider and wider.
I can’t think of any more names.
Wait a minute, could your name be Rumpelstiltskin?
The old man was outraged on hearing this.
You could not have guessed my name,
some witch has told you, some witch has told you!
So angry was he that he stamped his right foot with
so much force that it sank into the floor.
He forcefully pulled it out with both hands,
and made his way out amidst the jeering of all the courtiers.
The queen was finally relieved and lived happily
ever after with the king and her baby.