RUMPEL-STILTS-KIN.
There was once a wicked miller who said to his king, “I have a beautiful daughter who can spin straw into gold.”
The king loved gold more than anything else, so he carried the miller’s daughter away to his castle.
He filled a large room with straw, and said to her, “If you do not spin this straw into gold before morning, you must die.”
Then the king went out and locked the door.
The miller’s daughter sat down and began to cry. She did not know how to spin straw into gold.
Soon a brownie came in, and said, “What will you give me if I spin this straw into gold?”
“My gold chain,” said the miller’s daughter.
The brownie sat down beside the spinning-wheel, and sang,
“Round about, round about,Lo and behold!Reel away, reel away,Straw into gold!”
“Round about, round about,Lo and behold!Reel away, reel away,Straw into gold!”
“Round about, round about,Lo and behold!Reel away, reel away,Straw into gold!”
“Round about, round about,
Lo and behold!
Reel away, reel away,
Straw into gold!”
Around went the wheel, and soon all the straw was spun into gold.
When the king came in the next morning, he was very glad to see so much gold. But he wanted more.
So he locked the miller’s daughter into a larger room filled with straw.
Again the brownie came in, and said, “What will you give me if I spin this straw into gold?”
The miller’s daughter said, “My gold ring.”
So again he sang,
“Round about, round about,Lo and behold!Reel away, reel away,Straw into gold!”
“Round about, round about,Lo and behold!Reel away, reel away,Straw into gold!”
“Round about, round about,Lo and behold!Reel away, reel away,Straw into gold!”
“Round about, round about,
Lo and behold!
Reel away, reel away,
Straw into gold!”
The king was so glad to see all the gold, that he filled a much larger room with straw.
“Now,” he said, “if you spin this straw into gold I will make you my queen.”
When the brownie came that night, the miller’sdaughter said, “I have nothing else to give you.”
“Will you give me your first little child, when you are queen?” said the brownie.
“Yes,” said the miller’s daughter.
Once more the brownie sang. The wheel went round, and soon the room was filled with gold.
The king was so glad that he made the miller’s daughter his queen.
When she held her first little child in her arms, she was so happy that she did not think about the brownie.
But one day he came to take away the baby. The poor queen was very unhappy.
Then the brownie said, “If in three days you can find out my name, I will not take away your child.”
The queen sent all over the land to find out the queerest names.
The first day passed, and the second day passed, and she could not tell the brownie his name.
On the third day a man came to the queen andsaid, “Last night as I was walking through the woods, I saw a brownie dancing around a bonfire and singing,
“To-day I brew, to-morrow I bake,Next day the queen’s child I shall take.How glad I am that nobody knowsThat my name is Rumpel-Stilts-Kin!”
“To-day I brew, to-morrow I bake,Next day the queen’s child I shall take.How glad I am that nobody knowsThat my name is Rumpel-Stilts-Kin!”
“To-day I brew, to-morrow I bake,Next day the queen’s child I shall take.How glad I am that nobody knowsThat my name is Rumpel-Stilts-Kin!”
“To-day I brew, to-morrow I bake,
Next day the queen’s child I shall take.
How glad I am that nobody knows
That my name is Rumpel-Stilts-Kin!”
This made the queen very happy. When the brownie came in she said,
“Is your name Tom?”
“No, my queen.”
“Is it John?”
“No, my queen.”
“Is it Robert?”
“No, my queen.”
“Can your name be Rumpel-Stilts-Kin?”
“An old fairy has told you! An old fairy has told you!” he cried. Then he ran away.
The queen laughed and said,
“Good morning to you, Mr. Rumpel-Stilts-Kin.”
Jacob and William Grimm(Adapted).