When the queen heard this she jumped for joy, and as soon as her little friend came she sat down upon her throne, and called all her court round to enjoy the fun; and the nurse stood by her side with the baby in her arms, as if it was quite ready to be given up. Then the little man began to chuckle at the thoughts of having the poor child to take home with him to his hut in the woods; and he cried out, “Now, lady, what is my name?” “Is itJohn?” asked she. “No, madam!” “Is itTom?” “No, madam!” “Is itJemmy?” “It is not!” “Can your name beRumpel-stilts-ken?” said the lady slily. “Some witch told you that!—some witch told you that!” cried the little man, and dashed his right foot in a rage so deep into the floor, that he was forced to lay hold of it with both hands to pull it out.
Then he made the best of his way off, while the nurse laughed and the baby crowed; and all the court jeered at him for having had so much trouble for nothing, and said, “We wish you a very good morning, and a merry feast, MrRumpel-stilts-ken!”
“Too short, too short,” said King Oberon.
“Your Majesty,” protested the Gnome in a dignified manner, “a story should not be measured by the number of words which it contains, nor should twenty minutes be spent over a tale which can be told in ten.”
“True,” replied Oberon good-humouredly, “but as youcan tell us so much in so little time perhaps you can tell us another.”
“With pleasure,” said the flattered Gnome, and at once, merely pausing while he reversed the position of his legs so that he nursed the left one instead of the right, he began the story of