Rumpelstiltskin (Condensed Version)

Rumpelstiltskin

Once upon a time, there was a poor miller who had a beautiful daughter. Desperate to improve his fortunes, the miller made a grand boast to the king, claiming his daughter could spin straw into gold. Intrigued by this claim, the king ordered the miller’s daughter to be brought to his palace.

In a room filled with straw and a spinning wheel, the king commanded the frightened girl to spin the straw into gold by morning, threatening to kill her if she failed.

As she wept in despair, a strange little man appeared. He promised to spin the straw into gold in exchange for her necklace. The girl agreed, and the little man set to work, spinning all the straw into gold by dawn.

The king was overjoyed but his greed was not satisfied. He took the girl to an even larger room full of straw and threatened her with the same grim fate if she failed to spin it all into gold. Once again, the strange little man appeared and agreed to help her, this time in exchange for her ring.

The king’s desire for wealth grew further, and he placed the girl in an even larger room filled with straw, promising to marry her if she could spin all the straw into gold. This time, when the little man appeared, the miller’s daughter had nothing left to give him. The little man proposed a new deal – he would spin the straw into gold one last time, but in return, she must promise to give him her first-born child if she became queen. In her desperation, she agreed to his terms.

As promised, the little man turned all the straw into gold, and the miller’s daughter was married to the king. A year later, the queen gave birth to a beautiful child. Suddenly, the strange little man reappeared to claim his reward. The queen, horrified at the prospect of giving up her child, begged for mercy. The little man made another deal – if she could guess his name within three days, she could keep her child.

The queen sent out messengers to compile a list of every name across the kingdom. Each day, she guessed every name she could think of, but none were correct. On the third day, a messenger returned with a peculiar story. He had seen the strange little man dancing around a fire, singing about his name, Rumpelstiltskin, confident that no one could ever guess it.

Armed with this knowledge, the queen confronted the little man on the final evening. When she correctly guessed his name, Rumpelstiltskin, he flew into a rage so powerful that he stomped his foot into the ground and tore himself in two.

From then on, the queen, her child, and the king lived happily and peacefully, having been liberated from Rumpelstiltskin’s wicked game.

The End.