A poor miller wanted to look important, so he told the king a silly thing. "My daughter can spin straw into gold," he said. The king was greedy. He took the girl, put her in a room full of straw, and said, "Spin all this into gold by morning, or you will die."
The girl could not spin gold at all. She sat down and cried. Suddenly a strange little man appeared. "What will you give me if I spin it for you?" he asked. "My necklace," she said. He sat down, and by morning all the straw was gold.
The king was very pleased, but greedy for more. The next night he gave her an even bigger room of straw. The little man came again and spun it for her ring. On the third night the king said, "Spin this too, and I will marry you." But now the girl had nothing left to give.
"Then promise me your first child," said the little man. The girl was frightened and had nothing else, so she promised. He spun the last room into gold, and the king married her. She became queen and forgot all about the little man.
A year later the queen had a beautiful baby. Then the little man appeared. "Give me the child, as you promised," he said. The queen cried and begged. He felt a little sorry. "If you can say my name in three days," he said, "you may keep your baby."
For two days the queen said every name she knew, but none was right. On the third day her servant told her something strange. In the forest, a little man was dancing round a fire and singing: "Tomorrow the queen's child I take, for Rumpelstiltskin is my name!"
When the little man came again, the queen said, "Is your name Rumpelstiltskin?" He was so angry that he could not believe it. He shouted and stamped his foot, and then he ran away and never came back. The queen kept her baby, and they lived happily.
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