Rumpelstiltskin (Grimm)
Division into chapters is editorial.
The millers boast and the impossible task
A poor miller lived with his beautiful daughter in humble circumstances. When the miller had to speak with the King, he wanted to appear important and impressive. In his desperation to gain the royal favor, he made a boastful claim that would change his daughter's life forever.
I have a daughter who can spin straw into gold... That is an art which pleases me well; if your daughter is as clever as you say, bring her tomorrow to my palace
The King was delighted by this claim and commanded the miller to bring his daughter to the palace the next day. When the young woman arrived, the King led her to a room filled with straw and gave her a spinning wheel and reel.
The mysterious helper and his price
Now set to work, and if by tomorrow morning early you have not spun this straw into gold during the night, you must die... So there sat the poor miller's daughter
The King locked her in the room alone, leaving her with an impossible task. The miller's daughter had no idea how to spin straw into gold and grew increasingly desperate. She began to weep, knowing that death awaited her if she failed. Suddenly, the door opened and a little man appeared.
The strange little man asked why she was crying, and when she explained her predicament, he offered to help. In exchange for her necklace, he seated himself at the spinning wheel. With magical speed, he spun all the straw into glittering gold by morning.
The King was astonished and delighted by the gold, but his greed only grew stronger. He took the miller's daughter to an even larger room filled with straw and demanded she repeat the miracle or face death. Again the little man appeared, and this time he took her ring as payment for spinning the straw into gold.
From millers daughter to queen
Still not satisfied, the King led her to an even larger room full of straw for a third test. This time he promised that if she succeeded, she would become his wife. The King thought to himself that he could not find a richer wife in the whole world, even if she was only a miller's daughter.
When the little man appeared for the third time, the girl had nothing left to give him. Desperate, she listened as he made a terrible demand for his final service.
Then promise me, if you should become Queen, your first child... Who knows whether that will ever happen? thought the miller's daughter... she promised the manikin
Not knowing how else to save herself, she agreed to his terms. Once more, he spun all the straw into gold. When the King found everything as he had wished, he married the miller's daughter, and she became Queen.
The debt comes due
A year passed, and the Queen gave birth to a beautiful child. She had completely forgotten about the little man and her promise. But suddenly he appeared in her room, demanding what she had promised him. The Queen was horrified and offered him all the riches of the kingdom if he would leave her the child.
Now give me what you promised. The Queen was horror-struck... No, something that is living is dearer to me than all the treasures in the world
The little man refused all her offers of wealth. However, when he saw the Queen's tears and despair, he took pity on her. He gave her one final chance: if she could discover his name within three days, she could keep her child.
The search for the name and final victory
The Queen spent the entire night thinking of every name she had ever heard. She sent a messenger throughout the country to find unusual names. For two days, she tried every name she could think of, but the little man always replied that none were correct.
On the third day, the messenger returned with extraordinary news. At a high mountain at the forest's end, he had discovered a little house with a fire burning before it. Around the fire, a ridiculous little man was jumping and singing:
Today I bake, tomorrow brew,
The next I'll have the young Queen's child.
Ha! glad am I that no one knew
That Rumpelstiltskin I am styled.
When the little man came for the final time, the Queen pretended uncertainty, first guessing Conrad and Harry. Then she asked if his name was Rumpelstiltskin. Enraged at being discovered, he cried out that the devil had told her, stamped his foot so hard into the earth that his whole leg went in, then pulled at his other leg so violently that he tore himself in two.