103 lines
5.5 KiB
Text
103 lines
5.5 KiB
Text
Rumpelstiltskin
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Once there was a miller who was poor, but who had a beautiful daughter.
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Now it happened that he had to go and speak to the King, and in order
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to make himself appear important he said to him, "I have a daughter who
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can spin straw into gold." The King said to the miller, "That is an art
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which pleases me well; if your daughter is as clever as you say, bring
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her to-morrow to my palace, and I will try what she can do."
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And when the girl was brought to him he took her into a room which was
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quite full of straw, gave her a spinning-wheel and a reel, and said,
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"Now set to work, and if by to-morrow morning early you have not spun
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this straw into gold during the night, you must die." Thereupon he
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himself locked up the room, and left her in it alone. So there sat the
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poor miller's daughter, and for the life of her could not tell what to
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do; she had no idea how straw could be spun into gold, and she grew
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more and more miserable, until at last she began to weep.
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But all at once the door opened, and in came a little man, and said,
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"Good evening, Mistress Miller; why are you crying so?" "Alas!"
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answered the girl, "I have to spin straw into gold, and I do not know
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how to do it." "What will you give me," said the manikin, "if I do it
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for you?" "My necklace," said the girl. The little man took the
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necklace, seated himself in front of the wheel, and "whirr, whirr,
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whirr," three turns, and the reel was full; then he put another on, and
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whirr, whirr, whirr, three times round, and the second was full too.
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And so it went on until the morning, when all the straw was spun, and
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all the reels were full of gold. By daybreak the King was already
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there, and when he saw the gold he was astonished and delighted, but
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his heart became only more greedy. He had the miller's daughter taken
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into another room full of straw, which was much larger, and commanded
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her to spin that also in one night if she valued her life. The girl
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knew not how to help herself, and was crying, when the door again
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opened, and the little man appeared, and said, "What will you give me
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if I spin that straw into gold for you?" "The ring on my finger,"
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answered the girl. The little man took the ring, again began to turn
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the wheel, and by morning had spun all the straw into glittering gold.
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The King rejoiced beyond measure at the sight, but still he had not
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gold enough; and he had the miller's daughter taken into a still larger
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room full of straw, and said, "You must spin this, too, in the course
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of this night; but if you succeed, you shall be my wife." "Even if she
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be a miller's daughter," thought he, "I could not find a richer wife in
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the whole world."
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When the girl was alone the manikin came again for the third time, and
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said, "What will you give me if I spin the straw for you this time
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also?" "I have nothing left that I could give," answered the girl.
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"Then promise me, if you should become Queen, your first child." "Who
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knows whether that will ever happen?" thought the miller's daughter;
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and, not knowing how else to help herself in this strait, she promised
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the manikin what he wanted, and for that he once more span the straw
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into gold.
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And when the King came in the morning, and found all as he had wished,
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he took her in marriage, and the pretty miller's daughter became a
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Queen.
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A year after, she had a beautiful child, and she never gave a thought
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to the manikin. But suddenly he came into her room, and said, "Now give
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me what you promised." The Queen was horror-struck, and offered the
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manikin all the riches of the kingdom if he would leave her the child.
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But the manikin said, "No, something that is living is dearer to me
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than all the treasures in the world." Then the Queen began to weep and
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cry, so that the manikin pitied her. "I will give you three days'
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time," said he, "if by that time you find out my name, then shall you
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keep your child."
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So the Queen thought the whole night of all the names that she had ever
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heard, and she sent a messenger over the country to inquire, far and
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wide, for any other names that there might be. When the manikin came
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the next day, she began with Caspar, Melchior, Balthazar, and said all
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the names she knew, one after another; but to every one the little man
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said, "That is not my name." On the second day she had inquiries made
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in the neighborhood as to the names of the people there, and she
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repeated to the manikin the most uncommon and curious. "Perhaps your
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name is Shortribs, or Sheepshanks, or Laceleg?" but he always answered,
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"That is not my name."
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On the third day the messenger came back again, and said, "I have not
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been able to find a single new name, but as I came to a high mountain
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at the end of the forest, where the fox and the hare bid each other
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good night, there I saw a little house, and before the house a fire was
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burning, and round about the fire quite a ridiculous little man was
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jumping: he hopped upon one leg, and shouted--
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"To-day I bake, to-morrow brew,
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The next I'll have the young Queen's child.
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Ha! glad am I that no one knew
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That Rumpelstiltskin I am styled."
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You may think how glad the Queen was when she heard the name! And when
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soon afterwards the little man came in, and asked, "Now, Mistress
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Queen, what is my name?" at first she said, "Is your name Conrad?"
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"No." "Is your name Harry?" "No."
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"Perhaps your name is Rumpelstiltskin?"
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"The devil has told you that! the devil has told you that!" cried the
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little man, and in his anger he plunged his right foot so deep into the
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earth that his whole leg went in; and then in rage he pulled at his
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left leg so hard with both hands that he tore himself in two.
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