Rumpelstiltskin

By the side of a wood, in a country a long way off, ran a fine
stream of water; and upon the stream there stood a mill. The
miller's house was close by, and the miller, you must know, had
a very beautiful daughter. She was, moreover, very shrewd and
clever; and the miller was so proud of her, that he one day told
the king of the land, who used to come and hunt in the wood,
that his daughter could spin gold out of straw. Now this king
was very fond of money; and when he heard the miller's boast
his greediness was raised, and he sent for the girl to be
brought before him. Then he led her to a chamber in his palace
where there was a great spun into gold before morning, as you
love your life.' It was in vain that the poor maiden said that it
was only a silly boast of her father, for that she could do no
such thing as spin straw into gold: the chamber door was
locked, and she was left alone.

She sat down in one corner of the room, and began to bewail
her hard fate; when on a sudden the door opened, and a
droll-looking little man hobbled in, and said, 'Good morrow to
you, my good lass; what are you weeping for?' 'Alas!' said she, 'I
must spin this straw into gold, and I know not how.' 'What will
you give me,' said the hobgoblin, 'to do it for you?' 'My
necklace,' replied the maiden. He took her at her word, and sat
himself down to the wheel, and whistled and sang:

'Round about, round about,
Lo and behold!
Reel away, reel away,
Straw into gold!'

And round about the wheel went merrily; the work was quickly
done, and the straw was all spun into gold.

When the king came and saw this, he was greatly astonished
and pleased; but his heart grew still more greedy of gain, and
he shut up the poor miller's daughter again with a fresh task.
Then she knew not what to do, and sat down once more to
weep; but the dwarf soon opened the door, and said, 'What will
you give me to do your task?' 'The ring on my finger,' said she.
So her little friend took the ring, and began to work at the
wheel again, and whistled and sang:

'Round about, round about,
Lo and behold!
Reel away, reel away,
Straw into gold!'

till, long before morning, all was done again.

The king was greatly delighted to see all this glittering treasure;
but still he had not enough: so he took the miller's daughter to
a yet larger heap, and said, 'All this must be spun tonight; and
if it is, you shall be my queen.' As soon as she was alone that
dwarf came in, and said, 'What will you give me to spin gold for
you this third time?' 'I have nothing left,' said she. 'Then say
you will give me,' said the little man, 'the first little child that
you may have when you are queen.' 'That may never be,'
thought the miller's daughter: and as she knew no other way to
get her task done, she said she would do what he asked. Round
went the wheel again to the old song, and the manikin once
more spun the heap into gold. The king came in the morning,
and, finding all he wanted, was forced to keep his word; so he
married the miller's daughter, and she really became queen.

At the birth of her first little child she was very glad, and forgot
the dwarf, and what she had said. But one day he came into
her room, where she was sitting playing with her baby, and put
her in mind of it. Then she grieved sorely at her misfortune,
and said she would give him all the wealth of the kingdom if he
would let her off, but in vain; till at last her tears softened him,
and he said, 'I will give you three days' grace, and if during that
time you tell me my name, you shall keep your child.'

Now the queen lay awake all night, thinking of all the odd
names that she had ever heard; and she sent messengers all
over the land to find out new ones. The next day the little man
came, and she began with TIMOTHY, ICHABOD, BENJAMIN,
JEREMIAH, and all the names she could remember; but to all
and each of them he said, 'Madam, that is not my name.'

The second day she began with all the comical names she could