Rumpelstiltskin
By Emma L., 5th Grade
Long ago, in a city in the countryside, there lived a farmer and his daughter, who was very beautiful and clever. Her father loved to boast about her. One day, he bragged to the king himself that she could spin straw into gold. The farmer knew that the king was greedy because he had sent for alchemists from all over the world to make him rich. When the king heard that she could turn straw into gold, he immediately sent for the daughter, and he showed her to a room filled with straw. “Spin the straw into gold by morning,” he proclaimed, “and I will make you my queen.”
The farmer’s daughter was, sadly, unable to spin straw into gold. She cried to herself in the large room, which was cramped because it was filled with straw . Suddenly, an odd-looking small man materialized in the room. “Why are you crying?” he asked. She explained the impossible task that the king had set for her and how she would be locked inside until morning. The little man offered to do the task for her, but she confessed that she had nothing to trade him for his service. He told her that she must give him her firstborn child when she married the king, and the farmer’s daughter, who had no other choice, agreed. The man quickly spun the straw into gold, and in the morning, the king was so impressed that he married her immediately.
Over time, the new queen overlooked her promise to the strange man, and eventually, her first child was born. The man instantly appeared, and he demanded the baby. Because she had grown attached to it, the queen begged him to reconsider. The man announced that if she was able to guess his name correctly in three days, he would let her keep the baby. The queen, who had sent messengers all over the land, laid in bed, thinking of all the strange and unusual names that she had ever heard of. Over the next two days, she read names off a list she had made, but all of them were incorrect. Finally, a messenger returned with news. He informed her that he had seen the man dancing and singing and that his name was Rumpelstiltskin. On the third day, the queen asked the little man if his name was Rumpelstiltskin. He stomped and yelled, angry that somebody had guessed his secret. He had been lonely and wanted to raise the child as his own. The queen told him to honor his promise and she kept the baby. Rumpelstiltskin dashed into the woods, and he was never seen again.