Rumpestittskin--two

As soon as the girl was left alone,the little man appeared  for the third time and said,

"What will you give me if I spin the straw for you this time?"

"I have nothing left to give,"answered the girl.

"Then you must promise me the first child you have after you Queen,"said the little man.

"But who knows whether that will happen?" thought the girl.

And as she did not see any other way out of her difficulty.

and was far from sure that the King would marry her

(for his marriage proposal  was somewhat lacking in romance even for the period).

she promise the little man what he wanted.

Then he began he to spin,until all the straw was gold.

And when in the morning the King came and found all the gold,the wedding was celebrated at once,and the miller's pretty daughter became a queen.

In a year's time she brought a fine child into the world.

She had forgotten all about the little man,until one day he came suddenly into her room,and said,

"Now give me what you promised me."

The Queen was terrified,and offered the little man all the riches of the kingdom if he would only leave the child.

But the little man said,"No,I would rather have something living than all the treasures of the world."

Then the Queen began to cry and weep,so that the little man had pity upon her

"I will give you three days," said he,"and if at the end of that time you cannot guess my name,you must give up the child to me."

The then the Queen spent the whole night in thinking about all the names that she had ever heard.

and sent a messenger through the land to ask far and wide for all the names that could be found.

And when the little man came next day she repeated all the names she knew and went through the whole list.

But after each the little man said,"That is not my name."

The second day the Queen asked all the neighbors what the servants were called,and told the little man all the most unusual name,saying,

Perhaps you are called Roast-ribs,or Sheepshanks,or Spindleshanks?"

But to each name he replied,

"That is not my name."

But the Queen followed him quietly so that she could not be seen or heard,up hill and dowYou cannot think how pleased the Queen was to heart that name.

She went back to the palace as swiftly as she had come.

The next day,the little man walked in and said,"Now Mrs.Queen,what is my name?"

n dale,until she came to a little house on a high hill.

in front of the house burned a fire,and round the fire danced the funny little man.

He was hopping up and down on one leg,and singing:

"I spun the Queen's straw into gold,and now the Queen's young child I'll claim

For surely no-one can have told her,Rumpelstiltskin is my name!"

She said at first,"Are you called Jack?"

"No,"answered he.

"Are you called Harry?" she asked again.

"No," answered he,"now for your last  chance." And then she said,

"This is just a wild guess,but is your name perhaps....

Rumpelstiltskin?"

'Ah! The devil told you that! The devil told you that!" cried the little man,

and in his anger he stamped with his right foot so hard that a great crack opened up in the ground in front of him.

Then he stamped with his left foot,and the side of crack gave away,and he fell down into it and was never seen or heard again.