There was once upon a time a
poor miller who had a very beautiful daughter. Now it
happened one day that he had an audience with the
king, and in order to appear a person of some
importance he told him that he had a daughter who
could spin straw into gold. 'Now that's a talent
worth having,' said the King to the miller; 'if your
daughter is as clever as you say, bring her to my
palace to-morrow, and I'll put her to the test.'
When the girl was brought to him he led her into a
room full of straw, gave her a spinning--wheel
and spindle, and said: 'Now set to work and spin all
night till early dawn, and if by that time you
haven't spun the straw into gold you shall die.' Then
he closed the door behind him and left her alone
inside.
So the poor
miller's daughter sat down, and didn't know what in
the world she was to do. She hadn't the least idea of
how to spin straw into gold, and became at last so
miserable that she began to cry. Suddenly the door
opened, and in stepped a tiny little man and said:
'Good-evening, Miss Miller-maid; why are
you crying so bitterly?' 'Oh!' answered the girl, 'I
have to spin straw into gold, and haven't a notion
how it's done.' ' What will you give me if I spin it
for you?' asked the manikin. 'My necklace,' replied
the girl. The little man took; the necklace, sat
himself down at the wheel, and whir, whir, whir, the
wheel went round three times, and the bobbin was
full. Then he put on another, and whir, whir, whir,
the wheel went round three times, and the second too
was full; and so it went on till the morning, when
all the straw was spun away, and all the bobbins were
full of gold. As soon as the sun rose the King came,
and when he perceived the gold he was astonished and
delighted, but his heart only lusted more than ever
after the precious metal. He had the miller's
daughter put into another room full of straw, much
bigger than the first, and bade her, if she valued
her life, spin it all into gold before the following
morning. The girl didn't know what to do, and began
to cry; then the door opened as before, and the tiny
little man appeared and said: 'What'll you give me if
I spin the straw into gold for you?'
'The ring from my
finger,' answered the girl. The manikin took the
ring, and whir! round went the spinning-wheel
again, and when morning broke he had spun all the
straw into glittering gold. The King was pleased
beyond measure at the sight, but his greed for gold
was still not satisfied, and he had the miller's
daughter brought into a yet bigger room full of
straw, and said: 'You must spin all this away in the
night; but if you succeed this time you shall become
my wife.' 'She's only a miller's daughter, it's
true,' he thought; 'but I couldn't find a richer wife
if I were to search the whole world over.' When the
girl was alone the little man appeared for the third
time, and said: 'What'll you give me if I spin the
straw for you once again?' 'I've nothing more to
give,' answered the girl. 'Then promise me when you
are Queen to give me your first child.' 'Who knows
what mayn't happen before that?' thought the miller's
daughter; and besides, she saw no other way out of
it, so she promised the manikin what he demanded, and
he set to work once more and spun the straw into
gold. When the King came in the morning, and found
everything as he had desired, he straightway made her
his wife, and the miller's daughter became a queen.
When a year had
passed a beautiful son was born to her, and she
thought no more of the little man, till all of a
sudden one day he stepped into her room and said:
'Now give me what you promised.' The Queen was in a
great state, and offered the little man all the
riches in her kingdom if he would only leave her the
child. But the manikin said: 'No, a living creature
is dearer to me than all the treasures in the world.'
Then the Queen began to cry and sob so bitterly that
the little man was sorry for her, and said: 'I'll
give you three days to guess my name, and if you find
it out in that time you may keep your child.' Then
the Queen pondered the whole night over all the names
she had ever heard, and sent a messenger to scour the
land, and to pick up far and near any names he should
come across. When the little man arrived on the
following day she began with Kasper, Melchior,
Belshazzar, and all the other names she knew, in a
string, but at each one the manikin called out:
'That's not my name.' The next day she sent to
inquire the names of all the people in the
neighbourhood, and had a long list of the most
uncommon and extraordinary for the little man when he
made his appearance. 'Is your name, perhaps,
Sheepshanks, Cruickshanks, Spindleshanks?' but he
always replied: 'That's not my name.' On the third
day the messenger returned and announced: 'I have not
been able to find any new names, but as I came upon a
high hill round the corner of the wood, where the
foxes and hares bid each other good night, I saw a
little house, and in front of the house burned a
fire, and round the fire sprang the most grotesque
little man, hopping, on one leg and crying:
