Story
Originally a Grimm tale.
Once upon a time there was a poor miller who wanted nothing more in life than to than not to be poor. His wife had died and he lived with his lovely young daughter in a small village. One day, the king came to the village looking for a wife and the poor miller called out to the king: “Your majesty, your majesty, isn’t my daughter the most beautiful?” Taking the opportunity one step further, the miller told the king that his daughter could spin straw into gold. Surely the king would be impressed? Then the very next day, the miller’s daughter was summoned to the palace. She was taken to a small room with a spinning wheel and a bail of straw and told that if she did not turn the straw into gold by morning, she would be locked in the tower forever. The little girl cried in despair. All of a sudden she heard a strange noise coming from the corner of the room. Creeeek.... a secret door swung open and a strange little man appeared. “I’ll help you!” he said, and started spinning the straw into gold. He span for three days in return for the girl’s jewellery, but on the third day, the little girl had run out. “I’ll keep spinning if you promise to give me your first-born baby as my reward,” the man said. “I don’t have a baby,” the little girl replied. “I know. I want the baby you will have when you are queen.” Well the little girl was too young to be thinking about children and agreed to his demands. With thanks to this strange little man’s help she became queen.... and she had a baby. That very same, terrible day, the strange man came back to fetch his reward. The queen cried and cried, so he gave her one last chance: “If you can guess my name within three days, I will let you keep your baby.” So she tried..... but would she guess his name in time? |
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