B2. Rumpelstiltskin

Rumplestiltskin

Once upon a time, there was a miller. He wanted to impress the king. He lied, saying his daughter could spin straw into gold.

The king was excited. He brought the miller's daughter to the palace.

When the girl arrived, she was scared. The king showed her a room full of straw and said, "Turn this straw into gold by morning, and I'll make you rich. Fail, and you'll go to prison."

The poor girl cried. She didn't know how to spin straw into gold.

Suddenly, a strange little man appeared in the room. "Why are you crying?" he said.

"I have to turn this straw into gold, but I don't know how," she sobbed.

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The little man smiled. "I can help you, but you must give me something in return. How about that pretty necklace?"

She gave him her necklace. The little man spun the straw, and amazingly, it turned to gold! The girl was so happy.

The next morning, the king was pleased. But he wanted more gold.

He took the girl to a bigger room with even more straw. "Turn all of this into gold by morning, or you'll be killed!" he said.

Again, the girl cried, and the little man appeared. This time, he asked for her ring, then spun the straw into gold once more.

The king was delighted, but he still wasn't satisfied.

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He took the girl to the biggest room yet, filled with straw. "Turn this into gold, and I'll marry you, making you queen. Fail, and you'll be killed."

The girl was terrified. When the little man came, she had nothing left to give him.

He said, "Then promise to give me your first child when you become queen."

The girl was desperate and agreed. The little man spun all night. By morning, the room was filled with gold.

The king kept his promise and married her. A year later, she had a beautiful baby boy.

But every night she feared the little man would return for her baby.

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Finally, one stormy night, the little man appeared. "Give me the child!" he said.

The queen cried, "Please, no! I'll give you anything else!"

The little man thought for a moment. "If you can guess my name correctly, you can keep the child. You have three guesses. I'll return in three days." Then, he disappeared.

For two days, the queen anxiously tried to guess his name.

On the third day, her guard said he saw a strange little man dancing in the forest, singing:

Tomorrow I'll have the queen's child.

How lucky that no one has guessed,

Rumpelstiltskin is my name!"

That night, the little man returned. "You have three guesses," he said. "Fail, and the child is mine!"

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The queen pretended to guess. "Is your name...Roger?

"No".

"Robert?"

"No". He walked to the baby and reached for it.

"Rumpelstiltskin?"

The man's face turned red. "How did you know?" he shouted.

Angrily, he stamped his foot so hard that he fell through the floor!

The queen looked down at him through the hole. Instead of the man, all she saw was a pile of straw.

The queen hugged her baby, relieved she didn't have to lose him.

The End.