In a village, there lived a poor miller with his daughter. The miller was very proud of his daughter, for she was beautiful, kind and intelligent. One day, the King of the land was on his way to a hunt when he happened to meet the miller. 

After chatting for some time, the miller boasted, “Your majesty, let me introduce you to my daughter. She is so talented that she can spin straw out of gold.”

The King said, “Is that so? Send your daughter with me to the palace, and I will see if it is true.”

Not knowing what to do, the miller said, “Of course, your majesty.”

He went to his daughter and said, “Daughter, I falsely claimed that you could spin gold out of straw. Now the King demands proof.”

“Why did you lie, father? Now, what do we do?” cried the miller’s daughter.

“You are a clever girl. I am sure you will find a solution,” replied the miller.

The miller’s daughter accompanied the King to his palace.

The King took her to a small chamber with a pile of straw and a spinning wheel. He said, “Turn this straw into gold by tomorrow morning else, I will put you to death.”

The King left the chamber, locking the miller’s daughter inside. The miller’s daughter sat all alone crying. She knew there was no way she could do as the King had commanded. 

As she sat crying, the door opened, and a funny-looking little man entered. 

“Why are you crying?” asked the man in a shrill voice. 

The miller’s daughter narrated the entire story and said, “So you see, I am crying because tonight is my last night alive, for I do not know how to spin gold out of straw.”

“I can do it for you. But what will I get in return?” the little man asked.

“How about this ring on my finger?” the girl asked.

The man sat by the wheel and began spinning the straw into gold. He finished his work before daybreak. Then, after taking the ring from the girl, he vanished. 

When the King saw the heap of gold, he got greedy. He took the girl to another chamber bigger than the previous one. There were ten large piles of straw inside the room. 

“You have until tomorrow to turn all this straw to gold else I will put you to death,” said the King as he left her alone in the room.

Not knowing what to do, the girl sat crying, staring at the door, hoping that the little man would come back to help her.

She was relieved when the door opened again, and the little man arrived. He asked,” Why are you crying now?”

The girl replied, “The King has ordered me to turn all this straw to gold by tomorrow.”

“I can do it again. But what will you give me this time?” asked the little man.

“How about the necklace that I am wearing?” asked the girl.

The man then proceeded to spin the wheel to convert the straw into gold. After completing his work, he took the necklace and left.

When the King came the next day, he was pleasantly surprised, but he wanted more.

He then took the girl to an enormous hall. There was straw everywhere, filling the whole room to the ceiling. “Change all of this to gold by tomorrow, and I will make you my queen.”

As soon as the King left the girl alone, the little man came into the room and said, “I can do what the King asked. But what will you give me this time?”

“I do not have anything to give you, sir,” replied the girl.

“Hmmm. Well then! Promise to give me your first child once you become the queen,” said the little man.

“I promise,” said the girl immediately since she knew there was no other choice.

That night, the little man kept spinning and spinning as gold kept pilling. Finally, it was dawn, and the gold gave a glow to the whole room. 

When the King came in the morning, he was delighted. “I will never need gold ever again. I am richer than Midas¹,” he said.

The King married the miller’s daughter, and they lived happily. Eventually, the queen gave birth to a baby girl. However, the queen had completely forgotten her promise to the little man. She was therefore shocked when one day, while playing with her baby, the man appeared suddenly.

“I have come to take your baby,” said the man grinning wickedly.

“Please ask me anything but not my baby,” pleaded the queen. “I can give you however much gold you want.”

“Why would I need gold when I can spin it myself?” asked the man. “Tell you what? I will give you three days. By then, if you can guess my name correctly, I will not take your baby. You can guess as many times as you want.”

The queen began thinking of all possible names. She even sent messengers across the Kingdom to find out unusual names. 

The first day, when the little man came, the queen listed names one after the other. “ALBERT”, “BENJAMIN”, “TIMOTHY”, “HENRY”, “MATTHEW”. But none of the names was correct.

The second day she listed some unusual names – “BAXTER”, “PHILEAS”, “CHESTER”, “DANKWORTH”. 

The man replied, “None of them is mine. You have one more day. I will come again tomorrow and if you are still not able to give me an answer, I will take your baby.”

Knowing she was running out of time the queen was worried.

However, that evening a messenger came to her bringing some good news.

He said, “Your majesty, I was passing by the edge of the forest when I saw a strange little man dancing by the fire. Could he be the person you were searching for? He was singing this song-

“Today I will feast like a king, 

Merrily I dance, merrily I sing,

For tomorrow I will win this game,

Little does the lady know, Rumpelstiltskin is my name.”

That night, when the little man came, the queen said, “Is your name Robert?”

“No.”

“Is it Richard?”

“No.”

“Could it be Rumpelstiltskin?” 

The man was shocked. “How did you find out?” 

In anger, he stomped his foot so hard that his right foot got stuck into the ground. After struggling for a long time, he pulled himself out and then ran away shouting and yelling.

The queen lived happily, never meeting the strange little man ever again.