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There was once upon a time a poor miller who had a very beautiful daughter. Now, it happened one day that he had an opportunity to meet with the king of the city, and in order to be seen as an important person, he told him that he had a daughter who could spin straw into gold.
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"Now that's a talent worth having!" said the king to the miller. "If your daughter is as clever as you say she is, bring her to my palace tomorrow and I'll put her to the test!"
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When the miller brought the girl to the king, he led her into a room full of straw, gave her a spinning-wheel and spindle, and said: "Now get to work and spin all night until the morning. If you can spin the straw into gold, you and your father will have good fortune." Then, the king left the girl alone.
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So the poor miller's daughter sat down and didn't know what in the world she was to do. She hadn't the slightest idea of how to spin straw into gold, and she began to cry. Suddenly the door opened and in stepped a tiny little man who said: "Good evening, Miss Miller! Why are you crying?"
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"Oh," answered the girl. "I have to spin this straw into gold and I have no idea how to get it done!" "What will you give me if I spin it for you?" asked the little man. "How about my necklace?" said the girl. "That will do." said the tiny man and he sat himself down at the wheel.
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Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh the wheel went around three times and the bobbin was full! Then he put on another, whoosh whoosh whoosh, the wheel went around three times and again the second bobbin was full. On and on he spun over and over until the morning came. All the straw was spun and each bobbin was full of gold!
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As soon as the sun rose, the king came back. When he saw the gold he was amazed and delighted, but his greedy heart wanted more. He had the miller's daughter put into another room full of straw, much bigger than the first. He told her that of she could spin the straw into gold he would give her and her father a new house.
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The girl was beginning to feel tricked by the king and when she looked at all the straw not knowing what to do, again she began to cry. Then the door opened, as it had before, and the tiny little man appeared again and said: "What will you give me this time if I spin this straw into gold?" "The ring from my finger, it was my mother's." said the girl sadly. The tiny man took the ring and whoosh around went the spinning wheel again. When the morning came he had spun all the straw into glittering gold.
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The king was so pleased but again his greed for gold was still not satisfied. He brought the miller's daughter to an even bigger room than before. The king said to the girl, "You must spin all this straw into the most beautiful gold and this time if you succeed than you shall become my wife and the queen. You and your father can live here with me in this great palace."
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When the girl was alone, the tiny man appeared once again. "What will you give me this time if I can spin the whole room of straw into gold?" "I have nothing left to give you." said the girl. "Then promise me when you are queen that you will give me your first child." The girl thought about it and figured she would never see the little man again once she was queen, so she agreed and he spun every last strand of straw into beautiful shimmering gold.
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When the king came in the morning, he found everything that he desired. He married the girl right away and made her his wife the queen of the palace. She and her father lived in the palace for a year and the queen in fact gave birth to a baby boy. She had not thought of the little man once and then all of the sudden he stepped into her room. "Now, you must give me what you promised," said the tiny man.
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The queen was so upset that she had made such a promise. She began to cry so terribly that the little man was sorry for her. He said, "Alright, I'll give you three days to guess my name. If you can figure it out in that time, then you may keep your baby and all of your great fortune." With that the little man left and the queen got to work finding names from all over the land.
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The queen came up with all sorts of names she had never heard. When the little man arrived on the following day, she began with Kasper, Belshazzar, and Melchoir along with all the other names she knew, but for each one the tiny man responded, "That's not my name." The next day she asked for all the names from all the people in the land. When the small man returned, she said, "Is your name Spindleshanks, Crookshanks or Sheepshanks?" He always replied, "That's not my name!"
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On the third day the queen had not recovered any new names but one of her messengers came to her and said, "All I have found in my travels around was the littlest man I've ever seen. I spotted him in the woods in front of a tiny house, dancing around a tiny fire. As he danced he sang, "Tomorrow I brew, today I bake, and then the child away I'll take, for little knows the royal dame, that Rumpelstilskin is my name!"
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The Queen was delighted to hear this story! When the little man returned and asked, "Now, my lady queen, what's my name?" she asked first: "Is your name John?" "No." "Is your name Harry?" "No." "Is your name perhaps, Rumpelstilzkin?" "How did you find out! That is impossible dear queen!!" "Now, I must leave you forever and wish you well with all of your riches and good fortune." And the queen lived happily ever after with her family and wealth in the palace.
