When the girl was alone the manikin came again for the third time, and said, what will you give me if I spin the straw for you this time also. I have nothing left that I could give, answered the girl. Then promise me, if you should become queen, to give me your first child. Who knows whether that will ever happen, thought the miller's daughter, and, not knowing how else to help herself in this strait, she promised the manikin what he wanted, and for that he once more spun the straw into gold.
And when the king came in the morning, and found all as he had wished, he took her in marriage, and the pretty miller's daughter became a queen.
A year after, she brought a beautiful child into the world, and she never gave a thought to the manikin. But suddenly he came into her room, and said, now give me what you promised.
The queen was horror-struck, and offered the manikin all the riches of the kingdom if he would leave her the child. But the manikin said, no, something alive is dearer to me than all the treasures in the world. Then the queen began to lament and cry, so that the manikin pitied her. I will give you three days, time, said he, if by that time you find out my name, then shall you keep your child.
So the queen thought the whole night of all the names that she had ever heard, and she sent a messenger over the country to inquire, far and wide, for any other names that there might be.
When the manikin came the next day, she began with caspar, melchior, balthazar, and said all the names she knew, one after another, but to every one the little man said, that is not my name. On the second day she had inquiries made in the neighborhood as to the names of the people there, and she repeated to the manikin the most uncommon and curious. Perhaps your name is shortribs, or sheepshanks, or laceleg, but he always answered, that is not my name.
On the third day the messenger came back again, and said, Ihave not been able to find a single new name, but as I came to a high mountain at the end of the forest, where the fox and the hare bid each other good night, there I saw a little house, and before the house a fire was burning, and round about the fire quite a ridiculous little man was jumping, he hopped upon one leg, and shouted -to-day I bake, to-morrow brew, the next I'll have the young queen's child.
Ha, glad am I that no one knew that Rumpelstiltskin I am styled.
You may imagine how glad the queen was when she heard the name. And when soon afterwards the little man came in, and asked, now, mistress queen, what is my name, at first she said, is your name Conrad? No. Is your name Harry? No.
Perhaps your name is Rumpelstiltskin?
The devil has told you that! The devil has told you that, cried the little man, and in his anger he plunged his right foot so deep into the earth that his whole leg went in, and then in rage he pulled at his left leg so hard with both hands that he tore himself in two.
There was once upon a time a woman who was a real witch and had two daughters, one ugly and wicked, and this one she loved because she was her own daughter, and one beautiful and good, and this one she hated, because she was her step-daughter. The step-daughter once had a pretty apron, which the other fancied so much that she became envious, and told her mother that she must and would have that apron.
Be quiet, my child, said the old woman, and you shall have it. Your step-sister has long deserved death, to-night when she is asleep Iwill come and cut her head off. Only be careful that you are at the far-side of the bed, and push her well to the front. It would have been all over with the poor girl if she had not just then been standing in a corner, and heard everything.
All day long she dared not go out of doors, and when bed-time had come, the witch's daughter got into bed first, so as to lie at the far side, but when she was asleep, the other pushed her gently to the front, and took for herself the place at the back, close by the wall.
In the night, the old woman came creeping in, she held an axe in her right hand, and felt with her left to see if anyone were lying at the outside, and then she grasped the axe with both hands, and cut her own child's head off.
When she had gone away, the girl got up and went to her sweetheart, who was called roland, and knocked at his door. When he came out, she said to him, listen, dearest roland, we must fly in all haste.
My step-mother wanted to kill me, but has struck her own child. When daylight comes, and she sees what she has done, we shall be lost.
But, said roland, I counsel you first to take away her magic wand, or we cannot escape if she pursues us. The maiden fetched the magic wand, and she took the dead girl's head and dropped three drops of blood on the ground, one in front of the bed, one in the kitchen, and one on the stairs. Then she hurried away with her lover.
When the old witch got up next morning, she called her daughter, and wanted to give her the apron, but she did not come. Then the witch cried, where are you. Here, on the stairs, I am sweeping, answered the first drop of blood. The old woman went out, but saw no one on the stairs, and cried again, where are you. Here in the kitchen, Iam warming myself, cried the second drop of blood. She went into the kitchen, but found no one. Then she cried again, where are you. Ah, here in the bed, I am sleeping, cried the third drop of blood. She went into the room to the bed. What did she see there. Her own child, whose head she had cut off, bathed in her blood.
The witch fell into a passion, sprang to the window, and as she could look forth quite far into the world, she perceived her step-daughter hurrying away with her sweetheart roland. That shall not help you, cried she, even if you have got a long way off, you shall still not escape me. She put on her many league boots, in which she covered an hour's walk at every step, and it was not long before she overtook them. The girl, however, when she saw the old woman striding towards her, changed, with her magic wand, her sweetheart roland into a lake, and herself into a duck swimming in the middle of it.
