Rumpelstiltskin - German

Once, there was a young woman in a tall, tall tower. Her father told the king she could spin straw into shiny gold, but it was not true! The king said, 'Spin all this straw into gold!' or you will be in big trouble. The woman was so sad and started to cry. This is the story of Rumpelstiltskin.

Poof! A funny little man with a long, long beard appeared in the room. He saw the woman crying and wanted to help. With a whirr and a spin, he turned all the straw into bright, shiny gold! The woman gave him a pretty necklace. The next night, he did it again! This time, she gave him a shiny ring. But on the third night, she had nothing left to give. The little man made her promise to give him her first baby when she became a queen.

A year later, the woman was a queen and had a sweet, beautiful baby. The little man came back for the baby! The queen cried and cried. The little man felt a little sorry for her. He said, 'I will give you a riddle. If you can guess my name in three days, you can keep your baby.' For two days, the queen guessed every name she knew, but they were all wrong. She sent her friend to look all over for new names.

On the last day, her friend came back with a happy story. He saw the little man dancing around a fire, singing a silly song. 'No one knows my lucky game, that Rumpelstiltskin is my name!' he sang. When the little man came to see the queen, she smiled a big smile. 'Is your name Rumpelstiltskin?' she asked. He got so mad he stomped his foot and poof! He disappeared forever. The queen and her baby were safe and happy. It is always good to be clever and ask for help.