RUMPELSTILTSKIN
THERE WAS once a miller who was poor, but he had one beautiful daughter It happened one day that he came to speak with the King and, to give himself consequence, he told him that he had a daughter who could spin gold out of straw The King said to the mille "That is an art that pleases me well, if your daughter is as clever as you say, bring her to my castle tomorrow, that i may put her to the proof." When the girl was brought to him, he led her into a room that was quite full of straw and gave her a wheel and spindle, and said, "Now set to work, and if by the early morning you have not spun this straw to gold you shal die." And he shut the door himself, and left her there alone And so the poor miller's daughter was left there sitting, and could not think what to do for her life: she had no notion how to set to work to spin gold from straw, and her distress grew so great that she began to weep. Then all at once the door opened, and in came a little man, who said, "Good evening, miller's daughter: why are you crying?" "Oh!" answered the girl, "1 have got to spin gold out of straw, and I don't understand the business." Then the little man said, "What will you give me if I spin it for you "My necklace said the girl The little man took the necklace, seated himself before the wheel and whirr, whirr, whirr! three times round and the bobbin was full;then he took up and whirr, whirr, whirr! three times round, and that was full and so he went on till the morning, all the straw had been spun, and all the bobbins were full of gold sunrise came the King, and when he saw the gold he was astonished and very much rejoiced, for he was very avaricious. He had the miller's daughter taken into another room filled with straw, much bigger than the last, and told her that as she valued her life she must spin it all in one night. The girl did not know what to do, so she began to cry, and then the opened, and the little man appeared and said, "What will you give me if I spin all this straw into gold?" The ring from my finger," answered the girl so the little man took the ring, and began again to send the wheel whirring round, and by the next morning all the straw was spun into glistening gold. The King was rejoiced beyond measure at the ght, but as he could never have enough of gol he had the miller's daughter taken into a still larger room full of straw, and said, "This, too, must be spun in one night, and if you accomplish it you shall be my wife." For he thought, "Although she is but a miller's daughter, I am not likely to find any one richer in the whole world." As soon as the girl was left alone, the little man appeared for the third time and said, "What will you give me if I spin the straw for you this time? I have nothing left to give answered the girl. "Then you must promise me the first child you have after you are Queen," said the little man But who knows whether that will happen?" thought the girl; but as she did not know what else to do in her necessity, she promised the little man what he desired, upon which he began to spin, until all the straw was gold. And when in the morning the King came and found all done according to his wish, he caused the wedding to be held at once, and the miller's pretty daughter became a Queen In a year's time she brought a fine child into the world, and thought no more of the little man; but one day he came suddenl into her room, and said, "Now give me what you promised me The Queen was terrified greatly, and offered the little man all the riches of the kingdom if he would only leave the child; but the little man said, "No, I would rather have something living than all the treasures of the world." Then the Queen began to lament and to weep, so that the little man had pity upon her. "I will give you three days," said he, "and if at the end of that time you cannot tell my name, you must give up the child to me." Then the Queen spent the whole night in thinking over all the names that she had ever heard and sent messenger through the to ask far wide for all the names that could be found. And when the little man came next day, beginning with Caspar, Melchior, Balthazar she repeated all she knew, and went through the whole list, but after each the little man said, "That is not my name." The second day the Queen sent to inquire of all the neighbors servants were called, and told the little man all the most unusual and singular names, saying, "Perhaps you are Roast-ribs, or Sheepshanks or Spindleshanks?" But he answered nothing but That is not my name." The third day the messenger came back again, and said, "I have not been able to find one single new name; but as I passed through the woods I came to a high hill, and near it was a little house, and before the house burned a fire, and round the fire danced a comical little man, and he hopped on one leg and cried, "Today do I bake, tomorrow I brew, The day after that the Queen's child comes in And oh! I am glad that nobody knew That the name I am called is Rumpelstiltskin!" You cannot think how pleased the Queen was to hear that name, and soon afterwards when the little man walked in and said, "Now, Mrs. Queen, what is my name?" she said at first, "Are you called Jack "No, answered he. "Are you called Harry?" she asked again. "No answered he. And then she said, "Then perhaps your name is Rumpelstiltskin!" "The devil told you that! the devil told you that! cried the little man, and in his anger he stamped with his right foot so hard that it went into the ground above his knee; then he seized his left foot with both his hands in such a fury that he split in two and there was an end of him THE END
Bell Inthirä
17:25
Bell Inthirä
2. FABLES The Ant and the Grasshopper in a field one summer's day a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to its heart's content. An Ant passed by, bearing along with great toil an ear of corn he was taking to the nest. "Why not come and chat with me," said the Grasshopper, "Instead of toiling and moiling in that way?" "I am helping to lay up food for the winter," said the Ant, and recommend you to do the same. "Why bother about winter?" said the Grasshopper; "We have got plenty of food at present." But the Ant went on its way and continued its toil. When the winter came the Grasshopper had no food and found itself dying of hunger, while it saw the ants distributing every day corn and grain from the stores they had collected in the summer. Then the Grasshopper knew.
Bell Inthirä
17:26
Bell Inthirä
3.The Hare and the Tortoise A HARE one day ridiculed the short feet and slow pace of the Tortoise, who replied, laughing: "Though you be swift as the wind, I will beat you in a race." The Hare, believing her assertion to be simply impossible, assented to the proposal and they agreed that the Fox should choose the course and fix the goal. On the day appointed for the race the two started together. The Tortoise never for a moment stopped, but went on with a slow but steady pace straight to the end of the course. The Hare, lying down by the wayside, fell fast asleep. At last waking up, and moving as fast as he could, he saw the Tortoise had reached the goal, and was comfortably dozing after her fatigue.
Bell Inthirä
17:27
Bell Inthirä
4.The Lion and the Mouse Once when a Lion was asleep a little Mouse began running up and down upon him; this soon wakened the Lion, who placed his huge paw upon him, and opened his big jaws to swallow him. "Pardon, O King," cried the little Mouse: "forgive me this time, I shall never forget it: who knows but what I may be able to do you a turn some of these days?" The Lion was so tickled at the idea of the Mouse being able to help him, which he lifted up his paw and let him go. Sometime after the Lion was caught in a trap, and the hunters who desired to carry him alive to the King, tied him to a tree while they went in search of a wagon to carry him on. Just then the little Mouse happened to pass by, and seeing the sad plight in which the Lion was, went up to him and soon gnawed away the ropes that bound the King of the Beasts. "Was I not right?" said the little Mouse