Rumpelstiltskin | Rapunzel - English Fairy Tales
RAPUNZEL
In a land far away, lived a poor farmer and his wife. One day, they tried to pluck fruits from their neighbour’s garden. But their neighbour was actually an old, wicked witch. She screamed, “How dare you steal from my garden! I’ll turn you both into rats!” The couple trembled with fear. Finally, the witch said, “Very well, I’ll let you go. But you have to give me your first child.” They were so scared, that they immediately agreed and fled. Every day, the witch used to come to the foot of the tower and call, “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!” She then used to let her long plait fall out the window, and the witch used to hold onto it and climb up.One day, a prince who was passing by, hid behind the trees and watched the witch. As soon as she left, he too decided to try. “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair”, he cried and climbed up into her room. She was stunned to see the prince. She had never before seen anybody so handsome. The prince too fell in love with her. They began to secretly meet everyday after the witch left.One day however, by mistake, Rapunzel said to the witch, “My, you are so much heavier than my prince!” The witch realized what has been going on. She screamed and shouted in anger. She cut off her hair and sent her off deep into the forest. That day, when the prince came, he found the witch waiting for him at the top of the tower. She cursed and screamed some more, before casting a spell on him, that made the prince lose his sight. The prince, now blind and broken hearted, wandered through the forests.Many days later, Rapunzel found him wounded among the trees. She began to cry at the sorry sight of her prince. But as soon as her tears fell on him, his wounds healed, and his eyesight returned! The first thing the prince saw was his beloved. They were overjoyed to find each other again. They went away to his kingdom, and lived happily ever after, far away from the wicked witch.
RUMPELSTILTSKIN
Once there was a poor miller who had a very beautiful daughter. One day, he went to the king’s court and claimed that his daughter could spin straw into gold. The king ordered the miller’s daughter to come to the palace. He took her to a room full of straw and said to her, “You must spin all this straw into gold tonight, or you shall die!” The miller’s daughter was locked in the room alone. She did not know what to do and began to cry. Suddenly, a dwarf came out of nowhere and asked her, “Why are you crying?” When she told him the story, he said, “Don’t worry, I will spin the straw into gold, but what will you give me in return?” “I will give you my necklace!” she promised. The dwarf spun all the straw into gold. The third morning, the king was very happy to see the room full of gold. He took her to the biggest room filled with straw and said, “If you spin all this straw into gold, you shall become my wife!” The girl was locked up and once again, she began to cry. This time, when the little man came to her, she said, “I do not have anything to give you, sir! What will I do?” He said, “Promise me that you will give me your first born child when you become the queen!” The girl agreed to do so, because she was not expecting to become the king’s wife. The tiny man spun all the straw into gold in the night. The next day, the king was pleased to see the gold. He married the girl and soon they had a baby.
On the third day, one of the queen’s servants went into the forest to find the little man. Deep in the woods, the servant found him dancing and singing happily in front of a fire. He sang, “Today I bake, tomorrow I brew, the next I’ll have the young queen’s child. Ha, glad am I that no one knew, that Rumpelstiltskin I am styled!” The servant went back to the palace and told the queen the name of the dwarf.
That night, when the little man carne to the queen, she was already prepared. The tiny man challenged, “Do you give up? Shall I take your child away?” The queen smiled and replied, “Is your name Harry? Is it Conrad? Perhaps it is Rumpelstiltskin!” Hearing his name, the tiny man screamed, “How could you possibly know my name?” Saying this, he ran away, deep into the forest never to be seen again.
