Rumpelstiltskin

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

　　Once upon a time there was a miller¹ who was poor, but who had a beautiful daughter. Now it happened that he got into a conversation with the king, and to make an impression on him he said, "I have a daughter who can spin straw into gold."

　　The king said to the miller, "That is an art that I really like. If your daughter is as skillful as you say, then bring her to my castle tomorrow, and I will put her to the test."

　　When the girl was brought to him he led her into a room that was entirely² filled with straw. Giving her a spinning wheel and a reel, he said, "Get to work now. Spin all night, and if by morning you have not spun³ this straw into gold, then you will have to die." Then he himself locked the room, and she was there all alone.

　　The poor miller's daughter sat there, and for her life she did not know what to do. She had no idea how to spin straw into gold. She became more and more afraid, and finally began to cry.

　　Then suddenly the door opened. A little man stepped inside and said, "Good evening, Mistress Miller, why are you crying so?"

　　"Oh," answered the girl, "I am supposed to spin straw into gold, and I do not know how to do it."

　　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, sat down before the spinning wheel, and whir, whir, whir, three times pulled, and the spool⁴ was full. Then he put another one on, and whir, whir, whir, three times pulled, and the second one was full as well. So it went until morning, and then all the straw was spun, and all the spools⁵ were filled with gold.

　　At sunrise the king came, and when he saw the gold he was surprised and happy, but his heart became even more greedy for gold. He had the miller's daughter taken to another room filled with straw. It was even larger, and he ordered her to spin it in one night, if she valued her life.

　　The girl did not know what to do, and she cried. Once again the door opened, and the little man appeared. He said, "What will you give me if I spin the straw into gold for you?"

　　"The ring from my finger," answered the girl.

　　The little man took the ring, and began once again to whir with the spinning wheel. By morning he had spun all the straw into glistening⁶ gold. The king was happy beyond measure when he saw it, but he still did not have his fill of gold. He had the miller's daughter taken to a still larger room filled with straw, and said, "Tonight you must spin this too. If you succeed you shall become my wife." He thought, "Even if she is only a miller's daughter, I will not find a richer wife in all the world."

　　When the girl was alone the little man returned for a third time. He said, "What will you give me if I spin the straw this time?"

　　"I have nothing more that I could give you," answered the girl.

　　"Then promise me, after you are queen, your first child."

　　"Who knows what will happen," thought the miller's daughter, and not knowing what else to do, she promised the little man what he demanded. In return the little man once again spun the straw into gold.

　　When in the morning the king came and found everything just as he desired, he married her, and the beautiful miller's daughter became queen.

　　A year later she brought a beautiful child to the world. She thought no more about the little man, but suddenly he appeared in her room and said, "Now give me that which you promised."

　　The queen took fright and offered the little man all the wealth of the kingdom if he would let her keep the child, but the little man said, "No. Something living is dearer to me than all the treasures of the world."

　　Then the queen began lamenting⁷ and crying so much that the little man took pity on her and said, "I will give you three days' time. If by then you know my name, then you shall keep your child."

　　The queen spent the entire night thinking of all the names she had ever heard. Then she sent a messenger into the country to inquire far and wide what other names there were. When the little man returned the next day she began with Kaspar, Melchior, Balzer, and said in order all the names she knew. After each one the little man said, "That is not my name."

　　The second day she sent inquiries⁸ into the neighborhood as to what names people had. She recited the most unusual and most curious names to the little man: "Is your name perhaps Beastrib? Or Muttoncalf? Or Legstring?"

　　But he always answered, "That is not my name."

　　On the third day the messenger returned and said, "I have not been able to find a single new name, but when I was approaching a high mountain in the corner of the woods, there where the fox and the hare say good-night, I saw a little house. A fire was burning in front of the house, and an altogether comical little man was jumping around the fire, hopping⁹ on one leg and calling out:

　　Today I'll bake; tomorrow I'll brew¹⁰, Then I'll fetch the queen's new child, It is good that no one knows, Rumpelstiltskin is my name.

　　You can imagine how happy the queen was when she heard that name. Soon afterward¹¹ the little man came in and asked, "Now, Madame Queen, what is my name?"

　　She first asked, "Is your name Kunz?"

　　"No."

　　"Is your name Heinz?"

　　"No."

　　"Is your name perhaps Rumpelstiltskin?"

　　"The devil told you that! The devil told you that!" shouted the little man, and with anger he stomped¹² his right foot so hard into the ground that he fell in up to his waist. Then with both hands he took hold of his left foot and ripped himself up the middle in two.#p#

　　从前，有个女人，是个地地道道的巫婆。她养育了两个女儿，一个是她亲生的女儿，长得很丑，人又很坏，可她特别疼爱她；另一个是她的继女，容貌出众，心地善良，她却一点儿也不喜欢。有一次，她的继女买了一条漂亮的裙子，她的亲生女儿见了非常喜欢，很是眼红，於是就对她母亲说，她想要那条裙子，非弄到手不可。「别着急，我的孩子，」老巫婆说，「你会弄到手的。你姐姐早该死啦。今天夜里，等她睡着以后，我就去把她的脑袋砍下来。不过，你得当心才是。你要靠里边睡，把她尽量推到外边来。」要不是这个可怜的女孩当时碰巧站在屋角里，听见了那母女俩说的话，就真的没命啦。一整天，老巫婆的女儿都不敢跨出房门一步，到了睡觉的时候，她抢先上了床，为的是睡在床里边，可是等她睡着了，继女便轻轻地把她推到床外边，而自己睡到了靠墙的地方。夜深了，老巫婆蹑手蹑脚地走了进来，右头提着斧头，用左手摸了摸，看是不是有人睡在外边，随后就双手举起斧头，一斧下去，把自己亲生女儿的脑袋砍了下来。

　　老巫婆走了以后，继女从床上爬起来，去了她爱人的家，她爱人名叫罗兰。她敲了敲房门，罗兰出来了，她对他说：「亲爱的罗兰，你听好了，咱们得赶快逃走。我的继母想杀死我，却错杀了她的亲生女儿。天一亮，一旦她发觉自己干的蠢事，咱们就没命啦。」「不过，」罗兰说，「我劝你先去把她的魔杖偷出来，不然她要是来追赶咱们，咱们还是逃不脱。」姑娘偷到了魔仗，随手拎起砍掉的脑袋，在地上滴了三滴血：床前一滴，厨房一滴，楼梯一滴。然后，她就跟着自己的爱人赶忙离开了。

　　第二天早上，老巫婆起床后去叫自己的女儿，打算把裙子给她，却不见她过来。老巫婆於是放开嗓子喊道；「你在哪儿啊？」「我在这儿，在打扫楼梯呢。」第一滴血回答道。老巫婆出去一看，楼梯上连个人影儿都没有，就再喊道：「你在哪儿啊？」「我在厨房里，在烤火呢。」第二滴血大声回答说。她进了厨房，却不见人影儿，於是她又喊道：「你在哪儿啊？」「唉，我在床上，在睡觉呢。」第三滴血喊叫着回答道，老巫婆走进卧室，来到床前。她看见了甚么呢？她的亲生女儿，躺在血泊之中，是她自己砍掉了亲生女儿的脑袋！老巫婆勃然大怒，一步跳到窗前。老巫婆长着千里眼，一下就看见了她的继女，正跟着自己的爱人罗兰匆匆忙忙地远去。「你们这是枉费心机，」她叫喊着，「你们逃得再远，也逃不出我的手心！」说着她穿上了千里靴。穿上这种靴子，走一步就相当於一个小时的路程，所以，没多久，她就追上了他们。姑娘一见老巫婆大步流星地追来，就用魔仗把爱人罗兰变成了一片湖，自己则变成了一只在湖中央游来游去的鸭子。老巫婆站在湖边上，往湖里扔麵包屑，不遗余力地想引诱鸭子游过来，谁知鸭子对她的这套把戏置之不理。天黑了，老巫婆只好回去了。她一走，姑娘和爱人罗兰又恢复了人形，继续赶路。他们走了整整一个通宵，天亮了才停下脚步。然后姑娘变成了一朵美丽的鲜花，开放在一道荆棘篱笆的中间，她的爱人罗兰则变成了一位小提琴手。不一会儿，老巫婆就朝他们狂奔过来，问小提琴手说：「亲爱的提琴家，我想摘下那朵美丽的鲜花，可以吗？」「呵，当然可以，」他回答道，「我还愿意在您摘花时为您伴奏呢。」老巫婆心里很清楚那朵花儿是谁，於是就急急忙忙爬上篱笆，就在她要摘那朵花儿的节骨眼儿上，罗兰拉响了提琴，於是不论老巫婆愿意不愿意，都得随着音乐跳舞了。这可是一种魔舞，罗兰拉得越快，老巫婆就跳得越狂。篱笆上的刺划破了她的衣服，扎得她遍体鳞伤，鲜血淋淋。罗兰还是一个劲儿地拉，老巫婆只好跟着乐曲不断地一跳啊跳，一直跳到倒地身亡。

　　这样一来，他们就无忧无虑了。於是罗兰说：「现在我去找我父亲，安排咱们的婚礼。」「那我就在这儿等你吧，」姑娘对他说，「为了不让人认出我来，我将变成一个红色的石头路标。」罗兰走了以后，姑娘变成了一个红色的石头路标，站在野地里等待自己心爱的人回来。谁知罗兰到家后，却落入另一个巫婆的圈套：他被巫婆弄得神魂颠倒，结果把姑娘给忘记了。可怜的姑娘站在那里等了很久，始终不见他归来的身影儿，心里特别难过，於是就变成了一朵鲜花，心里想道：

　　「一定会有人路过这儿，就让他把我踩死算啦。」

　　说来也巧，有个牧羊人到野外放牧，发现了这朵鲜花，觉得花儿特别好看，就摘了下来，随身带回家，放进自己的大箱子里。打那以后，牧羊人家里便怪事迭出。他每天早上起身，所有的家务事全都做好啦：房间已打扫过了，桌子凳子都已擦乾净了，炉火已生好了，水也打回来了；到了中午，他一进屋，桌上已摆好刀叉，还有可口的饭菜。他不明白这到底是怎么一回事？压根儿没见屋子里有人哪，而且屋里也没有藏身之处哇。有这么殷勤的伺候，他当然感到很开心。可是日子一久，他却害怕起来，於是就去找一个巫婆给他指点迷津。巫婆对他说：「有一种魔法在暗中作怪。哪天一大清早，你听听屋子里有没有甚么动静。要是你看见甚么，不管是甚么，就扔过去一快白布把它盖起来，这样魔法就破了。」

　　牧羊人依照巫婆的吩咐行动起来：第二天，天刚破晓，他便发现箱子打开了，他摘回的那朵鲜花从里边跳了出来。说时迟，那时快，他几步就跳了过去，扔了一快白布把花儿盖住。眨眼之间，魔法解除了，一位美丽动人的姑娘站在他的面前。姑娘向牧羊人承认，那朵花儿是她变成的，还承认她一直在为他料理家务。她向牧羊人诉说了自己的身世，牧羊人对她一见锺情，就问她愿意不愿意嫁给他，姑娘却回答说：「不愿意。」原来姑娘要对自己的爱人罗兰坚贞不渝，尽管他已抛弃了她。虽说如此，姑娘仍答应不离开牧羊人，继续替他料理家务。

　　就在那几天，罗兰举行婚礼的日子快到了。按照当地的古老风俗，每个年轻的姑娘都要去参加婚礼，唱歌为新婚情侣祝贺。忠心耿耿的姑娘听到这个消息，难过得心都快要碎了，她不想去参加婚礼，可是别的姑娘跑来硬是把她拖走了。轮到她唱歌了，她却往后退，最后只剩下她一个人了，她不得不硬着头皮唱了起来。谁知，她刚唱了一句，罗兰一听到这歌声便一跃而起，大声喊叫道：「这声音我太熟悉啦！那才是我真正的新娘子，我非她不娶！」就在这一瞬间，他所遗忘的一切突然又回到了他的心中。於是，这位坚贞不渝的姑娘和自己的爱人罗兰举行了婚礼。苦去甘来，他们开始了快乐的生活。