Rumpelstiltskin
Classical Stories · No. 72 — Straw into gold, a dreadful bargain, and the power of a name.
- Classical Stories
- 43 min
- Ages 8–13
- 7 chapters
About this audiobook
A miller boasts to the king that his daughter can spin straw into gold, and the greedy king locks her in a room full of straw and commands her to do it or die. Each night a strange little man appears and spins the straw to gold for her — for a price: first her necklace, then her ring, and on the third night, when she has nothing left, a promise of her first-born child. She agrees, is made queen, and forgets — until a year later the little man returns to collect. Horrified, she begs; he relents just enough to set a game: if she can guess his name in three days, the child is hers to keep. She sends servants far and wide, and on the last night one overhears the little man dancing round his fire, singing his own secret name aloud.
Why it's worth a listen
A miller's foolish boast lands his daughter in a locked room, ordered to spin straw into gold on pain of death — and the strange little man who does it for her charges more each night, until his final price is her future child. The only way out is a riddle: guess his name. A fairy tale about desperate bargains, and the odd, ancient power of knowing what someone is called.
A question to keep
When a bargain traps you, can knowing the right secret set you free?
Chapters
- The Weight of a Foolish Word
- The First Thread of Gold
- The Price of a Ring
- The Unbearable Promise
- The Three-Day Game
- The Song in the Forest
- A Question to Keep