Hello,
I'm Annie,
And before we step into the world of the Brothers Grimm,
Let's take a moment to settle exactly where you are.
Soften your shoulders,
And if you're comfortable,
Close your eyes.
Take a deep,
Slow breath in,
And a long,
Quiet breath out.
Breathe in,
And breathe out.
Breathe in,
And breathe out.
Feel your body grow a little heavier and more relaxed with every exhale.
Whether you are tucked into bed,
Or simply finding a quiet space to rest,
Let's leave the busy world behind for a while.
Tonight I'm going to read you a story collected by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.
They were two brothers who lived over 200 years ago.
They traveled across the countryside,
Listening to the stories people told by their firesides,
And they wrote them down so they would never be forgotten.
I'll be reading Rumpelstiltskin to you,
Exactly as it was told long,
Long ago.
Let's begin.
Rumpelstiltskin By the side of a wood in a country a long way off ran a fine stream of water,
And upon the stream there stood a mill.
The miller's house was close by,
And the miller,
You must know,
Had a very beautiful daughter.
She was,
Moreover,
Very shrewd and clever,
And the miller was so proud of her that he one day told the king of the land,
Who used to come and hunt in the wood,
That his daughter could spin gold out of straw.
Now this king was very fond of money,
And when he heard the miller's boast his greediness was raised,
And he sent for the girl to be brought before him.
Then he led her to a chamber in his palace where there was a great heap of straw,
And gave her a spinning wheel and said,
All this must be spun into gold before morning,
As you love your life.
It was in vain that the poor maiden said that it was only a silly boast of her father,
For that she could do no such thing as spin straw into gold.
The chamber door was locked,
And she was left alone.
She sat down in one corner of the room and began to bewail her hard fate,
When on a sudden the door opened and a droll-looking little man hobbled in and said,
Good morrow to you,
My good lass,
What are you weeping for?
Alas,
She said,
I must spin the straw into gold,
And I know not how.
What will you give me,
Said the hobgoblin,
To do it for you?
My necklace,
Replied the maiden.
He took her at her word,
And sat himself down to the wheel,
And whistled and sang,
Round about,
Round about,
Lo and behold,
Reel away,
Reel away,
Straw into gold,
And round about the wheel went merrily,
The work was quickly done,
And the straw was all spun into gold.
When the king came and saw this,
He was greatly astonished and pleased,
But his heart grew still more greedy of gain,
And he shut up the poor miller's daughter again with a fresh task.
Then she knew not what to do,
And sat down once more to weep,
But the dwarf soon opened the door and said,
What will you give me to do your task?
The ring on my finger,
Said she.
So her little friend took the ring and began to work at the wheel again,
And whistled and sang,
Round about,
Round about,
Lo and behold,
Reel away,
Reel away,
Straw into gold,
Till long before morning all was done again.
The king was greatly delighted to see all this glittering treasure,
But still he had not enough,
So he took the miller's daughter to a yet larger heap,
And said,
All this must be spun tonight,
And if it is,
You shall be my queen.
As soon as she was alone,
That dwarf came in and said,
What will you give me to spin gold for you this third time?
I have nothing left,
Said she.
Then,
Say you will give me,
Said the little man,
The first little child that you may have when you are queen.
That may never be,
Thought the miller's daughter,
And as she knew no other way to get her task done,
She said she would do what he asked.
Round went the wheel again to the old song,
And the mannequin once more spun the heap into gold.
The king came in the morning,
And finding all he wanted,
Was forced to keep his word,
So he married the miller's daughter,
And she really became queen.
At the birth of her first little child,
She was very glad,
And forgot the dwarf,
And what she had said.
But one day he came into her room,
Where she was sitting playing with her baby,
And put her mind of it.
Then she grieved sorely at her misfortune,
And said she would give him all the wealth of the kingdom if he would let her off,
But in vain,
Till at last her tears softened him,
And he said,
I will give you three days grace,
And if during that time you tell me my name,
You shall keep your child.
Now,
The queen lay awake all night,
Thinking of all the odd names that she had ever heard,
And she sent messengers all over the land to find out new ones.
The next day,
The little man came,
And she began with Timothy,
Ichabod,
Benjamin,
Jeremiah,
And all the names she could remember,
But to all and each of them he said,
Madam,
That is not my name.
The second day she began with all the comical names she could hear of,
Bandilegs,
Hunchback,
Crookshanks,
And so on,
But the little gentleman said still to every one of them,
Madam,
That is not my name.
The third day one of the messengers came back and said,
I have traveled two days without hearing of any other names,
But yesterday,
As I was climbing a high hill among the trees of the forest,
Where the fox and the hare bid each other good night,
I saw a little hut,
And before the hut burnt a fire,
And round about the fire,
A funny little dwarf was dancing upon one leg and singing,
Merrily the feast I'll make,
Today I'll brew,
Tomorrow I'll bake,
Merrily I'll dance and sing,
For next day will a stranger bring,
Little does my lady dream,
Rumpelstiltskin is my name.
When the queen heard this,
She jumped for joy,
And as soon as her little friend came,
She sat down upon her throne,
And called all her court round to enjoy the fun,
And the nurse stood by her side with the baby in her arms,
As if it was quite ready to be given up.
Then the little man began to chuckle at the thought of having the poor child to take home with him to his hut in the woods,
And he cried out,
Now lady,
What is my name?
Hmm,
Is it John?
Asked she,
No madam.
Is it Tom?
No madam.
Is it Jemmy?
It is not.
Can your name be Rumpelstiltskin?
Said the lady slyly.
Some witch told you that,
Some witch told you that,
Cried the little man,
And dashed his right foot in a rage so deep into the floor,
That he was forced to lay hold of it with both hands to pull it out.
Then he made the best of his way off,
While the nurse laughed and the baby crowed,
And all the court jeered at him for having had so much trouble for nothing,
And said,
We wish you a very good morning and a merry feast,
Mr.
Rumpelstiltskin.
The End.
And so our story comes to its end.
I hope you enjoyed this visit to a world of once upon a time,
And I'm so glad you spent this time with me.
Now let the words fade away as the music takes over.
May it carry you into a deep and restful sleep.
Sleep well,
And I look forward to reading to you again soon.
