Fairy Tales From Around the World

Rumpelstiltskin

Once upon a time, in a kingdom far away, there was a miller who had a beautiful daughter named Minnie Mouse. She was one of the smartest girls as well as the loveliest in all the land and everyone was friends with her. Minnie's father was always proud of her and he would often boast about how wonderful and magnificent she was.

One day, the King's Prime Minister, a duck named Donald, was passing by the miller's home when he overheard the miller say:

"My daughter, Minnie Mouse, spins so fine that she could even spin straw into gold!"

When Donald heard this, his interest was greatly peaked. So he immediately ran back to the castle to tell the King at once. The King was intrigued by this piece of news and he ordered Minnie to be brought to the castle at once. When she arrived at the castle, Minnie knelt before the King and Minister Donald Duck. When she first saw the King, she immediately felt strong feelings of affection toward him. The King shared the emotion towards her. They stared deep into each other's eyes for a good few minutes of silence until the Prime Minister snapped them out of their trances.

"Ahem! Your Majesty!" Minister Donald Duck said, clapping his fingers to get their attention.

"Oh, yes! Sorry. You're Minnie Mouse?" The King asked.

"Yes, Your Majesty. I am Minnie Mouse. Um, why did you ask to see me? Is something wrong?" the girl asked nervously.

"I've heard from a reliable source that you could spin straw into gold," The King replied. "I must know, how do you perform such a feat?"

"Straw into gold? I...I, uh...um..." Minnie stuttered. She didn't know what to say to that. She didn't want to get into trouble so she decided to improvise. "It's, uh...it's an old family secret, Your Majesty."

"Yes! And to prove it, this lovely girl is going to spin us an entire room full of gold!" Minister Donald Duck, said stepping forward.

"I am? Oh, yes! I am" Minnie said, laughing nervously.

"Now come with me, my dear, so we can get you settled," Donald said as he took her away from the King.

So that very night, Minister Donald Duck took the terrified Minnie Mouse to a room filled with straw. But just before he locked the door to the room, he rudely sneered at her.

"Alright, missy, here's what we are going to do. If you spin all of this straw into gold by morning, you're free to go. Do you understand?" he asked.

"Uh...yes, I agree," Minnie said nervously.

"Very well. Oh! And by the way, if you can't do it, you and your father will be sentenced to death. And one more thing: you can't use magic to cheat your way out of this. Understand?"

"Understood, Minister Donald Duck."

"That's a good girl. Good luck!"

Minister Donald Duck then shut the door with a deafening slam, locked it tight, and left Minnie to her task.

Minnie looked at the straw piled up in front of her hand and the spinning wheel sitting in the middle of the room with wide eyes. What was she going to do? Minnie knew her father's foolish boasting had gotten her into this mess, but she also knew that she couldn't give up, so she decided to give it a try. She knew magic couldn't help her here. She tried her very best to spin straw into gold, but after countless attempts, she just couldn't do it. So she began to cry.

"Ugh, I'm never going to get this! I'd give anything to spin this into gold!" she yelled before bursting into tears.

Then she heard an unfamiliar male voice say, "Would you really give anything?"