RUMPELSTILTSKIN

A very good morning to the honourable judges, loyal time keeper, master of
ceremonies, teachers, and all members of the floor. Today, I would like to tell
you an interesting story entitled ‘Rumpelstiltskin.

Long ago and far away, there lived a Miller who was too poor to pay taxes. For this
reason, the King ordered the Miller to prison. Desperate to avoid jail, the Miller
offered his beautiful daughter as payment, tricking the King by telling him that she
could spin straw into gold.

“Very well,” said the King. “Bring her to me and you will be spared.”

The Miller was ashamed of what he’d done, but it was too late. He brought his daughter
to the King, who locked her in a room filled with straw and a spinning wheel.

“Spin all of this straw into gold by morning,” the King commanded, “or I’ll send you and
your father to prison.”

The girl knew she couldn’t spin straw into gold. But she tried anyway, and when she
failed, she cried uncontrollably. Her cries were heard far from the castle. All of a
sudden, a weird little man appeared in front of her.

“What’s wrong?” the little man asked. The Miller’s daughter told her sad tale. “Well, I
can spin the straw into gold but you must give me precious thing in return.” said the
little man.

The Miller’s daughter offered her necklace and he did his job. The King became thrilled
and became greedy. The King took the Miller’s daughter to a larger room filled with
more straw and ordered her to repeat the deed tonight. Again, the little man came to
the daughter’s rescue and this time, she gave him her ring.

On the third time, the King wanted even more and made a promise to marry her if she
can spin all the straw into gold just once more. For the third time, the Miller’s daughter
asked for the little man’s help. “You must give me your first born after you are
married,” he bargained. The girl agreed, for she was frantic, but never planned to
follow through. As promised, the King and the Miller’s daughter get married. She
became the Queen of the kingdom.

Years passed and eventually the Queen had a child. She was so overcome with joy that
she forgot about the little man and their deal. The little man finally appeared and
demanded what has been promised to him. But, he changed his mind and said:

“I’ll give you three days,” he said. “In that time, if you can tell me my name, I’ll forget
our deal and let you keep your child.” The first and second day were almost hopeless.
Finally, on the third day, one of the messengers returned to the Queen and told her,
“Last night, I saw a little hut. In front of the hut was a fire and there was a little man
danced around the fire on one leg, chanting hysterically:

Kumbala kumbala
Poca poca cha cha
First a necklace then a ring
Riddles and magic are my game
Rumpelstiltskin is my name…
Hahahhahaha….

That night, on the final day, when the little man appeared, the Queen went through
more names.

“No, no, no. A thousand times, no!” said the little man. “Is it….RUMPELKSTILTSKIN?”
said the Queen. “RUMPELSTILTSKIN????? Yelled the little man. “How could you
know???” How could you know??? He was so mad that he stamped his feet so hard that
a very big hole opened in the ground. He then fall right down into it and Rumpelstiltskin
was never seen again.

So, ladies and gentlemen, the moral of Rumpelstiltskin is to always tell the truth and
take responsibility for your own mistakes.

That’s all, thank you.