Rumpelstiltskin | Sleep Story for Grown Ups and Kids | Grimm's Fairy Tales

Sleep story Rumpelstiltskin is a tale of a miller's daughter, who could spin straw into gold and guess a magical creature's name. Enjoy a night of deep, restful sleep as you listen to our calm bedtime stories for grown ups and kids. 

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Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 0:26 Relax / Prepare for Sleep
• 1:53 Rumpelstiltskin

Transcript

Welcome to Sleeping Pod sleep stories. 

My name is Arif, and today I would like to help you relax and fall asleep guided by my voice and the story you are about to hear.

Tonight, I will tell you a story about how a girl spun straw into gold. 

But, before we start, let’s take a moment to make sure you are ready to go on this journey. 

Make yourself comfortable in bed. Make sure that the temperature is just right for you. 

If it’s too cold, get under the blankets. If it feels too warm, have an adult turn on the fan or open the window. 

If you sleep with a stuffed animal, make sure that it’s with you 

Now close your eyes. 

We’re now going to take a few deep breaths so that we can calm the body. 

Breathe in through your nose and exhale out through your mouth.  

Breathe in ...

Breathe out ...

Very good. Now, let’s do it one more time.

Breathe in...

Breathe out...

You are now ready to listen to the story.

Can telling lies lead you to trouble? Let’s find out in this story.

Once upon a time in a small village by the sea lived a corn miller and his charming daughter. The town where they lived was quaint and peaceful, where the villagers went about their business predictably.

The lone baker baked the same delicious bread he baked yesterday; farmers planted the same crops, and the miller made corn flour as he did for the last ten years.

Everything in the village ran boring like clockwork. The miller didn’t appreciate boring, and so, to liven things up, he made up exaggerated tales and claimed them to be true.

“I followed the rainbow yesterday, and I saw a leprechaun guarding a pot of gold. I tried chasing the leprechaun to get the gold, but he was too fast! These old legs don’t work the same way as they used to before!” he told the baker as he handed him a sack of flour.

“Ho! I’m sure you’ll get that leprechaun the next time!” laughed the baker. The miller’s stories amused him, but he knew enough not to believe him.

One day the villagers found out that the king was visiting their little town. The news sent everybody into an excited frenzy! 

The village broke into a bustle unseen before the day before the king was to visit. 

In the village, the ladies who used to go out in their old, drab clothes took out their best dresses and arranged their hair in fancy styles. They fired up the kiln, and the baker made cakes in honor of the king’s visit instead of the ordinary everyday loaves, and the local pub even brewed a special drink for the occasion.

In his house, the miller was just as thrilled as everyone else, and he was ready to impress the king with his storytelling skills. 

The big day came! The king arrived at the village flanked by his subjects and knights. He looked so regal in his expensive clothes and fancy jewelry, and the village maidens tried their best to curtsy when he passed.

The king talked to the villagers and went to the businesses one by one until he arrived at the local mill where he found the miller. The miller was ecstatic at meeting the king, and he told him stories to entertain him. However, the king wasn’t in the mood to listen to his tall tales, so he decided to talk about something else. 

“Your majesty, I have a daughter that you might want to meet. She’s lovely with long golden hair and porcelain skin,” the miller said to the king.

“I have met many charming maidens, what’s so special about her that is worthy of my attention?” the king asked the miller, turning his back to him to leave.

“My daughter can spin straw into gold!” The miller blurted out.

The king turned around, intrigued at the miller’s claim, “You say that your daughter can spin straw into gold. Are you telling the truth?” the king asked the miller, “As you well know, I detest liars.” he continued. 

The miller gulped and chided himself for not thinking things through before blurting them out. He regretted what he said, but it was too late to take back his words. 

“Ye-yes, your majesty. It’s true! It has been a family secret for as far as I could remember. My daughter in fear that greedy people might wish her ill kept her abilities a secret,” the miller rambled on, his tale growing wilder by the minute.

“Very well miller, I will give you a chance to prove your claim. I will take your daughter to the castle and have her spin straw into gold three times. If she is successful, she will be my queen. If not, your head and hers will pay the price for lying to me,” he said as he signaled to his knight to take the miller’s daughter.

Everything happened so fast that before the miller’s daughter even had time to protest, she found herself in the castle locked inside with only a spindle and a room full of straw. The room was lit only by a flickering torch on the wall. 

“Your father claimed that you could spin straw into gold. Prove it true three times, and you will be queen. If you fail, you and your father will pay with your lives,” the king said as he locked the door behind him.

As soon as the door closed, the miller’s daughter sat down and burst into tears. Everything that happened today was outrageous. Never in her life did she think her father’s stories would lead to this. 

“Nobody can spin straw into gold!” she sobbed.

“Nobody?” a voice answered her from the dark.

She stopped crying long enough to answer. 

“Who are you? Please, come out so that I can see you,” she called into the darkness.

“You need not know my name.” he said as he stepped into the light. 

“The question that you should ask is what can I do for you.” the little man continued. 

The miller’s daughter rubbed her eyes to make sure that she wasn’t sleeping. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing! 

Standing in front of her was a little man about three feet tall. He looked like a cross between an imp and a goblin. He had pointy ears, a long nose and menacing beady eyes. He looked like one of his father’s ludicrous tales come true.

 “I’m the answer to your problem. I can spin this straw into gold, for a price. I don’t work for free; I require something that you consider precious in return.” he said rubbing his hands together.

The miller’s daughter didn’t believe that this creature can do what he said he could do, but she was desperate to save her life.

“I have a gold ring that’s a gift from my mother. If you can spin the straw in this room into gold by sunrise, I will give it to you,” The miller’s daughter told the little man as she removed the golden ring from her finger.

The little man snatched the ring from her and examined it. Satisfied with its value, he put it in his pocket before the girl could protest. 

“Consider it done!” he said as he walked towards the spindle and spun the straw.

Whirr… whirr... the spindle went as the curious little man took a handle of straw and spun it into gold. 

The miller’s daughter entranced by the little man spinning straw into gold tried her best to stay awake, but she was so tired that she fell asleep.

She awoke the next morning to find the strange little man gone and the whole room glistening with gold.

She barely stood up to compose herself when she heard the door creak open. It was the king coming to check if she had turned the entire room into gold.

“You did well!” the king said, delighted at the sight of the mountain of gold. He took a handful of gold straw and ran it thru his hand to check if it was real.

He then wasted no time and led the miller’s daughter to a bigger room full of straw.

“You spun the straw into gold in one night, so, you’ll have no problem doing the same in this room. If you fail on this second task, you and your father will lose your life,” the king said as he locked the miller’s daughter inside.

The miller’s daughter broke into a cold sweat when she saw that the current room was twice as big as the previous one.

She sighed and didn’t know what to do. She hoped that the strange little man will show up again tonight.

At the stroke of midnight, the little man appeared from out of nowhere.

“You know the drill girlie. What will you give me this time?” The little man said as he opened his greedy hand.

The miller’s daughter’s hand went straight to her neck. “I have this gold necklace that my father gave to me.” She said as she placed the necklace in the little man’s open hand. 

 Just as he did the night before, the strange little man worked throughout the evening spinning straw into gold.  He stopped only every so often to look at the necklace that was now on his neck. 

The miller’s daughter tried to stay awake, but fell asleep, just as she did the last time.

When the miller’s daughter awoke the next day, she felt relieved to see that the straw that filled the room was spun into gold.

The king opened the door earlier than he did the day before. He was secretly thankful to see that the miller’s daughter had spun the straw into gold.  He had grown fond of the girl in the short time that he knew her, and he hoped that she’d succeed with the third task. 

The king ordered his servants to fill a third room, which was larger than the last two rooms combined with straw. He then took the miller’s daughter to the room and said: “If you spin this straw to gold, I will make you my queen. Otherwise, you and your father will die.”

Inside the room, the miller’s daughter felt her heart beat faster and her palms sweating because she has nothing else of value to offer the little man–that is, if he would even bother to show.

Just as he did the last two nights, the little man appeared at midnight.  He went straight to the miller’s daughter and opened his palm, waiting for her to give him something of value.

“I’m afraid that I have nothing to give you!” The miller’s daughter said, crying.

The little man looked at her for a long time, and when he spoke, there was a malicious glint in his eye.

“My dear, precious thing come in different shapes and sizes.” He said, “I will spin this straw into gold if you promise that when you become Queen, your firstborn child will be mine,” the little man said with a big smile that showed off his crooked teeth.

The miller’s daughter didn’t think that the king would keep his word and marry her, so she was sure that she’d never become queen. All she wanted was for the whole strange nightmare to stop.

She looked at the little man and said: “Very well, I give you my word,” she said.

The little man’s grin became more prominent, and without a word, he went to the spindle and spun the entire room into gold. He looked more cheerful this time around, and he even sang songs while working.

The next day, the door creaked open, and it delighted the king to see that the room was glistening with gold straw. He broke into a smile, took the girl’s hand, and said. “Three times, I asked you to spin straw into gold, and three times you have done so. I will keep my promise and make you my queen!”

A year after she married the king, the queen gave birth to a healthy baby boy. Everything looked perfect, until one night when the baby was sleeping in his cradle, and the queen looked at him with loving eyes, the little man appeared out of nowhere.

“I came to collect what you have promised,” he said as he walked towards the cradle.

The queen remembered the promise that she made to the little man and panicked.

“Wait. I can give you something else instead of my baby. Take this castle. It can be a fitting place to call your home,” She told him, putting a protective hand on the side of the cradle.

“I have no need for a castle because I can come and go as I please,” he said

“Then take all the jewels and gold that we have.” the queen offered.

“I can make gold by myself! This baby is more precious than any gold.” he answered her and pushed her hand away from the baby’s cradle.

“Please, please wait. There must be something that you would like more than my baby.” the queen pleaded as tears fell from her eyes. She cried so hard that she broke into a wail and looked so pitiful that the little man felt sorry for her.

“Good grief! Stop your crying. I’m not as heartless as you think I am. I’ll give you three days to find out what my name is. If, on the third day, you cannot give me the correct answer, that baby is mine. I will see you tomorrow at midnight!” the little man laughed and disappeared.

The queen wanted to tell the king what had happened. But she knew that it would upset the little man, and she couldn’t risk that. Also, the king might find out the truth on who spun the straw into gold, and she couldn’t have that either.

 Sighing, she sat down and resigned herself to the task. She wrote every single name that she could ever think.

When the little man came at night, the queen wasted no time and read through her long list.

“Is your name Joseph?” she started.

“No!” the little man answered

“Mark? Gunther? Klaus?” the queen asked.

“No! No! No!” the little man cackled.

The queen read the last name on her list, but none of the names was his name.

“That was so boring!” The little man said as he yawned. “Oh well, see you tomorrow!” he said as he disappeared.

The queen was growing desperate and spent the next day in the library. She poured over countless books and wrote every exotic name that she could find. One of these names must be the little man’s name.

The clock struck twelve, and the little man came. The queen quickly read her list. 

“Mustafa?” She started.

“Ha! Ha! Ha! Try again,” he laughed

“Jose? Carmine? Giovanni?” The queen asked.

The little man shook his head.

“I tire of this.” he said “Tomorrow is your last chance, and if you don’t guess my name by then. Then, this child would be mine,” he said as he ran one finger across the little prince’s cheek.

The queen held back tears as the little man disappeared. She must work harder to find out his name.

She was so strained by the situation that she couldn’t think of any more names the next day. The journal that she used to write the name on lay blank in front of her.  So, she put on her cape and made her way to a forest near the castle so she can clear her mind. 

She sat on the riverbank, took out her journal and wrote all the exotic names that she could think of. 

The queen wrote until the sun disappeared from the sky, and the darkness was setting in the forest. Fearing that the little man might appear in the palace without her there, she gathered her belongings and prepared to go back to the castle.

As she slowly walked out of the woods, she could hear the muffled sound of someone singing. She made her way to the music, and as she got nearer, the singing became clearer. The voice sounded vaguely familiar.

When she got nearer to where the sound was coming from, she could see a little bonfire, and around that fire, the little man danced around with one leg and sang.

Merrily the feast I’ll make.

Today I’ll brew, tomorrow bake;

Merrily I’ll dance and sing,

For the next day will a stranger bring.

Little does the queen dream

Rumpelstiltskin is my name!

The queen crouched low behind the tree where she was hiding–so that was his name! Her heart was pounding as she silently made her way back to the castle to wait for the little man to come.

 At midnight, the little man came to the same room and found the queen waiting for him.

 “Today is your last chance,” he said, smiling maliciously. “Let’s hear the names.”

 “Is your name Abdul?”

 The little man laughed. “No!”

 “Is it Shaquille? Melchor? Balthazar?” She asked calmly.

 “No! No! No! I am weary of this game, and I want to end it. Give me your child just as you promised,” the little man said as he walked towards the little prince.

 “Wait, I have one more name on my list. Is your name Rumpelstiltskin?” The queen asked.

Rumpelstiltskin spun around, his face red with anger. “How did you know that? There’s no way a simpleton like you could have guessed my name. A witch told you!” He screamed at the top of his lungs and stomped his feet. He stomped so hard that he made a big hole where he was standing and fell! 

And that was the last that anybody has ever seen Rumpelstiltskin.

 The queen took her baby in her arms, and cried happy tears. They were safe. And from that time on, they lived happily ever after.

I hope that you enjoyed listening to the story as much as I enjoyed telling it to you. Good night and see you again soon!