The Miller's Daughter
A tale of greed, power,
deception, discrimination and
love.
Miller, daughter, king—
All the actors are present
Except the small man.
The king summons the miller
for some reason. Summons a
humble working man.
Miller, shaken, scared,
Pleases king, saying daughter
Spins straw into gold.
The king, a very greedy king,
says bring her here, then she
can spin and be my wife or die.
The daughter is very beautiful
and also shrewd as well as
clever but she's really not up to
the task.
Daughter locked in room
Piles of straw, spinning wheel
too.
Spin gold or die? Sobs…
The next thing she knows is a
little man, (manikin, troll,
angel?) appears and for a price
offers to do the job (not an
angel). So she offers her ring
and he spins the straw into
gold:
'Round about, round, round
Lo, behold, straw spun to gold
Reel away, more, more
When the straw was gone the
dwarf man disappeared. The
king, next day allowed that that
gold was fine but, greedier than
ever wanted more (or was that
just to prove her worthy wife
material?).
Another room—straw
Piles and piles of it. Again?
What now? Oh woe, woe
While she was weeping the
manikin appeared again but
this time offered his services at
a price, a huge price: her
firstborn child.
Well, she thought this job is too
big even for the little man's
magic and I'll die before I have
a child anyway so she said OK
and the dwarf set to work. He
was fast.
Round about, round, round
Lo, behold, straw spun to gold
Reel away, more—done
The great straw pile was gone.
All turned to gold in a twinkling.
Manikin vanished.
The king was delighted and
married her forthwith. No more
testing. Besides if she's my
queen I can make her refill the
treasury any time I want.
The new queen soon with
Child forgot the little man.
Time passed; first babe born.
King and queen were thrilled.
Little man, manikin, dwarf, troll
(he really was a troll) was
totally forgotten. (Trolls always
want human children.)
One evening the little troll
reappeared in the young
queen's boudoire.
It's time to pay up.
Give me what you promised
now.
Eyes wide—thunderstruck
The queen began to weep
inconsolably and shake with
alarm. What have I done?
What can I give you instead?
But the dwarf was adamant.
Nothing! I will have the child
because I will!
The went on and on until the
manikin relented somewhat.
I'll come back. Three days.
Guess my name by then; if not
Your son is mine. Mine.
Again he disappears and the
queen is still stunned. What to
do. A plan. She sends all the
king's horses and all the king's
men out and around to
ascertain the troll's name. No
luck the first day. No luck the
second day. No luck the third
day either except for one old
huntsman who couldn't keep up
with the rest. Sitting on a log in
the forest quiet he hears merry
singing.
Today I brew and
Tomorrow I bake; the next
Thing—the boy I take!
The old huntsman creeps closer
and sees the troll dancing
around a fire in front of his
cave. Oblivious in the dusk he
sings:
The queen won't ever
Know my fame—
Rumpelstiltskin
Really is my name.
Poor Troll. Should not have
celebrated so soon.
Vary quietly leaving the forest
the huntsman races back to tell
the queen who, in a funk-had
about given up. Tables turned,
the ecstatic queen now thinks
how she'll string along the
manikin when he comes to
collect.
Tease him with titles
Name after name and then-
bam!
his real cognomen!
And so she did; in front of her
whole court too. Norman, no,
Jake, no, Aloyisius, no—how
about RUMPELSTILTSKIN?
"Witch, you're a witch," he
says. The queen sweetly
smiles.
Astonished, enraged
Rumpelstiltskin jumps—UP—
DOWN
Down through the floor, deep
Rumpelstiltskin stamps so
heavily through the castle floor
into the earth that he
disappears completely—
swallowed up, back to troll
country.
Finis, finis, fin
Moral? What can you winkle
Out of this story?
Copyright © Paul Geiger | Year Posted 2014
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