Rumpelstiltskin
룸펠슈틸츠킨
Brothers Grimm (Jacob, 1863; Wilhelm, 1859)
The Story
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A poor miller had a daughter who was clever and very beautiful.One day, hoping to impress the king, the miller boasted that his daughter could spin straw into gold.The king was delighted to hear this, so he locked the girl in a room full of straw and told her to spin it into gold by morning.
Alone and afraid, the girl sat down and began to cry, for she had no idea how to spin straw into gold.Suddenly, a strange little man appeared and asked what she would give him if he spun the straw for her.She offered him her necklace, and by morning every last piece of straw had turned into gleaming gold.
The greedy king only wanted more, so he locked her in an even bigger room of straw the next night.The little man returned, and this time she gave him her ring in exchange for another room of gold.On the third night, with nothing left to give, she promised her future first child, and the king was so pleased with all the gold that he married her.
A year later, the new queen had a beautiful baby and completely forgot about her old promise.But one day the little man came back and asked her to keep her word and give him the child.
The queen wept and offered him all the riches of the kingdom instead, but he refused every one of them.Finally, feeling sorry for her, he agreed to give her three days to guess his name — if she could, she might keep her child.The queen sent messengers across the land to gather every unusual name they could find.
For two days, none of the names were right, but on the third day a messenger came back with strange news.Deep in the forest, he had seen a little man dancing around a fire and singing a song that ended with the name “Rumpelstiltskin.”When the little man returned and heard the queen say his true name, he stamped his foot so hard in fury that he had to pull it out of the floor, and he stormed off, never to trouble her again.
Full translationTry the story first — open this only to check your understanding.
가난한 방앗간 주인에게는 영리하고 아주 아름다운 딸이 있었어요. 어느 날, 방앗간 주인은 왕에게 잘 보이고 싶어서 딸이 짚을 금으로 자을 수 있다고 자랑했어요. 왕은 그 말을 듣고 몹시 기뻐하며, 소녀를 짚이 가득한 방에 가두고 아침까지 그것을 금으로 자으라고 말했어요.
혼자 남겨져 두려워진 소녀는 주저앉아 울기 시작했어요. 짚을 금으로 자을 방법을 전혀 몰랐기 때문이에요. 그때 갑자기 이상하게 생긴 작은 남자가 나타나서, 자기가 짚을 대신 자아 주면 무엇을 주겠느냐고 물었어요. 소녀는 자신의 목걸이를 주겠다고 했고, 아침이 되자 짚은 한 올도 남김없이 반짝이는 금으로 변해 있었어요.
욕심 많은 왕은 그것만으로 만족하지 못하고, 다음 날 밤에는 그녀를 훨씬 더 큰 짚 방에 가두었어요. 작은 남자가 다시 찾아왔고, 이번에 소녀는 반지를 대가로 주고 또 한 방 가득한 금을 얻었어요. 셋째 날 밤, 더 이상 줄 것이 없었던 소녀는 자신의 첫아이를 주겠다고 약속했고, 왕은 그 많은 금에 몹시 흡족해하며 그녀와 결혼했어요.
일 년 뒤, 새 왕비가 된 그녀는 아름다운 아기를 낳았고 예전의 약속은 까맣게 잊고 있었어요. 그런데 어느 날 그 작은 남자가 다시 나타나 약속을 지키라며 아이를 달라고 했어요.
왕비는 눈물을 흘리며 나라의 모든 보물을 대신 주겠다고 했지만, 그는 그 어떤 것도 거절했어요. 결국 그녀가 안쓰러웠던 그는 사흘의 시간을 줄 테니 자기 이름을 맞혀 보라고, 맞히면 아이를 지킬 수 있다고 했어요. 왕비는 온 나라에 사람을 보내 특이한 이름을 모조리 찾아오게 했어요.
이틀 동안 어떤 이름도 맞지 않았지만, 셋째 날 심부름꾼 한 명이 이상한 소식을 가지고 돌아왔어요. 숲속 깊은 곳에서 그는 작은 남자가 모닥불 주위를 돌며 춤을 추고, "룸펠슈틸츠킨"이라는 이름으로 끝나는 노래를 부르는 것을 보았다고 했어요. 작은 남자가 돌아와 왕비의 입에서 자기 진짜 이름을 듣자, 어찌나 화가 났던지 발을 바닥에 세게 굴러 발이 바닥에 박혀 버렸고, 그는 그것을 힘겹게 빼내고는 다시는 그녀를 괴롭히지 않고 떠나 버렸어요.
Original text
Now read the original
You just read an easy retelling. Here is the same passage exactly as the author wrote it — unabridged, split into short readings.
The complete story · 1,138 words · 3 short readings
Read the originalComprehension Check
1. Why did the king lock the miller's daughter in a room full of straw?
2. What did the queen promise the little man in exchange for spinning the third room of straw into gold?
3. How did the queen learn the little man's true name?
Vocabulary
noun
miller
방앗간 주인
A poor miller had a daughter who was clever and very beautiful.
가난한 방앗간 주인에게는 영리하고 아주 아름다운 딸이 있었어요.
Your Summary
In 1–2 sentences, say what the queen promised the little man, and how she finally kept her child.
Source: Adapted from the Brothers Grimm's tale "Rumpelstiltskin" ("Rumpelstilzchen"), collected in Grimm's Household Tales (1812–1857; Project Gutenberg #2591, long in the public domain). This simplified retelling and its Korean translation are original text written for SeoJae Story.
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