Rumpelstiltskin

このストーリーについて

Rumpelstiltskin is a German fairy tale published by the Brothers Grimm in 1812 in Children's and Household Tales. This bedtime retelling keeps the boastful miller, the three nights of spinning and the famous name-guessing game, and adds a gold-mad king and a breathless royal messenger. It is softened in two places: the king threatens chimney-scrubbing rather than death, and the little man simply stomps off and is never seen again, as in the Grimms' first edition; in later editions he tears himself in two.

読み聞かせのコツ

• Let your child shout out their own name guesses before the queen does; the sillier the better.
• Make the spinning-wheel sound together every night: whirr, whirr, whirr!
• Ask: was it fair of the miller to boast, or of the king to ask for more and more gold?

よくある質問

What is the moral of Rumpelstiltskin?

Don't boast, don't be greedy, and don't make promises you can't keep: the miller's fib and the king's greed cause all the trouble. The story also shows that knowing someone's true name can take away their power over you.

What does the name Rumpelstiltskin mean?

In German, Rumpelstilzchen means roughly "little rattle-stilt". A rumpelstilt was a kind of noisy household goblin, said to rattle posts and bang on planks.

How does Rumpelstiltskin end?

The queen learns his name when a messenger overhears him singing it in the forest. In the Grimms' first edition of 1812 he runs off in a rage and never comes back; in later editions he stamps so hard that he tears himself in two.