Rumpelstiltskin, magical, wild, and full of rage, comes to the aid of a young girl who is given the impossible task of weaving straw into gold. She makes him a rash promise, which she finds hard to keep.
侏儒怪，神奇、乖张又满心愤懑，前来帮助一位年轻姑娘。这位姑娘被赋予了一项看似不可能完成的任务—— 将稻草纺成金子。她贸然向侏儒怪许下承诺，后来却发现难以兑现。
Once there was a miller who was poor, but who had a beautiful daughter. Now it happened that he had an audience with the king, and in order to make himself appear as a person of importance he said to him, “I have a daughter who can spin straw into gold.” The king said to the miller, “That is an art which pleases me well; if your daughter is as clever as you say, bring her tomorrow to my palace, and I will try what she can do.”
从前，有个贫穷的磨坊主，他有个美丽的女儿。一次，他有幸觐见国王，为了抬高自己的身价，他对国王说：“我有个女儿，能把稻草纺成金子。” 国王对磨坊主说：“这本事我很喜欢；要是你女儿真像你说的那么聪明，明天就把她带到我的宫里来，我倒要见识见识她的能耐。”
When the girl was brought to him he took her into a room which was quite full of straw, gave her a spinning wheel and a reel, and said, “Now set to work, and if by tomorrow morning early you have not spun this straw into gold during the night, you must die.” Thereupon he himself locked up the room, and left her in it alone. So there sat the poor miller’s daughter, and for the life of her could not tell what to do; she had no idea how straw could be spun into gold, and she grew more and more miserable, until at last she began to weep.
姑娘被带到国王面前后，国王把她领进一个堆满稻草的房间，给了她一架纺车和一个卷轴，然后说：“现在就开始干活吧。要是到明天一早，你还没在夜里把这些稻草纺成金子，你就得死。” 说完，国王亲自锁上房门，把她独自留在里面。可怜的磨坊主女儿坐在那儿，完全不知所措；她根本不知道怎么把稻草纺成金子，心里愈发难过，最后哭了起来。
All at once the door opened, and in came a little man, who said, “Good evening, Mistress Miller; why are you crying so?”
突然，门开了，进来一个小矮人，他说：“晚上好，磨坊主小姐，你干嘛哭得这么伤心呀？”
“Alas!” answered the girl, “I have to spin this straw into gold, and I do not know how to do it.”
“唉！” 姑娘答道，“我得把这些稻草纺成金子，可我不知道该怎么做。”
“What will you give me,” said the manikin, “if I do it for you?”
“要是我帮你纺，你拿什么谢我？” 小矮人问。
“My necklace,” said the girl. The little man took the necklace, seated himself in front of the wheel, and whirr, whirr, whirr, three turns, and the reel was full; then he put another on, and whirr, whirr, whirr, three times round, and the second was full too. And so it went on until the morning, when all the straw was spun, and all the reels were full of gold. By daybreak the king was already there, and when he saw the gold he was astonished and delighted, but his heart became only more greedy. He had the miller’s daughter taken into another room full of straw, which was much larger, and commanded her to spin that also in one night, if she valued her life.
“我的项链。” 姑娘说。小矮人拿过项链，坐到纺车跟前，嗡嗡嗡，嗡嗡嗡，嗡嗡嗡，转了三圈，卷轴就满了；接着他又换上一个，嗡嗡嗡，嗡嗡嗡，嗡嗡嗡，又转了三圈，第二个卷轴也满了。就这样一直干到天亮，所有的稻草都纺完了，所有的卷轴上都绕满了金子。天一亮，国王就来了，看到金子，他又惊又喜，但心里的贪欲却愈发膨胀。他把磨坊主的女儿带到另一个堆满稻草的房间，这个房间要大得多，然后命令她，如果想活命，就得在一夜之间把这些稻草也纺成金子。
The girl knew not how to help herself, and was crying, when the door again opened, the little man appeared and said, “What will you give me if I spin that straw into gold for you?”
姑娘不知如何是好，又哭了起来。这时门又开了，小矮人出现了，说道：“要是我把这些稻草也给你纺成金子，你拿什么给我？”
“The ring on my finger,” answered the girl. The little man took the ring. He again began to turn the wheel, and by morning had spun all the straw into glittering gold.
“我手指上的戒指。” 姑娘答道。小矮人拿过戒指。他又开始转动纺车，到早晨的时候，所有的稻草都纺成了闪闪发光的金子。
The king rejoiced beyond measure at the sight, but still he had not gold enough; and he had the miller’s daughter taken into a still larger room full of straw, and said, “You must spin this too, in the course of this night; but if you succeed, you shall be my wife.”
国王看到这一幕，欣喜若狂，但他仍觉得金子不够多；于是他又把磨坊主的女儿带到一个更大的堆满稻草的房间，说：“今晚你也得把这些纺完；要是你成功了，你就做我的妻子。”
“Even if she be a miller’s daughter,” thought he, “I could not find a richer wife in the whole world.”
“就算她只是个磨坊主的女儿，” 他心里想，“我在这世上也找不到比她更富有的妻子了。”
When the girl was alone, the manikin came again for the third time and said, “What will you give me if I spin the straw for you this time also?”
姑娘独自一人时，小矮人第三次又来了，说：“要是这次我也帮你把稻草纺成金子，你拿什么给我？”
“I have nothing left that I could give,” answered the girl.
“我没什么可给你的了。” 姑娘回答道。
“Then promise me, if you should become queen, your first child.”
“那就答应我，要是你当了王后，把你第一个孩子给我。”
“Who knows whether that will ever happen?” Thought the miller’s daughter, and not knowing how else to help herself in this strait, she promised the manikin what he wanted, and for that he once more span the straw into gold.
“谁知道会不会有那么一天呢？” 磨坊主的女儿心里想着，在这困境中实在不知还能如何，便答应了小矮人他所要求的，于是小矮人又一次把稻草纺成了金子。
When the king came in the morning and found all as he had wished, he took her in marriage, and the pretty miller’s daughter became a queen.
第二天早上国王来了，看到一切如他所愿，便娶了她，美丽的磨坊主女儿就此成了王后。
A year after, she had a beautiful child, and she never gave a thought to the manikin. Suddenly he came into her room, and said, “Now give me what you promised.” The queen was horror struck, and offered the manikin all the riches of the kingdom if he would leave her the child. But the manikin said, “No, something that is living is dearer to me than all the treasures in the world.” Then the queen began to weep and cry, so that the manikin pitied her. “I will give you until three days’ time,” said he, “and if by that time you find out my name, then shall you keep your child.”
一年后，她生下了一个漂亮的孩子，她也早已把小矮人抛诸脑后。突然，小矮人走进她的房间，说道：“现在把你答应我的东西给我。” 王后惊恐万分，提出只要小矮人留下孩子，她愿把王国所有的财富都给他。但小矮人说：“不，对我来说，一个活生生的东西比世上所有的财宝都珍贵。” 王后听了便放声大哭，小矮人不禁心生怜悯。“我给你三天时间，” 他说，“要是到那时你猜出我的名字，孩子就归你。”
So the queen thought the whole night of all the names that she had ever heard, and she sent a messenger over the country to enquire, far and wide, for any other names that there might be. When the manikin came the next day, she began with Caspar, Melchior, Balthazar and said all the names she knew, one after another; but to every one the little man said, “That is not my name.”
于是王后整晚都在回想自己听过的所有名字，还派使者到全国各地去打听，看有没有其他生僻的名字。第二天小矮人来了，她从卡斯帕、梅尔基奥尔、巴尔萨泽这些名字开始，一个接一个地说出她所知道的所有名字；但小矮人对每个名字都回应道：“那不是我的名字。”
On the second day she had enquiries made in the neighbourhood as to the names of the people there, and she repeated to the manikin the most uncommon and curious. “Perhaps your name is Shortribs, or Sheepshanks, or Laceleg?” But he always answered, “That is not my name.”
第二天，她让人去打听周围邻居的名字，然后对小矮人说出那些最罕见、最奇特的名字。“也许你叫短肋骨、羊腿骨，或者细腿儿？” 但他每次都回答：“那不是我的名字。”
On the third day the messenger came back again and said, “I have not been able to find a single new name, but as I came to a high mountain at the end of the forest, where the fox and the hare bid each other good night, there I saw a little house, and before the house a fire was burning, and round about the fire quite a ridiculous little man was jumping. He hopped upon one leg, and shouted;
“Today I bake, tomorrow brew,
The next I’ll have the young queen’s child.
Ha! Glad am I that no one knew
That Rumpelstiltskin I am styled.”
第三天，使者再次回来禀报：“我一个新名字都没打听到。不过，当我走到森林尽头的一座高山旁，在那里狐狸和野兔正相互道晚安，我看到了一座小房子。房子前燃着一堆火，一个滑稽的小矮人围着火堆蹦蹦跳跳。他单腿跳着，嘴里叫嚷着：
“今天我烤饼，明天我酿酒，
后天我就把年轻王后的孩子带走。
哈！真开心没人知道，
我叫侏儒怪（伦佩尔施蒂尔岑）。”
You may think how glad the queen was when she heard the name! When soon afterwards the little man came in and asked, “Now, Mistress Queen, what is my name?” At first she said, “Is your name Conrad?”
可想而知，王后听到这个名字时有多高兴！没过多久，小矮人走进来问：“那么，王后陛下，我叫什么名字？” 一开始，她问：“你叫康拉德吗？”
“No.”
“不是。”
“Is your name Harry?”
“你叫哈里吗？”
“No.”
“不是。”
“Perhaps your name is Rumpelstiltskin?”
“也许你叫侏儒怪（伦佩尔施蒂尔岑）？”
“The devil has told you that! The devil has told you that!” Cried the little man, and in his anger he plunged his right foot so deep into the earth that his whole leg went in; and then in rage he pulled at his left leg so hard with both hands that he tore himself in two.
“肯定是魔鬼告诉你的！肯定是魔鬼告诉你的！” 小矮人大叫着，愤怒地把右脚深深地跺进地里，整条腿都陷了进去；接着，他狂怒地用双手狠命拉扯左腿，结果把自己撕成了两半。
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