and that
was full; and so he went on till the morning, when all the straw had
been spun, and all the bobbins were full of gold. At sunrise came the
king, and when he saw the gold he was astonished and very much rejoiced,
for he was very avaricious. He had the miller's daughter taken into
another room filled with straw, much bigger than the last, and told her
that as she valued her life she must spin it all in one night. The girl
did not know what to do, so she began to cry, and then the door opened,
and the little man appeared and said,

"What will you give me if I spin all this straw into gold?"

"The ring from my finger," answered the girl.

So the little man took the ring, and began again to send the wheel
whirring round, and by the next morning all the straw was spun into
glistening gold. The king was rejoiced beyond measure at the sight, but
as he could never have enough of gold, he had the miller's daughter
taken into a still larger room full of straw, and said,

"This, too, must be spun in one night, and if you accomplish it you
shall be my wife." For he thought, "Although she is but a miller's
daughter, I am not likely to find any one richer in the whole world."

As soon as the girl was left alone, the little man appeared for the
third time and said,

"What will you give me if I spin the straw for you this time?"

"I have nothing left to give," answered the girl.

"Then you must promise me the first child you have after you are queen,"
said the little man.

"But who knows whether that will happen?" thought the girl; but as she
did not know what else to do in her necessity, she promised the little
man what he desired, upon which he began to spin, until all the straw
was gold. And when in the morning the king came and found all done
according to his wish, he caused the wedding to be held at once, and the
miller's pretty daughter became a queen.

In a year's time she brought a fine child into the world, and thought
no more of the little man; but one day he came suddenly into her room,
and said,

"Now give me what you promised me."

The queen was terrified greatly, and offered the little man all the
riches of the kingdom if he would only leave the child; but the little
man said,

"No, I would rather have something living than all the treasures of the
world."

Then the queen began to lament and to weep, so that the little man had
pity upon her.

"I will give you three days," said he, "and if at th