At this point, the girl was hopeless. She sobbed at the sight of even more yellow straw than there had been in the previous room. She cried and cried until she heard the door slowly creak
open.
A large nose peered around the door and moments later the little man walked into the room humming his funny song.
“Why hello there, Mr. Miller’s daughter.” the little man said strangely. The poor girl cried softly with no answer.
“What will you give me in return for
spinning this straw into gold?” he asked.
The girl looked up at the man and searched herself for something to give him.
“I will give you this ring from my finger,” she said
finally.
The little man took the ring and slipped it on his own finger. He held his hand out in front of him, smiled with glee at his newly acquired accessory, and then danced around
the room happily. Then, he grabbed a handful of straw and sat down at the spinning wheel. Swoosh, swooosh, swooooosh – went the wheel three times. The man handed the girl a spindle filled
with gold thread, grabbed another handful of straw, and sat down at the spinning wheel once more. He repeated this process until the entire room was filled with gold thread.
Humming,
prancing, and gazing at his new ring, the little man left the girl once more.
When sunrise came again, the king entered the room and was even more amazed to see so much gold before
him. Delighted but even greedier, the king led the miller’s daughter into the largest room in the palace. This room was filled to the ceiling with yellow straw.