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brought his daughter to the king’s palace. The king took her into a room which was full

of straw. Pointing to a spinning wheel and reel he said to the girl, “Now set to work and
if by tomorrow morning you have not spun this straw into gold, you must die.”

The poor girl had no idea how straw could be spun into gold. She sat there not knowing

what to do. She grew frightened and began to weep.

All at once, the door opened and in came a little man. He said, “Good evening my fair
lady. Why are you crying so?” “Alas!” answered the girl. “I have to spin all this straw

into gold and I do not know how to do it.”

“What will you give me if I do it for you?” asked the little man. What did the little
“You can take my necklace,” said the girl. The little man took the man ask in return for

necklace from her and sat in front of the wheel. Whirr..whirr...whirr spinning the straw into
gold the first time?
he turned the wheel three times 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 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 he only became more greedy. He took the miller’s daughter into

another room full of straw and ordered that she spin it into gold if she valued her life.

The girl was crying when the door opened again and the little man appeared and said,

“What will you give me if I spin that straw into gold for you?” “The ring on my finger,”
answered the girl. The little man again began to turn the wheel, and by morning had
spun all the straw into glittering gold. The king was overjoyed but the sight of the gold

only made him desire for more. He took the miller’s daughter into a larger room full

58 Arrow-English Plus-5