I was sitting by my TV earlier this morning, trying not to hack up a lung from this wretched sickness that's plagued me for over a week, and there was a cheap kids show on that was showing the common story of Rumpelstiltskin. Now I didn't watch it or anything, but it got me thinking back to the story itself. It used to be one of my favorite stories when I was a young child, but now I just think about how poor Rumpelstiltskin got fucked over.
Now for those of you who've never heard the story, it basically goes like this; The Miller decided to fabricate a lie that his daughter could spin gold out of straw, so the King abducted her and gave her 1 night to spin all the straw in one room otherwise she'll be beheaded. Anyways, Rumpelstiltskin comes around and decides to help her out for a petty prize. In the morning, the king is so overjoyed, that he moves his slave worker into a room that's twice as big, with the same consequences as before. Once again, Rumpy shows up for a meager prize and work done. Third day, the Miller's daughter is in an even bigger room, this time Rumpy wants her first born child, which she agrees to, and soon the work is done. Afterward, the Miller's daughter decides to marry the king and they soon have a child. Rumpy shows up for the kid, since a deal is a deal. The new Queen says no and Rumpy decides to be fair and gives her 3 days/chances to guess his name right, if she can, she can keep the kid. After the first 2 days of not getting anything, a servant overhears Rumpy singing his own name, the servant tells the Queen, the Queen tells Rumpy. Then Rumpy gets mad and storms off..The End.
Now, this has to be one of the biggest bullshit stories ever. The only decent character is Rumpelstiltskin! He not only saves the girl's life on three seperate occasions, but after making a deal that SHE AGREED TO, he's kind enough to present a fair challenge in order to keep the kid. Of course she cheats in order to win and she keeps the brat. And why the fuck would she marry the King to begin with? She was originally some poor pawn in the crosshairs of her father's drunken schemes. And besides, this is the King that threatened to KILL her if she didn't do what he said, only furthering the stereotype that women like abusive husbands. And sure, Rumpy did pull one on the girl with the whole "I'll help you for your first born, but she could've said no". And at the same time, who knows if Rumpy had ill intentions towards the child, maybe he was just infertile? The Queen instead took credit for his work and cast him aside once she had the fame...much like Thomas Edison!!!
So what's the moral of the story? Cheat your way to success? It's ok to lie to small people?
I wonder what became of Rumpelstiltskin?
