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The true story of RUMPELSTILTSKIN
UMP
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The true story of
RUMPELSTILTSKIN
LIESL SHURTLIFF
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RUMP
CHAPTER ONE
But Mother never did. She took a breath and then let
out all the air and didnt take any more in. Ever.
Gran said that I cried then, but I never hear that in
my imagination. All I hear is silence. Not a move or a
breath. The fire doesnt crack and even the pixies are still.
Finally, Gran holds me up and says, Rump. His name
is Rump.
The next morning, the village bell chimed and gnomes
ran all over The Mountain crying, Rump! Rump! The
new boys name is Rump!
My name couldnt be changed or taken back, because
in The Kingdom your name isnt just what people call
you. Your name is full of meaning and power. Your name
is your destiny.
My destiny really stinks.
I stopped growing when I was eight and I was small to
begin with. The midwife, Gertrude, says Im small because
I had only the milk of a weak goat instead of a strong
mother, but I know that really its because of my name.
You cant grow all the way if you dont have a whole name.
CHAPTER TWO
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CHAPTER THREE
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that lets them know when theyve reached the right person, and they wont stop until they do.
More gnomes were emerging from their holes in the
ground, eager to gather messages and deliver them to
the rightful recipients. Gnomes had little holes all over
The Village, in the middle of roads, between the roots
of trees, and on the edges of rocks. They looked just like
rabbit holes, but supposedly gnome holes all led to a large
underground cavern where they kept hoards of food. Thats
what we all guessed, since gnomes are quite chubby but
you never see them eating above the ground. Frederick
and Bruno once tried to dig down to their hoard but gave
up after they dug twelve feet and still couldnt see a thing.
The mines were a nightmare that day. My finger
throbbed and so did my head. Frederick and Bruno
thought it hilarious to throw pebbles at my head every
time they brought dirt to the sluices. The pixies pestered
me all day. I hoped it was a sign that great amounts of gold
were in the mud, but I didnt find any.
When the mining day was done, everyone walked together toward the mill. Today was rations day. I walked
behind Red while my stomach grumbled with each footstep, the chant of food, food, food.
When we arrived at the mill, there was lots of shouting. Old Rupert was shaking his fist in the millers face.
Youre a filthy liar, you cheat! Sacks of gold Ive
mined! Ive earned ten times as much grain as this! Old
Rupert hollered. Rupert was a rickety old man, barely able
to walk; yet he still worked with a pickax in the mines.
Upon the honor of my name, good Rupert, the
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miller said in his oily voice, Ive given what is fairly yours.
It always seems less after the grinding.
Hogwash! I find lots of gold, and look! You call this
fair? Rupert shook the flour sack at the miller and then
turned around and shook it at all the villagers. There
couldnt have been enough flour to bake two loaves of
bread.
Times are hard, said the miller. We all must tighten
the belt. He laughed and his big belly laughed with him.
Such a good joke for a fat miller with ten plump children!
You dirty cheat! Rotten swindler!
Now, Rupert, said the miller with a bit of warning,
that kind of ingratitude wont work in your favor. Suppose next week there werent any rations for you at all?
Rupert went silent. Finally, he hobbled away down the
road, muttering curses loudly enough for all to hear.
The next woman took her meager rations without a
word, and the rest of the villagers did too.
Gran always says that the miller, Oswald, is a cheat.
The royal tax collector doesnt like to come to The Mountain any more than he has to, so he simply sends up carts
full of food and supplies and gives Oswald charge of all
the rations from our gold to distribute as he sees fit. Gran
says Oswald always takes more than his fair share. But
what could we do? We werent mining much gold lately,
and we didnt really know how much food was stored.
Only Oswald did, and Oswald decided how much food
we had earned for our work. The whole village was hungry, except the miller and his family. Could a name make
you greedy like mine made me small?
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Sale of this book without a front cover may be unauthorized. If the book is
coverless, it may have been reported to the publisher as unsold or destroyed and
neither the author nor the publisher may have received payment for it.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the
product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to
actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Text copyright 2013 by Liesl Shurtliff
Cover art copyright 2013 by Zdenko Basic
Interior illustrations copyright 2013 by the Florida Center for
Instructional Technology
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Yearling, an imprint of
Random House Childrens Books, a division of Random House LLC, a Penguin
Random House Company, New York. Originally published in hardcover in the
United States by Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House
Childrens Books, New York, in 2013.
Yearling and the jumping horse design are registered
trademarks of Random House LLC.
Visit us on the Web! randomhouse.com/kids
Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools,
visit us at RHTeachersLibrarians.com
The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition of this work as follows:
Shurtliff, Liesl.
Rump : the true story of Rumpelstiltskin / Liesl Shurtliff. 1st ed.
p. cm.
Summary: Relates the tale of Rumpelstiltskins childhood and youth, explaining
why his name is so important, how he is able to spin straw into gold, and why a
first-born child is his reward for helping the millers daughterturnedqueen.
ISBN 978-0-307-97793-9 (trade) ISBN 978-0-307-97794-6 (lib. bdg.)
ISBN 978-0-307-97795-3 (ebook)
[1. Fairy tales. 2. Names, PersonalFiction. 3. MagicFiction.
4. GoldFiction. 5. Humorous stories.] I. Title.
PZ8.S34525Rum 2013 [Fic]dc23 2012005093
ISBN 978-0-307-97796-0 (pbk.)
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
First Yearling Edition 2014
Random House Childrens Books supports the First Amendment
and celebrates the right to read.
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ANSWERS
If you answered mostly A . . .
You are RUMP!
Sure, you might get picked on for having a silly name, but inside you have a
heart of gold and a knack for spinning the stuff out of straw. You may be short
in stature, but youre wise beyond your years, with a plucky spirit and a
strong sense of right and wrong. So dont let the bullies get you down
whether theyre kings or queens or pixiesthey only wish they had your
cheeky sense of humor.
If you answered mostly B . . .
You are RED!
Fearless and loyal to a fault, you will risk life and limb to stand up for the little
guy. You feel most at home in the forest, running wild among witches and
wolves. Some people might see this as a little wacko, but the truth is, wolves
dont scare you the way they do other people. Those who know you well are
lucky to count you as a friend.
If you answered mostly C . . .
You are KING BARF (Bartholomew Archibald Reginald Fife)!
From your towering throne in a castle on a hill, you look down your piggish
nose at the lowly mortals who toil night and day to satisfy your thirst for gold.
Poor fools! They will never have your sophistication, your refinement, your
noble girth. You have always been king, and king you shall always be . . . for
now.
If you answered mostly D . . .
You are BORK the troll!
You are strong, but gentle. Wise, but not a know-it-all. And like any selfrespecting troll, you take your evening sludge with an extra dollop of worms.
While you do your part to guard the trolls secret treasure trove, you also long
for change. If you stand up for what you believe, trolls and humans may one
day live in harmony.
If you answered mostly E . . .
You are NOTHING the donkey!
Rump named you Nothing because thats all youre good for. But Rump got it
wrong. True, you are rather stubborn. And youd sooner while away the morning
eating hay than carry a heavy load. But Bork the troll sees something in you
that others dont. There may be a grand destiny in store for you after all. . . .