Fairy Tales Versus - Rumpelstilzchen

Once upon a time, long ago in a far distant land named Eragamin, also called by foreigners das Land von der Messe gehäutet, there, lived the last of the Zwerge. His name was Rumpelstilzchen. He was little in size, a common trait of his magical people. There were rumours which told of his immortality but truth be told, he owed his ancient age to his Zwerge blood; a Zwerge could live up to centuries.

The Zwerge were benign and at times would appear to humans in need of help. In fact, they were rumoured to be descendants of angels who came to earth but never returned to heaven.

One day, as Rumpelstilzchen was travelling past a kingdom in Eragamin, he heard of a miller’s daughter who was taken by the king as prisoner because her father boasted to the villagers that she could spin straw into gold without considering the consequences. The king caught wind of his words and wanted to see if it was true for if it was, then he would be the richest king in the land.

In the dead of the night, Rumpelstilzchen visited the tower where the girl was supposedly imprisoned in. With his supernatural ability, he heard the girl’s weeping at the top of the tower.

“How am I going to turn all these straw in this room into gold? I am merely a miller’s daughter who has neither such skills nor such powers. The king has passed the decree. If there is no gold in this room by dawn, he will have my head.”

Heart full with sympathy and compassion, Rumpelstilzchen appeared in the room magically before the girl; her beautiful face glistened with tears. “Poor maiden, I have heard your cries. I will help you spin straw into gold so you may live.”

The Zwerge seated himself in front of the spinning wheel which was placed in the centre of the room, and whirr, whirr, whirr, three turns, 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 the 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 sincerely astonished and delighted, but his heart became only greedier. He had the miller’s daughter taken into another room full of straw, which was much larger, and commanded her to spin that also in one night if she valued her life.

The girl knew not how to help herself, and once again cried pitifully. Rumpelstilzchen heard her cries and appeared before her the second time. And again, without any conditions, he promised to help her. He turned the wheel and by morning, had spun all the straw into glittering gold, just as he had the previous night.

The king rejoiced beyond measure at the sight, but still he had not enough of the gold, and he had the miller’s daughter taken into a still larger room full of straw, and said, “You must spin this, too, in the course of this night, but if you succeed, you shall be my wife.”

Even if she is of a commoner’s blood, thought he, I could not find a richer wife in the whole world.

On this third night, the girl wept, just as how she did on the other two occasions. Rumpelstilzchen came to her once more to comfort her. Throwing herself to his feet, she pleaded for his help the final time.

“Powerful and kind sir, please help me this last time for if I can live through this ordeal, I shall be made queen. My family and I will no longer have to live in poverty.”

Rumpelstilzchen watched her sadly. Twice he had used enormous amount of his powers to spin straws into gold for her. He was exhausted from the tasks. It was taxing on him for the usage of his powers hastened him to his deathbed.

“Sweet unfortunate maiden, I cannot help you on this night.”

“No, sir, you must not forsake me. What is it that you want from me? My golden necklace? My golden ring? I will give them to you.”

The Zwerge shook his head remorsefully. “Gold means nothing to me.”

“Then, tell me, gentle sir, what can I give you to please you?”

He thought deeply for a moment. Rumpelstilzchen sighed. If he used his magic again, he was certain he could not live more than twenty years. He decided he could not abandon her but he wished for company in his last dying years.

“Promise me, to give me your first child. When I die, I will return the child to your side.”

Desperate, the girl promised him what he wanted, and thus, he spun the straw into gold, sacrificing a portion of his life force into his magic for her sake. When the king came in the morning and found all as he had wished, he took her in marriage, and the pretty miller’s daughter became a queen.

A year after, she brought a fine child into the world and she never gave a thought to the Zwerge. But Rumpelstilzchen appeared to her in her room on the day her child turned two in the hope that she would fulfil her promise.

The queen was horror-struck, and offered him all the riches of the kingdom if he would leave her the child. She loved her child and could not bear to part with him.

“I told you years ago. Gold means nothing to me. A company is all I need now. I am old and I will die soon. As said, I will return him to you when I die.”

The queen began to lament and cry. Rumpelstilzchen’s kind heart moved for her. But the promise must be kept. It was the way of the Zwerge. “I will give you three days time. If by that time you find out my name, then you shall keep your child.”

So the queen thought the whole night of all the names that she had ever heard, and she sent a messenger over the country to inquire, far and wide, for any other names that there might be. When the Zwerge came the next day, she began with Caspar, Melchior, Balthazar, and said all the names she knew, one after another, but to each of it, the little man said, “That is not my name.”

 

On the second day she had inquiries made in the neighbourhood as to the names of the people there, and she repeated to the manikin the most uncommon and curious. “Perhaps you name is Shortribs, or Sheepshanks, or Laceleg?”

 

On the third day, the messenger came back again, and said, I have not been able to find a single new name, but as I came to a high mountain at the end of the forest, where the fox and the hare bid each other good night, there I saw a little house. I was hungry and needed food to eat. Knocking on the door, a small man came to answer. A meal, he offered to me and a fire to warm my hands. Before I left his home, I thanked him and asked for his name. Strange it was, this name of his, for I have heard none like it: his name is Rumpelstilzchen.”

 

How glad the selfish queen was when she heard the name. She was certain it was the name she had been searching for. But when the Zwerge came to her the third time, he had an odd knowing look in his aged, blue eyes.

 

“What is my name?” he sighed.

 

“Is your name Conrad?”

 

“No.”

 

“Is your name Harry?”

 

“No.”

 

“Perhaps your name is Rumpelstilzchen?”

 

He gradually nodded his head. However, his heart ached at how the queen primarily went against her promise to him. He had saved her three times but she denied him a simple favour. Quietly, he turned away from her and disappeared, broken-hearted, never to appear to help humans for the rest of his shortened life.

 

Rumpelstilzchen placed a curse on mankind that those who do not keep their promises, they will have a short life.

**Partially adapted from the Grimm Brothers' Rumpelstiltskin.

the 3 sentences story

For utter Fun

Title: Victimized

The whole bullying Yuk Shun (a frequent victim of the three of us) into going to school at midnight to prove that the place was not haunted while we would hide ourselves to ambush and scare the living soul out of him idea never agreed totally with me.

 Something had gone terribly wrong because I  found them brutally murdered at their respective stations and I, in horror, had a sick hunch of the murderer’s identity after calling up a third friend who informed me that it was impossible for Yuk Shun to have gone to school since the news on television reported that he had committed suicide late this evening with a suicide letter stating that he could not take the bullying by his schoolmates anymore.

 I did not bother to insist with him that I saw the fellow alive just moments ago for my first instinct was to get the hell out of there and I would too if a bloodthirsty and vengeful Yuk Shun wasn’t standing before my path.

Title: Relationships 101

 Most of my girl friends believe in love at first sight but I say never judge a book by its cover.

 Yet they say love is blind anyway and in my head, I told myself in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king (in this case, it’s two-eyed since I still have both of mine) before I refute them that the wish is the father to the thought.

 If they were to rush in head on into a relationship with the opposite gender, I hope they know the proverb, ‘marry in haste, repent at leisure’ because they should know that it is better to be hated for who you are than to be loved for what you are not.

Title: Ah, The Embarrassment!

 It was the first day of school and I was settling down in my seat next to my new found friend, Joan, when I heard the door opened to admit a very much charming teen.

 He possessed a pair of brilliant, cheery eyes, the perfect nose to go along with his pointed chin and an entrancing smile; his slightly feminine looks was much hidden by his beige hooded jacket, a large t-shirt within, a pair of cargo pants and sneakers.

 Alas, the crush lasted for a mere two seconds as I realized at a second look (to my shock, amusement and extreme disappointment) that the teen was really a girl!

 

(Short story) TOMORROW

‘Remembering with love a very dear wife and valiant mother. Areli Kim Yoong Ri, 7^th August 1975 – 11^th July 2004’

I felt those engraved words upon the gravestone with my fingertips. The two marble angels beside the gravestone witnessed in silence as sorrowful tears rolled down my cheeks. I gave my words to her not to cry during her last days.

But Lord, my heart is weeping; weeping so painfully. With my entire soul, I loved her.

Her funeral ended an hour ago. Our close relatives and friends had long left the cemetery. I stayed behind. Life and Time could wait just this once for me to say my last farewell to sweet Areli.

~*~

“Good morning, Martin.”

“Good morning, doctor.”

The tall man in a white lab coat smiled pleasantly at the small boy who was sitting on a wheel chair under a stout, shady tree. The nurse beside him greeted the doctor as well, informing him that the boy had just undergone his chemotherapy.

“You should rest in your room,” advised the doctor, kneeling down on a knee before the twelve-year-old child, tugging on his blanket to make sure he was kept warm and safe from the late afternoon wind. He was taking a stroll in the hospital’s park where he met one of his cancer patients.

The boy’s eyes saddened. His face was pale and appeared sickly. “Doctor, will I live to see tomorrow’s blue sky?”

The young man observed him. His experience whispered to him that he might not live past that month. Waving the morbid thought away, he said, instead, “Do you want to see it?”

“I do, doctor.”

“Then, you must fight against your illness with everything you have and never lose hope,” answered the doctor as he gripped his shoulder reassuringly.

“But I am tired. Why can’t I be like other healthy children?” questioned Martin.

“Martin, to be alive is a great thing,” he said, “there are times we wish for things we do not have but we often forget what we already have.”

Martin stared at him, distrusting. “What do I have except cancer and pain?”

The other smiled at him meaningfully. “You have your family… and us to support you. You are not alone.”

The gloomy face suddenly lit up with a little but grateful smile.

A soft ring came from the inside of the doctor’s lab coat’s pocket. He fished for his PDA and chuckled to himself. “I have to leave you for now, Martin. My father is waiting for me… Oh, your parents have come to visit you!” he added when he saw a couple headed in their direction.

“Thanks, doctor.”

“No problem, remember what I’ve told you, Martin.”

~*~

“Your wife is currently suffering from advanced breast cancer.” My wife’s obstetrician, Dr. Gao, announced, her countenance filled with professional sympathies.

But let those professional sympathies be damned!

I thought I would cry. It was not the case. I supposed tears would mean grief and grief would mean acceptance. Instead, a white blank appeared in my mind. I simply could not accept it. How could I when Areli looked so perfectly fine, sitting beside me?

“There… there must be a mistake, doctor,” I breathed, my hand unconsciously tightened its clench on hers. I glanced at Areli and back at Dr. Gao. “She can’t be…”

The doctor sighed. She laid out a number of medical reports before me on the desk. I skimmed through them in puzzlement; unable to understand, refusing to understand.

“We’ve run through a mammogram and biopsy with your wife. We detected the tumour too late. The results lead to the diagnosis that she is—”

“I don’t believe you,” I snapped. I did not want her to repeat the cursed words. I fervently hoped that it was all a horrifying nightmare.

“Zane, please,” begged Areli. I held eye contact with her, searching desperately for even a feeble doubt in her. There was none.

Dr. Gao tried to reapproach me. “I’ve checked Mrs. Kyeong’s family medical history. Her mother’s sister was also a victim of breast cancer. This could explain—”

“Look, if you’re so sure my wife is sick; give her whatever treatment is needed! I can pay for it!” I growled, suddenly furious. Why did this have to happen to Areli?

The obstetrician said softly, “The cancer has spread to other parts of her body. I would suggest immediate combined modality chemotherapy but… the womb will not viable with cancer treatments…”

I sank into the chair, limp. I finally understood the dilemma.

~*~

Before I knew it, a tear trickled down my cheek.

The church was vacant—the priest and I were the only occupants. I looked up to the cross which was hung above the altar. Here I was, twenty-five years after Areli’s death, finally confessing to the priest of my grudge against Him.

I wondered why I chose to do this confession now. Was it to ask for God’s forgiveness for blaming Him on taking away Areli away from me? No, I still did not understand why I had to lose her. Perhaps that was it. I wanted to know where He was when I was at my weakest.

~*~

I never had an option. Areli was set firm with her choice. She refused to get rid of the baby. “If I lose this child, I’ll lose the will to fight cancer!” She would not hear of abortion. None of it.

“The cancer treatments will kill our son, yet it cannot guarantee my life but Zane, I will wait long enough so that he will live. It satisfies me to know that my son will be a part of this world. I want him to have the chance to enjoy the sheer joy of living!”

When I heard those determined words from her, I knew I could only stand by her despite my primary objection. Her reasoning was too strong. Moreover, I did not have the heart to deny her wish. I decided she never had to know there was a selfish part of me, which yearned for her to forsake the child to lengthen her own life.

I spent all of my free time with Areli after that. She possessed the strength enough to sustain us. Some of the days were passed peacefully, as though she was not terminally sick. Others I passed in anxiety when her cancer pain struck abruptly. Those were hellish moments. I wanted so much to bear those pains for her. Even so, she would smile and assured me that she was fine.

Areli gave birth to a seven-month-old baby boy. She was so delighted to greet him as his mother. While my son responded well to his care, my wife’s health began to deteriorate in June 2004 although she had begun her chemotherapy. A scan showed that her tumours were still growing. It was obvious. Her cancer was no longer curable.

On the day she died, I was with her, lying beside her. She gripped my hand and I could feel her heartbeats slowing down. I was helpless. We both knew her time was up.

“Take care of Amadeus, Zane… Let him know… I want him to live happily and… thank you, Zane… for loving me. Do not grieve for me because… I am only returning to our Father…”

Those were her last words. She slipped away quietly, a contented smile etched on her lips forever.

~*~

“And did you love your son, Zane?” asked the priest in a fatherly manner.

I nodded once. “Amadeus is Areli’s legacy. I love him as much as I have loved his mother… but Father, where was God when I prayed to Him to keep her safe? Where was He when I cried during her funeral? Where was He when I struggled through all those agonising times?”

The priest sighed, “My child, He has always been with you. You simply did not realise it. Your wife saw that she could not live for long and she chose to leave behind a son for you to ease your pain and loneliness. Because you have your son, you can face tomorrow. He became the reason you live on; the reason to be happy again.”

I gazed at him. “Father…”

“In Latin,” the old priest added, “‘Amadeus’ means… the love of God. That is what your wife gave to you.”

I was awestruck but a voice rang through the church. “Dad, I’ve come to take you home.”

We turned to see my son walking toward us. Amadeus quickly apologised if he was late, telling me that he was with a patient before he came. I stood up from the bench, staring at him, fresh tears wetting my eyes. He was surprised that I embraced him out of the blue. I could not have loved him more as a father.

I returned my attention to the priest. He blessed us both and said, “Go in peace.”

I always asked myself how I would face tomorrow’s world after Areli was gone. Now I knew how I had the strength to carry on all these years. Because I have God’s love, I can continue to face tomorrow.

Rei-kun '07
Inspired by noble cancer mothers who sacrificed their lives for their babies.