‘Rumplestiltskin’ by Jenni James is a clean fairy tale
set in historical settings, and is a part of her Faeire Tale Collection. Most
of the stories from this collection can be read alone.
Five year old Prince Frederic Baldrich Layton, snuck away
from his nanny while she was distracted and went to collect the pretty rocks he
saw. He had just placed them in his pocket when an old crippled woman stepped
out of the bushes. She remarks how his grandfather was a good and kind king,
but that his son King Albert (Frederic’s father) was an evil king. And so to
teach the family a lesson, she casts a spell upon the boy. Frederic’s fingers
become twisted, one of his feet won’t move properly, his back becomes bent, and
his skin gets wrinkled. When he finds the servants, they all scream or run in
terror of gaining his curse on themselves. Tilly, the maid who takes the boy to
his room says, “What happened to you? Your skin is all rumpled and stilted.”
And so his new name was born: Rumplestiltskin.
His evil parents can’t stand to have a crippled and ugly
son, so they make a big production of his death in front of the people and bury
a box (filled with all of his old clothes). The boy was taken in and cared for
by Tilly, but hidden away as the king wanted him truly dead. And so Prince
Frederic was no more; only the crippled boy, named Rumplestiltskin or Rumple,
who helped the servants with their chores. And he lived in a cellar beneath the
kitchen floor with old broken toys that his younger brother Marcus threw out.
For many years, Tilly took care of him, loved him, and he
in turn loved her like a mother. Then her time came and Tilly died. On her
deathbed, Tilly made the other servants promise to continue to care and look
after Rumple. Rumple’s many years of helping with the chores had helped him to
gain favor in the servants eyes, so they agreed to her wish.
Every year the townspeople gather at young Prince
Frederic’s grave to grieve him and to pay their taxes. A census is taken when
the villagers arrive at the memorial to ensure that everyone shows up. It
someone doesn’t show, they are thrown into the dungeon! It had been eighteen
years since the prince was proclaimed dead and his brother Marcus now rules as
king. Marcus is just as evil as his father, if not worse.
Aubrynn Sloat is worried when her father isn’t home when
they have to leave for the castle. She journeys on her own and hopes that
Daniel Sloat will show up, or he will end up in the dungeon and her home will
be taken away from her. But she never expects to wish that her father hadn’t
shown up! Daniel comes onto the scene, very drunk, and insisting that she can
spin straw into gold! And being the evil, greedy king that Marcus is, he
demands that she spin gold for him!
This is a good story and has a wonderful twist to the
traditional tale.
Book format
E-book format
No comments:
Post a Comment