After awhile, the Grimms left Little Crimson Cap and her family in order to try to find their way back home. As they walked through the woods, they came upon a young girl crying.

"Excuse me, ma’am," Jacob said. "Is everything alright?"

"No!" the young girl said, sobbing. "My father is a poor farmer, and when he went to visit the governor he promised him that I could find oil in any spot, so now he wants me to find a place to drill out here in the forest. I don’t know how to do this, I might as well try to spin straw into gold!"

"Well, either one would be a handy trick, but I’m afraid we don’t know how to do it either," Jacob said. "So what happens if you don’t manage to do this?"

"The governor’s going to kill me!" the girl said. "Oh, what shall I do?"

Just then, a strange little man appeared, almost as if out of nowhere. He was dressed in orange in black and he wore a cowboy hat that was too big for him.

"Who the heck are you?" the girl said.

"It does not matter," the little man said. "I know how to find oil. But if I do it for you, you’ll have to give me something."

The girl looked at the Grimms.

"Well, ma’am, I don’t like you giving anything to this odd little man, but I don’t see as you have a choice," Jacob said.

"I’d have to agree," Wilhelm said. "You don’t really have another option."

The girl gave the man her necklace. He sat on the ground, spun around three times, and walked to a spot about ten feet from where they were standing.

"Have the governor’s men drill here," he said. Then he was gone.

When the governor returned the next day, the girl directed him to that spot. Sure enough, the drills hit oil very quickly. The governor was fascinated.

"You must display your talents for us again," he said.

The next day the girl was placed in another area of Oklahoma and asked to find oil. Once again, the little man returned, and once again, he asked her for something in return for finding oil. This time she gave him a ring. He found the oil as promised, and then disappeared. The Grimms tried to follow him, but he just disappeared too quickly.

The governor was delighted when his drills struck oil yet again. This time, he had a bigger task in mind for the poor farmer’s daughter.

"My dear," he said. "If you can find oil under the capital building, then I will make you my wife."

The girl sat in the capital building all day long, worrying that the man would not be able to find his way into the building. Finally, he showed up.

"This will be my last task for you," he said. "For this great a favor, I must have something more than a mere trinket."

"What do you want from me?" she said.

"In exchange for this, you must force your first born child to attend Oklahoma State University," the man said.

Of course, the girl was not happy with this, but at the moment she didn’t know whether she would even be living until tomorrow, let alone having children. Of course, she agreed.

As expected, he again found oil. The governor was thrilled, and he and the girl married the next day. After that, she thought no more of the little man for a long time.

Then, about a year later, she had her first child. The Grimms, who were still wandering around, had returned to visit to see the baby when the little man showed back up.

"Please, take anything but my child," the governor’s wife said. "I can give you anything. Would you like me to name something after you--maybe a lake or a town or something?"

"No, for you do not even know my name," he said. "If you can figure out my name, and you agree to name a town after me, I will let you keep your child."

The girl began frantically guessing.

"Jim, Jerry, Fred, Wayne, Billy, Bobby Jack. . .am I getting close to it?" she said.

"No, not in the least," he said.

The Grimms tried to help.

"How about Gustaf or Adolf?" Wilhelm said.

"No," the little man said, grinning evilly.

They all continued to guess names for awhile. Finally, the little man got bored.

"I will come back tomorrow, and if you don’t know my name, then I am taking your child," he said.

The Grimms decided to call in some help. They sent Crimson Cap, Harold Dean, Grettie Mae and all their friends on a search to find the little man or at least his name. They searched all day and half the night.

Finally, Harold Dean came back with something.

"I heard this weird music while I was out in the woods," he said. "Then I saw this little man, all dressed in orange. He was singing. He said:
A little boy I shall have tomorrow,
A future Cowboy he will be,
What shall I name him? Rumpelstillwater!
Wait, I can’t, because that’s me!

The next day the little man returned.

"I’ll bet you still don’t know my name!" he said.

"Oh yes I do," the governor’s wife said. "You are Rumpelstillwater!"

"Curses!" he said. "Someone must have told you!"

Then he stomped on the floor so hard that he fell down into the oil well that he had found and never came out again.

Author’s note: This week I decided to retell the story of "Rumpelstiltskin." Since it is set in Oklahoma, I decided to make the girl able to find oil instead of being able to spin straw into gold. I also added the little historical touch that she finds oil in the state capital, as it is true that the Oklahoma state capital is the only one with a working oil well in it. Of course, I had to change the character’s name, so I chose "Rumpelstillwater." I just couldn’t help myself.

This is my own version of what Rumpelstillwater looks like.

Bibliography

"Rumpelstiltskin"
Website: Tales Collected by the Brothers Grimm
Weblink: http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~wbarker/fairies/grimm/055.html.
From Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Household Tales, trans. Margaret Hunt (London: George Bell, 1884), 1:221-224.