The Tale of The Pie and The Patty Pan by Beatrix Potter

Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive! In this lively edition of The Tale of The Pie and The Patty Pan, join Rae Wilson for an energetic reading of Beatrix Potter’s classic story. Perfectly paced for a mid-day break or story time at home, this version is designed to keep listeners entertained.

While parenting styles and social norms have evolved since these fables were first told, the lessons they teach—about kindness, hard work, and honesty—remain as relevant as ever.

Looking to read along with Rae? Read along with Rae on YouTube. 

Music in this episode is created by:

"Frost Waltz (Alternate)" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

"Perspectives" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Welcome to Forget Me Not Fairy Tales. Classic stories for book lovers of all ages. Let's begin. In Grimm's Brothers Fairy Tale Rumpel Stiltskin. Written by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. Illustrated by Ray Wilson. By the side of a wood in a country a long way off ran a fine stream of water. And upon the stream there stood a mill. The miller's house was close by, and the miller, you must know, had a very beautiful daughter. She was, moreover, very shrewd and clever, and the miller was so proud of her that he one day told the king of the land, who used to come and hunt in the wood, that his daughter could spin gold out of straw. Now this king was very fond of money, and when he heard the miller's boast, his greediness was raised, and he sent for the girl to be brought before him. Then he led her to a chamber in his palace where there was a great heap of straw. And he gave her a spinning wheel and said, All this must be spun into gold before morning, as you love your life. It was in vain that the poor maiden said that it was only a silly boast of her father, for that she could do no such thing as spin straw into gold. The chamber door was locked, and she was left alone. She sat down in one corner of the room and began to bewail her hard fate, when on a sudden the door opened and a droll looking little man hobbled in and said, Good morrow to you, my good lass. What are you weeping for? Alas said she, I must spin the straw into gold and I know not how. Mine necklace replied the maiden. He took her at her word and sat himself down to the wheel, and whistled and sang. Round about, round about lo and behold real away reel away straw into gold. And round about the wheel went merrily. The work was quickly done, and the straw was all spun into gold. When the king came and saw this, he was greatly astonished and pleased. But his heart grew still more greedy of game, and he shut up the poor millow's daughter again with a fresh task. Then she knew not what to do and sat down once more to weep. But the dwarf soon opened the door and said, What will ye give me to do your task? The ring on my finger said she. So her little friend took the ring and began to work at the wheel again and whistled and sang Roundabout, roundabout, lo and behold, Rilaway, Rilo Way straw into gold. Till long before morning all was done again. The king was greatly delighted to see all this glittering treasure, but still he had not enough. So he took the miller's daughter to a yet larger heap and said All this must be spun tonight, and if it is, you shall be my queen. As soon as she was alone, that door came in and said What will you give me to spin gold for you this third time? I have nothing left, said she. Then say you will give me, said the little man, the first little child that you may have when you are queen. That may never be, thought the miller's daughter, and as she knew no other way to get her task done, she said she would do what he asked. Round went the wheel again to the old song, and the mannequin once more spun the heap into gold. For the king came in the morning and finding all he wanted was forced to keep his word. So he married the miller's daughter, and she really became queen. The birth of her first little child, she was very glad and forgot the dwarf and what she had said. But one day he came into her room where she was sitting playing with her baby and put her in mind of it. Then she grieved sorely at her misfortune and said she would give him all the wealth of the kingdom and he would let her off, but in vain, till at last her tears softened him, and he said, I will give you three days grace, and if during that time you tell me my name, you shall keep your child. Now the queen lay awake all night, thinking of all the odd names that she had ever heard, and she sent messengers all over the land to find out new ones. The next day the little man came and she began with Timothy, Kebab, Benjamin, Jeremiah, and all the names she could remember. But to all and each of them he said, Madam, that is not my name. The second day she began with all the comical names she could hear of the legs, hunchback, crookshanks, and so on. But the little gentleman still said to every one of them, Madam, that is not my name. The third day, one of the messengers came back and said, I have traveled two days without hearing of any other names. But yesterday I was climbing a high hill among the trees of the forest where the fox and the hare bid each other good night. I saw a little hut, and before the hut burnt a fire, and round about the fire a funny little dwarf was dancing upon one leg and singing. Merrily the feast I'll make today I'll brew, tomorrow bake, merrily I'll dance and sing, for next day will a stranger bring. Little does my lady dream Rumple Stulkskin is my name. When the queen heard this, she jumped for joy, and as soon as her little friend came, she sat down upon her throne and called all her court round to enjoy the fun. And the nurse stood by her side with the baby in her arms as if it was quite ready to be given up. Then the little man began to chuckle at the thought of having the poor child to take home with him to his hut in the woods, and he cried out He Now lady, what is my name? Is it John? asked she. No, madam. Is it Tom? No, madam. Is it Jeremy? It is not. Can your name be Rumple Stillskin? said the lady slyly. Some witch told you that some witch told you that cried the little man and dashed his right foot in a rage so deep into the floor that he was forced to lay hold of it with both hands to pull it out. Then he made the best of his way off while the nurse laughed and the baby crowed, and all the court jeered at him for having had so much trouble for nothing and said, We wish you a very good morning and a merry feast, Mr Rumpel Stilskin. The End I hope you enjoyed this story. The Grimms Brothers Rumpel Stilskin. Fairy tales contain many morals. One lesson from this story is Being greedy or making quick decisions when under pressure can lead to trouble. Thanks for listening. If you'd like a cosier version of this story, become a member.