It's Not About the Straw! Read online

  Text copyright © 2013 by Veronika Martenova Charles

  Illustrations copyright © 2013 by David Parkins

  Published in Canada by Tundra Books, a division of Random House of Canada Limited,

  One Toronto Street, Suite 300, Toronto, Ontario M5C 2V6

  Published in the United States by Tundra Books of Northern New York,

  P.O. Box 1030, Plattsburgh, New York 12901

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2012945435

  All rights reserved. The use of any part of this publication reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system, without the prior written consent of the publisher – or, in case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, a licence from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency – is an infringement of the copyright law.

  Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

  Charles, Veronika Martenova

  It’s not about the straw! / Veronika Martenova Charles; illustrated by David Parkins.

  (Easy-to-read wonder tales)

  Short stories based on Rumpelstiltskin tales from around the world.

  eISBN: 978-1-77049-331-5

  1. Fairy tales. I. Parkins, David II. Title. III. Series: Charles, Veronika Martenova. Easy-to-read wonder tales.

  PS8555.H42242I838 2013 jC813′.54 C2012-905310-4

  We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund and that of the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Media Development Corporation’s Ontario Book Initiative. We further acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program.

  Edited by Stacey Roderick

  www.tundrabooks.com

  v3.1

  CONTENTS

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  On the Farm Part 1

  Elf

  (Rumpelstiltskin from Germany)

  Lady in Green

  (Rumpelstiltskin from Scotland)

  The Bridge

  (Rumpelstiltskin from Japan)

  On the Farm Part 2

  About the Stories

  ON THE FARM

  PART 1

  On Sunday, Lily, Ben, and Jake

  went to visit Jake’s grandmother

  on her farm.

  “I’ll make some lunch for you.

  I’ll call you when it’s ready,”

  said Jake’s grandma.

  “Let’s go outside to explore,”

  Jake said to Lily and Ben.

  They went to see

  the chickens and the rabbits.

  Then they walked into the barn.

  “Look at all the straw!” said Ben.

  “If we could turn it into gold,

  we would be rich!”

  “That’s true,” said Jake.

  “But we’d need that little man

  to help us, like in the story.

  And we would have to

  guess his name.”

  “What’s his name?” asked Ben.

  “Rum-pel-stilt-skin,” replied Jake.

  “I know another story,

  but the little man has

  a different name,” said Lily.

  “And it’s not about the straw.”

  “What is it about?” asked Ben.

  “I’ll tell you,” replied Lily.

  ELF

  (Rumpelstiltskin from Germany)

  In the woods behind a village

  there were big rocks.

  Inside them, in a cave,

  lived an elf.

  He often came to the village

  dressed only in his underpants.

  This annoyed people.

  Otherwise, he didn’t get

  in anybody’s way.

  One day, a girl named Elsa

  was picking berries in the woods.

  She slipped on the rocks,

  fell in between two boulders,

  and couldn’t get out.

  “Help!” she screamed.

  The elf heard her and came.

  “Please,” said Elsa,

  “can you pull me out of here?

  I will sew some nice clothes

  for you to wear.”

  “I will only help you,”

  replied the elf,

  “if you come back every day

  and try to guess my name.

  If, by the third day,

  you don’t get it right,

  you have to marry me.”

  Elsa thought, Guessing his name

  shouldn’t be that hard.

  And if he doesn’t help me,

  I’ll die from hunger and cold.

  “I’ll do as you ask,” Elsa promised.

  So the elf rescued her.

  The elf was waiting

  when Elsa came back the next day.

  “Is your name Andy?” Elsa asked.

  “Could it be Bert? Edwin? Freddy?

  Harry? Jay? Rupert? Waldo?”

  “Not even close,” laughed the elf.

  “See you tomorrow.”

  Elsa began to worry.

  Perhaps his name is not ordinary,

  she thought.

  So, on the second day,

  Elsa guessed differently:

  “Is your name Elm? Spruce?

  Fir? Woodsy? Sandy? Rocky?”

  “I haven’t got all day,”

  said the elf.

  “Tomorrow is your last chance.”

  And he hopped inside his cave.

  Elsa went home very upset.

  If she didn’t guess the elf’s name,

  she would have to marry him.

  Just then, the neighbor’s boy

  walked by and saw Elsa

  sitting on the porch, crying.

  “What’s the matter?” the boy asked.

  “I’ll tell you something funny

  to cheer you up,” he said.

  “I was walking in the woods,”

  said the boy.

  “Near the rocks,

  I lay down to have a nap.

  I heard someone singing,

  It’s so great she doesn’t know

  that my name is Hop-and-Go!

  I peeked between the rocks

  and saw an elf clapping his hands

  and hopping around like crazy!”

  “Thank you for telling me!”

  exclaimed Elsa.

  She gave the boy a big hug.

  Elsa stayed up through the night

  sewing a nice jacket and pants

  for the elf to wear

  so she could give him something

  for rescuing her.

  The next morning, Elsa went

  to the woods without fear.

  “Your last guess?” asked the elf.

  Elsa placed the jacket and pants

  in front of the elf.

  “These are for you, Hop-and-Go!”

  “Aaarrgh!” screeched the elf.

  Then he took the clothes

  and hopped over the rock.

  And that was the last time

  anyone saw him.

  “You know what’s funny?”

  asked Jake.

  “One of the names Elsa said

  is my middle name.”

  “Which one?” asked Lily.

  “I’ll tell you later,” said Jake.

  “First, I’ll tell you another story

  about guessing a name.”

  “Is it about an elf, too?” asked Lily.

  “No,” replied Jake.

  “It’s about an evil fairy!”<
br />
  LADY IN GREEN

  (Rumpelstiltskin from Scotland)

  Jack lived with his mother

  in a cottage on a hill.

  They were poor

  but had a pet pig

  they called Gracie.

  Every morning,

  Jack fed Gracie in the barn.

  Then he played and ran with her,

  up and down the hill.

  One day, Jack found the pig

  in the barn, shivering.

  “What’s the matter with her?”

  he asked his mother.

  “Gracie must be sick,” she said.

  They covered Gracie with a blanket

  and brought her favorite food.

  “I hope she gets better soon,”

  said Mother.

  But Gracie didn’t.

  She stayed in the barn,

  didn’t eat, and didn’t move.

  “Mother, is Gracie going to die?”

  asked Jack.

  “I don’t know, Son,” she replied.

  Later, they saw a lady in green

  coming up the road.

  Jack’s mother stood to greet her.

  “Why are you so sad?”

  the lady asked.

  “Our pig is sick and may be dying,”

  she answered.

  “What will you give me

  if I cure your pig?” asked the lady.

  “Anything you’d like,”

  Jack’s mother replied.

  “It’s a deal, then,” said the lady,

  and she went into the barn.

  She took out of her pocket

  a tiny bottle of green oil

  and rubbed it on Gracie’s snout.

  Then she muttered something.

  Finally, she said, “Get up, beast!”

  As soon as she said it,

  Gracie stood up

  and went to eat her food.

  Jack’s mother was so happy,

  she bent down to kiss

  the hem of the lady’s dress.

  “Stop that,” said the lady.

  “Let’s settle our bargain.

  All I ask, and will have, is your son.”

  Jack’s mother, who knew now

  she was dealing with a fairy,

  started to wail.

  “Your crying won’t help you,”

  said the lady in green.

  “But I can tell you this:

  By our fairy law, I can’t

  claim your son until the third day.

  And not even then

  if you can guess my name.”

  Then she turned around and left.

  Jack’s mother couldn’t sleep.

  She wrote down all the names

  she could think of,

  but she knew the fairy’s name

  probably wouldn’t be common.

  On the second day,

  as Jack was playing outside,

  Gracie suddenly took off

  and ran toward the woods.

  Jack chased her

  to bring her back.

  Gracie jumped over fallen trees

  and stopped at the edge of a cliff.

  Jack caught up with Gracie

  and looked down over the ledge.

  There, dancing by the stream,

  was the lady in green, singing,

  Tomorrow is the day

  when the child I want, I will claim,

  ’cause nobody can guess

  that Allegra is my name.

  Jack ran back home with Gracie

  and told his mother

  what he had seen and heard.

  She was so happy!

  She wrote down the name Allegra

  so as not to forget it.

  On the third day,

  the lady in green came back.

  “So,” she said, “what’s my name?”

  Jack’s mother pretended to think.

  “Give me your son right now!”

  ordered the lady.

  “Please,” said the mother,

  “take me instead,

  mighty fairy Allegra!”

  The lady in green spun around

  and backed down the hill,

  never to be seen again.

  “So, what is your middle name?”

  Lily asked Jake.

  “Wait!” interrupted Ben.

  “Now it’s my turn to tell a story

  about guessing a name.

  Only it’s about an ogre …”

  THE BRIDGE

  (Rumpelstiltskin from Japan)

  Ever since Shiro was a boy,

  he liked to build things

  out of sticks and stones.

  “When I grow up,”

  he told his father,

  “I want to be a great builder.”

  Shiro studied hard, and in time

  he became the most famous builder

  in the land.

  One day,

  two men came to see him.

  “Our village sits on the banks

  of a big, wide river,” they said.

  “Twice we built a bridge,

  but the river washed both away.

  Could you build a bridge for us?”

  Shiro agreed

  and travelled to their village.

  Never in his life had Shiro seen

  a river so wild.

  It would be hard to build a bridge

  that would stand up to the current.

  As he was thinking about it,

  a horrible ogre rose from the river.

  “What are you doing here?”

  the ogre asked.

  “I came to build a bridge,”

  Shiro replied.

  “No human can build a bridge

  strong enough to stand up

  to this river,” said the ogre.

  “But I can build it for you

  if you’ll pay my price.”

  Shiro agreed.

  He spent the night in a local inn.

  In the morning, Shiro returned.

  He couldn’t believe his eyes!

  A strong, splendid bridge

  arched high above the raging river.

  Not even in the rainy season

  could water reach that high.

  As Shiro gazed in wonder

  at the bridge,

  the ogre broke through the water.

  “So,” the ogre roared,

  “let’s settle the price.

  I want you to give me your eyes.”

  “My eyes!” Shiro shivered.

  “But how can I?” he asked.

  “If I give you my eyes,

  I won’t be able to do my work!”

  Shiro fell to his knees

  and pleaded with the ogre.

  “Pitiful creature!” said the ogre.

  “I’ll give you one chance

  to get out of our deal.

  If, by sunset, you guess my name,

  you can keep your eyes.

  If not, I’ll come after you,

  take your eyes, and kill you.”

  Then the ogre dove

  under the water.

  Shiro trembled in terror.

  Shiro went into the forest

  and tried to decide what to do.

  As he walked deeper and deeper,

  he heard some voices.

  He went closer

  and peeked through the trees.

  In the clearing, he saw children

  with horns on their heads

  dancing and singing.

  Sixth Ogre Oniroku never lies;

  he promised to bring human eyes.

  Oniroku will bring us a treat;

  human eyes, that’s what we’ll eat!

  “Sixth Ogre Oniroku,”

  Shiro whispered to himself.

  “That must be the ogre’s name!

  And these must be his children!”

  He hurried back to the river.

&n
bsp; The sun was setting.

  Just then, the ogre

  burst through the water.

  “So,” he roared,

  “can you guess my name?

  You can try three times.”

  Shiro pretended to think.

  “Is your name

  Red Ogre Akaoni?” he asked.

  “No, it’s not,” laughed the ogre.

  “Then could it be

  Eighth Ogre Onihachi?”

  This time, the ogre turned pale.

  “No,” said the ogre.

  “You might as well give up.

  Give me your eyes!”

  And the ogre stretched

  his hairy arm toward Shiro.

  “Wait!” called Shiro.

  “I still have one more try.

  Your name is Sixth Ogre Oniroku!”

  At that moment,

  the ogre sank beneath the river.

  Only giant bubbles remained.

  Shiro was relieved.

  He returned home.

  The bridge that the ogre built

  was never destroyed by the river,

  even after a heavy rain.

  ON THE FARM

  PART 2

  “If Oniroku was the sixth ogre,”

  said Jake,

  “where were the others?”

  “I think they lived in

  different rivers,” Ben replied.

  “Jake,” said Lily,

  “tell us your middle name now.”

  “You have to guess!” said Jake.

  “What will we get

  if we guess right?” asked Lily.

  “Well,” said Jake,

  “if Grandma made an apple pie,

  I’ll give you an extra piece.”

  “It’s a deal,” said Lily.

  “Is your middle name Andy?”

  she asked.

  “No, it’s not,” replied Jake.

  “Is it Waldo or Harry?” asked Ben.

  “Wrong again,” said Jake.

  “What about Edwin?” asked Lily.

  “You guessed it!” said Jake.

  “Well, you said it was a name

  from the story I told,” Lily replied.

  Just then, the barn door opened,