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Read the excerpt below from the fairy tale "Rumpelstilskin" by the Brothers Grimm and answer the question that follows.

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 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 this straw into gold, and I know not how." "What will you give me," said the hobgoblin, "to do it for you?" "My 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!
      Reel 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 gain, and he shut up the poor miller'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 you 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:

    "Round about, round about,
        Lo and behold!
      Reel away, reel away,
        Straw into gold!"

till, long before morning, all was done again.

Source: Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. "Rumplestiltskin." Project Gutenberg, 12 Dec. 2008. Web. 07 Mar. 2011.

 

Which situational archetype does this story illustrate?

the Task or Tests 

Unrequited Love 

True Love’s Kiss 

the Quest

User Dendarii
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2 Answers

2 votes

Answer:

The correct answer is the Task or Tests.

Step-by-step explanation:

Rumpelstilskin belongs to European oral tradition and the Brothers Grimm were took the task of collecting and publishing this story, among many others.

The correct answer is task or test since every time the miller's daughters has to achieve something every single night (spin straw into gold) and after this trial is done with Rumpelstilskin's help, the next one is to get the creatures name, otherwise, the woman would've lost her life, at the beginning, and her child, later on.

User Paolo Bozzola
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6 votes

The correct answer is A.

This story illustrate the situational archetype of "The Task".

In this excerpt from the fairy tale "Rumpelstilskin" by the Brothers Grimm, the miller's daughter has to achieve an nearly superhuman deed: she has to spin gold out of straw.

Answers B and C are wrong because the themes of true love and unrequited love are not included in this excerpt. And answer D is not correct because the miller's daughter is not trying to achieve love, wealth, fame or salvation.

User Ruslan  Gabbazov
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