The next morning the King took the girl into the room where she was to spin and went away. And then there was a knocking at the window. And there was the little creature sitting on the window ledge. So the girl gave the flax to the little creature and it went away. In the evening there was another knocking on the window and there was the little creature with the five skeins on its arm.
“Now, what’s my name?” it asked. But the girl couldn’t guess the right name.
And so it went on day after day. The little creature took away the flax in the morning and brought back five skeins every evening which the girl gave to the King but the she never managed to guess its name. Until the last day but one when the creature said to the girl: “If you haven’t guess my name by tomorrow night, then you’ll be mine!”
The poor girl was very unhappy but she gave the five skeins to the King as usual who was sure she would have five more skeins ready by the next night and then he wouldn’t have to cut off her head. And he continued: “A funny thing happened today,” he said. “I was out riding in the he wood and I heard the sound of - guess what? - a spinning wheel! I got off my horse and went very quietly towards the sound, and what do you think I saw?” The girl didn’t know and asked the King to tell her. “A little creature with a long tail,” he said. “And it was spinning very fast and it was singing a funny song. ‘Nimmy nimmy not, my name’s Tom Tit Tot.’ What do you think of that? Funny, isn’t it?
So now the girl knew the name of the little creature! The next morning it came as usual and took the flax away and returned at night with the five skeins. And when it asked her to guess its name, she pretended to be frightened. “Is it Zebedee?” she asked. “Is it Methuselah?” The little creature thought that it had won. “One more guess. If you can’t guess my name this time, then you’re mine.” And the girl looked at the little creature and then she pointed her finger at it and laughed. “Nimmy nimmy not, you name’s Tom Tit Tot!”
The little creature cried “You’ve guessed it!” and with a terrible shriek it flew out of the window away into the darkness. And the girl never saw it again. And that is nearly the end of the story. But not quite. The girl was safe for eleven months - but only for eleven months. At the end of the next eleven months, she still had to spin five skeins a day.
THE STORY OF THE FIVE SKEINS (Part II)
For the next eleven months the girl was very happy. The King didn’t say anything about spinning and the girl hoped he had forgotten about it. But on the last day of the eleventh month, the King said: “Tomorrow you’ll have to start spinning again. You have to spin five skeins every day and if you don’t, you head’ll come off. But don’t worry, you did it last time and I’m sure you’ll do it again this time and I won’t have to cut your head off.”
The girl didn’t know what to do and she sat down and cried. Suddenly she heard someone knocking at the door. When she got up and opened it, there standing at the door was a woman she had never seen before. “Why are you crying? What’s the matter?” asked the woman. The girl was sure she couldn’t help but she said: “I’ve helped a lot of people and perhaps I can help you. Tell me what the trouble is.” The woman looked so understanding that the girl told her the whole story and when she had finished the woman said “Don’t worry. I’ve helped people out of worse trouble than this and I can help you.”
“But what do you want in return?” asked the girl. “I don’t want anything except your best clothes,” said the woman. So the girl gave the woman her best dress. “Now listen carefully,” she said. “Tonight you must have a party. Ask all the people you know and I’ll come too.”
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