This was written as an example of removing a plot - in this case, the plot of Rumplestiltskin - from its context. It lacks my usual tweak to Rumplestiltskin itself, which is to marry the girl to the king's son, on the grounds that the king himself is clearly an axe-happy megalomaniac of some kind and not the sort of man I'd want to see any virtuous girl be forced to marry.
Once upon a time, there was a poor farmer. All he had in the world was a barn, a field, a small cow and a beautiful daughter. The farmer’s daughter, Esther, was not only lovely, but also clever and hardworking and the farmer was always boasting to his friends in the village pub and telling them how wonderful she was.
One day, the farmer was in the pub and a stranger came up to him.
"I have heard that your daughter is the most gifted girl in the kingdom," the stranger said. "What makes her so special."
The farmer, a little drunk, said: "Why, she is so clever that she can grind corn into diamonds!"
"Is that so?" the stranger asked. "Well, old man, I am your King and if your daughter really can grind corn into diamonds then I will make her my Queen and shower you with riches. But if she can not, then you and she shall both die!" This might seem excessive, but Kings have to make a point sometime.
The farmer was horrified, but there was nothing he could do. That very night, Esther was taken to the palace and locked in a room with a grindstone and a sack of grain.
"Grind that grain into diamonds," the King said. "Fail and you will surely die."
Esther sat on the floor and wept. She could not grind grain into diamonds and she knew that in the morning, she must die.
Not long before dawn, the girl looked up and saw a tall, thin man, looking at her down a long, thin nose.
"Why are you crying, girl?" he asked.
Esther told him what she had to do and the man laughed. "What luck!" he said. "I can grind grain into diamonds."
And he sat down at the grindstone and spun it around and dropped a handful of grain under it and diamonds scattered across the floor.
"Oh, thank you!" Esther gasped.
"What will you give me to grind all of this grain?" the man asked.
"I have little to give," Esther admitted, "but if you do this, I will give you my necklace, that my mother left for me."
"Perfect," the man declared and he bent his nose to the grindstone until first light, and when the sun rose its light flashed upon a pile of diamonds as high as Esther’s ankles.
In the morning, the King arrived. He saw the jewels and he stared in amazement.
"It is true," he gasped. "Is this a trick?"
"No, your majesty," Esther assured him.
"I must be sure," the King declared, and he ordered his servants to bring in another three sacks of grain. "Grind these into diamonds and we shall see," he said.
Esther wept, but at midnight she looked up and the tall, thin man was there again, looking at her down his long, thin nose.
"What will you give me to grind this?" he asked.
"I have only the bracelet that my mother left me," Esther admitted.
"Perfect," the man declared and he bent his nose to the grindstone once more.
In the morning, the king was again astonished, but he was still unconvinced. His servants brought five bags of grain into the room and he left Esther once more.
Again, Esther wept and at sunset she looked up to see the tall, thin man looking at her down his long, thin nose.
"What will you give me to grind this?" he asked.
"I have nothing left," Esther admitted.
"Then promise me something you do not have yet. Give me your firstborn child and I will save your life."
Esther did not think that she would ever get married and so she agreed.
"Perfect," the man said and put his nose to the grindstone.
In the morning, the king once more stared in amazement.
"You have done what your father said you would," he agreed. "I shall make your father a wealthy man and I shall make you my Queen."
Esther was delighted, but she was afraid as well, for if she were married, then she might have a child and if she had a child then the tall, thin man might come for the baby.
A year later, Esther gave birth to her first child, a beautiful baby boy. She was so happy and loved the baby so much that she forgot that it belonged to another. But, one month after the birth of the child, the tall, thin man came to the court and looked down his long, thin nose at the Queen.
"You made a promise, your majesty," he said. "You owe me your son."
"Is this true?" the King demanded.
"It is," Esther admitted.
The King bowed his head. "Then we must keep your promise," he said.
"Please, do not take my baby," Esther begged. "I will give you all the treasure we own!"
The tall, thin man laughed. "I do not want treasure, but I am not a cruel man," he said. "I will give you three days, one day for each night I bent my nose to the grindstone for you. If, by the third day, you can tell me what the black griffon which lives at the end of the earth eats for breakfast, you can keep your baby. Fail and I will have your kingdom."
"Yes!" Esther gasped.
The King nodded his agreement. "Yes. We accept."
"Send out all our servants!" Esther told her husband. "I will give all that you have given to me to the man or woman who tells me what the black griffon at the world’s end eats for breakfast."
The King agreed and sent out every servant in the palace to seek the answer to the riddle.
The next day at dawn, the tall, thin man came to the palace. "Can you tell me what the black griffon at the end of the world eats for breakfast?" he asked.
"A whole sheep," Esther guessed.
"A cow," the King added.
"Wrong and wrong," the tall, thin man laughed. "I shall come again tomorrow."
And so he did and he asked his question.
"A whole elephant," Esther guessed.
"A whale," the King added.
"Wrong and wrong. I shall come again tomorrow."
Late that night, the servants began to return, and one by one they were forced to admit that they had not discovered what the black griffon at the end of the world ate for breakfast.
At last, however, just before dawn, the old woman who swept the kitchens came back.
"Your majesties," she said. "I travelled far until I came to a cave. There I heard a voice gloating and I saw a great, black griffon. It crowed that it would carry the young Queen’s baby son to its nest at the end of the world. I did not see what it ate for breakfast, but I saw it change itself from a griffon into a tall, thin man with a long, thin nose."
At dawn, the tall, thin man came to the palace.
"Well, your majesties," he said. "This is the last chance. What does the black griffon at the end of the world eat for breakfast?"
The Queen looked thoughtful for a moment, then said: "It is toast and jam?"
The King looked thoughtful for a moment, then asked: "Is it coffee and a Danish?"
The tall, thin man laughed. "Wrong and wrong!" he declared. "Now your baby is mine and your kingdom as well!"
"Wait," the King said. "We are not poor losers. Will you eat with us before you go?"
"That is very kind," the tall, thin man replied. He sat at the table and ate and drank with the King and Queen. He was in good spirits and he ate well.
"I do not know the food you eat in this country," he admitted. "What do you call this?" he asked the Queen.
Esther smiled, sweetly. "This is toast and jam," she said.
The tall, thin man choked. "And this?" he demanded of the King.
The King smiled. "That is coffee and Danish," he said.
"And you are the black griffon who lives at the world’s end!" Esther declared, leaping to her feet. "And you do eat toast and jam and coffee and Danish for breakfast! Leave my baby alone and get out of my kingdom!"
And the griffon leaped up, squawking in his fury, but he knew that he was beaten. He ran to the window and leaped out. As he fell, he changed from a tall, thin man into a black griffon with wide, black-feathered wings and he swooped away to the end of the world, never to be seen again.