Classic Stories: Rumplestiltskin
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January 24th through February 2nd. Hello, I'm Mariam. Today, I've got a fairy story to tell you about a girl who gets to marry a king, but has to complete an impossible task before she can. But things don't go as well as they should. A long time ago, there was a poor man who had a daughter. She was beautiful and full of life. One day, her father has to go and see the king.

He's very embarrassed about seeing him because his life is a far cry from the king's. So to try and impress him, he tells him that he has a daughter who can spin straw into gold. Well, I'd be impressed by that. The king wants proof and demands to see her. She's taken to the palace where she is shown a room full of straw and a spinning wheel and is told to spin the straw into gold by the morning and if not...

she will die and then he leaves. This comes as a shock to the poor girl and she starts to cry. Suddenly, a little man with wrinkly skin enters the room. She's so pleased to have a shoulder to cry on but he says, good evening miss, I can help you if you give me something in return. Well, she was quite happy to offer her necklace as a reward for his help.

And sure enough, he spends all night spinning the straw into gold. Morning arrives and the king sees the gold. Amazing, he cries, but then thinks to himself, hmm, maybe she can make more gold. He demands that the next night she will spin even more straw and make even more gold. If she doesn't, she will die.

The girl bursts into tears, but once again the little man bursts into the room. ''Don't cry your eyes out,'' he says, and offers to help, but still wants something in return. This time she offers him the ring on her finger. He's happy with the deal and gets to work spinning the straw. Next morning the king is overjoyed by what he sees, but still thinks he can get even more gold.

He's been crying out for a woman who can make him this rich. So he promises her that this time, if she succeeds, she will be his wife. You know what happens next. The little man appears offering to help her. But this time, in return, he makes her promise that if she becomes queen, she is to give him her first child. Creepy. Reluctantly, she agrees.

Now the king is very impressed and he marries the girl and she becomes queen. But a year later, when she gives birth, the little man arrives demanding the baby. When the baby starts to cry, he says, If you can find out my name within three days, you can keep your child. The challenge is on and she asks everyone across the land if they know the man's name, but nobody knows.

It's not until the third day that a messenger reports finding a little house in the mountain where a ridiculous little man was dancing round a fire, singing about having the queen's child and being called Rumpelstiltskin. Aha, the queen thinks, that's it. And she asks the little man.

He is furious because she is right. Oh, for crying out loud, he shouts. And in his rage, he pushes his right foot hard into the ground, creating a big deep hole, which he falls down, down, down into, crying out and is never seen again. Wow, he was angry. So the queen keeps her child.

but I'm not sure she really wanted to marry the king. I blame her father. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the story and will join me for a very different one very soon. Bye for now. Yoga is more than just exercise. It's the spiritual practice that millions swear by.

And in 2017, Miranda, a university tutor from London, joins a yoga school that promises profound transformation. It felt a really safe and welcoming space. After yoga classes, I felt amazing. But soon, that calm, welcoming atmosphere leads to something far darker, a journey that leads to allegations of grooming, trafficking and exploitation across international borders. ♪

I don't have my passport, I don't have my phone, I don't have my bank cards, I have nothing. The passport being taken, the being in a house and not feeling like they can leave.

You just get sucked in so gradually.

And it's done so skillfully that you don't realize. And it's like this, the secret that's there. I wanted to believe that, you know, that whatever they were doing, even if it seemed gross to me,

was for some spiritual reason that I couldn't yet understand. Revealing the hidden secrets of a global yoga network. I feel that I have no other choice. The only thing I can do is to speak about this and to put my reputation and everything else on the line. I want truth and justice.

And for other people to not be hurt, for things to be different in the future. To bring it into the light and almost alchemise some of that evil stuff that went on and take back the power. World of Secrets, Season 6, The Bad Guru. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.