"She loved you because you were just another piece of jewelry, Walter, not because you're a wonderful little boy."
I picked up a rock and threw it against a tree. The tree yelled "Ow! Stop that!" and rubbed the place where it got hit. I looked at Papa and told him to stop being crazy. He laughed.
"Don't you like talking trees?"
"Trees don't talk."
"We can make them talk."
"But they don't really talk. Now you're lying!"
"You're right. I'm sorry. What a smart boy. Are you hungry?"
"No. Tell me more about the time we left the city."
"Your mother promised me if she got to be queen, she would let me take care of you when you were born. But when that happened, she told me to go away. She didn't 'need' me anymore."
"That's not nice."
He put his hand on my head and smiled at me. "That's what I thought too, son. But I would have gone away because I loved her. But then I waited around till you were born and saw how she treated you. Even as a baby I knew your life would be terrible and sad if you stayed with her. So I went to her and said she'd made me a promise and had to keep it, whether she liked it or not.
"Do you know what she said to me? 'Go away, little man. I already have a court midget.' But I knew her well by then, so I didn't even let that insult bother me. Instead, I pointed at her and turned one of her fingers into gold. I said I would do one more every day until she kept her promise to me.
"Walter, she didn't even know my name! All of the things I had done for her, and she never once asked who I was. She just used me to get what she wanted and then after that happened, wanted me to disappear like a cloud after the rain."
Was he angry! We walked for a long time before he said anything again. Then he only said, "Go away, little man," three or four times. I knew when Papa was mad that I should be quiet. Once, when a man was making him mad, Papa made a big bird fly out of the man's mouth. But the bird was really big and it couldn't get out of his mouth. Papa made me walk away, but I think the man died because he fell down on the ground and was making funny sounds and was hitting his mouth, really scared. I saw that.
"Yet I still gave her a chance. I gave her one more chance to prove she was at least a little human."
"She had to guess your name. I remember that part, Papa."
"That's right. I gave her three days to find out my name. If she could do that, then all right, I'd go. At least she knows the name of the guy who gave her all she ever wanted in life. That's not asking so much. I loved your mother, Walter. Never forget that. I would have stayed with her and helped forever, even though she was married, if only she had shown the smallest kindness or gratitude." He laughed, and that made me happier. I took his hand. I didn't understand everything he was saying, but if he laughed then things were okay. He laughed again.
"She was finally scared! She finally realized she was going to lose something and there was nothing she could do about it. Oh, how she sent them running! They ran all over that kingdom trying to find out who the little man was. The names she guessed were as wrong as she was. Ratbod! Pankratius! Names as old and stupid as stone. Have you ever heard a man with that name? I gave her a chance, but knew she'd never get it right because her imagination was as small as her heart."
"I know your name, Papa."
"I know you do, son. You own the greatest secret I have. That's what gives you your powers. No other people know that name, so no one else can do what you can. There's no other person like you in the world. That's what I do for my son: give him everything I have.
"But your mother was too blind to know I'd have done that for her, too. She was too used to buy and sell, I'll give you this if you'll give me that. Not 'I love you, so I want you to have this. It's free, straight from my heart.'
"She guessed over two thousand names in the time I gave her. After those three days her tongue was as red as her eyes, but still she wasn't even close. Do you remember what her last guess was?"
"Rumpelstiltskin!"
"That's right. She thought my name was Rumpelstiltskin. What desperation! I can't even say that name. You know what the funniest part is? All she had to do was ask. All she had to say was 'Please tell me what your name is.' And I would have done it immediately. ^
"Come on, let's eat. This talking makes me hungry."
We took off our packs and put them down. He took out apples and cheese, and a bottle of water.
"What happened when she couldn't guess?"
"She called me a little frog and said she was going to have her guards kill me. I told her first to look at her left hand and think about that. On her right hand she already had one gold finger. You know what was on her left? A big fat frog instead of her hand. The worst part was, it was alive."
"You really made her hand into a frog?"
"I really did."
"Could I do that, Papa?"
"You can do anything I do. I taught you how."
"Just think your name and then think what I want."
"Right. Eat your apple."
"Can I do it to you?"
"If you want."
I closed my eyes and thought his name and thought I wanted both of his hands to turn into frogs. When I looked, there they were – two big frogs! But something was wrong with them because they didn't move.
"What'd I do wrong?"
He smiled and looked at them. "You didn't think clearly what you wanted. You didn't think if you wanted them alive, so you only got dead frogs. And look at their color – that's not a frog's color, because you weren't thinking a special color when you made your wish. You only made dead dream frogs."
I started crying, but he didn't say anything. I cried till I got tired of it and felt stupid.
"Now wish them away, Walter, or else I'll have to live with frogs for hands for the rest of my life!"
That made me laugh and I did what he said. They went away. It was easy to wish something away. Much easier than wishing for something.
He reached over and touched my cheek.
"Quit it, Papa. I'm not a little baby anymore."
"Sometimes I forget that. Eat your apple and cheese. They're good."
"I don't want anymore. What happened after you made her hand into a frog?"
"If you eat your apple I'll tell you. That's it, big bites. And please bite the cheese or else it'll get fleas."
"Papa, tell!"
"Okay. While she was looking at her croaking hand, I took you out of your bed and wrapped you in the fur blanket I'd brought. It was the middle of winter and the snow roared like lions outside. The whole city was covered and I knew we'd have a hard time running through it when we got outside."
"Why did we have to run? You could have kept anyone away."
"Probably, but it was midnight, and our powers are much less then. Always remember that, son. Our magic works best in the day. At night most of it goes back to the moon and sleeps there until first light. Animals have their magic at night. That's why it's not safe to travel after the sun goes down where there are animals.
"Now tell me again what I just said."
"Animals are magic at night and we should stay away from them."
"Good." He sat there awhile, sometimes biting his apple or his cheese. There were birds singing, and somewhere far away I heard someone chopping wood.
"How did you get me out of the castle?"
"I turned to your mother and said 'You're too proud and greedy to care what child you have, so long as no one knows the difference. So I'll give you a child to show others. You can pretend it's yours and, that you defeated me. But never come after us, or I'll kill you. Do you understand?' She understood. All the hatred in her eyes told me she understood very well but could do nothing about it.