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VI . The Little Man Comes Back A year goes by . The queen lives in the palace . She has nice dresses and good food . She does not have to work in the mill any more . Then the queen has a baby . The baby is lovely , with little pink hands and soft hair . The queen loves the baby more than anything in the world . She holds the baby all day and sings to it . She never thinks about the little man now , or about her promise . She forgets that night in the room of straw . But one day the door of her room opens , and the little man comes in . “ Good day , my fine Queen , ” he says . “ Now give me what you promised . ” The queen goes white . She holds the baby close . “ No ! ” she says . “ Please , no ! Not my child ! ” “ You promised , ” says the little man . “ Do you remember ? The third night , in the biggest room . You said yes . ” “ I know , ” says the queen . “ But I can give you other things . I am rich now . Take gold ! Take jewels ! Take horses and fine clothes ! You can have all the riches of my kingdom . But please , leave me my child . ” The little man shakes his head . “ No , ” he says . “ I don’t want your gold . I can make gold from straw , remember ? A living child is worth more to me than all the gold in the world . ” Then the queen begins to cry . She cries and cries . Her tears fall on the baby’s little face . The little man watches her . At last he feels a little sorry for her . “ Well , ” he says , “ I will give you three days . If you can find out my name in three days , you can keep your child . ” The queen looks up . “ Your name ? ” she says . “ Yes , my name , ” says the little man . “ But you will never find it . Nobody knows my name . Nobody at all . ” He laughs , and he goes out of the door . VII . A Night of Names That night the queen does not sleep . She sits next to the baby’s bed , and she thinks . She thinks of every name she knows . Names of people from her village . Names from old stories . She lights a candle and takes a piece of paper . She writes down every name . The list gets longer and longer . Then she calls a messenger . He is a young man with a fast horse . “ Ride over the whole country , ” she says . “ Go far and wide . Ask everybody for names . Bring me every new name you can find . ” “ Yes , my Queen , ” says the messenger . And he rides away into the night . The next day the little man comes back . “ Good morning , Your Majesty , ” he says , and he bows very low . “ Well ? What is my name ? ” The queen takes out her long list . “ Is your name Caspar ? ” she asks . “ No . ” “ Melchior ? ” “ No . ” “ Balthazar ? ” “ No , no , no , ” says the little man . “ That is not my name . ” The queen goes on . She reads every name on the list , one after the other .
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