She jumped up and opened it, and what should she see but a little black thing with a long tail!
"What are you crying about?" asked the little black thing.
"It would do no good to tell you," said the queen.
"How do you know that?" asked the little black thing, and he twirled his tail.
"Well, I will tell you," she said. And she told him all that the king had said to her.
"Then," said the little black thing, "I will come here to your window every morning and take some flax, and bring it back at night all spun.
"If you can guess my name, you shall pay nothing for my work.
"You may try three times each night, when I bring back the skeins. But if you can't guess my name before the last day of the month, I will carry you off with me."
The queen thought that she could surely guess, so she said: