"A curse can be a terrible burden," he says, as much for the benefit of the rabbit as for its counterpart, as his tone is not unsympathetic. "One whose weight I can well imagine."

He does not engage in contracts whose every point and addendum he does not know. Intimately familiar as Rumpelstiltskin is with the act of exchange, the concept of the deal, he is not one to enter in an agreement whose every constituent has not been clearly delineated to both parties.

"Tell me," continues Rumpelstiltskin, ignoring the rabbit quite steadfastly, "what's your name?"