The boastfulness of the miller Kunz brings his daughter Marie into the castle as a prisoner. Kunz had claimed that she could spin straw into gold, and so she should now fill the king's empty coffers. Suddenly a little man appears to the desperate Marie and turns all the straw into gold. But this help has its price: the male demands Marie's first child. After a year, Marie is now the wife of the young king, her child is born. The male now wants his reward. The frightened Marie begs the male to let her have the child. This shows generosity and is willing to renounce on the condition that Marie guesses his name. With the help of the miller's boy Hans it comes to a happy ending.