The old king is tired of governing and prefers to devote himself to his palace garden. In doing so, he completely loses sight of the state treasury. When the miller Mehlsack raves about his daughter Marie and claims that she can spin straw into gold, the ruler immediately invites the young woman to his castle to see for himself her extraordinary skills. The desperate Marie is locked in a chamber full of straw, which she is supposed to turn into gold by morning. Her only salvation is the lord of the forest. The dwarfish being rushes over immediately, but places a cruel condition upon his help.