In
olden times there lived a king who loved flax spinning more than anything else,
and his daughters had to spin the entire day. If he didn't hear the wheels
humming, he became angry. One time he had to take a trip, and before he said
his farewell, he gave a large casket of flax to the queen and said: "All
this must be spun by the time I return."
The princesses became distressed and
wept.
"If we are to spin all of that flax, we'll have to sit
the entire day, and we won't be able to get up at all."
But the queen replied: "Console yourselves. I'll
certainly help you." Now there were three especially ugly spinsters in the
realm. The first had such a huge lower lip that it hung beneath her chin. The
second had an index finger on her right hand that was so thick and wide that
one could make three other fingers out of it. The third had a thick and wide
flat foot that was as large as a kitchen board. The queen summoned the three
spinsters to the castle, and on the day that the king was supposed to return
home, she sat them down next to one another in her room, gave each of them a
spinning wheel, and ordered them to spin. Moreover, she told each of them what
to answer when the king questioned them. As soon as the king arrived, he heard
the humming of the wheels from a distance and was so glad that he intended to
praise his daughters. However, upon entering the room and seeing the horrible
spinsters sitting there, he was at first startled. Then he stepped toward them
and asked the first woman how she got the hideously large lower lip.
"From licking, from licking!"
Then he asked the second where she got
her thick finger from.
"From turning the thread, from
turning the thread and twining it!"
As she said this, she let the thread run
around her finger a couple of times.
Finally, he asked the third one where
she got her flat foot from.
"From stamping, from
stamping!"
When the king heard all this, he commanded the queen and
the princesses never ever to touch a spinning wheel again, and this is how they
rid themselves of their agony.
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