NASTY FLAX SPINNING

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.