Week 14 Story: The Spinster

The Thee Spinsters

(Image by Walter Crane)

There once was  a girl who was very lazy. Her mother kept them fed by spinning but, the daughter did not want to. One day, the mother was fed up with this girl and started hitting her. The girl cried out and the queen over heard when she was passing. The approached the two and asked them what was going on. The mother was too embarrassed and ashamed to admit that she had a lazy daughter so she told the Queen she wasn't hitting her, they were celebrating because he daughter loved to spin so much, they were able to make enough money to eat comfortably. The queen was veery impressed and told the mother that she wanted to take her in. The girl was nervous but the mother knew this could be her chance to marry the prince so she handed her daughter over to the queen.

The queen and the girl arrived at the castle. The queen took her into a room full of yarn and spinning equipment. She told the girl if she can spin all of it in three days, that she could marry her son, the prince and if she could not, she were to be killed for lying and she would kill her mother too.

After the queen left the girl cried and cried because she did not know what to do. She never learned how to spin. A young maiden covered in dirt over heard the woman crying and approached her window. She asked her why she was crying and the girl told the maiden everything. Luckily, this maiden knew how to spin and was one of the town's best. She told the girl that she will spin for her, as long as she is allowed to attend the girl and the prince's wedding and the girl were to help the maiden get dressed for it.

The girl was in no place to reject the offer. It was either accept or both she and her mother would be killed. The girl agreed and the maiden began to spin. On the third day the queen came to see the girl's progress. The maiden had just barely finished and snuck out the window before the queen entered. She examined the cloth and found it to be divine. She immediately started wedding preparations.

The girl asked the queen if she were allowed to have one guest. The queen didn't see a problem and told her she could.

The day of the wedding the maiden showed up at the castle as the girl was getting ready. The girl called to her servants and maids to help her new friend get ready. 

It was time for the ceremony. The girl met with her prince just before they were to be married. The maiden entered the room and the prince could not take his eyes off of her. The girl grew extremely jealous and tried to have the maiden removed. That is when the maiden revealed that it was she who actually spun everything and that the girl was lazy and didn't know how. In order to prove she was telling the truth, she challenged the girl. If the girl could spin, she could have the prince and if she could not, the prince was hers.

The queen and prince agreed to the challenge. The servants brought out two machines with yarn and the contest began. It was short because the girl couldn't even figure out how to get the yarn on the machine.

The queen banished the girl and her mother from ever coming near the castle and the prince got married to the maiden.

Author's note: I wrote this story about The Three Spinsters. Originally three women helped this girl and they were ugly. The prince asked them what was wrong with them and they told him their physical flaws were due to spinning, so luckily enough he banned his new wife from ever having to spin. I didn't like the idea that this lazy girl who had other people do work for her win in the end, so instead of three ugly women, I had one young beautiful girl. 

Bibliography. Lucy and Walter Crane. Brothers Grimm. Source.