"
"There is nothing I like better than to hear the sound of spinning,"
the Queen replied, "and nothing pleases me more than the whirl of
spinning-wheels. Let me take your daughter home with me to the castle;
I have flax enough, and she may spin there to her heart's content."
The mother rejoiced greatly in her heart, and the Queen took the
maiden home with her. When they arrived in the castle, she led her up
into three rooms, which were piled from top to bottom with the finest
flax.
"Now spin me this flax," said the Queen, "and when thou has spun it
all, thou shalt have my eldest son for a husband. Although thou art
poor, yet I do not despise thee on that account, for thy untiring
industry is dowry enough."
The maiden was filled with inward terror, for she could not have spun
the flax had she sat there day and night until she was three hundred
years old! When she was left alone, she began to weep, and thus she
sat for three days without stirring a finger.
On the third day the Queen came, and when she saw that nothing was
as yet spun, she wondered over it, but the maiden excused herself by
saying that she could not begin in consequence of the great sorrow she
felt in being separated from her mother.
Pages:
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98