The Lazy Spinner (Grimm)
Division into chapters is editorial.
The lazy wife avoids spinning: the mysterious voice in the forest
In a certain village lived a man and his wife. The wife was extremely lazy and avoided all household work.
the wife was so idle that she would never work at anything; whatever her husband gave her to spin, she did not get done, and what she did spin she did not wind
Instead, she left everything tangled in a heap. When her husband scolded her about this neglect, she always had a ready excuse.
Well, how should I wind it, when I have no reel? Just you go into the forest and get me one.
The man agreed to go into the forest to get wood for making reels.
However, the woman feared that if he obtained the wood, he would actually make her a reel, forcing her to wind her yarn and resume spinning. She devised a cunning plan and secretly followed him into the forest. When he climbed into a tree to choose and cut suitable wood, she crept into the thicket below where he could not see her and cried out ominously.
He who cuts wood for reels shall die,
And he who winds, shall perish.
The man listened and laid down his axe, wondering what the voice could mean. He thought his ears might be playing tricks on him and resumed cutting. The mysterious voice called out again with the same warning. He stopped, feeling afraid and alarmed, but after a few moments took heart and stretched out his hand for the axe a third time. When the voice called out loudly once more with the same dire prediction, it was enough for him.
That was enough for him, and all inclination had departed from him, so he hastily descended the tree, and set out on his way home.
A compromise solution: winding yarn by hand
The woman ran home by shortcuts to arrive first. When her husband entered the parlour, she put on an innocent expression as if nothing had happened.
she put on an innocent look as if nothing had happened, and said, 'Well, have you brought a nice piece of wood for reels?'
The man replied that he could see very well that winding would not work, and told her about the strange experience in the forest. From that time forth, he left her in peace about spinning. However, after some time passed, the man began complaining again about the disorder in the house, saying it was shameful that the spun yarn should lie there all entangled. The wife proposed a new solution: he should go up into the loft while she stood below, and they would throw the yarn back and forth to each other to make skeins. The man agreed this would work, and they proceeded with this method. When they finished, he declared that the yarn was now in skeins and must be boiled next.
The woman was again distressed by this development. She agreed they would boil it the next morning, but secretly began contriving another trick.
The final deception: substituting tow for yarn
Early the next morning, the woman got up, lit a fire, and put the kettle on.
only instead of the yarn, she put in a lump of tow, and let it boil
After setting this deception in motion, she went to her husband, who was still lying in bed, and told him she had to go out. She instructed him to get up and watch the yarn in the kettle, warning him to be attentive because
if the cock should happen to crow, and you are not attending to the yarn, it will become tow
The man was willing to help and took care not to delay. He got up as quickly as he could and went into the kitchen. When he reached the kettle and looked inside, he saw to his horror nothing but a lump of tow.
Then the poor man was as still as a mouse, thinking he had neglected it, and was to blame, and in future said no more about yarn and spinning.
The husband believed he had failed in his duty and caused the yarn to transform into worthless tow through his inattention. Feeling guilty and responsible for this apparent disaster, he never again mentioned yarn or spinning to his wife. She had successfully deceived him once more and freed herself from any obligation to work. The tale concludes with a final judgment on her character.
But you yourself must own she was an odious woman!