|
Once upon
a time...
Once upon a time there lived a girl who lost her father and
mother when she was quite a tiny child. Her godmother lived all
alone in a little cottage at the far end of the village, and there
she earned her living by spinning, weaving, and sewing. The old
woman took the little orphan home with her and brought her up in
good, pious, industrious habits.
When the girl was fifteen years old, her godmother fell ill, and,
calling the child to her bedside, she said: 'My dear daughter, I
feel that my end is near. I leave you my cottage, which will, at
least, shelter you, and also my spindle, my weaver's shuttle, and my
needle, with which to earn your bread.'
Then she laid her hands on the girl's head, blessed her, and added:
'Mind and be good, and then all will go well with you.' With that
she closed her eyes for the last time, and when she was carried to
her grave the girl walked behind her coffin weeping bitterly, and
paid her all the last honours.
After this the girl lived all alone in the little cottage. She
worked hard, spinning, weaving, and sewing, and her old godmother's
blessing seemed to prosper all she did. The flax seemed to spread
and increase; and when she wove a carpet or a piece of linen, or
made a shirt, she was sure to find a customer who paid her well, so
that not only did she feel no want herself, but she was able to help
those who did.
Now, it happened that about this time the King's son was making a
tour through the entire country to look out for a bride. He could
not marry a poor woman, and he did not wish for a rich one.
'She shall be my wife,' said he, 'who is at once the poorest and the
richest.'
When he reached the village where the girl lived, he inquired who
was the richest and who the poorest woman in it. The richest was
named first; the poorest, he was told, was a young girl who lived
alone in a little cottage at the far end of the village.
The rich girl sat at her door dressed out in all her best clothes,
and when the King's son came near she got up, went to meet him, and
made him a low curtsey. He looked well at her, said nothing, but
rode on further.
When he reached the poor girl's house he did not find her at her
door, for she was at work in her room. The Prince reined in his
horse, looked in at the window through which the sun was shining
brightly, and saw the girl sitting at her wheel busily spinning
away.
She looked up, and when she saw the King's son gazing in at her, she
blushed red all over, cast down her eyes and span on. Whether the
thread was quite as even as usual I really cannot say, but she went
on spinning till the King's son had ridden off. Then she stepped to
the window and opened the lattice, saying, 'The room is so hot,' but
she looked after him as long as she could see the white plumes in
his hat.
Then she sat down to her work once more and span on, and as she did
so an old saying which, she had often heard her godmother repeat
whilst at work, came into her head, and she began to sing:
'Spindle, spindle, go and see, If my love will come to me.'
Lo, and behold! the spindle leapt from her hand and rushed out of
the room, and when she had sufficiently recovered from her surprise
to look after it she saw it dancing merrily through the fields,
dragging a long golden thread after it, and soon it was lost to
sight.
The girl, having lost her spindle, took up the shuttle and, seating
herself at her loom, began to weave. Meantime the spindle danced on
and on, and just as it had come to the end of the golden thread, it
reached the King's son.
'What do I see?' he cried; 'this spindle seems to wish to point out
the way to me.' So he turned his horses head and rode back beside
the golden thread.
Meantime the girl sat weaving, and sang:
'Shuttle, weave both web and woof, Bring my love beneath my roof.'
The shuttle instantly escaped from her hand, and with one bound was
out at the door. On the threshold it began weaving the loveliest
carpet that was ever seen. Roses and lilies bloomed on both sides,
and in the centre a thicket seemed to grow with rabbits and hares
running through it, stags and fawns peeping through the branches,
whilst on the topmost boughs sat birds of brilliant plumage and so
life-like one almost expected to hear them sing. The shuttle flew
from side to side and the carpet seemed almost to grow of itself.
As the shuttle had run away the girl sat down to sew. She took her
needle and sang:
'Needle, needle, stitch away, Make my chamber bright and gay,'
and the needle promptly slipped from her fingers and flew about the
room like lightning. You would have thought invisible spirits were
at work, for in next to no time the table and benches were covered
with green cloth, the chairs with velvet, and elegant silk curtains
hung before the windows. The needle had barely put in its last
stitch when the girl, glancing at the window, spied the white plumed
hat of the King's son who was being led back by the spindle with the
golden thread.
He dismounted and walked over the carpet into the house, and when he
entered the room there stood the girl blushing like any rose. 'You
are the poorest and yet the richest,' said he: 'come with me, you
shall be my bride.'
She said nothing, but she held out her hand. Then he kissed her, and
led her out, lifted her on his horse and took her to his royal
palace, where the wedding was celebrated with great rejoicings.
The spindle, the shuttle, and the needle were carefully placed in
the treasury, and were always held in the very highest honour.
Spindle Shuttle and
Needle
from the Green Fairy Book
Story Edited
by Andrew Lang |
