The Lazy Spinning Woman

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

　　A man and a woman lived in a village. The woman was so lazy that she never wanted to do any work. She never finished what the man gave her to spin, and what she did spin she did not wind onto a reel, but left it tangled¹ on the bobbin. If the man scolded her, she always had a quick tongue, and would say, "Well, how can I wind it up? I don't have a reel. First you must go into the woods and get me one."

　　"If that's the problem," said the man, "then I'll go into the woods, and get some wood for a reel."

　　Then the woman was afraid that once he had the wood, he would make a reel out of it, and she would have to wind up her yarn², and then begin to spin with an empty wheel. She thought about this a little while, and then a good idea came to her. She secretly followed the man into the woods. When he had climbed into a tree to select and cut the wood, she crept into the brush below, where he could not see her, and cried upward:

　　Cut wood for a reel, and you shall die, Wind onto it, and ruin your life.

　　The man listened, laid down his ax for a while, and thought about what it could mean.

　　"Well," he said at last, "what can it have been? Your ears must have been ringing. Don't get alarmed for nothing." So he took hold of the ax once more and was about to chop away when again there came a call from below:

　　Cut wood for a reel, and you shall die, Wind onto it, and ruin your life.

　　He stopped, took fright, and wondered what was happening. But a little while later he took heart again, and for a third time he reached for the ax and was about to chop away.

　　But for a third time there came a call from below, saying loudly:

　　Cut wood for a reel, and you shall die, Wind onto it, and ruin your life.

　　That was enough for him. He no longer had any desire to cut wood, so he hastily climbed down from the tree, and set forth³ toward home.

　　The woman took a shortcut⁴ and ran as fast as she could in order to get home first. When he entered the parlor⁵, she put on an innocent look as if nothing had happened, and said, "Well, did you bring a good piece of wood for a reel?"

　　"No," he said, "I see very well that winding⁶ onto a reel is not possible," and he told her what had happened to him in the woods. From then on he said nothing more about it.

　　Nevertheless, a short time later the man began to complain again about the disorder⁷ in the house. "Wife," he said, "it is a real shame that the spun⁸ yarn is just lying there on the bobbin."

　　"Do you know what?" she said. "Because we still don't have a reel, you go up into the loft⁹. I will stand down below and throw the bobbin up to you, then you will throw it down to me, and thus we can make a skein after all."

　　"Yes, that will work," said the man.

　　So they did it, and when they were finished, he said, "The yarn is skeined. Now it must be boiled."

　　The woman was again concerned, and said, "Yes, we will boil it early tomorrow morning," but she was secretly planning another trick.

　　Early in the morning she got up, started a fire, and put the kettle on. However, instead of the yarn, she put in a clump¹⁰ of tow and let it boil away. Then she went to the man who was still lying in bed, and said to him, "I must go out for a while. Get up now and look after the yarn in the kettle on the fire. Do it right now, because if the cock crows and you are not looking after the yarn, it will turn into tow."

　　The man agreed, and did not delay. He got up at once, as fast as he could, and went into the kitchen. But when he reached the kettle and looked in, he saw with horror nothing but a clump of tow.

　　Afterward¹¹ the poor man was as quiet as a mouse and said nothing at all, thinking that it was his fault, that he was to blame. And in the future he said nothing more about yarn and spinning. But you yourself must admit that she was a disgusting woman.

       从前，村子里住着对夫妻。妻子懒得总是不想干活，丈夫让她纺纱她总纺不完，就是纺好了也不绕成团，而是在地上缠成一大团。每次丈夫说她，她总是有理，说：「没有卷轴，叫我怎么去卷呢？你有本事就到森林里砍些木头给我做一个。」「如果是那样的话，」丈夫说，「我就到森林砍些木头为你做一个吧！」可女人又害怕起来，如果有了木头，做成卷轴，她就只得绕线了。她脑子一转，想了条好计，便悄悄地跟在丈夫的后面走进森林。丈夫爬上一棵树去挑好木头来做料，她就溜进丈夫看不到的树丛中，向上面喊道：

　　「伐木做轴，难逃一死；绞盘缠线，没好下场。」

　　丈夫听后放下了斧子，细细体会着这话的含义，最后自言自语道：「唉，管它呢！一定是我耳朵的错觉，我可不想吓唬自己。」说完，他又扬起斧子，准备要砍。突然树下又喊：

　　「伐木做轴，难逃一死；绞盘缠线，没好下场。」

　　丈夫又惊又怕，再次放下了斧子，朝四周张望。但过了一会，他又鼓起了勇气，抓起斧子要干，但是树下第三次喊了起来，而且声音更大：

　　「伐木做轴，难逃一死；绞盘缠线，没好下场。」

　　丈夫再也抵挡不住了，吓得魂不守舍，连忙滑下树来往家赶。女人却抄近道飞快地跑回了家。丈夫一进屋，女人就装出若无其事的样子问：「怎么，砍了块做轴的好木回来没有？」「没有！」丈夫答道，「看来线是绕不成了。」接着，他把树林里发生的一切告诉了女人。从此不再拿纺纱绕线来烦她。可没过多久，丈夫见屋里乱糟糟的，就又发开了牢骚。「老婆呀，这纺过的线乱糟糟地缠在一起，真不像话！」「好吧，因为我没有卷轴，你就爬上阁楼，我站在下面，我把线团扔给你，你再扔下来，如此反覆线就绕好了。」「好吧，就这么干吧！」於是，夫妻俩一上一下抛纱缠线，线缠好了，丈夫说：「我已经绕好了，现在该浆了。」「好吧，明天我就浆。」女人嘴里这么说，心里却在盘算着如何逃过这一关，於是又生出了条懒计来。第二天早上一起来，她就生起了火，再把锅架在上面。可她没把纱线放进锅里，放进的却是些粗麻疙瘩。然后她走到床边对睡着的丈夫说：「我要出去一趟，你照看一下锅里的纱线。你得留点神，如果鸡叫了还不去看，纱线就会变成乱麻团。」丈夫怕误事，赶紧起身，来到厨房里，向锅里一瞅发现里面尽是些粗麻疙瘩，不禁愕然。这可怜的丈夫以为是自己失了职，就再也不敢向女人提起纺纱的事。可你们一定要说，这女人多么恶毒呀。