The Three Spinners

Quick Answer

Why This Story Works for Bedtime

It’s quirky and satisfying, with a clear ‘problem solved’ arc. The tone is more humorous than scary, and the ending feels relieving: the heroine isn’t forced into endless work.

Story Synopsis

A mother wants her daughter to spin and spin—endless thread for endless work. The girl dislikes it and dreads the task. One day, as she cries over the spinning, a queen passes by and hears about the girl’s ‘talent.’ To impress the queen, the mother exaggerates, and the girl is taken to the palace and given an impossible amount of flax to spin. She feels trapped. Then three strange women appear. Each has a body shaped by years of spinning—one with a huge foot, one with a wide thumb, one with an enormous lip. They offer help: they will spin the flax for her, but later she must invite them to her wedding and call them her ‘aunts.’ The girl agrees. The women spin everything, and the queen is delighted. When the time comes for the wedding, the three ‘aunts’ arrive. The prince is shocked by their appearances and asks what happened. They explain: spinning did it. The prince, moved and a little alarmed, promises his bride she will never have to spin again. The story ends with relief and a wink: kindness and understanding matter more than endless labor.

Story Excerpt

There was once a girl who lived with her mother in a small house. The mother worked hard, and she wished her daughter would help by spinning flax into thread. But the girl did not like to spin at all. Her mother begged, and reminded, and scolded, and still the girl would not do it. Day after day the spinning wheel stood quiet. At last, one afternoon, the mother’s patience ran out. In her anger she gave the girl a sharp punishment. The girl burst into loud sobs, crying so hard that her voice carried out into the road. Just then, the Queen happened to be passing by in her carriage. She heard the crying, and she told the driver to stop. The Queen stepped down and went into the little house. “Why is that child crying so loudly?” she asked. The mother felt ashamed to say, “My daughter is lazy.” So she quickly thought of another reason and said, “Your Majesty, I cannot get her to stop spinning. She wants to spin for ever and ever, and we are poor, and I cannot get enough flax for her.” The Queen’s face brightened. “Nothing makes me happier than the sound of spinning wheels humming,” she said. “Bring your daughter to the palace. I have flax enough, and there she may spin as much as she likes.” The mother was more than pleased to hear this. And so the Queen took the girl with her to the palace. When they arrived, the palace felt large and shining, with tall doors and wide halls. The Queen led the girl up a staircase and opened three room doors, one after another. Inside each room was flax—soft, pale bundles piled from the floor all the way up to the ceiling. “Now spin me this flax,” said the Queen. “And when you have finished it all, you shall have my eldest son for your husband.

In One Glance