THE THREE SPINNERS
The queen replied, "Nothing pleases me more than the distaff; the sound of the spinning wheel delights me; give me your daughter to my palace; I have flax in abundance; she can spin there as long as she likes." The mother wholeheartedly agreed, and the queen took the young girl away.
When they arrived at the palace, she led her into three rooms filled from top to bottom with the finest linen. “Spin all this linen for me,” she told her, “and when it’s finished, I’ll give you my eldest son in marriage. Don’t worry about your poverty; your diligence will be a sufficient dowry.”
The young girl said nothing, but inwardly she was dismayed; for even if she had worked for three hundred years without stopping, from morning till night, she would not have been able to complete those enormous piles of tow.
When she was alone, she began to weep and remained like that for three days without lifting a finger. On the third day, the queen came to visit her; she was quite astonished to see that nothing had been done; but the young girl excused herself, saying she was heartbroken at having left her mother. The queen was content with this explanation; but as she left, she said, “Come now, we must begin work tomorrow.”
When the young girl found herself alone, at a loss for what to do, she went to the window in her distress, and saw three women approaching her. The first had a large, flat foot; the second, a lower lip so large and drooping that it covered and extended beyond her chin; and the third, a broad, flat thumb.
They stood before the window, their eyes fixed on the room, and asked the young girl what she wanted. She told them of her troubles; the three women offered to help her. “If you promise,” they said, “to invite us to your wedding, to call us your cousins without being ashamed of us, and to seat us at your table, we will spin your flax for you, and it will soon be finished.”
“With all my heart,” she replied; "Come in, and begin at once."
She ushered in these three unusual women and cleared a space in the first room for them; they set to work. The first spun the tow and turned the spinning wheel; the second moistened the thread; the third twisted it and pressed it down on the table with her thumb, and with each stroke of her thumb, a skein of the finest thread lay on the floor.
Every time the queen entered, the young girl would hide her spinners and show her what had been done, and the queen was filled with admiration. When the first room was emptied, they moved on to the second, then to the third, which was soon finished as well. Then the three women left, saying to the young girl, "Don't forget your promise; you'll be glad you did."
When the young woman had shown the queen the empty rooms and the spun flax, the wedding day was set. The prince was delighted to have such a skillful and industrious wife, and he loved her dearly. “I have three cousins,” she said, “who have done me a great deal of good, and whom I would not want to neglect in my happiness; allow me to invite them to my wedding and seat them at our table.”
The queen and the prince saw no problem with this. On the day of the celebration, the three women arrived in magnificent attire, and the bride said to them, “Dear cousins, welcome.”
“Ah!” said the prince, “you have some rather plain relatives.”
Then, turning to the one with the flat foot, he said, “How did you get such a wide foot?”
“From spinning,” she replied, “from spinning.”
To the second: “Where did you get that drooping lip?”
“From wetting the thread, from wetting the thread.”
And to the third: “Where did you get that large thumb?”
“From twisting the thread, from twisting the thread.”
The prince, terrified by this prospect, declared that his beautiful wife would never again touch a spinning wheel, and thus she was freed from this odious occupation.
THE PEASANT IN THE SKY
Saint Peter arrived with his keys, opened the gate, and let the lord in; but no doubt he hadn't seen the peasant, for he left him outside and closed the gate. The peasant heard the joyful reception that heaven was giving the rich man, with singing and music.
When the noise had subsided, Saint Peter returned and finally let the poor man in. The peasant expected that the singing and music would begin again upon his arrival. But all remained quiet. He was received warmly, the angels went to meet him; but no one sang.
He asked Saint Peter why the music wasn't for him as it was for the rich man, and whether partiality reigned in heaven as on earth.
“No,” replied the saint, “you are as dear to us as any other, and you will taste, just like the one who has just entered, the joys of paradise; but you see, poor peasants like you enter here every day, while rich ones don’t come every hundred years.”
DUCATS THAT FELL FROM THE SKY
As she was abandoned by everyone, she set out on her journey, entrusting herself to God's care. On her way, she met a poor man who said to her, "Alas! I am so hungry! Give me a little something to eat." She gave him her entire piece of bread, saying, "God help you!" and continued on her way.
Further on, she met a child who was crying, saying, "My head is cold; give me something to cover it." She took off her cap and gave it to him. Further on still, she saw another child who was freezing for lack of a coat, and she gave him hers. Finally, a last child asked her for her skirt, which she also gave him.
Night having fallen, she arrived in a wood; another child asked her for a shirt. The pious little girl thought: “It is pitch black, no one will see me, I can certainly give away my shirt,” and she gave it away as well.
Thus she possessed nothing more in the world. But at that very moment the stars in the sky began to fall, and on the ground they turned into beautiful, shining ducats; and, although she had taken off her shirt, she had a brand new one, made of the finest cloth. She gathered up the ducats and was rich for the rest of her life.
THE NAIL
“Sir probably doesn’t know that there’s a nail missing from the left hind shoe.”
“Don’t worry,” replied the merchant, “the shoe will still hold for the remaining six leagues at most. I’m in a hurry.” Around teatime, he stopped again to feed his mount oats. The stable boy soon came to find him at the inn. “Sir probably doesn’t know,” he said, “that his horse is missing a shoe on its left hind foot. Should I take it to the farrier?”
“Don’t worry,” replied the merchant, “for the couple of leagues I still have to go, my horse will manage just fine without that shoe. I’m in a hurry.” He set off again. But soon after, the horse began to limp; it hadn’t been limping for long when it started to stumble; it had barely stumbled two or three times before it fell and broke its leg.
The merchant was forced to leave his horse lying there, unbuckle his coat, put it on his back, and walk back to his lodgings, where he didn’t arrive until very late at night. "Yet it was that damned nail that I neglected to have replaced, which was the cause of all my misfortune," he thought, walking with a gloomy expression.
THE MAGICAL DWARVES
Great was his surprise; he didn't know what it meant. He picked up the shoes and examined them from every angle: they were so well made that there wasn't a single flaw; they were a true masterpiece. A customer entered the shop, and the shoes pleased him so much that he paid more than usual, and with this money the shoemaker was able to buy leather for two more pairs.
He cut them that very evening and was preparing to work on them the next morning when he found them all finished when he awoke; and once again, customers were plentiful, and with the money he earned, he was able to buy leather for four more pairs.
The next morning, the four pairs were ready, and finally, everything he cut in the evening was always finished the following morning; so that he found comfort and became almost rich.
One evening, around Christmas, as he had just finished cutting his leather and was about to go to bed, he said to his wife, “Shall we stay up tonight to see those who help us like this?” The wife agreed, and, leaving a candle lit, they hid in the wardrobe, behind the hanging clothes, and waited.
When midnight struck, two pretty little dwarves, completely naked, entered the room, sat down at the shoemaker's workbench, and, taking the cut leather in their small hands, began to prick, sew, and beat with such skill and speed that it was impossible to understand. They worked tirelessly until the piece was finished, and then they vanished all at once.
The next day, the woman said, “These little dwarves have enriched us; we must show our gratitude. They must be freezing, running around naked like that with nothing on. Do you know? I will sew each of them a shirt, coat, jacket, and breeches, and knit them a pair of stockings; you, make each of them a pair of shoes.” The man greatly approved of this advice; and in the evening, when everything was ready, they placed these gifts on the table in place of the cut leather, and hid again to see how the dwarves would react.
At midnight, they arrived and were about to begin their work when, instead of leather, they found the pretty little clothes on the table. At first, they expressed astonishment, which soon gave way to great joy. They quickly put on the clothes and began to sing:
"Aren't we handsome lads? Farewell, leather, shoes, and slippers!"
Then they began to dance and jump over chairs and benches; finally, still dancing, they reached the door. From that moment on, they were never seen again; but the shoemaker continued to be happy for the rest of his days, and everything he undertook turned out well.