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.

　　從前，村子里住著對夫妻。妻子懶得總是不想干活，丈夫讓她紡紗她總紡不完，就是紡好了也不繞成團(tuán)，而是在地上纏成一大團(tuán)。每次丈夫說她，她總是有理，說：「沒有卷軸，叫我怎么去卷呢？你有本事就到森林里砍些木頭給我做一個?！埂溉绻悄菢拥脑?，」丈夫說，「我就到森林砍些木頭為你做一個吧！」可女人又害怕起來，如果有了木頭，做成卷軸，她就只得繞線了。她腦子一轉(zhuǎn)，想了條好計，便悄悄地跟在丈夫的后面走進(jìn)森林。丈夫爬上一棵樹去挑好木頭來做料，她就溜進(jìn)丈夫看不到的樹叢中，向上面喊道：

　　「伐木做軸，難逃一死；絞盤纏線，沒好下場?！?/p>

　　丈夫聽后放下了斧子，細(xì)細(xì)體會著這話的含義，最后自言自語道：「唉，管它呢！一定是我耳朵的錯覺，我可不想嚇唬自己。」說完，他又揚(yáng)起斧子，準(zhǔn)備要砍。突然樹下又喊：

　　「伐木做軸，難逃一死；絞盤纏線，沒好下場?！?/p>

　　丈夫又驚又怕，再次放下了斧子，朝四周張望。但過了一會，他又鼓起了勇氣，抓起斧子要干，但是樹下第三次喊了起來，而且聲音更大：

　　「伐木做軸，難逃一死；絞盤纏線，沒好下場?！?/p>

　　丈夫再也抵擋不住了，嚇得魂不守舍，連忙滑下樹來往家趕。女人卻抄近道飛快地跑回了家。丈夫一進(jìn)屋，女人就裝出若無其事的樣子問：「怎么，砍了塊做軸的好木回來沒有？」「沒有！」丈夫答道，「看來線是繞不成了?！菇又?，他把樹林里發(fā)生的一切告訴了女人。從此不再拿紡紗繞線來煩她?？蓻]過多久，丈夫見屋里亂糟糟的，就又發(fā)開了牢騷?！咐掀叛?，這紡過的線亂糟糟地纏在一起，真不像話！」「好吧，因為我沒有卷軸，你就爬上閣樓，我站在下面，我把線團(tuán)扔給你，你再扔下來，如此反覆線就繞好了?！埂负冒桑瓦@么干吧！」於是，夫妻倆一上一下拋紗纏線，線纏好了，丈夫說：「我已經(jīng)繞好了，現(xiàn)在該漿了?！埂负冒?，明天我就漿?！古俗炖镞@么說，心里卻在盤算著如何逃過這一關(guān)，於是又生出了條懶計來。第二天早上一起來，她就生起了火，再把鍋架在上面?？伤龥]把紗線放進(jìn)鍋里，放進(jìn)的卻是些粗麻疙瘩。然后她走到床邊對睡著的丈夫說：「我要出去一趟，你照看一下鍋里的紗線。你得留點(diǎn)神，如果雞叫了還不去看，紗線就會變成亂麻團(tuán)?！拐煞蚺抡`事，趕緊起身，來到廚房里，向鍋里一瞅發(fā)現(xiàn)里面盡是些粗麻疙瘩，不禁愕然。這可憐的丈夫以為是自己失了職，就再也不敢向女人提起紡紗的事?？赡銈円欢ㄒf，這女人多么惡毒呀。