"The Lazy Spinner" or "The Lazy Spinning Woman" is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

fairy tale collected by the

Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among the ...

, tale number 128. It is Aarne-Thompson type 1405.

Synopsis

A lazy woman did not like to spin and when she did, did not wind onto a

reel A reel is an object around which a length of another material (usually long and flexible) is wound for storage (usually hose are wound around a reel). Generally a reel has a cylindrical core (known as a '' spool'') with flanges around the ends ...

, but left it on the bobbin. Her husband complained, and she said she needed a

to do that, but when he went to cut one, she sneaked after and called out that whoever cut a reel would die. This put him off cutting it, but he still complained. She then made some

yarn Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, used in sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery, ropemaking, and the production of textiles. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manu ...

and said it must be boiled. Then she put some

tow Towing is coupling two or more objects together so that they may be pulled by a designated power source or sources. The towing source may be a motorized land vehicle, vessel, animal, or human, and the load being anything that can be pulled. Th ...

in the pot instead and set her husband to watch. After some time, he opened the pot, saw the tow, and thought he had ruined the

. From then on, the husband didn't dare complain.

External links

''The Lazy Spinner''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lazy Spinner Lazy Spinner Textiles in folklore ATU 1350-1439