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

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful bei ...

collected by the

Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob Grimm, Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Grimm, Wilhelm (1786–1859), were Germans, German academics who together collected and published folklore. The brothers are among the best-known storytellers of Oral tradit ...

, 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 a tool used to store elongated and flexible objects (e.g. yarns/ cords, ribbons, cables, hoses, etc.) by wrapping the material around a cylindrical core known as a '' spool''. Many reels also have flanges (known as the ''rims'') arou ...

, but left it on the

bobbin A bobbin or spool is a spindle or cylinder, with or without flanges, on which yarn, thread, wire, tape or film is wound. Bobbins are typically found in industrial textile machinery, as well as in sewing machines, fishing reels, tape measures ...

. 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 ...

and said it must be boiled. Then she put some tow 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''

References

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