A girl was spinning. Work frustrated her. It was slow and boring. When she spotted a knot in the thread, she tore all the flax apart and threw it on the floor. Her servant thought the material could come in handy.
With some creativity, she made a nice gown out of the shreds.
With some creativity, she made a nice gown out of the shreds.
Not long after, a suitor came to her mistress. He wanted to marry the lazy girl. She was pretty and he didn't know about her laziness. The wedding preparations started.
There was a party in the evening. The servant used the opportunity to dance in her new gown. The groom noticed how beautifully dressed she was.
There was a party in the evening. The servant used the opportunity to dance in her new gown. The groom noticed how beautifully dressed she was.
Her mistress remarked it was made of her turds. The groom wanted to know more and eventually found out how lazy was his bride-to-be, and how industrious her servant was. He changed his mind.
Instead of the mistress, he married the servant.
***
There is not much magic in this story, yet it offers some interesting comparisons to much more known classic fairy tales, and also a few valuable life lessons. It would be a shame to completely forget it.
Let's take a look at the spinning. Spinning is very often presented in fairy tales. It was an important part of women's activities, especially at times when working in the fields for different reasons was not possible. Spinning provided small but sometimes still important additional income to the family. It was also some kind of test for future wives. A young woman who was known as a skillful spinner had better chances for marriage, especially if she was 'competing' with other girls with similar financial (poor) status. Not just for spinning but also because spinning proved she could work hard and patiently.
For spinning, you need patience and skill. It takes a lot of time and is traditionally connected with storytelling. It's also a typical job for women. Maybe because men, in general, are less patient?
There is also strong symbolism about spinning. From Greek mythology we are familiar with three spinners: Clotho (Spinner) spins the thread of human fate, Lachesis (Allotter) dispenses it, and Atropos (Inflexible) cuts it. They are symbolic creators of our lives. The act of creation is symbolically presented by a flax thread making a dress. The spindle (distaff), used for spinning, is a strong phallic symbol. It symbolically 'creates life' just like phallus does in real life.
While we can simply replace spinning in classic fairy tales with other boring, demanding, low-paid activities, we can't find relevant symbolic meanings for them that lose the erotic tension and impoverish the fairy tales. Think about Sleeping Beauty, who pricks her finger and falls into bed to be awakened only to be married. Isn't there a strong case of lost virginity? Or about Rumpelstiltskin (whose name, by the way, is a slang term for the male reproductive part), who spends three nights alone with a young girl 'spinning' to be entitled to her firstborn?
We can also mention the popular fairy tale theme of rivalry, which, in this case, leads to the marriage of the girl with apparently worse chances. Such distance competition is more often in siblings' rivalry, yet in essence, we are dealing with the same case. The favorite loses, and the underdog wins big time.
Gilbert James decided to use only red for the illustrations of The Hurds. This color was not chosen by coincidence because it carries all the characteristics connected to this simple, almost invisible love triangle: life, love, passion, and strength. To learn more, visit the article with the facts about color red. And don't forget to tell your friends!
Instead of the mistress, he married the servant.
***
There is not much magic in this story, yet it offers some interesting comparisons to much more known classic fairy tales, and also a few valuable life lessons. It would be a shame to completely forget it.
Let's take a look at the spinning. Spinning is very often presented in fairy tales. It was an important part of women's activities, especially at times when working in the fields for different reasons was not possible. Spinning provided small but sometimes still important additional income to the family. It was also some kind of test for future wives. A young woman who was known as a skillful spinner had better chances for marriage, especially if she was 'competing' with other girls with similar financial (poor) status. Not just for spinning but also because spinning proved she could work hard and patiently.
For spinning, you need patience and skill. It takes a lot of time and is traditionally connected with storytelling. It's also a typical job for women. Maybe because men, in general, are less patient?
There is also strong symbolism about spinning. From Greek mythology we are familiar with three spinners: Clotho (Spinner) spins the thread of human fate, Lachesis (Allotter) dispenses it, and Atropos (Inflexible) cuts it. They are symbolic creators of our lives. The act of creation is symbolically presented by a flax thread making a dress. The spindle (distaff), used for spinning, is a strong phallic symbol. It symbolically 'creates life' just like phallus does in real life.
While we can simply replace spinning in classic fairy tales with other boring, demanding, low-paid activities, we can't find relevant symbolic meanings for them that lose the erotic tension and impoverish the fairy tales. Think about Sleeping Beauty, who pricks her finger and falls into bed to be awakened only to be married. Isn't there a strong case of lost virginity? Or about Rumpelstiltskin (whose name, by the way, is a slang term for the male reproductive part), who spends three nights alone with a young girl 'spinning' to be entitled to her firstborn?
We can also mention the popular fairy tale theme of rivalry, which, in this case, leads to the marriage of the girl with apparently worse chances. Such distance competition is more often in siblings' rivalry, yet in essence, we are dealing with the same case. The favorite loses, and the underdog wins big time.
Gilbert James decided to use only red for the illustrations of The Hurds. This color was not chosen by coincidence because it carries all the characteristics connected to this simple, almost invisible love triangle: life, love, passion, and strength. To learn more, visit the article with the facts about color red. And don't forget to tell your friends!
