The Golden Thread

Once upon a time, in a very small house, there lived a woman and her three daughters. The two older daughters were hard-working. They would do every job around the house that needed done, without complaint. But the youngest one, Hannah, wasn’t really excited about working. In fact, she was pretty lazy.

One day a handsome young man came to their house. He was looking for a suitable bride. He knocked, greeted everyone, and what did he see? The mother was cooking a delicious stew on the stove while the two older sisters were diligently spinning long threads. Only Hannah, the youngest, was lounging behind the stove and studying her fingernails.

“Madam,” the young lad couldn’t hide his surprise, “Why aren’t you making your youngest daughter work, too? Can’t she cook or clean? Is she unable to spin as well as her sisters?”

The mother thought she’d be more than happy to get rid of lazy, idle Hannah, so she quickly came up with a story: “Young man, indeed I would immediately give her the spindle. But Hannah is such an excellent spinner that she’d spin everything we have!” she said, nodding.

“Not only thread, but also the straw eaves from the roof and the sheaves from the field. She’d even spin my hair if I let her! And what would we do then? No sir, it’s better not to give her any work at all.”

The lad sized up the girl with his eyes in a serious manner, but didn’t trust the mother's praises in the slightest. “Is it true, madam?” he asked her in a mocking tone, to show he didn’t believe her.

“Of course it is!” she insisted. “And that’s not all! No sir, she doesn’t just spin simple threads. My Hannah spins nothing but pure…