The Lazy Beauty and Her Aunts

Once upon a time, there lived a poor widow, and she had a daughter—beautiful as a clear day, but as lazy as a pig—please forgive me for the comparison. In the entire town, there was no harder worker than the poor mother. And how skillfully she spun! Her dearest wish was for her daughter to grow up to be just as skilled.

But the daughter would wake up late, sit down to breakfast without even saying a prayer, and then spend the whole day idling about. Whatever she tried to do, it was as if her fingers were being burned. And how she dragged out her words, as if speaking were the hardest thing in the world, or perhaps her tongue was as lazy as she was. The poor mother endured much grief because of her. But the daughter remained carefree, only growing more beautiful.

One fine morning, when things couldn’t get any worse, the poor widow was shouting about the flour taxes when the prince himself rode past her house.

"Oh dear!" the prince exclaimed. "You must have a very disobedient child if it makes you scold so angrily. Surely this pretty girl couldn’t have upset you so!"

"Oh no, Your Highness, of course not!" replied the old pretender. "I was just scolding her for working too hard. Would you believe it, Your Highness, she can spin three pounds of flax in one day, weave it into cloth the next, and sew shirts from it on the third!"

"Oh heavens!" the prince marveled. "This is a girl who would please my mother. My mother is the finest spinner in the kingdom! Please, madam, be so kind as to dress your daughter in a bonnet and cloak and seat her behind me on my horse! Ah, my mother will be so delighted with her that perhaps in a week she’ll make her my bride. Truly! Of course, if the girl herself has no objections."

And so it was. The woman was overwhelmed with joy, embarrassment, and fear that the truth would come out. Before she could decide what to do, young Enty was seated behind the prince, and he rode off with his entourage, leaving the mother with a heavy purse. For a long time afterward, she couldn’t recover, fearing that something terrible might happen to her daughter.

The prince couldn’t yet judge Enty’s upbringing or intelligence from the few answers he managed to coax out of her. And the queen was stunned to see a peasant girl on horseback behind her son. But when she took a closer look at Enty’s pretty face and heard about her skills, the queen decided the girl was simply priceless! The prince seized a moment to whisper to Enty that if she wished to marry him, she must win over his mother, the queen, at all costs.

The evening wore on. The prince and Enty grew more and more enamored with each other. But the constant thought of spinning made her heart ache. When it was time for bed, the queen-mother led Enty to a splendid bedroom and, wishing her goodnight, pointed to a large bundle of excellent flax and said:

"You may start tomorrow morning whenever you wish, and I hope by the next morning we’ll see fine yarn spun from these three pounds of flax!"

That night, the poor girl hardly slept a wink. She cried and lamented not listening to her mother’s advice.

In the morning, as soon as she was left alone, Enty set to work with a heavy heart. Though she was given a spinning wheel of real mahogany and flax of the finest quality, her thread kept breaking. It was either as thin as a spider’s web or as thick as a whipcord. Finally, she pushed her chair back, dropped her hands onto her lap, and wept bitterly.

At that very moment, a little old woman with remarkably large feet appeared before her and asked:

"What’s the matter, my dear?"

"Well, I must turn all this flax into yarn by tomorrow morning. But I can’t even manage five yards of fine thread from it."

"Would you be ashamed to invite Big-Footed Old Woman to your wedding with the young prince? Promise to invite me, and while you sleep tonight, all three pounds of flax will turn into the finest yarn."

"Of course, I’ll invite you, gladly, and care for you all my life!"

"Splendid! Stay in your room until teatime, and you can tell the queen to come for the yarn tomorrow morning, at dawn if she likes."

And everything happened as the old woman promised. The yarn was fine and even, like the thinnest fishing line.

"What a clever girl!" said the queen. "I’ll have my own mahogany loom brought here. But you needn’t work anymore today. Work and rest, work and rest—that’s my motto! You’ll have time to weave the yarn tomorrow. And then, who knows..."

This time, the girl’s fear was even greater than before: she was terrified of losing the prince. But she still didn’t know how to prepare the warp or use the shuttle. She sat in despair when suddenly a small, perfectly square old woman appeared before her—her shoulders and hips were so broad. The visitor introduced herself as Square Old Woman and immediately struck the same deal with Enty as Big-Footed Old Woman had.

The queen was overjoyed when, early the next morning, she found the finished cloth—white and fine, like the best paper you’ve ever seen.

"Oh, what a darling!" said the queen. "Now, amuse yourself with the ladies and gentlemen. And if you sew fine shirts from this cloth tomorrow, you can give one to my son. You might even marry him right away!"

How could one not feel sorry for poor Enty the next day? The prince was almost hers, or she might lose him forever! But she gathered her patience and waited with scissors and thread in hand until noon. A moment later, she joyfully saw the appearance of a third old woman. This one had a huge red nose and introduced herself as Red-Nosed Old Woman. She was no less helpful than the others, and when the queen came for her early visit the next morning, a dozen fine shirts were already laid out on the table.

Well, now all that remained was the wedding. And rest assured, the wedding was grand. The poor mother was among the guests. At dinner, the old queen could talk of nothing but the splendid shirts. She dreamed of the happy time after the honeymoon when she and her daughter-in-law would do nothing but spin, weave, and sew shirts and shifts.

The groom wasn’t fond of such talk, and the bride even less so. The prince was about to interject when a footman approached and said to the bride:

"Your ladyship’s aunt, Big-Footed Old Woman, asks if she may enter."

The bride blushed and wished she could disappear, but fortunately, the prince intervened:

"Tell Mrs. Big-Footed that all my bride’s relatives are always heartily welcome."

The old woman with big feet entered and sat beside the prince. The queen wasn’t pleased, and after a few words, she asked rather sharply:

"Madam, why are your feet so large?"

"Well, Your Majesty, believe it or not, I’ve spent nearly my whole life standing at the spinning wheel. That’s why!"

"I swear, my dear," the prince said to his bride, "I won’t let you spend a single hour at the spinning wheel!"

The same footman announced again:

"Your ladyship’s aunt, Square Old Woman, wishes to enter, if you and the other noble guests have no objection."

Princess Enty was very displeased, but the prince invited the guest in. She sat down and drank to the health of everyone present.

"Madam," the old queen addressed her, "why are you so broad here, between your head and feet?"

"Because, Your Majesty, I’ve spent my whole life sitting at the loom."

"I swear by my authority!" said the prince. "My wife won’t sit at the loom for a single hour."

Once more, the footman entered.

"Your ladyship’s aunt, Red-Nosed Old Woman, asks permission to attend the feast."

The bride blushed even deeper, but the groom said graciously:

"Tell Mrs. Red-Nosed that she honors us!"

The old woman entered, was shown every respect, and seated near the head of the table. All the guests seated below her raised their glasses or cups to their noses to hide their smiles.

"Madam," the queen asked her, "would you be so kind as to tell us why your nose is so large and red?"

"You see, Your Majesty, I’ve spent my whole life bent over my sewing, and all the blood rushed to my nose."

"My dear," the prince said to Enty, "if I ever see a needle in your hands, I’ll run a thousand miles away from you!"

Now, boys and girls, though this story is amusing, its moral is quite wrong. If any of you mischievous ones try to imitate Enty in her laziness, you’ll see that you won’t be as lucky as she was. First, she was very, very pretty—far prettier than any of you. Second, she was helped by three powerful fairies. Fairies don’t exist anymore, nor do princes or lords who ride by and whisk you away, whether you’re hardworking or lazy. And third, it’s not even certain how happy the prince and Enty were once the cares and worries of life fell upon them.

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The Lazy Beauty and Her Aunts

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