The Lazy Spinner

In a small village where every woman was expected to be skilled at spinning thread, there lived a woman named Greta who had a peculiar problem. Though she was married to a hard-working man who expected her to contribute to their household by spinning, Greta absolutely despised the tedious work of turning flax into thread.

The Problem with Spinning

Greta’s husband, Klaus, was a kind man who worked hard in the fields from dawn to dusk. He naturally expected that while he was earning money through his labor, his wife would be busy at home spinning the flax they grew into valuable thread that could be sold at market.

But Greta found spinning to be the most boring, tiresome work imaginable. The constant turning of the spinning wheel, the careful attention required to keep the thread even, and the hours of sitting in one place made her feel restless and miserable.

“I simply cannot bear this spinning another moment,” she would complain to herself. “There must be a better way to live than sitting at this wheel all day long.”

The First Excuse

One morning, Klaus reminded Greta that she had a large amount of flax to spin before the end of the week. “Make sure you get it all done, dear wife,” he said as he headed out to work in the fields. “We need the money from selling that thread.”

As soon as Klaus was out of sight, Greta sat down at her spinning wheel with great reluctance. She had barely started spinning when she deliberately allowed a small piece of flax to get tangled in the wheel.

“Oh my!” she exclaimed loudly, though no one was there to hear her. “Look what has happened! The flax has gotten all wound up in the wheel, and now I cannot possibly continue spinning until this terrible mess is sorted out.”

She spent the entire day very slowly and carefully untangling the small piece of flax, making the simple task take many hours. When Klaus returned home, she showed him the “problem” and explained that she had worked all day trying to fix it but had made no progress on the actual spinning.

The Second Clever Plan

The next day, Klaus again reminded Greta about the spinning that needed to be done. This time, Greta came up with an even more creative excuse.

She took a small amount of thread that she had spun previously and deliberately tangled it into the most complicated knot she could manage. Then she sat down and began the slow process of untangling it.

When Klaus came home for his midday meal, he found Greta hunched over the tangled thread, working at it with intense concentration.

“What happened here?” he asked, concerned.

“Oh, husband,” Greta sighed dramatically, “the most terrible thing occurred! Just as I was making good progress on the spinning, the thread became horribly tangled. I have been working all morning to sort it out, but these knots are so complex that I fear it will take me the rest of the day to fix this mess.”

Klaus, being a practical man, offered to help untangle the thread, but Greta quickly protested. “Oh no, dear husband, you work so hard in the fields! This is my responsibility, and I must see it through myself, no matter how long it takes.”

The Third Excuse

On the third day, Greta decided to try a completely different approach. She hid the spinning wheel in the cellar and when Klaus asked about her progress, she put on her most distressed expression.

“Husband,” she said sadly, “I fear I have terrible news. Yesterday while I was spinning, I began to feel quite ill. My head started spinning just like the wheel, and I became so dizzy that I nearly fainted. I believe the constant motion of the spinning wheel is making me sick.”

Klaus was immediately concerned for his wife’s health. “Perhaps you should rest today and see if you feel better tomorrow,” he suggested kindly.

“I tried to continue this morning,” Greta continued, “but as soon as I sat down at the wheel, the dizziness returned even worse than before. I fear I may never be able to spin again!”

Klaus’s Growing Suspicion

After several more days of various creative excuses - including claims that the spinning wheel was making strange noises, that the flax was of poor quality, and that the thread kept breaking for mysterious reasons - Klaus began to suspect that his wife was not being entirely truthful.

He was not an unreasonable man, and he had noticed that Greta seemed perfectly healthy and energetic when she was doing anything other than spinning. Her “illnesses” and “problems” only appeared when it was time to work at the spinning wheel.

The Confrontation

One evening, Klaus decided to address the situation directly. “Greta, my dear wife,” he said gently, “I have been thinking about all the troubles you have been having with your spinning, and I wonder if perhaps there is something else going on.”

Greta realized that her husband was too clever to be fooled much longer. She decided that honesty might actually be the best policy.

“All right, Klaus,” she admitted with a sigh, “I confess that I absolutely hate spinning. It is the most tedious, boring work in the world, and I simply cannot bear to do it anymore. I would rather do any other kind of work than sit at that spinning wheel.”

The Wise Solution

Klaus was quiet for a moment, thinking about his wife’s confession. Then, to Greta’s surprise, he began to laugh.

“You silly woman,” he said with affection, “why didn’t you just tell me this in the first place? All these elaborate excuses must have taken more effort than simply doing the spinning!”

“But I thought you would be angry,” Greta said, confused by his reaction.

“I might have been at first,” Klaus admitted, “but watching you come up with excuse after excuse has actually been quite entertaining. You are far more creative at avoiding work than most people are at doing work!”

The New Arrangement

Klaus proposed a solution that surprised Greta. “Since you hate spinning so much, and since you are clearly very clever and creative, why don’t we try a different arrangement? You can take over managing our household finances and planning our crops and sales. That requires the kind of thinking you’re good at. I will hire the neighbor’s daughter to do our spinning, and we will pay her with some of the profits from your better planning.”

Greta was delighted with this arrangement. She discovered that she had a real talent for managing money and planning business ventures. Under her guidance, Klaus’s farm became more profitable than ever before.

The Unexpected Success

Greta threw herself into her new responsibilities with the same creativity and energy she had once used to avoid spinning. She found better markets for their crops, negotiated more favorable deals with merchants, and even started a small side business selling herbs and vegetables.

Within a year, Klaus and Greta were the most prosperous couple in their village, all because Greta had been allowed to use her talents in a way that suited her abilities and interests.

The Lesson Learned

The story of the lazy spinner became a favorite tale in the village, but not for the reasons people might expect. Rather than being a story about the evils of laziness, it became a lesson about the importance of understanding people’s different talents and finding the right work for each person.

Greta had never really been lazy - she had simply been trying to do work that was completely unsuited to her nature and abilities. Once she found work that challenged and interested her, she became one of the most industrious people in the village.

The Moral of the Story

Klaus learned that sometimes what appears to be laziness or defiance might actually be a sign that someone is in the wrong position. By listening to his wife and finding a solution that worked for both of them, he not only saved his marriage but also improved their entire life.

The tale taught others that every person has different gifts and talents, and that the key to happiness and success is finding ways to use those gifts productively rather than forcing everyone to do the same type of work.

The Happy Ending

Klaus and Greta lived happily for many years, with Greta managing their increasingly successful business ventures and Klaus focusing on the farming work he loved. They became an example in their community of how couples could work together by recognizing and respecting each other’s different strengths and preferences.

And although Greta never did learn to enjoy spinning, she never again needed to come up with creative excuses to avoid it - which, as Klaus often joked, was probably a relief to everyone involved.