The Three Spinners
三个纺纱女
There was once a girl who was idle and would not spin(spin v.旋转，纺，纺纱)，and let her mother say what she would，she could not bring her to it.At last the mother was once so overcome with anger and impatience(impatience n.急躁)，that she beat her，at which the girl began to weep(weep vi.哭泣，流泪，哀悼，滴落)loudly.Now at this very moment the queen drove by，and when she heard the weeping she stopped her carriage，went into the house and asked the mother why she was beating her daughter so that the cries could be heard out on the road.Then the woman was ashamed(ashamed adj.惭愧的，羞耻的)to reveal(reveal vt.展现，显示，揭示，暴露)the laziness of her daughter and said，“I cannot get her to leave off spinning.She insists on spinning for ever and ever，and I am poor，and cannot procure(procure v.获得，取得)the flax(flax n.亚麻，麻布，亚麻织品，亚麻制的).”Then answered the queen，“There is nothing that I like better to hear than spinning，and I am never happier than when the wheels are humming(humming vbl.嗡嗡叫).Let me have your daughter with me in the palace.I have flax enough，and there she shall spin as much as she likes.”The mother was heartily satisfied with this，and the queen took the girl with her.When they had arrived at the palace，she led her up into three rooms which were filled from the bottom to the top with the finest flax.“Now spin me this flax，”said she，“and when you have done it，you shall have my eldest son for a husband，even if you are poor.I care not for that，your untiring(untiring adj.不知疲倦的)industry is dowry enough.”The girl was secretly terrified，for she could not have spun the flax，no，not if she had lived till she was three hundred years old，and had sat at it every day from morning till night.When therefore she was alone，she began to weep，and sat thus for three days without moving a finger.On the third day came the queen，and when she saw that nothing had yet been spun，she was surprised，but the girl excused herself by saying that she had not been able to begin because of her great distress(distress n.悲痛，穷困，不幸，危难，忧伤)at leaving her mother"s house.The queen was satisfied with this，but said when she was going away，tomorrow you must begin to work.
从前有个懒惰的女孩，她不会纺线。不管母亲怎么说怎么劝，她就是不肯。终于，母亲火了，失去了耐性，打她一顿，她便大声哭起来。这时正巧王后从门前经过，听见哭声吩咐停车，进屋来问母亲为什么打自己女儿打得这么狠，让她哭得在外面街上都听见了。母亲不好意思说自己的女儿是个懒虫，就回答：“我叫她别纺线了她不听，仍一个劲儿地纺啊纺啊，要知道我很穷，买不起那么多亚麻。”王后听了说：“我可是最爱听纺纱啦，只要纺车嗡嗡一响，我就会很高兴。让你女儿跟我进宫去吧，我有的是麻，她喜欢纺多久，就可以纺多久。”这正合母亲的心意，王后便带着女孩走了。到了宫中，王后领她去楼上的三间库房，只见从地面到天花板都装满了最好的亚麻。“喏，你就给我纺这些麻吧，”王后说，“你什么时候纺完了，我就让我的大儿子娶你做妻子。我不在乎你穷，只要你够勤劳，那就是你最好的嫁妆。”姑娘一听心里感到有些害怕。要知道她即使每天从早纺到晚，直纺到她满三百岁也休想把那么多麻纺完。现在剩下她一个人，她就哭起来，一坐坐了三天，手连动也没有动一下。第三天，王后来见她一点儿没有纺，感到很奇怪。姑娘却解释说，她离开娘家心里很难过，所以没能动工。王后觉得这话也有理，只是在离开时说：“明天你可必须给我开工！”