English Original
In a village lived a man and his wife. The wife was so idle that she never finished her spinning. The yarn she did spin remained tangled in a heap.
When her husband scolded her, she retorted, "How can I wind it without a reel? Go to the forest and get me one."
"If that's all," said the man, "I'll go get wood to make a reel."
The wife, fearing she'd have to work if he made a reel, followed him secretly into the forest. As he climbed a tree to cut wood, she hid in a thicket below and cried out:
"He who cuts wood for reels shall die,
And he who winds, shall perish."
The man paused, puzzled, but resumed cutting. The cry came again. He stopped, alarmed, but soon tried a third time. Upon hearing the warning once more, he lost all heart, hastily climbed down, and went home.
The wife ran back first. When he arrived, she innocently asked, "Did you bring wood for a reel?"
"No," he replied. "I see winding is not meant to be." He told her of the forest omen and left her in peace.
Later, the man complained again about the tangled yarn.
"Since we have no reel," the wife suggested, "you go to the loft. I'll stand below. We'll throw the yarn up and down to make a skein."
They did so. Afterwards, the man said, "Now the skein must be boiled."
"Yes, early tomorrow," the wife agreed, but she was already plotting.
At dawn, she lit a fire, put a kettle on, but boiled a lump of tow instead of the yarn. She then woke her husband: "I must go out. You watch the yarn boiling in the kettle. Be quick! If the cock crows and you're not watching, the yarn will turn to tow."
The man hurried to the kitchen. Peeking into the kettle, he saw, to his horror, only a lump of tow. Believing he had failed and was to blame, he stayed silent, never mentioning yarn or spinning again.
But you must admit, she was an odious woman!
中文翻译
一个村庄里住着一对夫妻。妻子非常懒惰，从不完成她的纺纱工作。她纺好的纱线总是乱糟糟地缠成一团。
当丈夫责备她时，她反驳道：“没有卷线轴，我怎么卷线？你去森林里给我找一个来。”
“如果只是这样，”丈夫说，“我就去砍些木头做一个卷线轴。”
妻子害怕他做好轴后自己就得干活，便偷偷跟着他进了森林。当丈夫爬上树砍木头时，她躲在下面的灌木丛里喊道：
“为卷线轴砍木者必死，
动手卷线者必亡。”
丈夫停下来，感到困惑，但又继续砍。喊声再次响起。他停下来，感到惊恐，但很快又尝试了第三次。再次听到警告后，他彻底没了勇气，急忙爬下树回家了。
妻子抢先跑回了家。丈夫一到，她便天真地问：“你带做卷线轴的木头回来了吗？”
“没有，”他回答。“我看卷线这事是成不了了。”他告诉她森林里的预兆，从此不再为此事烦她。
过了一阵，丈夫又抱怨起那堆乱纱线。
“既然我们没有卷线轴，”妻子提议，“你到阁楼上去。我站在下面。我们把纱线扔上扔下，就能做成纱束了。”
他们照做了。之后，丈夫说：“现在纱束必须煮一下。”
“好的，明天一早煮，”妻子同意了，但她已经在谋划另一个诡计。
黎明时分，她生起火，放上水壶，但煮的是一团麻絮，而不是纱线。然后她叫醒丈夫：“我得出去一下。你看着火上壶里煮的纱线。动作快点！如果公鸡叫的时候你不在照看，纱线就会变成麻絮。”
丈夫急忙赶到厨房。朝壶里一看，他惊恐地发现只有一团麻絮。他以为自己失职，过错在自己，于是保持沉默，从此再也不提纱线和纺纱的事了。
但你不得不承认，她真是个讨厌的女人！