English Original
A man and a woman lived in a village. The woman was so lazy that she never wanted to do any work. She never finished what the man gave her to spin, and what she did spin she did not wind onto a reel, but left it tangled on the bobbin. If the man scolded her, she always had a quick tongue, and would say, "Well, how can I wind it up? I don't have a reel. First you must go into the woods and get me one."
"If that's the problem," said the man, "then I'll go into the woods, and get some wood for a reel."
The woman was afraid that once he had the wood, he would make a reel, and she would have to wind up her yarn and begin to spin again. She secretly followed him into the woods. When he climbed a tree to cut wood, she hid in the brush below and cried upward:
Cut wood for a reel, and you shall die,
Wind onto it, and ruin your life.
The man listened, laid down his ax, and wondered. "Your ears must have been ringing," he said finally, and took up his ax again. But the call came a second time, and then a third, each time with the same warning. Frightened, he hastily climbed down and went home.
The woman took a shortcut and ran home first. When he entered the parlor, she innocently asked, "Well, did you bring a good piece of wood for a reel?"
"No," he said, "I see very well that winding onto a reel is not possible," and he told her what had happened. From then on, he said nothing more about it.
Nevertheless, a short time later the man complained again about the disorder. "Wife," he said, "it is a shame that the spun yarn is just lying there on the bobbin."
"Do you know what?" she said. "Since we have no reel, you go up into the loft. I will stand below and throw the bobbin up to you, then you throw it down to me. Thus we can make a skein."
"Yes, that will work," said the man. So they did. When finished, he said, "The yarn is skeined. Now it must be boiled."
The woman, again concerned, agreed to boil it the next morning but planned another trick. Early, she got up, started a fire, and put the kettle on. However, instead of the yarn, she put in a clump of tow and let it boil. Then she went to the man, still in bed, and said, "I must go out. Get up and look after the yarn in the kettle. Do it now, for if the cock crows and you are not looking, the yarn will turn into tow."
The man agreed and hurried to the kitchen. But when he looked into the kettle, he saw with horror nothing but a clump of tow.
Afterward, the poor man was as quiet as a mouse, thinking it was his fault. He never spoke of yarn or spinning again. But you yourself must admit that she was a disgusting woman.
中文翻译
一个男人和一个女人住在村子里。女人非常懒惰，从不想做任何工作。男人给她纺的纱，她从未纺完过；就算纺了一点，也从不会绕到卷轴上，而是任其缠结在线筒上。如果男人责备她，她总是巧舌如簧，说：“哎呀，我怎么绕线呢？我没有卷轴。你得先去树林里给我弄一个来。”
“如果问题在这儿，”男人说，“那我就去树林里，找些木头做个卷轴。”
女人害怕一旦他有了木头，就会做出卷轴，那她就得把纱线绕完，然后重新开始纺纱。她偷偷跟着他进了树林。当他爬上树砍木头时，她躲在下面的灌木丛里，朝上喊道：
砍木做卷轴，你将丧命，
绕线于其上，毁你一生。
男人听了，放下斧头，疑惑不解。“肯定是你的耳朵在嗡嗡响，”他最后说道，又拿起了斧头。但喊声第二次，接着第三次响起，每次都发出同样的警告。他吓坏了，急忙爬下树回家了。
女人抄近路抢先跑回了家。当他走进客厅时，她装作若无其事地问：“嗯，你带回来做卷轴的好木头了吗？”
“没有，”他说，“我现在很明白，绕线到卷轴上是不可能的。”然后他告诉了她在树林里发生的事。从那以后，他再也没提过这件事。
然而，没过多久，男人又开始抱怨家里的杂乱。“老婆，”他说，“纺好的纱就这么放在线筒上，真是可惜。”
“你知道吗？”她说，“既然我们没有卷轴，你上阁楼去。我站在下面把线筒扔给你，你再扔下来给我。这样我们就能做成绞纱了。”
“好，这办法行，”男人说。他们照做了。完成后，他说：“纱线绞好了。现在得煮一下。”
女人又装出担心的样子，同意第二天早上煮，但心里又盘算着一个诡计。一大早，她起床生火，放上水壶。然而，她没有放纱线，而是放了一团粗麻絮进去煮。然后她走到还在床上的男人跟前，说：“我得出去一下。你现在起床，照看炉子上壶里的纱线。马上就去，因为如果公鸡打鸣时你还没照看，纱线就会变成粗麻絮。”
男人答应了，毫不耽搁。他立刻起床，尽快赶到厨房。但当他走到水壶前一看，惊恐地发现里面除了一团粗麻絮，什么也没有。
之后，这个可怜的男人像老鼠一样安静，一言不发，认为这是自己的错，该受责备。从此以后，他再也不提纱线和纺纱的事了。但你自己必须承认，她是个令人厌恶的女人。