head, where the unspun flax was twined, burst into tears. The beautiful maiden took the flax from her head, wound it round the stem of a slender birch, grasped the spindle, and began to spin. The spindle hummed along the ground and filled in no time. Before the sun sank behind the woods all the flax was spun, even that which was left over from the day before. The maiden handed Betushka the full spindle and said:
“Remember my words:
Reel and grumble not!
Reel and grumble not!”
When she said this, she vanished as if the earth had swallowed her.
Betushka was very happy now and she thought to herself on her way home: “Since she is so good and kind, I’ll dance with her again if she asks me. Oh, how I hope she does!”
She sang her merry little song as usual and the goats trotted cheerfully along.
She found her mother vexed with her, for she had wanted to reel yesterday’s yarn and had discovered that the spindle was not full.
