to the castle. I have plenty of flax, and she can go on spinning there to her heart's content."
The mother was heartily pleased at this proposal, and so the queen left, taking the girl with her. On their arrival at the castle, she took her upstairs and showed her three rooms, filled from floor to ceiling with the most beautiful flax.
"Spin me all this," said the queen, "and when it is finished, you shall have my eldest son for your husband; your poverty is not a matter of any consequence to me for I consider that your unremitting industry is an all sufficient dowry."
The girl dared not say anything, but she inwardly trembled with fear, for she knew that she could never spin all that flax, were she to sit at her spinning-wheel from morning till night for three hundred years. As soon as she was alone, she began to weep, and she sat like that for three days, without doing a stroke of work.
When the queen came again on the third day, she was surprised to find that the flax had not been touched. The girl excused herself by saying that she had felt so lonely and homesick, that she had not been able to begin her spinning. The queen was satisfied with this excuse, but as she was leaving, she said: "To-morrow, mind, I shall expect you to begin your work."
Alone once more, the girl was at her wits' end to know what to do, and in her distress of mind went and looked out of the window. There she saw three funny looking women coming towards her; one had a big flat foot, another a large under-lip that hung over her chin; and the third a very broad thumb. They stood still under the window, and looking up, asked the girl what was the matter. She told them her trouble, and they offered
