Spindella

          Once upon a time, in a faraway land there was a tiny kingdom. In a charming village, near the palace, lived a very poor old woman and her daughter Eliza. Her husband died sometime ago and both she and Eliza had to work very hard to make ends meet. They made their living by spinning which didn’t earn them a lot of money, but just enough to keep them alive.

          Eliza was a good girl and did everything she could to help her mother. But Eliza hated spinning; to her it was the most boring thing to do ever. It made her sigh whenever she was at her spinning wheel, she even sighed while she was spinning.

          “My child, why do you sigh so much when we spin?” asked her mother.

          “Forgive me for complaining Mother” said Eliza “it’s just that I find spinning very, very boring. I hate having to do this for hours and hours every day”.

          “Yes darling” said her mother “I know that it is tiring having to spin thread on these bobbins all the time. But it is the only way that you and I can earn our living”.

          Eliza knew that her mother was right, but she wished that she and her mother had a better life than this. She also wished that she never had to spin thread ever again

          One day a messenger from the palace came to visit Eliza and her mother. He explained that the queen needed their help.

          “Is something wrong sir” said Eliza’s mother.

          “Well the thing is madam” said the messenger “it’s that the queen has a lot of thread that needs to be spun, but the spinner has come down with a cold and the queen needs her thread to be spun as soon as possible. Can you come and do it please?”

          Eliza could not believe what she just heard. It was bad enough that she and her mother had a lot of spinning to do at home, but spinning all the thread in the palace would be double the amount of work. She asked the messenger if she could do the spinning at the palace, while her mother stayed at home. The messenger said it was alright and said he would be waiting outside for her in the carriage.

          “My child” said Eliza’s mother “are you sure you want to do all that spinning by yourself?”

          “Mother, you have a lot to do here at home” said Eliza “if I do the spinning at the castle, you can do the spinning here. That way we won’t be behind on our work”. Her mother understood. Eliza bid farewell to her mother and set off to the palace with the messenger.

          When they arrived at the palace, the messenger introduced Eliza to the queen. The queen was grateful to Eliza for coming to do the spinning. The queen explained to her that she needed the spinning done in three days and it was important to be done by then. Eliza understood and promised the queen she wouldn’t let her down. The queen’s maid led Eliza to a room, where there was a spinning wheel, bobbins and lots and lots of thread waiting for her. Eliza could not believe what she was seeing! This was going to be triple the amount of spinning she did at home. But Eliza had no choice, the queen entrusted her to do the work so Eliza had to do it.

          So Eliza set to work on spinning the thread. She spent the whole day spinning the thread onto the bobbins until the sun went down. Eliza slept in the bed that was in the spinning room and as for food a maid would send up her lunch and dinner to her. The queen visited Eliza now and again to see how she was getting on; she was pleased with Eliza’s work. But Eliza was not happy; doing all this spinning was more boring to her than ever. At least she knew that she would get paid well for her hard work.

          The next day Eliza went back to work on spinning. She spun and sighed for hours, until there was a knock at the door. “Come in” said Eliza. A woman entered the room. She was a very old woman, with very wrinkly fingers.

          “Are you the one who does the spinning in the palace?” asked Eliza.

          “No my dear” said the old woman “I am just someone who helps people with spinning”.

          The old woman introduced herself as Spindella and asked Eliza if she needed help with the spinning.

          “I would like some help please” said Eliza “but I don’t want to give you trouble with this”.

          “It is no trouble at all dear” said Spindella “I’ve enjoyed doing spinning ever since I was your age”.

          So Eliza and Spindella began to finish the spinning together. While they spun they began to chat. Eliza spoke about how she found spinning thread very, very, boring. Then about how she and her mother spun thread everyday just to make ends meet. She also spoke about her wishes that she and her mother had a better life than they had now and about never having to spin thread ever again. Eliza then asked Spindella if she had any wishes.

          “The only wish I have is to have a child” said Spindella “I have always wanted a child, but I have always been an unmarried and childless woman. And I have no family relatives either so I will be spending the rest of my life alone”.

          Eliza felt sorry for Spindella; having no family would make anyone very lonely. She wished there was something she could do for Spindella, but she didn’t know what.

          With the help of Spindella, Eliza got all the spinning finished. All the bobbins were full of thread.

          “Thank you for helping me Spindella” said Eliza.

          “It is my pleasure dear” said Spindella, with a smile.

          Eliza wanted to introduce Spindella to the queen, but Spindella told Eliza not to bother with that. Then she left. Eliza still wanted to do something to thank Spindella, but was still not sure what.

          The next day, the queen entered the spinning room. Her son, the crowned prince of the palace, was with her. He wanted to meet the spinner his mother hired. When the queen saw Eliza’s finished work she was delighted and grateful to Eliza. When the prince’s and Eliza’s eyes met they fell in love immediately. The prince asked his mother if he could have Eliza as his wife. The queen was surprised but agreed; so did Eliza.

          On the day of the wedding Eliza told the prince about her friend Spindella. She asked him if she could become her guest of honour at the wedding, and when they had children she could become their nurse. The prince accepted the requests. Spindella was delighted to have been invited to the wedding and was honoured that she was to be Eliza’s future children’s nurse. She thanked Eliza with all her heart. Eliza was happy to have thanked Spindella with something for helping her. When the queen met Spindella she couldn’t stop noticing Spindella’s wrinkled fingers.

          “Forgive me for being curious” said the queen “but how did your fingers end up very wrinkly?”

          “Well you see your majesty” said Spindella “ever since I was Eliza’s age I had been doing nothing but spinning thread. When a girl spins thread until she reaches my age her fingers end up like mine”

          When both the queen and the prince heard what Spindella said, they became speechless. The prince ordered Eliza never to spin thread again; he didn’t want Eliza to end up with fingers all wrinkly. Eliza understood and promised her husband to never spin thread again.

          Eliza was now very happy; her wish about her and her mother having a better life came true. The best news was she never had to do anymore spinning. And Eliza remained happy for the rest of her life.