red fairy book

Chapter 30 The Girl Weaving Nettles
1.

A long time ago, in the Xoni region of Flanders, the name of the princess here was Burchard, but the people here called him the wolf, because he had a cold, cruel and evil heart.It is said that he put the harness on the farmers, let them plow the land for him barefoot, and whipped them if they were not satisfied.

His wife, on the contrary, was always gentle and sympathetic to the poor.

Whenever she heard of her husband's evil deeds, she secretly went to atone for him, and people blessed her. The Duchess was loved as much as her husband was hated.

2.

One day, the Duke of Burchard went hunting and passed a forest.At the door of a lonely cottage, he saw a beautiful girl spinning hemp thread.

"What's your name?" he asked her.

"Renida, sir."

"Aren't you tired of being in this remote place?"

"I'm used to it, sir. I never tire of it."

"Perhaps. But come to the castle and be my lady's maid."

"No, sir. I have to take care of my grandmother, who is too old to work now."

"I asked you to come to the castle, tonight." Then he left.

Reinida is engaged to a lumberjack named Gerbert, she doesn't want to go to the palace, and she has to take care of her grandmother.

Three days later, the Duke passed by here again.

"Why don't you come?" he asked the pretty weaver girl.

"I've said it, sir. I've got to take care of Granny."

"Come tomorrow, and serve as a maid to the Duchess." He said and left.

It was useless, Reinida still did not go.

The next time he passed by, he said, "As long as you come, I will send the Duchess away and marry you in."

The Duchess helped the family when Reinida's mother died of a long and serious illness two years ago.Therefore, Reinida rejected the duke's marriage proposal.

3.

A few weeks later, the Duke of Burchard came again.

Reinida thought the affair was over.But one day, when she was at the door, she saw him coming over with a duck-shooting gun and a bag of ducks on his shoulder.This time she was spinning flax.

"What are you spinning?" he asked harshly.

"My wedding dress, sir."

"So, you're getting married?"

"Yes, sir, if you will."

In her time, peasants could not marry without the consent of the lord.

"There is only one possibility I agree with. You have seen the nettles in the cemetery. They grow very tall. Go and gather them and weave two beautiful dresses. One is your bridal gown and the other is my shroud. I You can only get married on the day you die." After speaking, the Duke walked away with a grim smile.

Reinida trembled.I've never heard of it being able to spin nettles.

Besides, the duke seemed solid, and he was so proud of his strength that he often boasted that he would live to be a hundred years old.

Every evening, after his farm work, Gerbert came to visit his future bride.He also came that evening, and Reinida told him what the Duke had said.

"Would you like me to follow this wolf and smash his head with an axe?"

"No!" said Renida, "don't spill blood on my bridal bouquet. We can't hurt the Duke. Remember, the Duchess is kind to my mother."

At this time, Reinida's grandma spoke. She was over 90 years old and dozed off in a chair all day without saying a word.

"Children," she said, "in all the years I've lived, I've never heard of nettles being used for bridal gowns. But God can make anything. Why can't Reinida try?"

4.

Renida tried.She was surprised to find that crushed nettles yielded a fine silk thread, soft and light and strong.Soon, she was spinning her first dress, her bridal gown.She cut it up as soon as she wove it, hoping the duke wouldn't force her to make another one.When she had just finished knitting, the Duke came.

"Well, how is the knitting going?" he asked.

"Sir, this is my wedding dress." Reinida showed him that it was the whitest and most exquisite dress he had ever seen.

The Duke's face turned pale immediately, and he hurriedly replied, "Excellent, let's do the next one."

Renida started to do it.The Duke returned to the castle, shivering.He felt, as the old saying goes, that someone had stepped on his grave.At dinner, he tried to get something to eat, but couldn't.He went to bed feeling hot all over, but couldn't fall asleep, and couldn't get up in the morning.

The sudden onset of the disease had taken a turn for the worse, he thought uneasily, and there was no doubt that Reinida's spinning wheel knew this.Is his body and shroud ready for burial?Duke Burchard sent someone to inform Reinida not to weave any more.

In the evening Gerbert asked her, "Does the Duke agree to our marriage?"

"Not yet," said Renida.

"Sweetheart, keep working. This is the only way. He said it himself."

5.

The next morning she made up her room and sat down to spin.Two hours later, two soldiers came, saw her spinning, grabbed her, tied her hands and feet, and dragged her to the bank of the river, which has been swollen due to the recent rain.

They threw her in the river, watched her sink, and left.But Reinida buoyed up again, and although she couldn't swim, she struggled to reach the shore.

She went straight home and sat down to spin again.

Two more soldiers came, dragged her to the bank, tied a stone around her neck, and threw her into the river.

No sooner had they turned around than the stone let go.Reinida waded out into the shallows and went back to spinning.

This time the Duke made up his mind to come by himself, but he was too weak to walk, so he was brought on a stretcher.

The spinning wheel was still spinning.

He saw it and shot her like a wild animal.The bullet bounced back without hurting anyone, and the spinning girl continued spinning.

The Duke was so enraged that he smashed the spinning wheel to pieces and fell unconscious.When he was carried back to the castle, he still didn't wake up.

The next day, the spinning wheel was repaired, and the spinning girl continued to work.The duke sensed it and ordered her hands to be tied and watch over her 24 hours a day.

But the guard fell asleep, the shackles came loose, and the spinning wheel went on.

The nearby nettles were all uprooted by the Duke's men, but some still emerged from the soil, even from the well-kept floor of the farm, and grew rapidly and wildly.Crushed and ready for spinning.

The Duke's illness worsened day by day, and he saw that he was not far from death.

6.

Sympathetic to her husband's condition, the Duchess finally discovered the cause of his illness and begged him not to do it again.But the duke proudly refused to consent to the marriage.

The Duchess made up her mind to go there herself, and for the sake of Reinida's dead mother, stop knitting.

Reinida agreed, but in the evening, when Gerbert came and saw that she had not continued weaving, he asked her why, and she explained that the Duchess had come to beg her.

"Then he consented to our marriage?"

"No."

"Then let him die."

"But what about the Duchess?"

"The Duchess should know it was not your fault. The Duke is responsible for his own death."

"Let's wait, maybe he will soften his heart."

They waited a month, two months, six months, and finally, a year.The Duke did not persecute her any more, but he did not agree to her marriage either.Gerbert grew impatient.

The poor girl loved him with all her heart.She is not happier than before.

"Finish it," said Gerbert.

Reinida begged, "Wait a little longer."

But young people are tired.He doesn't come to see her very much, and even if he does, he stays for a short time.Reinida's heart was about to break, but she remained firm.

One day, Reinida met the Duke.She clasped her palms together, as if praying, and shouted, "Master, have mercy."

The Duke changed his face and left.

One more step from her to the spinning wheel would humiliate his pride.But, she didn't.

It wasn't long before she heard that Gerbert was leaving the place without even saying goodbye to her.However, she still had a deep love, knowing the time of his departure, she hid on the side of the road and secretly watched him go.

When she got home, she put the spinning wheel in a corner and cried for three days and three nights.

7.

Another year has passed.The Duke was ill, and the Duchess guessed that Reinida, tired of waiting, had resumed knitting the shroud, but she went there to see that the spinning wheel was quiet.

However, the Duke's illness was getting worse day by day, and finally, the doctor declared him dead.The bell struck and he lay in bed waiting to die.But, unlike the doctors thought so quickly, he was still lingering.

His situation was hopeless, but it dragged on like this, neither better nor worse.He could die or live, and he endured the horror, crying out for death to end his suffering.

Just then he thought of the weaving girl.Death came so slowly, it must be because he was not ready, the shroud was not ready.

He sent for Reinida, told her to come to his bedside, and told her to start knitting his shroud at once.

As soon as Reinida started knitting, he felt less pain.

His heart softened, he felt guilty for the bad things he did out of pride, and begged Renida to forgive him.Reinida forgave him and continued weaving day and night.

Nettle threads and shuttles danced in her hands.Then, cut into cloth and start sewing.

As she sewed, the Duke felt the pain lessen again, and the life slowly settled in him, and he let out his last breath as the last stitch closed.

8.

At this time, Gerbert returned.He loved Reinida all the time, and eight days later he married her.

He lost two years of happy time.But, to his relief, his wife is smart, brave, and kind.

(End of this chapter)