Grimm's Household Tales

There was once a maiden who was pretty but idle and negligent. When she had to spin, she was so ill-tempered that if there was a little knot in the flax, she at once pulled out a whole heap of it and strewed it about on the ground beside her. Now she had a servant who was industrious, and who gathered together the bits of flax that were thrown away, cleaned them, spun them fine, and had a beautiful gown made out of them for herself. A young man had courted the lazy girl, and the wedding was to take place. On the eve of the wedding, the industrious one was dancing merrily about in her pretty dress, and the bride said:

“Ah, how that girl jumps about, dressed in my odds and ends.”

The bridegroom heard that and asked the bride what she meant by it. Then she told him that the girl was wearing a dress made of the flax that she had thrown away. When the bridegroom heard that, and saw how idle she was and how industrious the poor girl was, he gave up the bride, went to the other girl, and chose her as his wife.