The Mythology & Folklore Database
One of the girls span very industriously, but the other one liked to spend her time chatting, and furthermore, when evening came she was the first one who began to nod and to sleep. When the industrious one quit work for the night at eleven o'clock, the lazy one had already slept a few hours. For this reason the lazy sister caused the industrious girl much grief.
It was Easter time, and on Easter Eve the industrious girl sat spinning while the other one had gone out to see the Easter celebration and to amuse herself.
Liese was spinning when the clock struck eleven. The door opened and in walked a beautiful woman wearing a long white silken dress. She had beautiful long golden yellow hair and carried in her hand a beautiful distaff, white as silver and fine as silk. With a friendly voice she greeted the good girl, who was just letting the last flax run onto the reel as thread.
Feeling the thread, she said:
Industrious Liese,Then she touched the girl's spinning wheel with her golden distaff, and with a friendly smile she disappeared. And who was she? She was Frau Holle.
Empty is your distaff,
Fine is your thread,
You have done well.
Following this appearance, industrious Liese went to bed. Her sister came home later and went to bed as well. On Easter morning when the two girls got up, in the place of Liese's wooden spinning wheel there stood one of shining gold. It sparkled and glistened magnificently, and the thread that Liese had spun was as fine and white as silk. And as she unreeled it, she discovered that however much thread she removed, the reel remained full. Liese was delighted!
However, when the lazy girl looked at her spinning wheel, she was startled to discover that her distaff was covered with straw instead of flax. And her chest was now filled with chopped straw instead of the beautiful linen cloth that had been there.
And that is why even today they say that the distaff must be spun empty on the Holy Evening, or Frau Holle will come and bring chopped straw.