The Golden Spinning-Wheel: The Story of King Dobromil and the Good Dobrunka

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Zloboha was standing at a window of the palace looking down into the courtyard when she saw the boy with a golden distaff.

“Mother!” she cried. “Come and see! There’s that boy again sitting near the gate and this time he has a golden distaff!”

Mother and daughter at once went out to question the boy.

“What do you want for the distaff?” Zloboha asked.

“Two feet,” the boy said.

“Two feet?”

“Yes, two feet.”

“Tell me, what will your father do with two feet?”

“I don’t know. I never ask my father what he does with anything. But whatever he tells me to do, I do. That is why I can’t exchange the distaff for anything but two feet.”

“Listen, mother,” Zloboha said, “now that I have a golden spinning wheel, I ought to have a golden distaff to go with it. You know we have those two feet of Dobrunka’s hidden away. What if I gave them to the boy? We shall still have Dobrunka’s hands.”

“Well, do as you please,” the old woman said.

So Zloboha went and got Dobrunka’s feet, wrapped them up, and gave them to the boy in exchange for the distaff. Delighted with her bargain, Zloboha went to her chamber and the boy hurried back to the forest.

He gave the feet to the hermit and the old man carried them at once inside the cave. Then he rubbed Dobrunka’s wounds with some healing salve and stuck on the feet. Dobrunka wanted to jump up from the couch and walk but the old man restrained her.

“Lie quiet where you are until you are all well and then I’ll let you get up.”

Dobrunka knew that whatever the old hermit said was for her good, so she rested as he ordered.

On the third morning the hermit called the boy and gave him a golden spindle.

“Go to the palace again,” he said, “and today offer this spindle for sale. If any one asks you what you want for the spindle, say two hands. Don’t accept anything else.”

The boy took the golden spindle and when he reached the palace and sat down in the courtyard near the gate, Zloboha ran up to him at once.

“What do you want for that spindle?