more envious, and agreed to tell the queen how the lassie had said
she was good to weave the yarn she had spun in four and twenty hours.
So the queen said again, as she had said it she must do it; but if
she couldn't quite finish it in four and twenty hours, she wouldn't
be too hard upon her, she might have a little more time. This time,
too, the lassie dared not say No, but begged for a room to herself,
and then she would try. There she sat again, sobbing and crying, and
not knowing which way to turn, when another old woman came in and
asked:

'What ails you, child?'

At first the lassie wouldn't say, but at last she told her the whole
story of her grief.

'Well, well!' said the old wife, 'never mind. If you'll call me Aunt
on the happiest day of your life, I'll weave this yarn for you, and
so you may just be off, and lie down to sleep.'

Yes, the lassie was willing enough; so she went away and lay down to
sleep. When she awoke, there lay the piece of linen on the table,
woven so neat and close, no woof could be better. So the lassie took
the piece and ran down to the queen, who was very glad to get such
beautiful linen, and set greater store than ever by the lassie. But
as for the others, they grew still more bitter against her, and
thought of nothing but how to find out something to tell about her.

At last they told the queen the lassie had said she was good to make
up the piece of linen into shirts in four and twenty hours. Well, all
happened as before; the lassie dared not say she couldn't sew; so she