"The Three Spinners" (also The Three Spinning Women; German: Die drei Spinnerinnen) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in Grimm's Fairy Tales (KHM 14). It is Aarne–Thompson type 501, which is widespread throughout Europe. It has obvious parallels to Rumpelstiltskin and Frau Holle, and obvious differences, so that they are often compared. Giambattista Basile includes an Italian literary fairy tale, The Seven Little Pork Rinds, in his 1634 work, the Pentamerone. Italo Calvino's Italian Folktales includes a variant, And Seven!. The first edition of Grimm's Fairy Tales contained a much shorter variant, Hateful Flax Spinning, but it is "The Three Spinners" that became well-known. Origin The tale was published by the Brothers Grimm in the second edition of Kinder- und Hausmärchen in 1819. Their principal source was Paul Wigand (1786–1866), completed by the versions of Jeanette Hassenpflug (1791–1860) and Johannes Prätorius (1630–1680). The first edition (1812) contained a shorter variant titled "Hateful Flax Spinning" (Von dem bösen Flachsspinnen), based on Jeanette Hassenpflug's account. Synopsis Once there was a beautiful-but-lazy girl named Sarah who would not spin. While her mother beats her for it, the Queen, passing by, overhears and asks the reason for the punishment. Ashamed to admit that Sarah is lazy, the woman replies that Sarah spins so much that her mother cannot afford to buy enough flax to keep her occupied. The Queen, impressed by such industry, offers to take Sarah with her. Once at the castle, the queen takes the girl to a room filled with flax. If she spins it all within three days, she'll be rewarded with marriage to the queen's oldest son. Two days later, the queen returns and is amazed to find the flax untouched. The Sarah pleads that homesickness has kept her from spinning, but she realizes that excuse will not serve her twice. Three women appear in the room that night. One has a grotesquely swollen foot; the second, an overgrown thumb; the third, a pendulous lip. They offer to spin all the flax for the girl if she will invite them to her wedding, introduce them as her aunts, and seat them at the high table. She agrees, and they commence and complete the spinning. In the morning, the queen is satisfied to see the flax all spun. She arranges for the wedding to her son, the prince, and the girl asks to invite her "aunts".