The Spinning-Woman by the Spring

The Spinning-Woman by the Spring or The Kind and the Unkind Girls is a widespread, traditional folk tale, known throughout Europe[1] and in certain regions of Asia, including Indonesia.

The kind girl, however, obeys requests from grateful animals and learns from the birds' song that she must line the sieve with clay to complete her task.

[3] According to scholar Warren Roberts, this narrative appears in Southeastern Europe, namely, Italy, Greece,[4] Russia, Poland, Slovakia, Yugoslavia, and Bulgaria.

[10] According to scholar Christine Goldberg, Warren E. Roberts, through the historic-geographic method, distinguished two forms of the tale type, one old and one new, and their origin point as the Near East.

[11] However, Slovak professor Viera Gaspariková [uk] suggested that the tale type AaTh 480 is "relatively recent" and originated in Europe, in a Romance-speaking region.

[23] A similar opinion is shared by ethnologist Geneviève Calame-Griaule [fr]: according to her, the tale type "seems deeply rooted" in Africa, due to "its frequency and permanence".

[24] According to scholar Denise Paulme, in African tales, the good character meets an old man or old woman on their way to fetch some water, and this mysterious elder asks her to delouse them or to give them food.