Though they were peasants they were well off , for the soil on which they lived was fruitful , and yielded rich crops . One day they all three told their mother they meant to get married . To which their mother replied : ` Do as you like , but see that you choose good housewives , who will look carefully after your affairs ; and , to make certain of this , take with you these three skeins of flax , and give it to them to spin . Whoever spins the best will be my favourite daughter-in-law . ' Now the two eldest sons had already chosen their wives ; so they took the flax from their mother , and carried it off with them , to have it spun as she had said . But the youngest son was puzzled what to do with his skein , as he knew no girl -LRB- never having spoken to any -RRB- to whom he could give it to be spun . He wandered hither and thither , asking the girls that he met if they would undertake the task for him , but at the sight of the flax they laughed in his face and mocked at him . Then in despair he left their villages , and went out into the country , and , seating himself on the bank of a pond began to cry bitterly . Suddenly there was a noise close beside him , and a frog jumped out of the water on to the bank and asked him why he was crying . The youth told her of his trouble , and how his brothers would bring home linen spun for them by their promised wives , but that no one would spin his thread . Then the frog answered : ` Do not weep on that account ; give me the thread , and I will spin it for you . ' And , having said this , she took it out of his hand , and flopped back into the water , and the youth went back , not knowing what would happen next . In a short time the two elder brothers came home , and their mother asked to see the linen which had been woven out of the skeins of flax she had given them . They all three left the room ; and in a few minutes the two eldest returned , bringing with them the linen that had been spun by their chosen wives . But the youngest brother was greatly troubled , for he had nothing to show for the skein of flax that had been given to him . Sadly he betook himself to the pond , and sitting down on the bank , began to weep . Flop ! and the frog appeared out of the water close beside him . ` Take this , ' she said ; ` here is the linen that I have spun for you . ' You may imagine how delighted the youth was .
She put the linen into his hands , and he took it straight back to his mother , who was so pleased XXXXX it that she declared she had never seen linen so beautifully spun , and that it was far finer and whiter than the webs that the two elder brothers had brought home .
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