There was a young girl in Greece whose name was Arachne. Her face was
pale but fair, and her eyes were big and blue, and her hair was long and
like gold. All that she cared to do from morn till noon was to sit in
the sun and spin; and all that she cared to do from noon till night was
to sit in the shade and weave.
And oh, how fine and fair were the things which she wove in her loom!
Flax, wool, silk--she worked with them all; and when they came from her
hands, the cloth which she had made of them was so thin and soft and
bright that men came from all parts of the world to see it. And they
said that cloth so rare could not be made of flax, or wool, or silk, but
that the warp was of rays of sunlight and the woof was of threads of
gold.
Then as, day by day, the girl sat in the sun and span, or sat in the
shade and wove, she said: "In all the world there is no yarn so fine as
mine, and in all the world there is no cloth so soft and smooth, nor
silk so bright and rare."
[Illustration: "'ARACHNE, I AM ATHENA, THE QUEEN OF THE AIR.'"]
"Who taught you to spin and weave so well?" some one asked.
"No one taught me," she said. "I learned how to do it as I sat in the
sun and the shade; but no one showed me."
"But it may be that Athena, the queen of the air, taught you, and you
did not know it."
"Athena, the queen of the air? Bah!" said Arachne. "How could she teach
me? Can she spin such skeins of yarn as these? Can she weave goods like
mine? I should like to see her try. I can teach her a thing or two."
She looked up and saw in the doorway a tall woman wrapped in a long
cloak. Her face was fair to see, but stern, oh, so stern! and her gray
eyes were so sharp and bright that Arachne could not meet her gaze.
"Arachne," said the woman, "I am Athena, the queen of the air, and I
have heard your boast. Do you still mean to say that I have not taught
you how to spin and weave?"
"No one has taught me," said Arachne; "and I thank no one for what I
know;" and she stood up, straight and proud, by the side of her loom.
"And do you still think that you can spin and weave as well as I?" said
Athena.
Arachne's cheeks grew pale, but she said: "Yes. I can weave as well as
you."
"Then let me tell you what we will do," said Athena. "Three days from
now we will both weave; you on your loom, and I on mine. We will ask all
the world to come and see us; and great Jupiter, who sits in the clouds,
shall be the judge. And if your work is best, then I will weave no more
so long as the world shall last; but if my work is best, then you shall
never use loom or spindle or distaff again. Do you agree to this?" "I
agree," said Arachne.
"It is well," said Athena. And she was gone.