Once upon a time, in Greece, there lived a young girl named Arachne. She was very pretty, with golden hair and blue eyes. Every day, she sat outside her house and would spin the finest thread and weave the most delicate cloth, with bright colours and designs. Many people came to buy cloth from her.
She was very proud of her skill. One day, seeing how light and airy the cloth was, a customer asked her, “Did Athena, the Queen of the Air, teach you how to weave?”
“Oh, no!” replied Arachne, “I learnt this skill on my own. Even Athena cannot spin or weave as soft and beautiful cloth as I can!”
Athena, the Queen of the Air, heard this remark and thought that it was high time to teach a lesson to that vain young girl!
Next morning, Arachne looked up to see a very tall and elegant lady standing before her, wearing a long gown. She looked at Arachne and said, “I am Athena. Do you still believe that you can spin and weave better than I can?”
Arachne bowed to her but replied, “Yes, I still think so very much!”
“In that case we should have a contest!” said Athena, “After three days we shall meet and Jupiter, the King of the gods, shall judge which of us is the better. If I lose, I shall never spin or weave again, and if you lose, you must never spin or weave.” Arachne agreed.
Three days later, everyone gathered to watch the strange competition. Jupiter was the judge. Arachne sat under the shade of a tree and made the most beautiful patterns watching the butterflies, grasshoppers and ladybirds. The cloth was soft and bright with many colours.
Athena sat on a cloud in the sky and her designs showed the sunbeams, clouds, flowers, men, castles and animals! It was beautiful and Jupiter judged it as being the best of the two.
Arachne wept, not because she had lost, but because she would never spin and weave.
Athena, moved by her tears, said, “We have to keep the promise made when the contest was held. But I can give you a form in which you will always be able to spin and weave.”
Arachne was delighted, Athena turned her into a spider! And you can see the beautiful delicate webs that she continues to weave always.
