La maravillosa tejedora

I. LA URDIMBRE.

I. THE WARP.

Había una joven en Grecia cuyo nombre era Aracne. Su rostro era pálido pero hermoso, sus ojos grandes y azules, y su cabello largo y dorado.

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.

Todo lo que le importaba hacer desde la mañana hasta el mediodía era sentarse al sol a hilar; y todo lo que le importaba hacer desde el mediodía hasta la noche era sentarse a la sombra a tejer.

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.

¡Y oh, qué finas y hermosas eran las cosas que tejía en su telar!

And oh, how fine and fair were the things which she wove in her loom!

Lino, lana, seda... trabajaba con todo ello; y cuando salían de sus manos, la tela que había confeccionado era tan fina, suave y brillante que hombres de todas partes del mundo venían a verla.

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.

Y decían que una tela tan rara no podía estar hecha de lino, lana o seda, sino que la urdimbre era de rayos de sol y la trama de hilos de oro.

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.

Entonces, mientras la joven se sentaba día tras día al sol a hilar, o a la sombra a tejer, decía: “En todo el mundo no hay hilo tan fino como el mío, y en todo el mundo no hay tela tan suave y tersa, ni seda tan brillante y rara”.

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.”

“¿Quién te enseñó a hilar y tejer tan bien?”, preguntó alguien.

“Who taught you to spin and weave so well?” some one asked.

“Nadie me enseñó”, dijo ella. “Aprendí a hacerlo mientras me sentaba al sol y a la sombra; pero nadie me mostró”.

“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.”

“Pero podría ser que Atenea, la reina del aire, te enseñara, y tú no lo supieras”.

“But it may be that Athena, the queen of the air, taught you, and you did not know it.”

“¿Atenea, la reina del aire? ¡Bah!”, dijo Aracne. “¿Cómo podría ella enseñarme? ¿Puede hilar madejas de hilo como estas? ¿Puede tejer telas como las mías? Me gustaría verla intentarlo. Puedo enseñarle un par de cosas”.

“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.”

Miró hacia arriba y vio en el umbral a una mujer alta envuelta en una larga capa. Su rostro era hermoso de ver, pero severo, ¡oh, tan severo!, y sus ojos grises eran tan agudos y brillantes que Aracne no pudo sostenerle la mirada.

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.

“Aracne”, dijo la mujer, “soy Atenea, la reina del aire, y he escuchado tu jactancia. ¿Aún pretendes decir que no te he enseñado a hilar y tejer?”

“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?”

“Nadie me ha enseñado”, dijo Aracne; “y no agradezco a nadie por lo que sé”; y se puso de pie, erguida y orgullosa, junto a su telar.

“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.