The Three Weavers

by Annie Fellows Johnston
Available from Lamplighter Publishing and Amazon
*****
A "fairy" tale about three daughters and their fathers. At the birth of each of the girls, they are given a loom and golden thread on which to weave their ideals of the prince who will come for them, for a prince will come for each girl. The looms grow as the girls do, but their fathers have different responses to the looms.

One father laughs about it, and teases his daughter as she weaves about her thoughts of young men. She fancies many boys, and gives them the mantles she weaves. However, her standard was not that of the prince, and when he came for her, the mantle of her ideals did not fit him, and he went away.

Another father hides the loom, and she finds out about it from the previous girl. When she asks her father about it, he becomes angry, and tells her she is too young to be thinking of weaving on her loom. But her friend was weaving, so she wove and daydreamed in secret. She notices a page outside her window, and imagines him to be a prince. So she weaves her ideals to fit him, and gives the mantle to him. When her prince comes, her father decides to teach her how to weave an ideal of a true prince, to find that she has woven in her own way, and given her mantle away. She has nothing left to weave with, and the prince goes away.

The third girl hears about her loom, and asks her father. He teaches her how to weave, and gives her the yardstick by which to measure a true prince. As she weaves, she measures her ideals and dreams by the yardstick. Many young men come, but although she likes them, none measure to the stature of a prince. When finally the prince does come, the mantle she has woven had not been given away, and fitted him "in all faultlessness, as the falcon's feathers fit the falcon." And he took her away, and they lived happily ever after.

The book probably won't take anyone longer than a half hour to read, with large, storybook print, and poetic language (not meter). It's a sweet, excellent story.