Welcome to this bedtime story about Arachne the Weaver.
Before we begin,
Go ahead and settle into your bed,
Preparing yourself for sleep.
Perhaps take a moment to slow down your breathing,
Focusing on the inhale and the exhale.
And gently close your eyes.
As you listen,
Allow your body to fall asleep in its own time.
There's no need to force it.
And in the meantime,
You get to enjoy a relaxing bedtime story about a young artist and the mythical goddess who recognized her gifts.
Wishing you a peaceful night's sleep.
There was a young girl in Greece whose name was Arachne.
Her face was radiant.
Her eyes sparkled.
And her hair was soft and silky.
All she wanted to do from morning till noon was sit in the sun and spin.
And all she wanted to do from noon till night was sit in the shade and weave.
How beautiful were the things she wove in her loom.
Flax,
Wool,
Silk.
She worked with them all.
And the cloth she made from them was so thin and soft and bright that people came from all parts of the world to see it.
They said that cloth so rare and lovely could not be made of ordinary materials like flax or wool or silk.
Surely,
Arachne's cloth must be woven from finer things like threads of pure gold.
As the girl spun and wove day after day,
She began to feel prouder and prouder of her work.
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.
Surely,
I must be the greatest weaver in all of the land.
Who taught you to spin and weave so well,
Someone asked her.
No one taught me,
She said.
I learned how to do it as I sat in the sun and the shade.
But it may be that Athena,
The queen of the air,
Is your teacher,
And you do not know it.
Perhaps it is she who gives you your inspiration for your art.
Athena,
The queen of the air,
Said Arachne.
How could she teach me?
There is nothing left for me to learn,
For I am the best there is.
Then Arachne tossed her fine hair and laughed.
As soon as she did this,
Her finger slipped on her loom and a gaping hole appeared in her cloth.
She tried to cover it up,
But the people watching her noticed.
It was the first mistake Arachne had ever made in her weaving,
But the young weaver would not admit it.
When Arachne looked up from her work,
She saw in the doorway a tall woman wrapped in a long cloak.
Her face was filled with grace and beauty,
But her eyes were so sharp and bright that Arachne could not meet her gaze.
Arachne said to the woman,
I am Athena,
The queen of the air,
And I have heard your words.
At this,
She knelt down gently to address the young weaver.
Are you quite sure that you cannot learn anything more?
Perhaps with my guidance you could spin even finer cloth than you already do.
No one can teach me anything new,
Said Arachne,
For I am the best there is.
As soon as she said this,
Her finger slipped again.
Arachne tried to hide the hole by draping her own cloak over it.
She was afraid that the young weaver would not notice her.
She was afraid that the young weaver would not notice her.
Arachne tried to hide the hole by draping her own cloak over it.
It was the second mistake Arachne had ever made in her weaving,
But still,
She would not admit it.
Athena pretended not to notice.
How about a contest?
She asked.
At this,
The goddess's bright eyes glittered with something that looked a little bit like mischief.
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.
Then we can see if you truly have nothing more to learn.
Very well,
Said Arachne.
When the time came for the contest in weaving,
All the world was there to see it,
And great Jupiter sat among the clouds and looked on.
Arachne had set up her loom in the shade of a mulberry tree,
Where butterflies were flitting and grasshoppers were chirping all through the day.
Athena set up her loom in the sky,
Where the breezes were blowing and the summer sun was shining,
For she was the queen of the air.
Then Arachne took her spools of finest silk and began to weave.
She wove a cloth of marvelous beauty,
So thin and light that it would float in the air,
And yet so strong that it could hold a lioness in its meshes.
The threads were of many colors,
So beautifully arranged and intertwined that all who saw it were filled with delight.
No wonder that maiden is so proud of her skill,
Said the people,
And Jupiter himself nodded from the clouds.
Then Athena began to weave,
And when she did,
She took hold of the sunbeams that gilded the mountaintop and the snowy fleece of the summer clouds and the blue air of the summer sky,
The bright green of the summer fields,
And the royal purple of the autumn woods.
The cloth she wove in the sky was full of enchanting pictures of flowers and gardens and castles and towers,
Mountaintops,
Giants and dwarfs,
And even a few wood elves and sprites.
And those who looked upon it were so filled with wonder and delight that they forgot all about the beautiful cloth that Arachne had woven.
Arachne herself was ashamed when she saw Athena's work in the sky,
For she knew that indeed there was much she could learn from her.
Filled with dismay,
Arachne hid her face in her hands and wept.
Once again,
The goddess knelt down gently beside the young weaver.
Tell me why you are crying,
She spoke.
Arachne replied,
Because I have been blind,
And worst of all,
Unkind to you.
Surely the majestic weaving you do in the heavens has inspired my own earthly weaving,
And there is more you could have taught me.
But I fear now that you are too angry with me,
Because I have been so proud.
My sweet daughter,
Said Athena,
There is nothing wrong with taking pride in your work.
You are a skilled and talented young woman,
And you have many gifts to offer to the world.
But learning from others and recognizing your weaknesses is part of an artist's path.
If you stop learning,
Your art cannot flourish.
And you,
Arachne,
Were meant to flourish.
At this,
Arachne's tears stopped,
And some of the sparkle came back into her eyes.
So you will teach me,
Great Athena?
I have a better idea,
The goddess replied.
How would you like to learn,
Great Athena?
I have a better idea,
The goddess replied.
How would you like to learn from the greatest master of all?
I would like that very much,
Arachne said,
Clapping her hands.
Very well,
Said Athena.
From this day forward,
Mother Nature herself will be your inspiration and your guide.
You will learn to work with new materials,
And your gossamer webs will be a wonder for all to see.
And the goddess touched Arachne with the tip of her spear,
And the maiden was changed at once into a nimble spider who ran into a shady place in the grass and happily began to spin and weave a beautiful,
Silky,
And soft web.
I have heard it said that all the spiders who have been in the world since then are the children of Arachne,
And perhaps this is true.
For all I know,
Arachne herself still weaves her gossamer webs under Mother Nature's gentle guidance today.
Perhaps the next spider you see may be the very same Arachne from this bedtime story.
