Nero and Bertha

This particular Bertha was a poor woman who did nothing but spin, being a skillful spinner.

One day as she was going along she met Nero, the Roman emperor, to whom she said, "May God grant you health so good you'll live a thousand years!"

Nero, whom not a soul could abide because he was so mean, was astounded to hear someone wishing him a thousand years of life, and he replied, "Why do you say that to me, my good woman?"

"Because a bad one is always followed by one still worse."

Nero then said, "Very well, bring to my palace all you spin between now and tomorrow morning." At that, he left her.

As she spun, Bertha said to herself, "What will he do with the thread I'm spinning? I wouldn't put it past him to hang me with it! That hangman is capable of everything! "

Next morning, right on time, here she was at Nero's palace. He invited her in, received the thread she had spun, and said, "Tie the end of the ball to the palace door and walk away as far as you can go with the thread." Then he called his chief steward and said, "For the length of the thread, the land on both sides of the road belongs to this woman."

Bertha thanked him and walked away very happy. From that day on she no longer needed to spin, for she had become a lady.

When word of the event got around Rome, all the poor women went to Nero in hopes of a present such as he had given Bertha.

But Nero replied, "The good old times when Bertha spun are no more."