the old woman returned in the night and knew by the tarnished thread what had happened in her absence . she was furiously angry and told the maiden that she had brought down misery both on herself and on the prince . the maiden could not rest for thinking of this . at last she could bear it no longer , and resolved to seek help from the prince . as a child she had learned to understand the speech of birds , and this was now of great use to her , for , seeing a raven pluming itself on a pine bough , she cried softly to it : " dear bird , cleverest of all birds , as well as swiftest on wing , will you help me ? " " how can i help you ? " asked the raven . she answered : " fly away , until you come to a splendid town , where stands a king 's palace ; seek out the king 's son and tell him that a great misfortune has befallen me . " then she told the raven how her thread had lost its brightness , how terribly angry the old woman was , and how she feared some great disaster . the raven promised faithfully to do her bidding , and , spreading its wings , flew away . the maiden now went home and worked hard all day at winding up the yarn her elder sisters had spun , for the old woman would let her spin no longer . toward evening she heard the raven 's " craa , craa , " from the pine tree and eagerly hastened thither to hear the answer . 
her thread had lost its brightness .
why did the old lady no longer allow the youngest maiden to spin thread ?
why did the old lady no longer allow the youngest maiden to spin thread ?