The Spinning-Woman by the Spring

The Spinning-Woman by the Spring or "The Kind and the Unkind Girls" is a widespread, traditional folk tale, known throughout Europe and in certain regions of Asia, including Indonesia. The tale is cataloged as AT 480 in the international Folktale catalog.
Synopsis.
Two stepsisters are, one after another, sent out to serve in the house of a witch, where they are assigned what appear to be difficult or impossible tasks. For instance, they are tasked to carry water with a sieve.
The kind girl, however, obeys requests from grateful animals and learns from the birds' song that she must line the sieve with clay to complete her task. Other chores they are assigned include washing black wool white, and gathering flowers at midwinter.
As payment for her household work she can choose one of three caskets, an attractive red, a common yellow or an ugly blue casket. Again she receives advice from the animals and makes the modest choice and becomes richly rewarded. Even though the unkind girl is also able to understand animal language, she refuses to follow the advice given by the birds and the help offered by other animals.
Analysis.
In many variants, the witch-like character that presents the girls with the choice of casket is replaced by personifications of the twelve months of the year.
It has been argued that the donor in these stories shows some connection to an underworld realm, or has an otherworldly description.
According to scholar Andreas Johns, "in many European and East Slavic versions", the girl drops a spindle into a well, which is the entry point to the otherworld.
International distribution.
The tale type is recorded all over the world: a great number of versions were registered from Scandinavia and Russia, but tales also exist from Southern Europe, Middle East, Africa, North and South America, India, China and Japan.
Europe.
At least 700 versions have been collected from all over Europe. Slovak professor Viera Gaspariková suggested that the tale type AaTh 480 is "relatively recent" and originated in Europe, in a Romance-speaking region.
Professor William Bernard McCarthy states that, in Hispanic tradition, the tale type ATU 480 "frequently" led to ATU 510A, "Cinderella". Further scholarship points that this combination also happens in Catalan, French and Portuguese variants.
The tale type is said to be "the most widely collected" type in Estonia, with 234 variants reported.
According to Professor Bronislava Kerbelytė, the tale type is reported to register 363 Lithuanian variants, with and without contamination from other tale types.
Middle East.
Scholar Ulrich Marzolph remarked that the tale type AT 480 was one of "the most frequently encountered tales in Arab oral tradition", albeit missing from "The Arabian Nights" compilation.
Africa.
The tale type is also "largely known" in Africa, "found all over" the continent. Researcher Sigrid Schmidt claims that this tale type, among others, must belong to a very old and indigenous tradition of the continent.
According to scholar Denise Paulme, in African tales, the good character meets an old man or old woman on their way to fetch some water, and this mysterious elder asks her to delouse them or to give them food. In addition, the rivalry may occur between female blood siblings (twins or not), stepsisters, and even between co-wives of the male character.
Americas.
The tale type is also said to be "widespread" in U.S. tradition.
In literature.
A more direct appearance of the choice of casket motif occurs in Japanese folktale "The Tongue-Cut Sparrow": a poor old man rescues a sparrow and is presented with the choice between a large casket and a small one; he chooses the small box. This tale is also a variant of the ATU 480 tale type.
Shakespeare.
The same motif is used by William Shakespeare in the play "The Merchant of Venice". Act 2, Scene VII where the Prince of Morocco has to solve the riddle and find out what casket hides Portia's portrait.