Grimm's Household Tales

There was once a man who had a daughter called Clever Elsie. When she had grown up, her father said, “We will get her married.” “Yes,” said the mother, “if only anyone would come who would have her.” At length a man named Hans came from a distance and courted her, but he stipulated that Clever Elsie should be really wise. “Oh,” said the father, “she is sharp enough.” And the mother said, “Oh, she can see the wind coming up the street and hear the flies coughing.” “Well,” said Hans, “if she is not really wise, I won’t have her.” When they were sitting at dinner and had eaten, the mother said, “Elsie, go into the cellar and fetch some beer.” Then Clever Elsie took the pitcher from the wall, went into the cellar, and tapped the lid briskly as she went, so that the time would not seem long. When she was down there, she fetched herself a chair and set it in front of the barrel so that she would have no need to stoop and would not hurt her back or do herself any unexpected injury. Then she placed the can in front of her and turned the tap, and while the beer was running, she would not let her eyes be idle. She looked up at the wall, and after much peering here and there, she saw a pickax exactly above her, which the masons had accidentally left there.

Then Clever Elsie began to weep and said, “If I marry Hans, and we have a child, and he grows big, and we send him into the cellar here to draw beer, then the pickax will fall on his head and kill him.” Then she sat and wept and screamed with all the strength of her body over the misfortune that lay before her. Those upstairs waited for the drink, but Clever Elsie still did not come. Then the woman said to the servant, “Just go down into the cellar and see where Elsie is.” The maid went and found her sitting in front of the barrel, screaming loudly. “Elsie, why are you weeping?” asked the maid. “Ah,” she answered, “do I not have reason to weep? If I marry Hans, and we have a child, and he grows big and has to draw beer here, the pickax will perhaps fall on his head and kill him.” Then the maid said, “What a clever Elsie we have!” and sat down beside her and began to weep loudly over the misfortune. After a while, since the maid did not come back and those upstairs were thirsty for the beer, the man said to the boy, “Just go down into the cellar and see where Elsie and the girl are.” The boy went down, and there sat Clever Elsie and the girl, both weeping together. Then he asked, “Why are you weeping?” “Ah,” said Elsie, “do I not have reason to weep? If I marry Hans, and we have a child, and he grows big and has to draw beer here, the pickax will fall on his head and kill him.” Then the boy said, “What a clever Elsie we have!” and sat down by her and likewise began to howl loudly. Upstairs they waited for the boy, but since he still did not return, the man said to the woman, “Just go down into the cellar and see where Elsie is!” The woman went down and found all three in the midst of their lamentations and asked what the cause was. Then Elsie told her also that her future child was to be killed by the pickax when it grew big and had to draw beer, and the pickax fell down. Then the mother likewise said, “What a clever Elsie we have!” and sat down and wept with them. The man upstairs waited a short time, but since his wife did not come back and his thirst grew ever greater, he said, “I must go into the cellar myself and see where Elsie is.” But when he got into the cellar and they were all sitting together crying, he heard the reason: that Elsie’s child was the cause, and that Elsie might perhaps bring one into the world some day, and that it might be killed by the pickax if it happened to be sitting beneath it, drawing beer just at the time when it fell down. He cried, “Oh, what a clever Elsie!” and sat down and likewise wept with them. The bridegroom stayed upstairs alone for a long time. Then, as no one would come back, he thought, “They must be waiting for me below. I too must go there and see what they are doing.” When he got down, five of them were sitting there, screaming and lamenting quite pitifully, each outdoing the other. “What misfortune has happened, then?” he asked. “Ah, dear Hans,” said Elsie, “if we marry each other and have a child, and he is big, and we perhaps send him here to draw something to drink, then the pickax that has been left up there might dash his brains out if it were to fall down. So do we not have reason to weep?” “Come now,” said Hans, “no more understanding than that is needed for my household. Since you are such a clever Elsie, I will have you.” He seized her hand, took her upstairs with him, and married her.

After Hans had been married to her for some time, he said, “Wife, I am going out to work and earn some money for us. Go into the field and cut the grain so that we may have some bread.” “Yes, dear Hans, I will do that.” After Hans had gone away, she cooked herself some good broth and took it into the field with her. When she came to the field, she said to herself, “What shall I do? Shall I cut first, or shall I eat first? Oh, I will eat first.” Then she emptied her bowl of broth, and when she was fully satisfied, she said again, “What shall I do? Shall I cut first, or shall I sleep first? I will sleep first.” Then she lay down among the grain and fell asleep. Hans had been at home for a long time, but Elsie did not come. Then he said, “What a clever Elsie I have! She is so industrious that she does not even come home to eat.” But since she still stayed away and it was evening, Hans went out to see what she had cut. Nothing was cut, and she was lying among the grain, asleep. Then Hans hurried home and brought a fowler’s net with little bells and hung it around her, and she still went on sleeping. Then he ran home, shut the house door, sat down in his chair, and worked. At length, when it was quite dark, Clever Elsie awoke, and when she got up, there was a jingling all around her, and the bells rang at each step she took. Then she was alarmed and became uncertain whether she really was Clever Elsie or not, and she said, “Is it I, or is it not I?” But she did not know what answer to give to this and stood for a time in doubt. At length she thought, “I will go home and ask whether it is I or not. They will be sure to know.” She ran to the door of her own house, but it was shut. Then she knocked at the window and cried, “Hans, is Elsie inside?” “Yes,” answered Hans, “she is inside.” At this she was terrified and said, “Ah, heavens! Then it is not I,” and she went to another door. But when the people heard the jingling of the bells, they would not open it, and she could get in nowhere. Then she ran out of the village, and no one has seen her since.