Clever Else

Author: Brothers Grimm

Age5–10
Reading time8 min
LevelIntermediate

Introduction

Do not be fooled by the title—'Clever Else' is one of the most famous comic tales in the whole Grimm collection, and the word 'clever' is meant as a joke from beginning to end. Else is anything but clever. In folklore the story belongs to the type folklorists call 'Clever Elsie' (ATU 1450), a kind of numskull tale (in German, a Schwank, or comic story) told all over Europe. What is striking is that it is really two older folk jokes stitched together. In the first half—weeping over a child who has not even been born—the satire falls not only on Else but on the whole household: the maid, the boy, the parents all troop down to the cellar and, one by one, sit down and cry along with her. The second half—waking under a net of jingling bells and doubting 'Am I, or am I not?'—comes from a separate folk motif about a person who loses her own identity. Reading it, you might compare Else with the genuinely clever girls elsewhere in Grimm, and ask together: what does real cleverness actually look like?

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There was once a man who had a daughter who was called Clever Else, and when she was grown up, her father said she must be married, and her mother said, "Yes, if we could only find some one that would consent to have." At last one came from a distance, and his name was Hans, and when he proposed to her, he made it a condition that Clever Else should be very careful as well. "Oh," said the father, "she does not want for brains." - "No, indeed," said the mother, "she can see the wind coming up the street and hear the flies cough." - "Well," said Hans, "if she does not turn out to be careful too, I will not have her."

Now when they were all seated at table, and had well eaten, the mother said, "Else, go into the cellar and draw some beer." Then Clever Else took down the jug from the hook in the wall, and as she was on her way to the cellar she rattled the lid up and down so as to pass away the time. When she got there, she took a stool and stood it in front of the cask, so that she need not stoop and make her back ache with needless trouble. Then she put the jug under the tap and turned it, and while the beer was running, in order that her eyes should not be idle, she glanced hither and thither, and finally caught sight of a pickaxe that the workmen had left sticking in the ceiling just above her head.

Then Clever Else began to cry, for she thought, "If I marry Hans, and we have a child, and it grows big, and we send it into the cellar to draw beer, that pickaxe might fall on his head and kill him." So there she sat and cried with all her might, lamenting the anticipated misfortune.

All the while they were waiting upstairs for something to drink, and they waited in vain. At last the mistress said to the maid, "Go down to the cellar and see why Else does not come." So the maid went, and found her sitting in front of the cask crying with all her might. "What are you crying for?" said the maid. "Oh dear me," answered she, "how can I help crying? if I marry Hans, and we have a child, and it grows big, and we send it here to draw beer, perhaps the pickaxe may fall on its head and kill it." - "Our Else is clever indeed!" said the maid, and directly sat down to bewail the anticipated misfortune.

After a while, when the people upstairs found that the maid did not return, and they were becoming more and more thirsty, the master said to the boy, "You go down into the cellar, and see what Else and the maid are doing." The boy did so, and there he found both Clever Else and the maid sitting crying together. Then he asked what was the matter. "Oh dear me," said Else, "how can we help crying? If I marry Hans, and we have a child, and it grows big, and we send it here to draw beer, the pickaxe might fall on its head and kill it." - "Our Else is clever indeed!" said the boy, and sitting down beside her, he began howling with a good will.

Upstairs they were all waiting for him to come back, but as he did not come, the master said to the mistress, "You go down to the cellar and see what Else is doing." So the mistress went down and found all three in great lamentations, and when she asked the cause, then Else told her how the future possible child might be killed as soon as it was big enough to be sent to draw beer, by the pickaxe falling on it. Then the mother at once exclaimed, "Our Else is clever indeed!" and, sitting down, she wept with the rest. Upstairs the husband waited a little while, but as his wife did not return, and as his thirst constantly increased, he said, "I must go down to the cellar myself, and see what has become of Else." And when he came into the cellar, and found them all sitting and weeping together, he was told that it was all owing to the child that Else might possibly have, and the possibility of its being killed by the pickaxe so happening to fall just at the time the child might be sitting underneath it drawing beer; and when he heard all this, he cried, "How clever is our Else!" and sitting down, he joined his tears to theirs.

The intended bridegroom stayed upstairs by himself a long time, but as nobody came back to him, he thought he would go himself and see what they were all about And there he found all five lamenting and crying most pitifully, each one louder than the other. "What misfortune has happened?" cried he. "O my dear Hans," said Else, "if we marry and have a child, and it grows big, and we send it down here to draw beer, perhaps that pickaxe which has been left sticking up there might fall down on the child's head and kill it; and how can we help crying at that!"

"Now," said Hans, "I cannot think that greater sense than that could be wanted in my household; so as you are so clever, Else, I will have you for my wife," and taking her by the hand he led her upstairs, and they had the wedding at once.

A little while after they were married, Hans said to his wife, "I am going out to work, in order to get money; you go into the field and cut the corn, so that we may have bread." - "Very well, I will do so, dear Hans," said she. And after Hans was gone she cooked herself some nice stew, and took it with her into the field. And when she got there, she said to herself, "Now, what shall I do? shall I reap first, or eat first? All right, I will eat first." Then she ate her fill of stew, and when she could eat no more, she said to herself, "Now, what shall I do? shall I reap first, or sleep first? All right, I will sleep first."

Then she lay down in the corn and went to sleep. And Hans got home, and waited there a long while, and Else did not come, so he said to himself, "My clever Else is so industrious that she never thinks of coming home and eating." But when evening drew near and still she did not come, Hans set out to see how much corn she had cut; but she had cut no corn at all, but there she was lying in it asleep.

Then Hans made haste home, and fetched a bird-net with little bells and threw it over her; and still she went on sleeping. And he ran home again and locked himself in, and sat him down on his bench to work. At last, when it was beginning to grow dark, Clever Else woke, and when she got up and shook herself, the bells jingled at each movement that she made. Then she grew frightened, and began to doubt whether she were really Clever Else or not, and said to herself, "Am I, or am I not?"

And, not knowing what answer to make, she stood for a long while considering; at last she thought, "I will go home to Hans and ask him if I am I or not; he is sure to know." So she ran up to the door of her house, but it was locked; then she knocked at the window, and cried, "Hans, is Else within?" - "Yes," answered Hans, "she is in." Then she was in a greater fright than ever, and crying, "Oh dear, then I am not I," she went to inquire at another door, but the people hearing the jingling of the bells would not open to her, and she could get in nowhere. So she ran away beyond the village, and since then no one has seen her.

Vocabulary from "Clever Else"

12 key words from this story with definitions and original context sentences for language learners.

conditionB1

/kənˈdɪʃn/n.

Something that must be true or must happen before something else can happen.

条件；前提（必须满足的要求）。

When he proposed to her, he made it a condition that Clever Else should be very careful as well.
他向她求婚时提出了一个条件：聪明的小爱尔莎必须真的非常细心才行。

rattled(rattle)B2

/ˈrætld/v.

Made a series of short, sharp knocking sounds by shaking something.

使发出咔哒咔哒的响声；把（东西）摇得作响。

As she was on her way to the cellar she rattled the lid up and down so as to pass away the time.
在去地窖的路上，她不停地摆弄壶盖发出声响以消磨时间。

stoopB2

/stuːp/v.

To bend the upper part of your body forwards and downwards.

弯腰；俯身。

She took a stool and stood it in front of the cask, so that she need not stoop and make her back ache.
她搬来一张凳子坐在酒桶前，这样就不用弯腰累着背了。

caskB2

/kɑːsk/n.

A round wooden container used for storing liquids such as beer or wine; a barrel.

（装啤酒、葡萄酒等的）木桶；大酒桶。

She took a stool and stood it in front of the cask.
她搬来一张凳子坐在酒桶前。

pickaxeB2

/ˈpɪkæks/n.

A large tool with a curved metal head, used for breaking up rock or hard ground.

镐；十字镐（一端尖、用来刨开硬地或岩石的工具）。

Finally caught sight of a pickaxe that the workmen had left sticking in the ceiling just above her head.
最后看到了正上方天花板里插着的一把工人们留下的镐头。

lamenting(lament)C1

/ləˈmentɪŋ/v.

Expressing deep sadness or grief about something.

哀悼；悲叹；为……而痛哭哀伤。

So there she sat and cried with all her might, lamenting the anticipated misfortune.
于是她坐在那儿拼命地哭，为那预感中的不幸哀悼。

anticipated(anticipate)B2

/ænˈtɪsɪpeɪtɪd/adj.

Expected to happen; thought about in advance before it happens.

预料中的；预先设想的。

"Our Else is clever indeed!" said the maid, and directly sat down to bewail the anticipated misfortune.
'我们的爱尔莎真是聪明啊！'女佣说，随即便坐下来一起哀悼这预感中的不幸。

misfortuneB2

/ˌmɪsˈfɔːrtʃən/n.

Bad luck, or an unlucky event that causes trouble or sadness.

不幸；灾祸；倒霉的事。

"What misfortune has happened?" cried he.
'发生了什么不幸的事？'他喊道。

howling(howl)B2

/ˈhaʊlɪŋ/v.

Crying out loudly and unhappily.

嚎啕大哭；放声号哭。

"Our Else is clever indeed!" said the boy, and sitting down beside her, he began howling with a good will.
'我们的爱尔莎真是聪明啊！'童工说，也坐在她身边大声号哭起来。

industriousC1

/ɪnˈdʌstriəs/adj.

Working hard and steadily; diligent.

勤劳的；勤奋的。

"My clever Else is so industrious that she never thinks of coming home and eating."
'我那聪明的爱尔莎干活真勤奋，连回家吃饭都忘了。'

reapB2

/riːp/v.

To cut and gather a crop such as corn or wheat.

收割（庄稼）。

"Now, what shall I do? shall I reap first, or eat first?"
'现在我该做什么呢？是先割麦子还是先吃饭？'

jingled(jingle)B1

/ˈdʒɪŋɡld/v.

Made a light ringing sound, like small bells knocking together.

发出叮当声；（小铃铛等）丁零作响。

When she got up and shook herself, the bells jingled at each movement that she made.
当她站起来抖动身体时，身上的铃铛随着她的每一个动作叮当作响。

Reading Together & Learning More

The Moral

True cleverness is knowing what is worth worrying about; fretting over things that have not happened only keeps us from doing what needs doing now.

Educational Value

Uses humour to help children see the absurdity of needless worry and overthinking, building the judgement to tell real problems from imaginary ones, while offering an early lesson in irony and sarcasm.

Tips for Parents

This is a comic tale—laugh with your child first, then ask: what exactly does Else get wrong, and is the word 'clever' in the title meant sincerely or as a joke?

Talk About It

Else cries over a child who has not even been born, and her whole family cries along with her. Do you think this worry makes any sense?
The story is called 'Clever Else,' yet nothing she does is clever. Why do you think the author chose that name?
When Else wakes to the jingling bells, she doubts whether she is really herself. What makes her lose faith in who she is so easily?
In your opinion, where should a person's cleverness really show? What would you have done in her place?
If you were Hans and found your whole family weeping over something that had not happened, what would you do?