Clever Elsie (Grimm)
Short summary
A man had a daughter called Clever Elsie. When Hans came to court her, he wanted proof she was truly wise. While fetching beer from the cellar, Elsie noticed a pickaxe hanging above and began weeping, imagining that if she married Hans and they had a child who grew up and came to draw beer, the pickaxe might fall and kill him.
One by one, the maid, boy, mother, and father came looking for her and joined in her lamentations about this imagined future tragedy. Hans found them all crying together and, impressed by Elsie's foresight, declared her clever enough and married her. Later, Hans sent Elsie to harvest corn. She brought food to the field, ate, then fell asleep instead of working. Hans found her sleeping and hung fowler's bells around her. When Elsie awoke, the jingling confused her.
Then she was alarmed, and became uncertain whether she really was Clever Elsie or not, and said, 'Is it I, or is it not I?'
She ran home to ask Hans if Elsie was inside. When he said yes, she concluded she wasn't Elsie and fled the village, never to be seen again.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
The marriage proposal and test of wisdom
There once lived a man who had a daughter called Clever Elsie. When she reached marriageable age, her father decided it was time to find her a husband. Her mother agreed, though she worried whether anyone would want to marry their daughter. Eventually, a man named Hans came from a distant place to court Elsie.
However, Hans had one important condition: he would only marry Elsie if she proved to be truly wise. Her father assured him that she was sharp enough, while her mother praised her supposed wisdom, claiming:
Oh, she can see the wind coming up the street, and hear the flies coughing.
Hans remained firm in his requirement, declaring that if Elsie was not truly wise, he would not have her as his wife.
The cellar tragedy and collective mourning
During dinner, Elsie's mother asked her to fetch beer from the cellar. Clever Elsie took a pitcher and went downstairs, tapping it rhythmically to pass the time. She carefully arranged a chair before the barrel to avoid stooping and hurting her back, then turned the tap to fill her container.
While the beer flowed, Elsie looked around and noticed a pickaxe hanging directly above her, accidentally left there by masons. This sight triggered a catastrophic chain of worried thoughts. She began weeping and wailing, crying out:
If I get Hans, and we have a child, and he grows big, and we send him into the cellar here to draw beer, then the pickaxe will fall on his head and kill him.
When Elsie failed to return, her mother sent the maid to check on her. The maid found Elsie screaming in front of the barrel and asked why she wept. After hearing Elsie's explanation about the future tragedy, the maid exclaimed:
What a clever Elsie we have!
The maid sat down beside Elsie and began weeping loudly over the imagined misfortune. When the maid also failed to return, a boy was sent to investigate. He too was convinced by Elsie's tragic scenario and joined the weeping.
Next, Elsie's mother went down to see what was happening and found all three lamenting together. Upon hearing the explanation, she too declared what a clever Elsie they had and joined the crying. Finally, Elsie's father descended to the cellar and, after learning about the potential future tragedy involving Elsie's hypothetical child and the dangerous pickaxe, he too sat down and wept with them.
Hans chooses his clever bride
Hans waited upstairs alone for a long time before deciding to investigate. When he found five people weeping piteously in the cellar, he asked what misfortune had occurred. Elsie explained her fears about their future child and the threatening pickaxe. Hans was impressed by this display of foresight, declaring:
Come... more understanding than that is not needed for my household, as thou art such a clever Elsie, I will have thee.
He seized her hand, took her upstairs, and married her.
Elsies failed attempt at field work
After some time of marriage, Hans decided to go out and work to earn money. He instructed his wife to go to the field and cut the corn so they would have bread. Elsie agreed and prepared herself some good broth to take along. When she reached the field, she faced a dilemma and thought to herself:
What shall I do; shall I shear first, or shall I eat first? Oh, I will eat first... Shall I shear first, or shall I sleep first? I will sleep first.
After eating her broth, Elsie lay down among the corn and fell asleep. Hans returned home and waited, thinking his industrious wife was working so hard she hadn't even come home to eat. When evening came and she still hadn't returned, he went to check her progress. He found nothing cut and Elsie sleeping among the grain. Hans hurried home and fetched a fowler's net with little bells, which he hung around the sleeping Elsie before returning home and shutting the door.
The mystery of identity and final departure
When Clever Elsie finally awoke in the dark, the bells jingled with every step she took. Confused and alarmed by the strange sounds, she became uncertain of her own identity, wondering whether she was really herself or someone else. She decided:
I will go home and ask if it be I, or if it be not I, they will be sure to know.
She ran to her house, but found the door shut. When she knocked and called out asking if Elsie was within, Hans answered that she was. Terrified by this response, Elsie concluded it could not be her and tried other doors, but the jingling bells frightened people and no one would let her in.
Then she ran out of the village, and no one has seen her since.