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Clever Else

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Else saves with her stupidity man who marries her. Later she is disowned because she is lazy and does not even know who she is.

Der Froschkönig oder der eiserne Heinrich
Katze und Maus in Gesellschaft
Marienkind
Von einem, der auszog, das Fürchten zu lernen
Der Wolf und die sieben jungen Geißlein
Der treue Johannes
Der gute Handel
Der wunderliche Spielmann
Die zwölf Brüder
Das Lumpengesindel
Brüderchen und Schwesterchen
Rapunzel
Die drei Männlein im Walde
Die drei Spinnerinnen
Hänsel und Gretel
Die drei Schlangenblätter
Die weiße Schlange
Strohhalm, Kohle und Bohne
Von dem Fischer und seiner Frau
Das tapfere Schneiderlein
Aschenputtel
Das Rätsel
Von dem Mäuschen, Vögelchen und der Bratwurst
Frau Holle
Die sieben Raben
Rotkäppchen
Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten
Der singende Knochen
Der Teufel mit den drei goldenen Haaren
Läuschen und Flöhchen
Das Mädchen ohne Hände
Der gescheite Hans
Die drei Sprachen
Die kluge Else
Der Schneider im Himmel
Tischchen deck dich, Goldesel und Knüppel aus dem Sack
Daumesdick
Die Hochzeit der Frau Füchsin
Die Wichtelmänner
Der Räuberbräutigam
Herr Korbes
Der Herr Gevatter
Frau Trude
Der Gevatter Tod
Daumerlings Wanderschaft
Fitchers Vogel
Von dem Machandelboom
Der alte Sultan
Die sechs Schwäne
Dornröschen
Fundevogel
König Drosselbart
Schneewittchen
Der Ranzen, das Hütlein und das Hörnlein
Rumpelstilzchen
Der liebste Roland
Der goldene Vogel
Der Hund und der Sperling
Der Frieder und das Katherlieschen
Die zwei Brüder
Das Bürle
Die Bienenkönigin
Die drei Federn
Die goldene Gans
Allerleirauh
Häsichenbraut
Die zwölf Jäger
Von dem Sommer- und Wintergarten
Jorinde und Joringel
Die drei Glückskinder
Sechse kommen durch die ganze Welt
Der Wolf und der Mensch
Der Wolf und der Fuchs
Der Fuchs und die Frau Gevatterin
Der Fuchs und die Katze
Die Nelke
Das kluge Gretel
Der alte Großvater und der Enkel
Die Wassernixe
Von dem Tode des Hühnchens
Bruder Lustig
Der Spielhansl
Hans im Glück
Hans heiratet
Die Goldkinder
Der Fuchs und die Gänse
Der Arme und der Reiche
Das singende, springende Löweneckerchen
Die Gänsemagd
Der junge Riese
Das Erdmännchen
Der König vom goldenen Berg
Die Rabe
Die kluge Bauerntochter
Der alte Hildebrand
Die drei Vögelchen
Das Wasser des Lebens
Doktor Allwissend
Der Geist im Glas
Des Teufels rußiger Bruder
Der Bärenhäuter
Der Zaunkönig und der Bär
Der süße Brei
Die klugen Leute
Märchen von der Unke
Der arme Müllerbursch und das Kätzchen
Die beiden Wanderer
Hans mein Igel
Das Totenhemdchen
Der Jude im Dorn
Der gelernte Jäger
Der Dreschflegel vom Himmel
Die beiden Königskinder
Vom klugen Schneiderlein
Die klare Sonne bringts an den Tag
Das blaue Licht
Das eigensinnige Kind
Die drei Feldscherer
Die sieben Schwaben
Die drei Handwerksburschen
Der Königssohn, der sich vor nichts fürchtet
Der Krautesel
Die Alte im Wald
Die drei Brüder
Der Teufel und seine Großmutter
Ferdinand getreu und Ferdinand ungetreu
Der Eisenofen
Die faule Spinnerin
Die vier kunstreichen Brüder
Einäuglein, Zweiäuglein und Dreiäuglein
Die schöne Katrinelje und Pif Paf Poltrie
Der Fuchs und das Pferd
Die zertanzten Schuhe
Die sechs Diener
Die weiße und die schwarze Braut
Der Eisenhans
Die drei schwarzen Prinzessinnen
Knoist und seine drei Söhne
Das Mädchen von Brakel
Das Hausgesinde
Das Lämmchen und Fischchen
Simeliberg
Auf Reisen gehen
Das Eselein
Der undankbare Sohn
Die Rübe
Das junggeglühte Männlein
Des Herrn und des Teufels Getier
Der Hahnenbalken
Die alte Bettelfrau
Die drei Faulen
Das Hirtenbüblein
Die Sterntaler
Der gestohlene Heller
Die Brautschau
Die Schlickerlinge
Der Sperling und seine vier Kinder
Das Märchen vom Schlaraffenland
Das Dietmarsische Lügenmärchen
Rätselmärchen
Schneeweißchen und Rosenrot
Der kluge Knecht
Der gläserne Sarg
Der faule Heinz
Der Vogel Greif
Der starke Hans
Das Bürle im Himmel
Die hagere Liese
Das Waldhaus
Lieb und Leid teilen
Der Zaunkönig
Die Scholle
Rohrdommel und Wiedehopf
Die Eule
Der Mond
Die Lebenszeit
Die Boten des Todes
Meister Pfriem
Die Gänsehirtin am Brunnen
Die ungleichen Kinder Evas
Die Nixe im Teich
Die Geschenke des kleinen Volkes
Der Riese und der Schneider
Der Nagel
Der arme Junge im Grab
Die wahre Braut
Der Hase und der Igel
Spindel, Weberschiffchen und Nadel
Der Bauer und der Teufel
Die Brosamen auf dem Tisch
Das Meerhäschen
Der Meisterdieb
Der Trommler
Die Kornähre
Der Grabhügel
Oll Rinkrank
Die Kristallkugel
Jungfrau Maleen
Die Stiefel von Büffelleder
Der goldene Schlüssel

There was a man who had a daughter whose name was clever Else. When she was grown up, her father said, "We want to marry her. "Yes," said the mother, "if only someone would come who would have her." At last one came from far away, his name was Hans, and asked for her, but he made the condition that the clever Else should also be quite clever. "O," said the father, "she has twine in her head," and the mother said, "ah, she sees the wind running in the alley and hears the flies coughing." "Yes," said Hans, "if she is not quite clever, I will not take her." Now when they were sitting at table and had eaten, the mother said, "Else, go into the cellar and get some beer." Then the clever Else took the jug from the wall, went down into the cellar, and on the way clanged the lid obediently, so that her time would not be long. When she was downstairs, she fetched a small chair and placed it in front of the barrel, so that she would not have to bend over and hurt her back unexpectedly. Then she put the jug in front of her and turned on the tap, and while the beer was running in, she did not want to leave her eyes idle, looked up at the wall and, after looking around a lot, saw a cross hoe just above her, which the masons had accidentally left stuck there.

Then the wise Else began to cry and said, "If I get Hans, and we get a child, and it is big, and we send the child into the cellar, that it should tap beer here, then the cross hoe falls on its head and strikes it dead." There she sat and wept and cried at the top of her lungs over the impending calamity. Those above waited for the potion, but the wise Else always did not come. Then the woman said to the maid "go down to the cellar and see where Else is." The maid went and found her sitting in front of the barrel, crying loudly. "Else, what are you crying for?" asked the maid. "Ah," she answered, "shall I not weep? if I get Hans, and we get a child, and it is large, and shall draw drink here, perhaps the cross hoe will fall on its head and strike it dead." Then the maid said, "What a clever Else we have!" and sat down with her, and also began to weep over the misfortune. After a while, when the maid did not come back, and those above were thirsty for the drink, the man said to the servant "go down to the cellar and see where Else and the maid remain." The servant went down, and there sat the wise Else and the maid, both weeping together. Then he asked "what are you crying for?" "Oh," said Else, "shall I not weep? if I get Hans, and we get a child, and it is large, and is to draw drink here, then the cross hoe falls on its head, and strikes it dead." Then the servant said, "What a clever Else we have!" and sat down with her and began to cry loudly.
Upstairs they waited for the servant, but when he still did not come, the man said to the woman, "Go down to the cellar and see where the Else is. The woman went down and found all three of them in lamentation, and asked for the cause, when the Else also told her that her future child would probably be beaten to death by the crucifix when it grew up and had to draw beer, and the crucifix fell down. Then the mother also said, "Oh, what a clever Else we have!" and sat down and wept with her. The man upstairs waited for a while, but when his wife did not come back, and his thirst grew stronger and stronger, he said, "I just have to go down to the cellar myself and see where Else is." But when he came to the cellar, and everyone was sitting there weeping together, and he heard the reason that it was the fault of Else's child, which she might one day bring into the world, and could be beaten to death by the cross hoe, if it were sitting under there tapping beer at the very time when she was falling down: then he cried "what a clever Else!" and sat down and wept too. The bridegroom stayed upstairs alone for a long time, since no one would come back, he thought "they will be waiting for you downstairs, you must go too and see what they are up to." When he came down, there were five of them sitting there, crying and wailing quite pitifully, one always better than the other. "What misfortune has happened?" he asked. "Oh, dear Hans," said Else, "when we marry each other, and have a child, and it is large, and we may send it here to draw drink, the cross hoe that is stuck up there, if it should fall down, may smash its head so that it remains lying; shall we not weep then?" "Well," said Hans, "more sense is not necessary for my household; because you are such a clever Else, I will have you," and he took her by the hand and took her upstairs and held a wedding with her.

When she had Hans for a while, he said, "Wife, I want to go out to work and earn us money, you go into the field and cut the grain so that we have bread." "Yes, my dear Hans, I will do that." After Hans was gone, she cooked herself a good porridge and took it with her into the field. When she came before the field, she said to herself "what do I do? Do I cut or eat first? Hey, I want to eat first." Now she finished her pot of porridge, and when she was full, she said again, "What shall I do? Do I cut first, or do I sleep first? Hey, I want to sleep first." Then she lay down in the corn and fell asleep. Hans had long been at home, but Else would not come, so he said, "What a clever Else I have, she is so industrious that she does not even come home to eat." But when she still did not come and it was evening, Hans went out to see what she had cut: but there was nothing cut, but she lay in the corn and slept. Then Hans hurried home, and fetched a bird's yarn with small bells, and hung it around her; and she still slept away. Then he ran home, closed the house door, and sat down on his chair and worked. At last, when it was already quite dark, clever Else awoke, and when she got up, there was a rattling around her, and the bells rang with every step she took. Then she was frightened, became crazy whether she was really clever Else and said "Is it me, or is it not me?" But she didn't know how to answer and stood for a while in doubt: at last she thought, "I want to go home and ask if it's me or not, they'll know." She ran to her front door, but it was locked: so she knocked on the window and called out, "Hans, is Else inside?" "Yes," answered Hans, "she is inside." Then she was frightened, and said, "Oh, God, then it is not I," and went to another door; but when the people heard the ringing of the bells, they would not open it, and she had nowhere to stay. So she ran away to the village, and no one saw her again.

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