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 she 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 ( Read more... )

Given the lack of responses to my earlier Clever Gretel post, I let it be for a little while. Not much else has turned up, in terms of posting or commenting, so I'm just going to raise this one point (in a far from exhaustive fashion, mind), then post a fairy tale on Friday (after checking I can find something to say about it, of course).

In her ( Read more... )

Surprisingly, I have had little luck finding research concerning Clever Gretel. I had thought that this story, AT 1741-i.e., the guest flees to save his ears-would be well covered. Indeed, it may be, but none of my usual resources appear to have information regarding this tale type.

As a result, this commentary will perhaps be less interesting than ( Read more... )

There was once a cook named Gretel, who wore shoes with red heels, and when she walked out with them on, she turned herself this way and that, was quite happy and thought: ‘You certainly are a pretty girl!’ And when she came home she drank, in her gladness of heart, a draught of wine, and as wine excites a desire to eat, she tasted the best of ( Read more... )

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