The Brothers Grimm- First published in 1869.Reading Level: 9+ Number of Pages: 4 Genre: Classic Fairy-tale
Summary: There once was a girl who was nicknamed "Clever Alice," for she was very smart. "She is so smart," her mother said, "She can hear the wind blow and can the flies cough!" A boy named Hans was impressed by how notoriously smart she was, so he determined to meet this girl for himself. So the family offered to prepare a dinner, during which, their parents asked Alice to go down into the cellar to draw some beer.
As Alice was walking down the stairs, she removed the lid from the jug so as to not waste time, and she drew a stool and placed it by the cask of beer, so she wouldn't have to stand while the jug was filling. While the beer was running into the jug, she looked around, so as to not let her eyes be idle. As she was looking around, she perceived a hatchet hanging on the wall behind her. At the sight of this, she started to weep, saying: "Oh, if I marry Hans, and we have a child, and he grows up, and we send him into the cellar to draw beer, the hatchet will fall upon his head and kill him;" and she sat there weeping over the impending misfortune.
Her mother grew impatient that she did not return, so she went down to check on her daughter. When she heard of the predicament, she, too sat down and started to weep. The father sent his boy down, and he also began to lament at the impending misfortune. After a time, the father also went down, leaving Hans upstairs all alone. After a bit he decided to go check on everyone, and found them all in the cellar, weeping together while the beer ran out, overflowing the jug and onto the floor. When he asked what the matter was, Alice replied: "Oh, Hans! If we get married and have a child, and he grows up, we may send him into the cellar to draw beer, and the hatchet may fall upon his head and kill him!" And so she and her family wept all the more.
Hans observed the family with wonder, and then announced that he had a solution to their predicament: "I see now that the best solution would be that we refrain from getting married, as that would best avoid this tragedy," and so he left.
My Impressions: I chose "Clever Alice" because it is one of --in my opinion-- the funniest tales in the collection. Certainly Alice isn't as clever as she claims to be.
As Alice was walking down the stairs, she removed the lid from the jug so as to not waste time, and she drew a stool and placed it by the cask of beer, so she wouldn't have to stand while the jug was filling. While the beer was running into the jug, she looked around, so as to not let her eyes be idle. As she was looking around, she perceived a hatchet hanging on the wall behind her. At the sight of this, she started to weep, saying: "Oh, if I marry Hans, and we have a child, and he grows up, and we send him into the cellar to draw beer, the hatchet will fall upon his head and kill him;" and she sat there weeping over the impending misfortune.
Her mother grew impatient that she did not return, so she went down to check on her daughter. When she heard of the predicament, she, too sat down and started to weep. The father sent his boy down, and he also began to lament at the impending misfortune. After a time, the father also went down, leaving Hans upstairs all alone. After a bit he decided to go check on everyone, and found them all in the cellar, weeping together while the beer ran out, overflowing the jug and onto the floor. When he asked what the matter was, Alice replied: "Oh, Hans! If we get married and have a child, and he grows up, we may send him into the cellar to draw beer, and the hatchet may fall upon his head and kill him!" And so she and her family wept all the more.
Hans observed the family with wonder, and then announced that he had a solution to their predicament: "I see now that the best solution would be that we refrain from getting married, as that would best avoid this tragedy," and so he left.
My Impressions: I chose "Clever Alice" because it is one of --in my opinion-- the funniest tales in the collection. Certainly Alice isn't as clever as she claims to be.
Parent's Guide: Alcohol usage.
Recommendations: A definitely clever tale, even if Alice isn't.
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