Clever Gretel

Clever Gretel
"And he ran as fast as his legs could carry him!" - illustration by Arthur Rackham for Grimms' Fairy Tales (1900)
Folk tale
NameClever Gretel
Aarne–Thompson groupingATU 1741
CountryGermany
Published inGrimms' Fairy Tales

Clever Gretel (German: Das kluge Gretel) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, KHM 195. It is Aarne-Thompson type 1741 - Trickster Wives and Maids and was first published in the second edition of Grimms' Fairy Tales in 1819.[1]

Story

Gretel cooking the chickens - border illustration by Walter Crane c1890

There once was a cook called Gretel who wore shoes with red heels and red rosettes, and when she went out wearing them she would turn this way and that way admiringly, giving herself great airs and saying, "You really are a beautiful girl, Gretel!" And this made her happy, so when she got back to her master's house she would have a sip of wine, which would make her hungry, so she would taste whatever she had cooked for dinner until she wasn't hungry anymore and then she would say to herself, "The cook has to know how the food tastes."

One day her master said to her, "Gretel, this evening a guest is coming for dinner. Cook two chickens as well as you can."

"Yes, sir," said Gretel. And taking two chickens she killed them, and scalded the skin and plucked them, and then she roasted them as well as she could. The chickens were thoroughly cooked, but the master's guest had not arrived.

Gretel called out to her master, "Sir, the chickens are done and are perfect but if they are not eaten soon they will spoil."

Her master said, "You are right. They must not spoil. I will quickly go and fetch my guest myself." And with that he rushed out of the house.

Clever Gretel takes a big swig - illustration by Walter Crane (1890)

As soon as he was gone Gretel put the chickens to one side and said to herself, "All this slaving over the oven has made me hot and thirsty. Who knows how long they will be? While I'm waiting I'll just go down into the cellar and have a little sip of wine." So down she went to the cellar where she raised the jug of wine to her lips and had a big swig, saying to herself, "God bless you, Gretel."

Then she said to herself, "Really, the wine shouldn't be separated", and she took another healthy swig. Then going back upstairs she put the chickens back in the oven and basted them with butter. The aroma from the roasted chickens was delicious, and Gretel said to herself, "They smell fine but they may not be cooked properly. I'd better taste them." And she pinched one with her fingers, which she licked. "My", she said to herself, "that chicken is perfect. I'd better check the other one too." And she did the same again. Gretel said to herself, "These chickens are perfect now, but if they aren't eaten soon they will spoil", and she ran to the window to look for her master and his guest, but they were nowhere to be seen.

Gretel eating the chickens

Turning back to the chickens she said, "That wing is burning, so I'd better eat it," and she cut it off and ate it, and it was delicious. Then she said, "I'd better eat the other wing too, or my master will notice something is wrong." And she did just that, and it was as delicious as the other wing.

Then Gretel ran to the window to look for her master and his guest, but they were nowhere to be seen. Then she said to herself, "Perhaps they are not coming? Perhaps they have found somewhere else to eat? Well, I've already started on this one so I might as well finish it for it is wrong to refuse God's gift." And so saying, she finished the chicken and washed it down with more wine. Then Gretel turned her attention to the other chicken, and said to herself, "The two should not be separated. Where one has gone the other must follow." And she ate the second chicken, washing it down with wine, as before.

Just as she was finishing her meal she heard her master's voice calling, "Hurry, Gretel, for my guest is right behind me!"

"Just one! Just one! Let me have just one!" - illustration by Walter Crane (1890)

Wiping her mouth Gretel said, "Yes, sir. The chickens are ready." Her master went into the kitchen where he picked up the large carving knife and took it to the hallway, where he began to sharpen it, ready to carve the chickens. The guest arrived and knocked on the door, which Gretel quickly opened. Holding a finger to her mouth, she whispered to her master's guest, "Shh! Shh! You must run away from here at once, for my master has tricked you into coming with this talk of dinner. Really he wants to cut off your ears. See, there he is sharpening the knife to make it ready." The guest looked past her into the hallway where he saw her master sharpening the knife and he turned and ran down the street as fast as his legs could carry him.

Then Gretel ran to her master and cried, "What sort of friends do you invite as your guest? He has seized both chickens from the platter as I was about to serve them and he has run off with them!"

"Well," said her master. "that's a fine thing, for I am very hungry. He could have left me one!" With that he ran into the street after his guest, waving the carving knife and calling out, "Just one! Just one! Let me have just one!" But the guest thought he wanted to cut off one of his ears, and he ran as if the ground beneath his feet was on fire.[1]

Analysis

Clever Gretel is a tale where a greedy but crafty servant outwits her master. It was first published in the second edition of Grimms' Fairy Tales in 1819, undergoing only slight stylistic revisions in later editions including the final edition (Berlin, 1857), listed as no. 77. The Gretel in the story is not to be confused with the character in Hansel and Gretel.

The Grimms' obtained the tale from Andreas Strobl's Ovum paschale oder neugefärbte Oster-Ayr (Salzburg, 1700, pp. 23–26] and from various other printed and oral sources.[1] Clever Gretel is one of only two tales in the Grimms' collection that are titled after a clever female protagonist, the other being Clever Else. Both are comic stories, but only in this tale does the woman come out on top. The story plays on the fears of the employers of servants as to what those maids and cooks get up to when their backs are turned.[2] In other stories of the clever woman type the male is the woman's husband or a priest, while in tales similar to Clever Gretel it is not the guest's ears that are at risk of being cut off but his testicles![3]

The tale begins by introducing Gretel as being rather different to other servants of the time, for Gretel delights in her appearance and happily twirls in her red shoes in the street before going home to drink her master's wine. The story has no moral or lesson for its audience, for Gretel is not caught and therefore does not face any consequences for her lies and her theft, and possibly for her alcoholism. In Strobl's original version Gretel is caught and ends up living a miserable existence after her master throws her out. The Grimms rewrote the tale, leaving out the moralising conclusion.[4]

We are invited to admire Gretel's cleverness in outwitting her master; or we may feel sorry for him while his cook steals from him and loses him a friend, no doubt damaging his reputation at the same time.

References

  1. ^ a b c Clever Gretel - The Brothers Grimm Project - University of Pittsburgh
  2. ^ Kay Turner and Pauline Greenhill (eds) Transgressive Tales: Queering the Grimms, Wayne State University Press, Detroit (2012)- Google Books p. 29
  3. ^ Turner and Greenhill, p. 34
  4. ^ Turner and Greenhill, p. 29

Read other articles:

Says when a natural number can be represented as the sum of three squares of integers In mathematics, Legendre's three-square theorem states that a natural number can be represented as the sum of three squares of integers n = x 2 + y 2 + z 2 {\displaystyle n=x^{2}+y^{2}+z^{2}} if and only if n is not of the form n = 4 a ( 8 b + 7 ) {\displaystyle n=4^{a}(8b+7)} for nonnegative integers a and b. Distances between vertices of a double unit cube are square roots of the first six natural numbers ...

 

Katedral San MiguelKatedral Basilika Ratu DamaiSpanyol: Catedral-Basílica Reina de la Pazcode: es is deprecated Katedral San MiguelLokasiSan MiguelNegara El SalvadorDenominasiGereja Katolik RomaArsitekturStatusKatedral, Basilika minorStatus fungsionalAktifAdministrasiKeuskupanKeuskupan San Miguel di El Salvador Basilika Katedral Ratu Damai [1] (Spanyol: Catedral-Basílica Reina de la Pazcode: es is deprecated ), disebut juga Katedral San Miguel, adalah sebuah gereja katedral Kat...

 

Miko mengenakan hakama Mahasiswi mengenakan furisode dan hakama sewaktu mengikuti wisuda Hakama (袴code: ja is deprecated ) adalah pakaian luar tradisional Jepang yang dipakai untuk menutupi pinggang sampai mata kaki. Dipakai sebagai pakaian bagian bawah, hakama merupakan busana resmi pria untuk menghadiri acara formal seperti upacara minum teh, pesta pernikahan, dan seijin shiki. Anak laki-laki mengenakannya sewaktu merayakan Shichi-Go-San. Montsuki yang dikenakan bersama hakama dan haori m...

Part of a series onPhilosophy  Philosophy portal Contents Outline Lists Glossary History Categories Disambiguation Philosophies By period Ancient Ancient Egyptian Ancient Greek Medieval Renaissance Modern Contemporary Analytic Continental By region African Egypt Ethiopia South Africa Eastern philosophy Chinese Indian Indonesia Japan Korea Vietnam Indigenous American Aztec philosophy Middle Eastern philosophy Iranian Western American British French German Italian Russian By religion ...

 

Encyclopædia Britannica, the eleventh edition Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) adalah karya referensi 29 volume yang menandai dimulainya transisi Encyclopædia Britannica dari publikasi Britania ke Amerika Serikat. Beberapa artikelnya ditulis oleh para pakar terkemuka pada era tersebut. Edisi ensiklopedia tersebut kini berada pada domain publik. Ensiklopedia tersebut kini umum sebagai sumber kutipan, baik karena reputasi Britannica, maupun karena kini berada pada domai...

 

Jean-Yves Le Drian Menteri Urusan Eropa dan Luar NegeriPetahanaMulai menjabat 17 Mei 2017Perdana MenteriÉdouard Philippe PendahuluJean-Marc AyraultPenggantiPetahanaPresiden Komite Menteri Dewan EropaMasa jabatan17 Mei 2019 – 27 November 2019 PendahuluTimo SoiniPenggantiDavid ZalkalianiPresidenDewan Regional BrittanyMasa jabatan18 Desember 2015 – 2 Juni 2017 PendahuluPierrick MassiotPenggantiLoïg Chesnais-GirardMasa jabatan2 April 2004 – 29 Juni 2012 Pend...

Peta menunjukkan lokasi San Andres San Andres adalah munisipalitas yang terletak di provinsi Romblon, Filipina. Pada tahun 2010, munisipalitas ini memiliki populasi sebesar 14.591 jiwa dan 3.034 rumah tangga. Pembagian wilayah Secara administratif Alicia terbagi menjadi 13 barangay, yaitu: Agpudlos Calunacon Doña Trinidad Linawan Mabini Marigondon Norte Marigondon Sur Matutuna Pag-Alad Poblacion Tan-Agan Victoria Juncarlo Pranala luar Discover San Andres Romblon (under construction) Diarsipk...

 

Ogun merupakan sebuah negara bagian di Nigeria. Letaknya di bagian baratdaya. Ibu kotanya ialah Abeokuta. Didirikan pada tahun 1976. Negara bagian ini memiliki luas wilayah 16.762 km². Dengan memiliki jumlah penduduk sebanyak 4.054.272 jiwa (2005). Pembagian administrasi Abeokuta North Abeokuta South Ado-Odo/Otta Yewa North Yewa South Ewekoro Ifo ljebu East ljebu North ljebu NorthEast Ijebu Ode Ikenne lmekoAfon lpokia ObafemiOwode Odogbolu Odeda Ogun Waterside Remo North Sagamu lbsNegara ba...

 

Archaeological pattern The Las Palmas complex is an archaeological pattern recognized primarily on the basis of mortuary customs in the Cape region of Baja California Sur, Mexico. The complex is focused on the occurrence in caves or rockshelters of secondary human burials containing bones painted with red ochre. The skulls in such burials tend to be extremely long-headed (hyperdolichocephalic), leading to suggestions that makers of the Las Palmas complex (identified with the historically know...

Novel by Martin Amis The Information First UK edition coverAuthorMartin AmisCountryEnglandLanguageEnglishPublisherFlamingo (UK)Harmony Books (US)Publication date1995Media typePrint (hardback & paperback)Pages494ISBN0-00-225356-9 The Information is a 1995 novel by British writer Martin Amis. The plot involves two forty-year-old novelists, Gwyn Barry (successful) and Richard Tull (not so). Amis has asserted that both characters are based (if they can be regarded as based on anybody) on...

 

Football clubFull nameCrouch End Vampires Football ClubNickname(s)The VampsFounded1883; 141 years ago (1883), as Crouch End1897; 127 years ago (1897), as Crouch End VampiresGroundMuswell Hill Sports GroundLeagueSouthern Amateur League Senior Division 32022–23Southern Amateur League Senior Division 3, 10th of 10WebsiteClub website Crouch End Vampires F.C. are an amateur football club from the Crouch End area of north London, based at the Muswell Hill Sport...

 

Rugby playerJuan Martín HernándezDate of birth (1982-08-07) 7 August 1982 (age 41)Place of birthBuenos Aires, ArgentinaHeight1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)Weight93 kg (14 st 9 lb; 205 lb)Notable relative(s)Patricio Hernández (uncle)María de la Paz Hernández (sister)Rugby union careerPosition(s) Fly-Half / Centre / FullbackAmateur team(s)Years Team Apps (Points)2002 Deportiva Francesa () Deportiva Francesa ()Senior careerYears Team Apps (Points)2003–2009 Sta...

Former home stadium of Shrewsbury Town F.C. (1910-2007) This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (February 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this message) Gay MeadowCrowd at the Gay Meadow on 25 February 2006Full nameGay MeadowLocationAbbey ForegateShrewsburySY2 6ABCapacity8,000 (3,639 seated)Field size114 x 74 yardsConstructionBuilt1910Opened1910Clos...

 

Pemilihan umum Bupati Muaro Jambi 20242017202927 November 2024Kandidat Peta persebaran suara Bupati & Wakil Bupati petahanaMasnah Busro & Bambang Bayu Suseno Partai Amanat Nasional Bupati & Wakil Bupati terpilih belum diketahui Pemilihan umum Bupati Muaro Jambi 2024 (selanjutnya disebut Pilkada Muaro Jambi 2024) dilaksanakan pada 27 November 2024 untuk memilih Bupati Muaro Jambi periode 2024-2029.[1] Pemilihan Bupati (Pilbup) Muaro Jambi tahun tersebut akan diselenggaraka...

 

The Oxfordshire MuseumThe entrance to the museumShown within OxfordshireLocationFletcher's House, Park Street, Woodstock, Oxfordshire, EnglandCoordinates51°50′54″N 1°21′26″W / 51.8483°N 1.3572°W / 51.8483; -1.3572Websitewww.oxfordshire.gov.uk/the_oxfordshire_museum The Oxfordshire Museum (also known as Oxfordshire County Museum) is in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England, located in Fletcher's House, Park Street, opposite the Bear Hotel.[1] It is a regi...

Temperate coniferous forests ecoregion of the United States This article is about the ecoregion designated by the EPA. For the mountains, see Cascade Range. CascadesScattered patches of subalpine fir grow below glaciers and permanent snowfields on the south slope of Mount Rainier in ecoregion 4d.Level III ecoregions of the Pacific Northwest. The Cascades ecoregion is marked with (4).EcologyRealmNearcticBiomeTemperate coniferous forestsBorders List Puget Lowland (2)Willamette Valley (3)Eastern...

 

.ie

Internet country-code top level domain for the Republic of Ireland This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: .ie – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (June 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message).ieIntroduced27 January 1988 (1988-01-27)[1]TLD typeCountry code t...

 

American college football season 2017 Appalachian State Mountaineers footballSun Belt co-championDollar General Bowl championDollar General Bowl, W 34–0 vs. ToledoConferenceSun Belt ConferenceRecord9–4 (7–1 Sun Belt)Head coachScott Satterfield (5th season)Co-offensive coordinatorFrank Ponce (5th season)Co-offensive coordinatorShawn Clark (2nd season)Offensive schemeSpread optionDefensive coordinatorNate Woody (5th season)Base defense3–4Home stadiumKi...

Simbol bahan beracun Secara umum, racun merupakan zat padat, cair, atau gas, yang dapat mengganggu proses kehidupan sel suatu organisme.[1] Zat racun dapat masuk ke dalam tubuh melalui jalur oral (mulut) maupun topikal (permukaan tubuh).[1] Dalam hubungan dengan biologi, racun adalah zat yang menyebabkan luka, sakit, dan kematian organisme, biasanya dengan reaksi kimia atau aktivitas lainnya dalam skala molekul. Bapak Toksikologi, Paracelsus, menyatakan bahwa: Segala sesuatu a...

 

Hereditary queen of Balobedu This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: Rain Queen – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (September 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message) ModjadjiCountrySouth AfricaFounded1800FounderMaselekwane Modjadji ICurrent headMasalanabo Modjadji VIITitlesRain Q...