Clever Alice

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Clever Alice by the Jana Maria Malock. Once upon a
time there was a man who had a daughter who
was called Clever Alice. When she was grown up, her
father said, you must see about her marrying. Yes, replied
the mother, whenever young man shall appear is worthy of her.
At last, a certain news, my name Hans, came from
a distance to make a proposal of marriage. But he

(00:22):
required one condition that the clever Alice should be very prudent. Oh,
said her father. No fear of that. She has got
a head full of brains. And the mother added, Ah,
she can see the wind blow up the street and
hear the flies cough. Very well, replied Hans. But remember
if she is not very prudent, I will not take her.

(00:43):
Soon afterwards, they set down to dinner, and the mother said, Alice,
go down into the cellar and draw some beer. So
Clever Alice took the chug from the wall and went
into the cellar, jerking the lid up and down on
her way to pass away the time. As soon as
she got downstairs, she drew a stool and blazed it
before the cask, in order that she might not have

(01:03):
to stoop, For she thought stooping might in some way
into her back and give it an undesirable band. Then
she blazed the can before her and turned the tap,
And while the beer was running, as she did not
wish her eyes to be idle, she looked about upon
the wall above and below. Presently she perceived, after much
peeping into this corner and that corner, a hadjet which

(01:24):
the bricklayers had left behind, steiking out of the ceiling
right above her head. At the sight of this, clever
Alice began to cry, saying, oh, if a merry Hans
and we have a child, and he grows up, and
they sent him into the cellar to draw beer, the
hatchet will fall upon his head and kill him. And
so she sat there, weeping with all her might over
the impending misfortune. Meanwhile, the good fox upstairs were waiting

(01:47):
for the beer, but this clever Alice did not come.
Her mother told the maid to go and see what
she was stopping for. The maid went down into the
cellar and found Alice sitting before the cask, crying heartily.
And she asked, Alice, what are you weeping about? Ah?
She replied, have I not cause if I marry Hans
and we have a child, and he grew up, and
we send him here to draw here that hatchet will

(02:09):
fall upon his head and kill him. Oh, said the maid,
what the clever alice we have? And sitting down she
began to weep too for the misfortune that was to happen.
After a while, when the servant did not return, the
good fogs above began to feel very thirsty. So the
husband told the boy to go down into the cellar
and see what had become of Alice and the maid.
The boy went down, and there say clever Alice and

(02:31):
the maid both crying. So he asked the reason, and
Alice told him the same tale of the hatchet that
was to fall on her child if she married Hans
and if they had a child. When she had finished,
the boy exclaimed, what the clever alice we have, and
fell weeping and howling with the others up stairs, they
were still waiting, and the husband said, when the boy
did not return, do you go down, wife into the

(02:53):
cellar and see where Alice stays so long? So she
went down, and, finding all three sitting there crying, ask
the reason, and Alice told her about the hatchet, which
must inevitably fall upon the head of her son. Then
the mother likewise exclaimed, oh, what the clever alice we have, and,
sitting down, began to weep as much as any of
the rest. Meanwhile, the husband waited for his wife's return,

(03:14):
but at last he felt so very thirsty that he said,
I must throw myself down into the cellar and see
what is keeping our alice. As soon as he entered
the cellar, there he found the four sitting and crying together,
And when he heard the reason, he also exclaimed, oh,
what the clever alice we have, and sat down to
cry with the whole strength of his lungs. At this time,

(03:34):
the bride comb above said waiting, But when nobody returned,
his thought they must be waiting for him, and so
he went down to see what was the matter. When
he entered, there sat the five crying and groaning, each
one a key louder in his neighbor. What misfortune has happened?
He asked, Ah, dear Hans, cried Alice. If you and
I marry one another and have a child, and he

(03:55):
grew up, and we perhaps send him down to this
cellar to tap the beer. The hadjet which has left
sticking up there may fall on his head and so
kill him. And do you not think this is enough
to weep about? Now? Said Hans, more prudence than this
is not necessary from a housekeeping Because you are such
a clever Alice, I will have you from a wife.
And taking her hand, he led her home and celebrated

(04:17):
the wedding. Directly after they had been married a little while,
Hans said, one morning, wife, I will go out to
work and earn some money. Do you go into the
field and gather some corn where with to make bread? Yes?
She answered, I will do so, dear Hans. And when
he was gone, she cooked herself a nice mess of
pottage to take with her. As she came to the field,

(04:37):
she said to herself, what shall I do? Shall I
cut first or eat first? Eh? I will eat first.
Then she eat up the contents of her pot, and
when it was finished, she thought to herself, now shall
I reap first or sleep first? Well? I think I
we'll have a nap. So she let herself down amongst
the corn and went to sleep. Meanwhile, Hans returned home,

(04:58):
but Alice did not come, and so he said, oh,
what a prudent Alisa have She is so industreus that
she does not even come home to eat anything. By
and bye. However, evening came on and she still did
not return. So Hans went out to see how much
she had riapped, but behold nothing at all. Dearly Alice
fast asleep among the corn. So Homie ran very fast

(05:19):
and bought a net with little bells hanging on it,
which she threw over her head, where she still slept on.
When he had done this, he went back again and
shut the house door, and, seating himself on his stool,
began working very industriously. At last, when it was nearly dark,
the clever Alice awoke, and as soon as she stood up,
the net fell all over her hair, and the bears
jingled at every step she took. This quite frightened her,

(05:42):
and she began to doubt whether she really worked, Clever Alice,
and said to herself, am I she? Or am I not?
This was the question she could not answer, and she
stood still a long while considering about it. At last
she thought she would go home and ask whether she
were really herself, supposing somebody would be able to tell her.
When she came to the house door, it was shut,

(06:02):
so she tapped at the window and asked, Hans, is
Alice within? Yes, he replied she is, at which answer
she became really terrified in exclaiming, I Heaven. Then I
am not Alice. She ran up to another house intending
to ask the same question, But as soon as the
fogs within her the chinkling of the bears in her net,
they refused to open their doors. Nobody would receive her,

(06:24):
so she ran straight away from the village, and no
one has ever seen her since. And off clever Alice