|The Fairy Book|
|by Dinah Maria Mulock|
|One of the earliest collections of fairy tales from different countries, first published in 1863. Carefully selected and rendered anew in language close to the oral tradition. Includes old English tales, such as Jack the Giant-killer and Tom Thumb, as well as German stories from Grimm, and French tales of Perrault and Madame d'Aulnoy, and many other delightful and time-honored fairy tales. Numerous black and white illustrations by Louis Rhead complement the text. Ages 6-9 |
NCE upon a time there was a man who had a daughter,
who was called "Clever Alice"; and when she was
grown up, her father said, "We must see about her
"Yes," replied her mother, "whenever a young man
shall appear who is worthy of her."
At last a certain youth, by name Hans, came from a
distance to make a proposal of marriage; but he required
one condition, that the Clever Alice should be very
"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
"Very well," replied Hans; "but remember, if she
is not very prudent, I will not take her." Soon afterwards
they sat down to dinner, and her mother said,
"Alice, go down into the cellar and draw some
So Clever Alice took the jug down 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 placed it before the
cask, in order that she might not have to stoop, for she
thought stooping might in some way injure her back, and
 it an undesirable bend. Then she placed 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 hatchet, which the bricklayers had left
behind, sticking out of the ceiling right above her head.
At the sight of this Clever Alice began to cry, 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 so
she sat there weeping with all her might over the impending
Meanwhile the good folks upstairs were waiting for
the beer, but as 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 grow up, and we send
him here to draw beer, that hatchet will fall upon his
head and kill him."
"Oh," said the maid, "what a 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 folks 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 sat Clever
 Alice and 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 a clever Alice we have!" and
fell weeping and howling with the others.
Upstairs they were still waiting, and the husband said,
when the boy did not return, "Do you go down, wife,
into the cellar and see why Alice stays so long." So she
went down, and finding all three sitting there crying,
asked 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 a 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;
but at last he felt so very thirsty, that he said, "I must
go 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 a clever
Alice we have!" and sat down to cry with the whole
strength of his lungs.
At this time the bridegroom above sat waiting, but
when nobody returned, he 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 in a louder key than his neighbour.
"What misfortune has happened?" he asked.
 "Ah, dear Hans!" cried Alice, "if you and I should
marry one another, and have a child, and he grow up, and
we, perhaps, send him down to this cellar to tap the beer,
the hatchet which has been 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 for my housekeeping; because you are such a
clever Alice, I will have you for my wife." And, taking
her hand, he led her home, and celebrated the wedding
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 wherewith 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 she
said to herself, "What shall I do? Shall I cut first, or
eat first? Ay, I will eat first!" Then she ate 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 will have a nap!" and so she laid herself down
amongst the corn, and went to sleep.
Meanwhile Hans returned home, but Alice did not
come, and so he said, "Oh, what a prudent Alice I have!
She is so industrious that she does not even come home to
eat anything." By-and-by, however, evening came on,
and still she
 did not return; so Hans went out to see how
much she had reaped; but, behold, nothing at all, and
there lay Alice fast asleep among the corn! So home he
ran very fast, and brought a net with little bells hanging
on it, which he threw over her head while she still slept
on. When he had done this, he went back again and
shut to 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 bells jingled at every step she took.
This quite frightened her, and she began to doubt whether
she were really Clever Alice, and said to herself, "Am I
she, or am I not?" This was a 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; so she tapped at the window, and
asked, "Hans, is Alice within?" "Yes," he replied,
"she is." At which answer she became really terrified,
and exclaiming, "Ah, heaven, then I am not Alice!"
she ran up to another house, intending to ask the same
question. But as soon as the folks within heard the
jingling of the bells in her net, they refused to open
their doors, and nobody would receive her. So she ran
straight away from the village, and no one has ever seen
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