The Story of Clever Elsie

Clever Elsie story summary is a short story with Elsie as its protagonist. She is foolish, but her parents call her Clever Elsie. The story begins when Elsie’s parents wonder about her marriage. Then she does receive a marriage prospect from Hans. However, the prospect came with the condition that Elsie had to prove her wisdom before Hans could marry her. In case she failed, the prospect would turn void.

This story teaches that a foolish person has to pay a price for their foolishness. Even though it is not their fall to begin with, if one does not use their brain at all, it can have some major consequences.

Hans Watching Clever Elsie Sleeping

Clever Elsie

Elsie’s parents, Hans and herself, sat together after a hearty meal. The time demanded some liquor. Hence, Elsie’s mother asked her to fetch beer from the cellar. She stood there fidgeting as the jug filled with beer when she noticed a pickaxe that was left hanging on the ceiling, right above her head. She bursted into tears thinking of the time when she had a child with Hans after marriage, and it was sent to fetch beer from the cellar; the pickaxe fell and killed it. Meanwhile, the patience of the people waiting for beer was running out. They sent the maid to look where Elsie was.

The maid came to the cellar and saw Elsie crying. Instinctively she asked for the reason Elsie was crying. After learning, she cried, too, exclaiming about how clever Elsie was. When they did not return, the parents followed one after the other and ended up crying with Elsie. Finally, Hans came to the cellar and figured that Elsie was clever. After that, they got married.

Sometime after the marriage, Hans decided to go out for work, he asked Elsie to go to the cornfield and reap the harvest, so they would have food to eat. After saying this, he left. So Elsie made a pot full of stew and left for the cornfield. She reached the cornfield and decided she would eat first and reap later. When she ate, she decided she would sleep first and reap later. Clever Elsie slept in the cornfield.

Hans returned home from work and thought to himself how industrious Elsie was. He decided to go to the cornfield and have her return home to eat something. When Hans reached there, he saw her asleep without having reaped anything. The next thing he did was throw a fowler’s net on her. Still, Elsie did not wake up, and Hans got back home. When it got dark, and Elsie woke up confused, she could not even figure out if the person caught in the net was her.

Elsie wanted someone to confirm that the person on the net was her and not someone else. So she hurried home, knocked on the door, and asked if Clever Elsie was inside. Hans replied positively, saying Clever Elsie was there. That terrified Elsie, and she ran across the village looking for someone else who could confirm that she was Elsie. However, the net had bells that made a ringing sound when she walked. So everyone hid behind their doors, and no one came to offer her help. Clever Elsie, in her foolishness, left the village and was never seen again.

Moral of the Story

The moral of the story, Clever Elsie moral is: “Do not judge a book by its cover.”

Summary 

The story features a girl named Clever Elsie who gets married to Hans because Hans thought she was a clever person. But when she came out to be perhaps the most foolish person, she disappeared because of her own foolishness. This story teaches that if Elsie was not foolish, she would have a good married life. It was her foolishness that made her pay a big price. On the other hand, just like the clever Elsie moral, one should not go for the outer appearance. Instead one should judge someone after knowing that person well.