Bab Bab 31 · Clever Hans

. Clever Hans

The mother of Hans said, “Whither away, Hans?” Hans answered, “To

Grethel.” “Behave well, Hans.” “Oh, I’ll behave well. Good-bye,

mother.” “Good-bye, Hans.” Hans comes to Grethel, “Good day, Grethel.”

“Good day, Hans. What dost thou bring that is good?” “I bring nothing,

I want to have something given me.” Grethel presents Hans with a

needle. Hans says, “Good-bye, Grethel.” “Good-bye, Hans.”

Hans takes the needle, sticks it into a hay-cart, and follows the cart

home. “Good evening, mother.” “Good evening, Hans. Where hast thou

been?” “With Grethel.” “What didst thou take her?” “Took nothing; had

something given me.” “What did Grethel give thee?” “Gave me a needle.”

“Where is the needle, Hans?” “Stuck it in the hay-cart.” “That was ill

done, Hans. Thou shouldst have stuck the needle in thy sleeve.” “Never

mind, I’ll do better next time.”

“Whither away, Hans?” “To Grethel, mother.” “Behave well, Hans.” “Oh,

I’ll behave well. Good-bye, mother.” “Good-bye, Hans.”

Hans comes to Grethel. “Good day, Grethel.” “Good day, Hans. What dost

thou bring that is good?” “I bring nothing; I want to have something

given to me.” Grethel presents Hans with a knife. “Good-bye, Grethel.”

“Good-bye Hans.” Hans takes the knife, sticks it in his sleeve, and

goes home. “Good evening, mother.” “Good evening, Hans. Where hast thou

been?” “With Grethel.” “What didst thou take her?” “Took her nothing,

she gave me something.” “What did Grethel give thee?” “Gave me a

knife.” “Where is the knife, Hans?” “Stuck in my sleeve.” “That’s ill

done, Hans, thou shouldst have put the knife in thy pocket.” “Never

mind, will do better next time.” “Whither away, Hans?” “To Grethel,

mother.” “Behave well, Hans.” “Oh, I’ll behave well. Good-bye, mother.”

“Good-bye, Hans.”

Hans comes to Grethel. “Good day, Grethel.” “Good day, Hans. What good

thing dost thou bring?” “I bring nothing, I want something given me.”

Grethel presents Hans with a young goat. “Good-bye, Grethel.”

“Good-bye, Hans.” Hans takes the goat, ties its legs, and puts it in

his pocket. When he gets home it is suffocated. “Good evening, mother.”

“Good evening, Hans. Where hast thou been?” “With Grethel.” “What didst

thou take her?” “Took nothing, she gave me something.” “What did

Grethel give thee?” “She gave me a goat.” “Where is the goat, Hans?”

“Put it in my pocket.” “That was ill done, Hans, thou shouldst have put

a rope round the goat’s neck.” “Never mind, will do better next time.”

“Whither away, Hans?” “To Grethel, mother.” “Behave well, Hans.” “Oh,

I’ll behave well. Good-bye, mother.” “Good-bye, Hans.” Hans comes to

Grethel. “Good day, Grethel.” “Good day, Hans. What good thing dost

thou

bring?” “I bring nothing, I want something given me.” Grethel presents

Hans with a piece of bacon. “Good-bye, Grethel.” “Good-bye, Hans.”

Hans takes the bacon, ties it to a rope, and drags it away behind him.

The dogs come and devour the bacon. When he gets home, he has the rope

in his hand, and there is no longer anything hanging to it. “Good

evening, mother.” “Good evening, Hans.” “Where hast thou been?” “With

Grethel.” “What didst thou take her?” “I took her nothing, she gave me

something.” “What did Grethel give thee?” “Gave me a bit of bacon.”

“Where is the bacon, Hans?” “I tied it to a rope, brought it home, dogs

took it.” “That was ill done, Hans, thou shouldst have carried the

bacon on thy head.” “Never mind, will do better next time.” “Whither

away, Hans?” “To Grethel, mother.” “Behave well, Hans.” “I’ll behave

well. Good-bye, mother.” “Good-bye, Hans.”

Hans comes to Grethel. “Good day, Grethel.” “Good day, Hans.” “What

good thing dost thou bring?” “I bring nothing, but would have something

given.” Grethel presents Hans with a calf. “Good-bye, Grethel.”

“Good-bye, Hans.”

Hans takes the calf, puts it on his head, and the calf kicks his face.

“Good evening, mother.” “Good evening, Hans. Where hast thou been?”

“With Grethel.” “What didst thou take her?” “I took nothing, but had

something given me.” “What did Grethel give thee?” “A calf.” “Where

hast thou the calf, Hans?” “I set it on my head and it kicked my face.”

“That was ill done, Hans, thou shouldst have led the calf, and put it

in the stall.” “Never mind, will do better next time.”

“Whither away, Hans?” “To Grethel, mother.” “Behave well, Hans.” “I’ll

behave well. Good-bye, mother.” “Good-bye, Hans.”

Hans comes to Grethel. “Good day, Grethel.” “Good day, Hans. What good

thing dost thou bring?” “I bring nothing, but would have something

given.” Grethel says to Hans, “I will go with thee.”

Hans takes Grethel, ties her to a rope, leads her to the rack and binds

her fast. Then Hans goes to his mother. “Good evening, mother.” “Good

evening, Hans. Where hast thou been?” “With Grethel.” “What didst thou

take her?” “I took her nothing.” “What did Grethel give thee?” “She

gave me nothing, she came with me.” “Where hast thou left Grethel?” “I

led her by the rope, tied her to the rack, and scattered some grass for

her.” “That was ill done, Hans, thou shouldst have cast friendly eyes

on her.” “Never mind, will do better.”

Hans went into the stable, cut out all the calves’ and sheep’s eyes,

and threw them in Grethel’s face. Then Grethel became angry, tore

herself loose and ran away, and became the bride of Hans.