"The Peasant's Wise Daughter", "The Peasant's Clever Daughter" or "The Clever Lass" is a German

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...

collected by the

Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among the ...

in '' Grimm's Fairy Tales'' as tale number 94. It has also spread into

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

and Božena Němcová included it into her collection of Czech national folk tales in 1846. It is Aarne-Thompson type 875 ("The Clever Farmgirl"). This type of tale is the commonest European tale dealing with witty exchanges.

Origin

The

published this tale in the second volume of the first edition of '' Kinder- und Hausmärchen'' in 1815. Their informant was Dorothea Viehmann.

Synopsis

A peasant begged some land from the king. When he and his daughter dug the field, they found a mortar made of gold. The daughter warned that if they gave it to the king for his kindness, he would ask for the pestle as well; the father gave it nonetheless, and the king asked for the pestle and put him in prison until he got it. The peasant lamented his folly in not listening to his daughter. The king had him brought before him again, and asked what he meant. The peasant explained. The king summoned the daughter and set her riddle: to come to him neither naked nor clothed, neither walking nor riding, neither on the road nor off it. If she guessed it, she had proved her cleverness and would marry him. She wrapped herself in fish net, and tied it to a donkey's tail so that it had to drag her along, and she kept only one toe touching the ground. The king agreed that she had guessed the riddle; he freed her father and married her. Some years later, a mare gave birth to a foal that ran off and lay down under an ox. Both the peasant who owned the mare and the one who owned the ox claimed it; the king said it belonged where it was found. The peasant who owned the mare went to the queen for help. She told him to take a fishing net and pretend to fish on dry land where the king would see; when the king said it was impossible, he was to say it was no more impossible than oxen giving birth to foals. The peasant did so, and the king gave him the foal but got from him that the queen had given him the advice. He sent the queen back to her father, saying she could take only one thing, what she valued most, from the castle. The queen gave him a sleeping draught and took him back to her father's house. When he woke, she told him that he was what she valued most in the castle; he took her back with him to the castle and once again recognized her as his wife.

Motifs and variants

Antiquity and distribution

Joseph Jacobs point in his ''Europa's Fairy Book'' that the tale has many parallels across Europe and Asia. Ulrich Marzolph and Richard van Leewen comment that the motif of the clever maiden who answers the prince's riddles is ancient enough to be present in the ''

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...

'' and in narratives of the ''

Jatakas The Jātakas (meaning "Birth Story", "related to a birth") are a voluminous body of literature native to India which mainly concern the previous births of Gautama Buddha in both human and animal form. According to Peter Skilling, this genre is ...

''. The story of a poor maiden's cleverness can be found in

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern period ...

and Viking legend of Aslaug and

Ragnar Lodbrok according to legends, was a Viking hero and a Danish and Swedish king.Gutenberg Projec ...

, specially the riddle of coming "not dressed, yet not undressed". Folklorist

Stith Thompson Stith Thompson (March 7, 1885 – January 10, 1976) was an American folklorist: he has been described as "America's most important folklorist". He is the "Thompson" of the Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index, which indexes folktales by type, and the ...

argued for a Central European source for the ATU 875 type.

Continental variants

Scholars

Johannes Bolte Johannes Bolte (11 February 1858 – 25 July 1937) was a German folklorist. A prolific writer, he wrote over 1,400 publications, including monographs, articles, notes and book reviews. Works * ''Zeugnisse zur Geschichte unserer Kinderspiele'', ''Ze ...

and Jiri Polívka listed several variants from across the globe in their seminal work on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale collection.

Italy

Variants have been registered in Italian scholarship, as noted by

Jack Zipes Jack David Zipes (born June 7, 1937) is a professor emeritus of German, comparative literature, and cultural studies, who has published and lectured on German literature, critical theory, German Jewish culture, children's literature, and folklore. ...

; for instance, by

Laura Gonzenbach Laura Gonzenbach (1842–1878) was a fairy-tale collector of Swiss-German origins, active in Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = ...

. A version from

Abruzzi Abruzzo (, , ; nap, label=Neapolitan language, Abruzzese Neapolitan, Abbrùzze , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; nap, label=Sabino dialect, Aquilano, Abbrùzzu; #History, historically Abruzzi) is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy wi ...

(''The Clever Girl'') begins with an old lady blessing the newborn peasant girl with "beauty and wit", but otherwise remains a realistic tale. A scholarly inquiry by Italian ''Istituto centrale per i beni sonori ed audiovisivi'' ("Central Institute of Sound and Audiovisual Heritage"), produced in the late 1960s and early 1970s, found thirty variants of the tale across Italian sources.

Spain

In a variant from

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...

, ''Das Märchen des Bockes'' (''Sa Rondaya des Boch''), the king inquires the girl's parents about the maiden's cleverness.

Ireland

Irish folklorist Patrick Kennedy listed ''The Poor Girl that became a Queen'' as another variant.

Scotland

A Scottish variant titled ''Diarmaid and Grainne'' was collected by Joseph Campbell in ''Popular Tales of the West Highlands''.

Eastern Europe

Professor Andrejev noted that the tale type 875, "The Clever Peasant Girl", was one of "the most populär" of the ''Novella or Realistic Tales'' "in the Ukrainian repertoire", with 20 variants, in contrast to 11 variants from Russia (but still considered to be "among the most widespread ovellatypes" in Russia). A

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

n variant is attested (''The Maiden who was Wiser than the King''), but it differs from the usual plot: instead of the golden mortar and the dispute about the foal, the peasant girl and the king try to outsmart each other with counter-riddles. A

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n variant ("The Sage Damsel") subverts the traditional ending: the wise and humble maiden helps a peasant simpleton with a good heart, and chooses him over the king. In another Slavic variant, "Clever Manka: The Story of a Girl Who Knew What to Say", at the end of the tale, the burgomaster begins to consult with his clever wife for the problems that are brought to him. French author Edouard Laboulaye translated a

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

n variant titled ''A Female Solomon'' in his book ''Last Fairy Tales''.

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

n variants of the tale type attest the presence of the legendary

King Matjaž King Matjaž/Mátyás/Matijaš ( sl, Kralj Matjaž, hu, Mátyás király, hr, Kralj Matijaš) is a legendary king in Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia and in some other countries, based on pre-Christian traditions of Carantania and in course of centur ...

(King Matthias), of Slovenian folklore.

Lithuania

Folklorist Jonas Balys ( lt), in his 1936 publication on Lithuanian folktales, reported 41 variants of tale type ''Gudri ūkininko duktė''. A later analysis by professor Bronislava Kerbelytė registered 165 variants, under the banner ''The Clever Farmgirl'', with and without contamination from other tale types.

Scandinavia

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

variant was collected by August Bondeson, from

Södermanland Södermanland ( or ), locally Sörmland, sometimes referred to under its Latin form ''Sudermannia'' or ''Sudermania'', is a historical province or ''landskap'' on the south eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Östergötland, Närke, Västmanla ...

, with the title ''Den kloka torparedottern''.

Middle East

Ulrich Marzolph and Richard van Leewven list ''The Chick-pea Seller's Daughter'', from '' The Arabian Nights'', as a variant of the story. Inea Bushnaq's ''Arab Folktales'' includes a variant, "The Clever Minister's Daughter".

Americas

Professor Ernest Warren Baughman lists

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

variants in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

and Kentucky. Variants have also been collected in Mississippi.

Other versions

The motif of a girl's cleverness used to rebuff the advances of an unwanted magical suitor happens in traditional English and Scottish Child Ballads nr. 1 (

Riddles Wisely Expounded "Riddles Wisely Expounded" is a traditional English song, dating at least to 1450. It is Child Ballad 1 and Roud 161, and exists in several variants. The first known tune was attached to it in 1719. The title "Riddles Wisely Expounded" was give ...

) and nr. 2 (

The Elfin Knight "The Elfin Knight" () is a traditional Scottish folk ballad of which there are many versions, all dealing with supernatural occurrences, and the commission to perform impossible tasks. The ballad has been collected in different parts of England, ...

). There are variants in which it is a male that defies the king with his cleverness, such as a tale from

Saint Martin Saint Martin may refer to: People * Saint Martin of Tours (c. 316–397), Bishop of Tours, France * Saint Martin of Braga (c. 520–580), archbishop of Bracara Augusta in Gallaecia (now Braga in Portugal) * Pope Martin I (598–655) * Saint Mart ...

, collected by anthropologist

Elsie Clews Parsons Elsie Worthington Clews Parsons (November 27, 1875 – December 19, 1941) was an American anthropologist, sociologist, folklorist, and feminist who studied Native American tribes—such as the Tewa and Hopi—in Arizona, New Mexico, and Mexi ...

.Parsons, Elsie Worthington Clews. ''Folk-lore of the Antilles, French And English''. Part 3. New York: American Folk-lore Society. 1943. p. 308.

References

Bibliography

* Bolte, Johannes; Polívka, Jiri. ''Anmerkungen zu den Kinder- u. hausmärchen der brüder Grimm''. Zweiter Band (NR. 61-120). Germany, Leipzig: Dieterich'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung. 1913. pp. 349–373. * Haase, Donald. ''The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Folktales and Fairy Tales: A-F''. Greenwood Publishing Group. 2007. p. 353. * Haase, Donald. ''The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Folktales and Fairy Tales: G-P''. Greenwood Publishing Group. 2008. p. 732. * Jacobs, Joseph. ''European Folk and Fairy Tales''. New York, London: G. P. Putnam's sons. 1916. pp. 256-259.

External links

* https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Grimm%27s_Household_Tales,_Volume_2/The_Peasant%27s_Wise_Daughter {{DEFAULTSORT:Peasant's Wise Daughter Grimms' Fairy Tales Fictional queens Female characters in fairy tales Czech fairy tales ATU 850-999