The clever bush (Fence)

About the fairy-tale

This Fairy-Tale was written down by Bozena Nemcova in her collection Folk Stories and Legends. Her work is a cullmination of national revival in the czech literature. Author’s language is modern, contents of fairy-tale is folk.

Characteristics of heroes

There aren’t any supernatural creatures, but only national heroes - real people with basic people’s characters. The main hero is a rustic girl, a daughter of poor crofter, she has to rely on herself. She is pretty, self-confident, brave and vixenish. these abilities were necessary for ordinary human, who had to feed her and her family. Manka’s enemies were stupid and mean people - the rich, who look only after themselves. In the first case - it’s a rich uncle, in the second case a rich farmer. Manka’s partner - a judge loves his wife, but he can’t understand general preconception that a man always has to be more clever.

A way of hero there and back

At first Manka fights against doing injustice to her and her father. Then she helps a poor man, whose neighbour stole him a foal. At last he fights for herself, for her love and she gets her husband again because of her cleverness. Although she is "only" woman, her husband starts to respect her and he gives her his office.

Symbols

Manka is a symbol of agelong ambition of women to be independent on men. She also is a symbol of the most important woman’s qualities - mainly independence and hard-work. No family can act without these women’s qualities. The idea of rich stupid man helped to poor people overcome difficulties of own life. Using of fairy-tales’ general features in concrete story It’s characteristic for fairy-tales that they fix neither time nor space, but in Clever Bush (Fence) we can imagine typical czech village of the 19th century. All other principles are the same as in other fairy-tales. Fairy-tales always have a good end - everything will be good for Manka in the end - and there is a symbolic number three, too. The girl has to answer three questions (what is the cleverest, the sweetest and the richest in the world) she has to fulfil his tasks (she can’t come neither in a day nor at night, night dreessed nor stripped, neither on the goat, nor on foot), she has to come round her husband (when she answers his questions and fulfil his tasks ; when she doesn’t obey his command and warns befooled farmer ; when she can carry away the most valuable thing - she carries away her own husband.

Proverbs and sayings

"Clever Bush (Fence)" became a general saying for expression of the certain ambidexterity. Although in czech language exists an old proverb. "To the end that a wolf fed and goat remains complete", but in some cases it can affect a little expressively. "Clever Bush (Fence) is more suitable expression. When we want to get on with everybody, it can happen that in the end nobody is satisfied. Expression "She behaves as clever bush-fence" is very convenient in this case. In journalism it is used most often nowadays. Recently in crisis of our goverment they named behavior of many politicians including our prime minister by these words. Many products of the type two in one receive a name "clever bush" from their critics, as models ála clever bush are on fashion shows named challenging and very bared, uncovered collections. In most of nursery rhymes, proverbs or riddles we can find types of questions : what is the richest, the most clever and the sweetest in the world". These rhymes and riddles teach children to think in more general terms and they belong to the first expressions of ethical education.

Film, theatre, games, variations of fairy-tale

This fairy-tale is played in many czech theatres, we can see it also as cartoon (film Fimfarun) and as puppet-show/for example Theatre Radost in Brno. In the 60s of the 20th century this fairy-tale got a modern form by famous czech actor and writer Jan Werich. This tale was named by him. "The Queen Scooter". Manka is here emancipated Zdenicka and she arrives to her love neither the king, on the scooter, because it isn’t really on foot, nor on the coach. This new variation appeared in the full-length film "The Queen Scooter". In the children’s camps or friends’ meetings is played a game on clever bush. Who can be neither dressed, nor stripped, neither on foot, nor on a coach, neither with a present, nor without ? Sculptor Radomir Dvorak was inspirated by this theme and he made his object from lime(tree) wood. The elementary school in krasna Lipa prepared unusual entry to the first class last year. The tasks for children were setted by fabulous creatures. The most difficult tasks were from clever bush.

Variations of the fairy-tales

This fairy-tale is well-known in different variations. Very often we can see another part, when Manka arrives to her future husband. Instead of "neither at night, nor in a day" there is "neither with a present nor without present". The girl brings a bird in her palm and she releases it into the air in front of a judge. Sometimes girl has to sow a seed, grow a corn and bake bread from it.