Elsa the cow
Elsa the cow is an acted joke by comedian Dieter Hallervorden , performed in 1977 on his television program Nonstop Nonsens .
The plot
Count von Seidewitz ( Gerhard Wollner ) is called by his butler ( Dieter Hallervorden ) and receives the message from him that the cow Elsa has died.
The count replies that he doesn't care that a cow is supposed to have died, because he has over 3,000 cows. When he asks what she died of, he learns that the whole barn was on fire, that the roof could not hold up without the barn and that it fell on her head.
When the count further asks why the stable was on fire, the butler tells him that the fire spread from the country estate through flying sparks there. It burned down because the Count's son fell on the stairs, broke both arms and dropped the candlestick with burning candles when he wanted to make it beautiful for the Countess after her sudden death. All of this was the fate of the poor cow Elsa, as the butler repeatedly remarks.
Origin of the story
The motif on which the sketch is based is much older: In the Disciplina clericalis by Petrus Alfonsi ( XXVII Exemplum de Maimundo servo ), written around 1115, there is a very similar story - although it is about a small dog instead of a cow. Another variant of this is included in A Treasury of North American Folk Tales . It is also listed in Aarne Thompson's narrative type index under number 2040 (narrative type “Accumulation of horror”). In the treasure chest of Johann Peter Hebel's Rhenish friend , published in 1811, there is the story One word gives the other , in which the servant brings the news of the death of his raven to his master, who is in Paris. This version can also be found in the ballad Der kalte Michel by Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart . The chanson Tout va très bien (Madame la Marquise) by Ray Ventura is based on the same story.
Entry into everyday language
Bad luck for the cow Elsa is generally used as an expression for “went stupid” or an unfavorable outcome of a situation. In addition, “Kuh Elsa” stands for the principle that behind initially harmless or minor bad news there is always widening disaster.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Thomas Hirner: Salzburg at Villarreal only narrow losers (live ticker) , derstandard.at from February 19, 2015, accessed on August 15, 2019.
- ↑ Gunter Weißgerber : The SPD has no time for Nabelschau , The European of November 24, 2017, accessed on August 15, 2019.
- ↑ Jörg Thomann: The Elsa Cow Principle , faz.net of October 8, 2011, accessed on August 15, 2019.
- ↑ Peter Bauer: The City Hall, the Carpet and the Elsa Cow , Augsburger Allgemeine from April 2, 2014, accessed on August 15, 2019.