"When I was a child," says Wanda Gag, "my favorite funny Märchen was one about a peasant who wanted to do housework. I have never forgotten either the tale itself or the inimitable way in which it was told to me in German. Recently while reading Grimm's Märchen with the idea of illustrating them, I could hardly wait to come upon that old peasant fairy tale of my childhood. To my surprise and disappointment, it was not in Grimm at all. One story did slightly resemble it, but it lacked the most dramatic incident and had a different central them. No doubt this tale exists in some German collections. There must be English versions of it too, for by questioning various children, I found them to be familiar with it, but only vaguely so. From this I concluded that it had never been presented to them as it had been to me—that is, in a full-flavored, conversational style with a sly peasant humor which has made the tale unforgettable to me. It was for this reason that I decided to make a little book of the story, consulting no other sources except one—my own memory of how the tale was told to me when I was a little girl."

From the dust jacket

Gone Is Gone addresses an age old question for couples—who works harder? This long-out-of-print children's book, based o a charming Bohemian tale recited to Wanda Gag when she was a child, is now once again available to enchant audiences of all ages.

In this delightful story we meet Fritzl, who lives on a farm with his wife Liesi and their baby. Fritzl works hard in the fields every day. Liesi works hard all day, too, but Fritzl somehow feels that he works harder. When he complains about how hard he works and how easy Liesi has it, doing nothing but 'putter and potter about the house a bit,' Liesi calls his bluff and suggests they trade places.

The hilarious outcomes of Fritzl's calamitous day at home are portrayed in Gag's singular illustrations. In the end Fritzl admits that Liesi's work is 'none too easy' and begs to return to his fields and not do housework another day.

From the dust jacket of the University of Minnesota Press edition