Clever Grethel
There was once a cook called Grethel, who wore shoes with redrosettes; and when she went out in them, she turned and twisted aboutgaily, and thought, 'How fine I am!'
After her walk she would take a draught of wine, in herlight-heartedness; and as wine gives an appetite, she would then tastesome of the dishes that she was cooking, saying to herself, 'The cookis bound to know how the food tastes.'
It so happened that one day her master said to her, 'Grethel, I have aguest coming to-night; roast me two fowls in your best style.'
'It shall be done, sir!' answered Grethel. So she killed the chickens,scalded and plucked them, and then put them on the spit; towardsevening she put them down to the fire to roast. They got brown andcrisp, but still the guest did not come. Then Grethel called to herMaster, 'If the guest does not come I must take the fowls from thefire; but it will be a thousand pities if they are not eaten soonwhile they are juicy.'
Her Master said, 'I will go and hasten the guest myself.'
Hardly had her Master turned his back before Grethel laid the spitwith the fowls on it on one side, and said to herself, 'It's thirstywork standing over the fire so long. Who knows when he will come. I'llgo down into the cellar in the meantime and take a drop of wine.'
She ran down and held a jug to the tap, then said, 'Here's to yourhealth, Grethel,' and took a good pull. 'Drinking leads to drinking,'she said, 'and it's not easy to give it up,' and again she took a goodpull. Then she went upstairs and put the fowls to the fire again,poured some butter over them, and turned the spit round with a will.It smelt so good that she thought, 'There may be something wanting, Imust have a taste.' And she passed her finger over the fowls and putit in her mouth. 'Ah, how good they are; it's a sin and a shame thatthere's nobody to eat them.' She ran to the window to see if herMaster was coming with the guest, but she saw nobody. Then she wentback to the fowls again, and thought, 'One wing is catching a little,better to eat it--and eat it I will.' So she cut it off and ate itwith much enjoyment. When it was finished, she thought, 'The othermust follow, or the Master will notice that something is wanting.'When the wings were consumed she went back to the window again to lookfor her Master, but no one was in sight.
'Who knows,' she thought. 'I dare say they won't come at all; theymust have dropped in somewhere else.' Then she said to herself, 'Now,Grethel, don't be afraid, eat it all up: why should the good food bewasted? When it's all gone you can rest; run and have another drinkand then finish it up.' So she went down to the cellar, took a gooddrink, and contentedly ate up the rest of the fowl. When it had alldisappeared and still no Master came, Grethel looked at the other fowland said, 'Where one is gone the other must follow. What is good forone is right for the other. If I have a drink first I shall be nonethe worse.' So she took another hearty pull at the jug, and then shesent the other fowl after the first one.
In the height of her enjoyment, her Master came back, and cried,'Hurry, Grethel, the guest is just coming.'
'Very well, sir, I'll soon have it ready,' answered Grethel.
Her Master went to see if the table was properly laid, and took thebig carving-knife with which he meant to cut up the fowls, to sharpenit. In the meantime the guest came and knocked politely at the door.Grethel ran to see who was there, and, seeing the guest, she put herfinger to her lips and said, 'Be quiet, and get away quickly; if myMaster catches you it will be the worse for you. He certainlyinvited you to supper, but only with the intention of cutting off bothyour ears. You can hear him sharpening his knife now.'
{Then he ran after him, still holding the carving-knife, and cried, 'Only one, only one!'}]
The guest heard the knife being sharpened, and hurried off down thesteps as fast as he could.
Grethel ran with great agility to her Master, shrieking, 'A fine guestyou have invited, indeed!'
'Why, what's the matter, Grethel? What do you mean?'
'Well,' she said, 'he has taken the two fowls that I had just put uponthe dish, and run off with them.'
'That's a clever trick!' said her Master, regretting his fine fowls.'If he had only left me one so that I had something to eat.'
He called out to him to stop, but the guest pretended not to hear.Then he ran after him, still holding the carving-knife, and cried,'Only one, only one!'--meaning that the guest should leave him onefowl; but the guest only thought that he meant he was to give him oneear, and he ran as if he was pursued by fire, and so took both hisears safely home.