There was once a cook named Grethel, who wore shoes with red rosettes, and when she walked out with them on, she turned herself this way and that, and thought, “You certainly are a pretty girl!” And when she came home she drank, in her gladness of heart, a draught¹ of wine, and as wine excites a desire to eat, she tasted the best of whatever she was cooking until she was satisfied, and said, “The cook must know what the food is like.”

It came to pass that the master one day said to her, “Grethel, there is a guest coming this evening; prepare me two fowls³ very daintily.” “I will see to it, master,” answered Grethel. She killed two fowls, scalded them, plucked them, put them on the spit, and towards evening set them before the fire, that they might roast. The fowls began to turn brown, and were nearly ready, but the guest had not yet arrived. Then Grethel called out to her master, “If the guest does not come, I must take the fowls away from the fire, but it will be a sin and a shame if they are not eaten directly, when they are juiciest.” The master said, “I will run myself, and fetch the guest.” When the master had turned his back, Grethel laid the spit with the fowls on one side, and thought, “Standing so long by the fire there, makes one hot and thirsty; who knows when they will come? Meanwhile, I will run into the cellar, and take a drink.” She ran down, set a jug⁴, said, “God bless it to thy use, Grethel,” and took a good drink, and took yet another hearty⁵ draught.

Then she went and put the fowls down again to the fire, basted⁶ them, and drove the spit merrily round. But as the roast meat smelt⁷ so good, Grethel thought, “Something might be wrong, it ought to be tasted!” She touched it with her finger, and said, “Ah! how good fowls are! It certainly is a sin and a shame that they are not eaten directly!” She ran to the window, to see if the master was not coming with his guest, but she saw no one, and went back to the fowls and thought, “One of the wings is burning! I had better take it off and eat it.” So she cut it off, ate it, and enjoyed it, and when she had done, she thought, “the other must go down too, or else master will observe that something is missing.” When the two wings were eaten, she went and looked for her master, and did not see him. It suddenly occurred to her, “Who knows? They are perhaps not coming at all, and have turned in somewhere.” Then she said, “Hallo, Grethel, enjoy yourself, one

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1 draught
n.拉，牵引，拖；一网（饮，吸，阵)；顿服药量，通风；v.起草，设计
参考例句：
He emptied his glass at one draught.他将杯中物一饮而尽。 It's a pity the room has no north window and you don't get a draught.可惜这房间没北窗，没有过堂风。

2 fowl
n.家禽，鸡，禽肉
参考例句：
Fowl is not part of a traditional brunch.禽肉不是传统的早午餐的一部分。 Since my heart attack,I've eaten more fish and fowl and less red meat.自从我患了心脏病后，我就多吃鱼肉和禽肉，少吃红色肉类。

3 fowls
鸟( fowl的名词复数 )； 禽肉； 既不是这； 非驴非马
参考例句：
A great number of water fowls dwell on the island. 许多水鸟在岛上栖息。 We keep a few fowls and some goats. 我们养了几只鸡和一些山羊。

4 jug
n.(有柄，小口，可盛水等的)大壶，罐，盂
参考例句：
He walked along with a jug poised on his head.他头上顶着一个水罐，保持着平衡往前走。 She filled the jug with fresh water.她将水壶注满了清水。

5 hearty
adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的
参考例句：
After work they made a hearty meal in the worker's canteen.工作完了，他们在工人食堂饱餐了一顿。 We accorded him a hearty welcome.我们给他热忱的欢迎。

6 basted
v.打( baste的过去式和过去分词 )；粗缝；痛斥；（烤肉等时）往上抹[浇]油
参考例句：
The turkey is basted to keep it from drying out. 烤火鸡时润以油脂以免烤干。 来自《简明英汉词典》 Meat is basted to keep it from drying out and to improve its flavour. 烤肉时润以脂油使不致烤焦并可增加香味。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 smelt
v.熔解，熔炼；n.银白鱼，胡瓜鱼
参考例句：
Tin is a comparatively easy metal to smelt.锡是比较容易熔化的金属。 Darby was looking for a way to improve iron when he hit upon the idea of smelting it with coke instead of charcoal.达比一直在寻找改善铁质的方法，他猛然想到可以不用木炭熔炼，而改用焦炭。

8 entirely
ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地
参考例句：
The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。 His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

9 courteously
adv.有礼貌地，亲切地
参考例句：
He courteously opened the door for me.他谦恭有礼地为我开门。 Presently he rose courteously and released her.过了一会，他就很客气地站起来，让她走开。

10 hush
int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静
参考例句：
A hush fell over the onlookers.旁观者们突然静了下来。 Do hush up the scandal!不要把这丑事声张出去！

11 lamented
adj.被哀悼的，令人遗憾的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
her late lamented husband 她那令人怀念的已故的丈夫 We lamented over our bad luck. 我们为自己的不幸而悲伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》