There was once a cook named who wore shoes with heels, and when she went out in them, she this way that way and was as happy as a lark. "You really are quite " she would say to herself. And when she returned home, she would drink some out of sheer delight. Since the would whet her appetite, she would take the best things she was cooking and them until she was content. Then she would say, "The cook must know what the food tastes like!"

One day her master happened to say to her, " tonight I'm having a guest for dinner. Prepare two for me and make them as tasty as possible."

"I'll take care of it, sir," responded. So she killed two scalded them, plucked them, stuck them on a spit, and toward evening placed them over a fire to roast. The began to turn brown and were almost ready, but the guest did not make his appearance. So called to her master, "If the guest doesn't come soon, I'll have to take the off the fire. It would be a great shame if they weren't eaten now, while they're still at their juiciest."

"Then I'll run and fetch the guest myself," said the master.

When the master had left the house, laid the spit with the to one side and thought, If I keep standing by the fire, I'll just sweat and get thirsty. Who knows when they'll come? Meanwhile, I'll hop down into the cellar and take a drink.

She ran downstairs, filled a jug with and said, "May God bless it for you, " and she took a healthy swig. "The flows nicely," she continued talking, "and it's not good to interrupt the flow." So she took another long swig. Then she went upstairs and placed the back over the fire, basted them with butter and merrily turned the spit. Since the roast smelled so good, thought, Perhaps something's missing. I'd better " them to see how they are. She touched one of them with her finger and said, " The are really good! It's a crying shame not to eat them all at once!" She ran to the window to see if her master was on his way with the guest, but when she saw no one coming, she returned to the and thought, That one is burning. I'd better eat it up.

So she cut it off, ate it, and enjoyed it. When she had finished, she thought, I'd better eat the other or else my master will notice that something's missing. After she had consumed the two she returned to the window, looked for her master, but was unable to see him. Who knows, it suddenly occurred to her, Perhaps they've decided not to come and have stopped somewhere along the way. Then she said to herself, "Hey, cheer up! You've already taken a nice chunk. Have another drink and eat it all up! When it's gone, there'll be no reason for you to feel guilty. Why should God's good jpgts go to waste?"

Once again she ran down into the cellar, took a good honest drink, and then went back to eat the with relish. When the one had been eaten and her master still had not returned, looked at the other and said, "Where one is, the other should be too. The two of them belong together: whatever's right for one is right for the other. I think if I have another drink, it won't do me any harm." Therefore she took another healthy swig and let the second run to join the other.

Just as she was in the midst of enjoying her meal, her master came back and called, "Hurry, the guest will soon be here!"

"Yes, sir, I'll get everything ready," answered

Meanwhile, the master checked to see if the table was properly set and took out the large with which he wanted to carve the and began sharpening it on the steps in the hallway. As he was doing that, the guest came and knocked nicely and at the door. ran and looked to see who was there, and when she saw the guest, she put her finger to her lips and whispered, "Shhh, be quiet! Get out of here as quick as you can! If my master catches you, you'll be done for. It's true he invited you to dinner, but he really want to cut off both your Listen to him sharpening his "

The guest heard the sharpening and hurried back down the steps as fast as he could. wasted no time and ran screaming to her master. "What kind of guest did you invite!" she cried.

" Why do you ask? What do you mean?"

"Well," she said, "he snatched both just as I was about to bring them to the table, and he's run away with them!"

"That's not at all a nice way to behave!" said her master, and he was disappointed by the loss of the fine "At least he could have left me one of them so I'd have something to eat."

He then shouted after the guest to stop running, but the guest pretended not to hear. So the master ran after him, with the still in his hand, and screamed, "Just one, just one!" merely meaning that the guest should at least leave him one of the and not take both. But the guest thought that his host was after just one of his and to make sure that he would reach home safely with both his he ran as if someone had lit a fire under his feet.

The End

[This tale is originally titled "Clever Gretel", found in the Bantam Classic The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm, Volume I. The story is public domain, but the translation copyright belongs to Jack Zipes, 1987.]