There was once a cook named Gretel. She loved wearing shoes with red heels, and she thought she was a very pretty girl. Whenever she came home, she was so happy that she drank a little wine. Because wine made her hungry, she often tasted the food she was cooking. She always said, "A cook must know if the food is good!"
One day, her master said, "Gretel, a guest is coming tonight. Prepare two chickens for us."
"I will do that, sir," Gretel answered.
She prepared the chickens and began to roast them. By the evening, the chickens were brown and smelled delicious, but the guest had not arrived. Gretel called to her master, "If the guest doesn't come soon, the chickens will be ruined. I must take them away from the fire!"
"I will go and find him myself," the master said, and he left the house.
As soon as he was gone, Gretel thought, "I am so hot and thirsty from standing by the fire." She ran down to the cellar and drank some wine. "Wine should flow!" she said happily, and she took another big drink.
Then, she went back to the kitchen to turn the chickens. They smelled so good that she thought, "I should check the taste." She tasted a bit and cried, "Oh! These are perfect! It’s a shame nobody is eating them."
She looked out the window, but she didn’t see her master. Suddenly, she noticed one of the chicken wings was looking a bit burnt. "I should eat this wing to save it," she said. She cut it off and ate it. It was so good that she decided to eat the other wing too. "If I only eat one, the master will notice something is missing," she whispered.
She waited a bit longer, but still, no one came. "Maybe they aren't coming at all," she thought. "I’ll just eat this whole chicken so it doesn't go to waste." She drank more wine and finished the first chicken.
When the master still didn't return, Gretel looked at the second chicken. "The two chickens should stay together," she laughed. "What’s right for one is right for the other." After another drink of wine, she ate the second chicken too.
Just as she finished, her master arrived. "Hurry, Gretel! The guest is right behind me!"
"Yes, sir, I am serving it now," Gretel lied.
The master went into the dining room. He took his large carving knife and began to sharpen it on the stone steps. At that moment, the guest knocked on the door. Gretel ran to open it.
"Hush!" she whispered to the guest. "Run away quickly! If my master catches you, it will be terrible. He invited you to dinner, but he actually wants to cut off your ears! Listen, he is sharpening his knife right now!"
The guest heard the sound of the knife and ran away as fast as he could. Then, Gretel ran to her master and screamed, "You invited a terrible guest!"
"Why, Gretel? What happened?"
"He has stolen both chickens from the table and ran away with them!" she cried.
"What a trick!" the master shouted. He was very hungry and upset. "I wish he had left me just one!"
He ran outside with the knife still in his hand and saw the guest running. "Just one! Give me just one!" the master shouted, meaning he wanted one chicken. But the guest thought the master wanted one of his ears! He ran even faster and didn't stop until he was safe at home.