Grade 6 reading comprehension worksheet featuring the story "Clever Grethel" with related questions.

I'll work through each question step by step based on the story "Clever Grethel."

Question 1: How did Grethel get ready a pair of fowls?

Let me find this in the story:
- The master told her to make ready a pair of fowls for a guest
- She killed the fowls
- She cleaned them
- She placed them before the fire to roast
- When they were nearly done but the guest hadn't come, she put them down to the fire again and basted them with butter

Question 2: Did the guest come on time and what did Grethel do?

From the story:
- The guest did NOT come on time ("the guest had not come")
- While waiting, Grethel started eating the fowls herself - first one wing, then another wing, then one whole fowl, then the second fowl

Question 3: How many fowls did she eat?

The story says:
- She ate one wing from the first fowl
- She ate another wing from the first fowl
- Then she "ate up one of the fowls with great relish"
- Then "the second fowl went the way of the first"

So she ate BOTH fowls completely.

Question 4: Why did the master sharpen the knife?

From the story:
- The master took "the great carving knife with which he meant to carve the fowls"
- He sharpened it upon the step (outside) when the guest came knocking

He sharpened it to carve/cut the fowls for serving.

Question 5: What did Grethel say when the guest came?

When the guest knocked at the door, Grethel said:
"Hush! Make haste you can out of this, he asked you to come to supper, but he really means to cut off your ears! Just listen how he is sharpening his knife!"

Question 6: Why did the master run after the guest and what did the guest think?

Why the master ran after the guest:
- Grethel told him "The guest has run away with my pair of fowls that I had just dished up"
- The master called out to the guest to stop and ran after him with the knife still in his hand
- He was crying out "Only one! only one!" meaning the guest should let him have ONE of the fowls back (not take both)

What the guest thought:
- The guest thought the master meant he wanted to cut off only ONE of his ears (not both)
- So the guest ran even faster to get home safely with both ears intact

---

Final Answer:

1. Grethel killed the fowls, cleaned them, and roasted them over the fire, basting them with butter.

2. No, the guest did not come on time. While waiting, Grethel ate both fowls herself.

3. She ate two fowls (both of them).

4. The master sharpened the knife because he wanted to carve the fowls to serve them.

5. Grethel told the guest: "Hush! Make haste you can out of this, he asked you to come to supper, but he really means to cut off your ears! Just listen how he is sharpening his knife!"

6. The master ran after the guest because Grethel lied and said the guest ran away with the fowls. The master shouted "Only one! only one!" meaning he wanted one fowl back. But the guest misunderstood and thought the master wanted to cut off only one of his ears, so he ran faster to escape.