The Mistress and Her Servants by Aesop with a podcast, vocabulary practice in real context for advanced ESL students
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The Mistress and Her Servants
A widow, thrifty and industrious, had two servants, whom she kept pretty hard at work. They were not allowed to lie long abed in the mornings, but the old lady had them up and doing as soon as the cock crew.
- widow: a woman whose husband has died
- industrious: hard-working, working diligently
- abed: in bed
They disliked intensely having to get up at such an hour, especially in winter-time: and they thought that if it were not for the cock waking up their mistress so horribly early, they could sleep longer.
- mistress: a woman who owns or controls something, employer
- horribly: unpleasantly, terribly
So they caught it and wrung its neck. But they weren’t prepared for the consequences. For what happened was that their mistress, not hearing the cock crow as usual, waked them up earlier than ever, and set them to work in the middle of the night.
- wrung: past tense of wring which means to twist and break
- consequences: results, effects
