On ice

My friend related this anecdote to an Austrian acquaintance:
"My mate had just moved to France and I was testing his vocabulary so I said to him, 'Il y a un epervier dans le refrigerateur. Do you know what an epervier is?" He did not so I told him, 'It's a sparrowhawk!'"
The Austrian replied:
"You remind me of an incident from my youth. My parents were away and my grandfather died. I did not know what to do and so I put his body in the freezer until they returned."