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Hansel and GretelOnce upon a time, there dwelt near a large wood a poor woodcutter, with his wife and two children by his former marriage, a little boy called Hansel, and a girl named Gretel.
He had little enough to break or bite; and once,
when there was a great famine in the land, he could not procure even his
daily bread; and as he lay thinking in his bed one evening, rolling about for
trouble, he sighed, and said to his wife, "Know, then, my husband," answered she, "we will lead them away, quite early in the morning, into the thickest part of the wood, and there make them a fire, and give them each a little piece of bread; then we will go to our work, and leave them alone, so they will not find the way home again, and we shall be freed from them." "No, wife," replied he, "that I can never do. How can you bring your heart to leave my children all alone in the wood, for the wild beasts will soon come and tear them to pieces?" "Oh, you simpleton!" said she, "then we must all four die of hunger; you had better plane the coffins for us." But she left him no peace till he consented, saying, The two children, however, had not gone to sleep for very hunger, and so
they overheard what the stepmother said to their father. Gretel wept
bitterly, and said to Hansel, "Be quiet, Gretel," said he; "do not cry— I will soon help you." And as soon as their parents had fallen asleep, he got up, put on his
coat, and, unbarring the back door, slipped out. The moon shone brilliantly,
and the white pebbles which lay before the door seemed like silver pieces,
they glittered so brightly. Hansel stooped down, and put as many into his
pocket as it would hold; and then going back, he said to Gretel, The next morning, before the sun arose, the wife went and awoke the two
children. Gretel took the bread in her apron, for Hansel's pocket was full of
pebbles; and so they all set out upon their way. When they had gone a little
distance, Hansel stood still, and peeped back at the house; and this he
repeated several times, till his father said, "Ah, father," said Hansel, "I am looking at my white cat sitting upon the roof of the house, and trying to say good-bye." "You simpleton!" said the wife, "that is not a cat; it is only the sun shining on the white chimney." But in reality Hansel was not looking at a cat; but every time he stopped, he dropped a pebble out of his pocket upon the path. When they came to the middle of the forest, the father told the children
to collect wood, and he would make them a fire, so that they should not be
cold. So Hansel and Gretel gathered together quite a little mountain of
twigs. Then they set fire to them; and as the flame burnt up high, the wife
said, Hansel and Gretel sat down by the fire, and when it was noon, each ate the piece of bread; and because they could hear the blows of an axe, they thought their father was near: but it was not an axe, but a branch which he had bound to a withered tree, so as to be blown to and fro by the wind. They waited so long that at last their eyes closed from weariness, and they fell fast asleep. When they awoke, it was quite dark, and Gretel began to cry, But Hansel tried to comfort her by saying, The moon soon shone forth, and Hansel, taking his sister's hand, followed
the pebbles, which glittered like new-coined silver pieces, and showed them
the path. All night long they walked on, and as day broke they came to their
father's house. They knocked at the door, and when the wife opened it, and
saw Hansel and Gretel, she exclaimed, Not long afterward there was again great scarcity in every corner of the
land; and one night the children overheard their stepmother saying to their
father, But her husband felt heavy at heart, and thought, The children, however, had heard the conversation as they lay awake, and
as soon as the old people went to sleep Hansel got up, intending to pick up
some pebbles as before; but the wife had locked the door, so that he could
not get out. Nevertheless, he comforted Gretel, saying, Early in the morning the stepmother came and pulled them out of bed, and gave them each a slice of bread, which was still smaller than the former piece. On the way, Hansel broke his in his pocket, and, stooping every now and then, dropped a crumb upon the path. "Hansel, why do you stop and look about?" said the father; "keep in the path." "I am looking at my little dove," answered Hansel, "nodding a good-bye to me." "Simpleton!" said the wife, "that is no dove, but only the sun shining on the chimney." But Hansel still kept dropping crumbs as he went along. The mother led the children deep into the wood, where they had never been
before, and there making an immense fire, she said to them, When noon came Gretel shared her bread with Hansel, who had strewn his on
the path. Then they went to sleep; but the evening arrived and no one came to
visit the poor children, and in the dark night they awoke, and Hansel
comforted his sister by saying, The moon shone and they got up, but they could not see any crumbs, for the
thousands of birds which had been flying about in the woods and fields had
picked them all up. Hansel kept saying to Gretel, It was now the third morning since they had left their father's house, and they still walked on; but they only got deeper and deeper into the wood, and Hansel saw that if help did not come very soon they would die of hunger. At about noonday they saw a beautiful snow-white bird sitting upon a bough, which sang so sweetly that they stood still and listened to it. It soon ceased, and spreading its wings flew off; and they followed it until it arrived at a cottage, upon the roof of which it perched; and when they went close up to it they saw that the cottage was made of gingerbread and cakes, and the window-panes were of clear sugar. "We will go in there," said Hansel, "and have a glorious feast. I will eat a piece of the roof, and you can eat the window. Will they not be sweet?" So Hansel reached up and broke a piece off the roof, in order to see how it tasted, while Gretel stepped up to the window and began to bite it. Then a sweet voice called out in the room,
The children answered:
and they went on eating without interruption. Hansel thought the roof tasted very nice, so he tore off a great piece; while Gretel broke a large round pane out of the window, and sat down quite contentedly. Just then the door opened, and a very old woman, walking upon crutches, came out. Hansel and Gretel were so frightened that they let fall what they had in
their hands; but the old woman, nodding her head, said, A good meal of milk and pancakes, with sugar, apples, and nuts, was spread on the table, and in the back room were two nice little beds, covered with white, where Hansel and Gretel laid themselves down, and thought themselves in heaven. The old woman behaved very kindly to them, but in reality she was a wicked witch who waylaid children, and built the bread-house in order to entice them in, but as soon as they were in her power she killed them, cooked and ate them, and made a great festival of the day. Witches have red eyes, and cannot see very far; but they have a fine sense
of smelling, like wild beasts, so that they know when children approach them.
When Hansel and Gretel came near the witch's house she laughed wickedly,
saying, And early in the morning, before they awoke, she went up to them, and saw
how lovingly they lay sleeping, with their chubby red cheeks, and she mumbled
to herself, Then she took up Hansel with her rough hands, and shut him up in a little
cage with a lattice-door; and although he screamed loudly it was of no use.
Gretel came next, and, shaking her till she awoke, the witch said, Every morning the old witch came to the cage and said, But Hansel used to stretch out a bone, and the old woman, having very bad sight, thought it was his finger, and wondered very much that he did not get fatter. When four weeks had passed, and Hansel still kept quite lean, she lost all
her patience, and would not wait any longer. Oh, how the poor little sister grieved, as she was forced to fetch the
water, and fast the tears ran down her cheeks! But the old witch called out, So early in the morning Gretel was forced to go out and fill the kettle, and make a fire. "First, we will bake, however," said the old woman; "I have already heated the oven and kneaded the dough"; and so saying, she pushed poor Gretel up to the oven, out of which the flames were burning fiercely. "Creep in," said the witch, "and see if it is hot enough, and then we will put in the bread"; but she intended when Gretel got in to shut up the oven and let her bake, so that she might eat her as well as Hansel. Gretel perceived what her thoughts were, and said, "You stupid goose," said she, "the opening is big enough. See, I could even get in myself!" and she got up, and put her head into the oven. Then Gretel gave her a push, so that she fell right in, and then shutting the iron door she bolted it! Oh! how horribly she howled; but Gretel ran away, and left the ungodly witch to burn to ashes. Now she ran to Hansel, and, opening his door, called out, So he sprang out, like a bird out of his cage when the door is opened; and they were so glad that they fell upon each other's neck, and kissed each other over and over again. And now, as there was nothing to fear, they went into the witch's house, where in every corner were caskets full of pearls and precious stones. "These are better than pebbles," said Hansel, putting as many
into his pocket as it would hold; while Gretel thought, "We must be off now," said Hansel, "and get out of this enchanted forest." But when they had walked for two hours they came to a large piece of
water. "And there is no boat, either," said Gretel; "but there swims a white duck, and I will ask her to help us over." And she sang:
So the duck came to them, and Hansel sat himself on, and bade his sister sit behind him. "No," answered Gretel, "that will be too much for the duck; she shall take us over one at a time." This the good little bird did, and when both were happily arrived on the other side, and had gone a little way, they came to a well-known wood, which they knew the better every step they went, and at last they perceived their father's house. Then they began to run, and, bursting into the house, they fell into their father's arms. He had not had one happy hour since he had left the children in the forest; and his wife was dead. Gretel shook her apron, and the pearls and precious stones rolled out upon the floor, and Hansel threw down one handful after the other out of his pocket. Then all their sorrows were ended, and they lived together in great happiness.
gingerbread
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