Hansel and Gretel

Once upon a time, on the edge of a deep, dark forest, there lived a poor woodcutter with his wife and two children. The boy was named Hansel, and the girl was named Gretel. The woodcutter’s family lived in great poverty, and one day, such a famine struck the land that he could no longer afford even bread to feed them.

One evening, as he lay in bed, he began to ponder, overwhelmed by worries and thoughts. He sighed and said to his wife:

“What will become of us now? How will we feed our poor children when we ourselves have nothing to eat?”

“You know what,” replied his wife, “let’s take the children early in the morning, just as dawn breaks, deep into the forest, to the thickest part. We’ll light a fire for them, give each a piece of bread, and then leave them there while we go to work. They won’t find their way back, and we’ll be rid of them.”

“No, wife,” said the woodcutter, “I won’t do that. My heart isn’t made of stone. I can’t leave my children alone in the forest. Wild beasts would attack them and tear them apart.”

“Oh, you fool!” said his wife. “Otherwise, all four of us will starve to death, and the only thing left to do will be to make coffins.” And she kept pressing him until he finally agreed.

“But I still feel sorry for my poor children,” said the woodcutter.

The children, too hungry to sleep, had heard everything their stepmother said to their father. Gretel burst into bitter tears and said to Hansel:

“It seems we’re doomed now.”

“Hush, Gretel,” said Hansel, “don’t cry. I’ll think of something.”

And so, when their parents fell asleep, Hansel got up, put on his jacket, opened the door to the hallway, and quietly slipped outside. The moon was shining brightly, and the white pebbles lying in front of the hut gleamed like piles of silver coins.

Hansel bent down and filled his pockets with them. Then he returned home and said to Gretel:

“Take comfort, dear sister. Sleep peacefully now.” And with those words, he went back to bed.

At the first light of dawn, before the sun had even risen, the stepmother came and woke the children:

“Hey, lazybones, it’s time to get up. Come with us to the forest to gather wood!”

She gave each of them a piece of bread and said:

“This will be your lunch. Don’t eat it too soon, or you’ll get nothing else.”

Gretel hid her bread in her apron—Hansel’s pocket was already full of pebbles. And so, they set off together into the forest. After walking a short distance, Hansel stopped, looked back, and glanced at the hut—he kept stopping and looking back. His father said:

“Hansel, why do you keep looking back and lagging behind? Don’t dawdle; keep up.”

“Oh, father,” replied Hansel, “I’m looking at my white cat. She’s sitting on the roof, as if saying goodbye to me.”

But the stepmother said:

“Oh, you fool, that’s not your cat. It’s the morning sun shining on the chimney.”

Hansel wasn’t looking at a cat at all—he was taking the shiny pebbles from his pocket and dropping them along the path.

When they reached the deepest part of the forest, the father said:

“Now, children, gather some firewood, and I’ll light a fire so you don’t get cold.”

Hansel and Gretel gathered a pile of firewood, and the father lit a fire. When the flames were burning brightly, the stepmother said:

“Now, children, lie down by the fire and rest. We’ll go chop wood in the forest. When we’re done, we’ll come back and take you home.”

Hansel and Gretel sat by the fire, and when noon came, each of them ate their piece of bread. They kept hearing the sound of an axe and thought their father was nearby. But it wasn’t an axe—it was a log the woodcutter had tied to a dry tree, and it was knocking against the trunk as it swung in the wind.

The children sat by the fire for a long time, until their eyes grew heavy with exhaustion, and they fell fast asleep. When they woke up, it was already deep night. Gretel began to cry and said:

“How will we ever find our way out of the forest?” Hansel comforted her:

“Wait a little while. The moon will rise soon, and we’ll find our way.”

When the moon rose, Hansel took his sister’s hand and followed the trail of pebbles—they sparkled like new silver coins and showed the children the way home. They walked all night and arrived at their father’s hut at dawn.

They knocked on the door, and the stepmother opened it. Seeing Hansel and Gretel, she said:

“What’s wrong with you, naughty children? You slept so long in the forest! We thought you didn’t want to come back.”

The father was overjoyed to see his children—his heart had been heavy with guilt for leaving them alone.

But soon, hunger and hardship returned, and the children overheard their stepmother saying to their father at night:

“We’ve eaten everything again. There’s only half a loaf of bread left. It seems our end is near. We must get rid of the children: let’s take them deeper into the forest so they can’t find their way back. There’s no other way.”

The woodcutter’s heart grew heavy, and he thought, “I’d rather share my last bite with my children.” But his wife wouldn’t hear of it. She scolded and reproached him. And so—a bad beginning leads to a bad end—having given in once, he had to agree again.
The children were still awake and had heard the entire conversation. And as soon as their parents had fallen asleep, Hansel got up again and wanted to leave the house to collect pebbles, just as he had done the last time; but the stepmother had locked the door, and Hansel couldn’t get out of the cottage. He began to comfort his little sister and said:

"Don’t cry, Gretel, sleep peacefully. God will surely help us somehow."

Early in the morning, the stepmother came and woke the children from their beds. She gave them a piece of bread, which was even smaller than the first time. On the way to the forest, Hansel crumbled the bread in his pocket, stopping every now and then to scatter breadcrumbs on the path.

"Why do you keep stopping and looking back, Hansel?" said the father. "Go on your way."

"I’m just looking at my little dove. See, it’s sitting on the roof of the house, as if saying goodbye to me," replied Hansel.

"You fool," said the stepmother, "that’s not your dove at all. It’s the morning sun shining on the top of the chimney."

But Hansel kept scattering breadcrumbs along the path. The stepmother led the children deeper into the forest, to a place they had never been before. They lit another large fire, and the stepmother said:

"Children, sit here for a while. If you get tired, take a little nap. We’ll go into the forest to chop wood, and when we finish in the evening, we’ll come back and take you home."

When noon came, Gretel shared her piece of bread with Hansel—since he had crumbled all of his bread along the way. Then they fell asleep. But evening came and went, and no one came for the poor children. They woke up in the dark of night, and Hansel tried to comfort his sister:

"Wait, Gretel, the moon will rise soon, and we’ll see the breadcrumbs I scattered on the path. They’ll show us the way home."

The moon rose, and the children set off on their journey, but they couldn’t find the breadcrumbs—thousands of birds that fly in the forest and fields had pecked them all up. Then Hansel said to Gretel:

"We’ll find our way somehow."

But they couldn’t. They had to walk all night and all day, from morning until evening, but they couldn’t find their way out of the forest. The children were very hungry, as they had eaten nothing but berries they picked along the way. They were so tired that they could barely move their legs, and finally, they lay down under a tree and fell asleep.

It was already the third morning since they had left their father’s cottage. They walked on and on, but the forest grew deeper and darker, and if help hadn’t arrived soon, they would have collapsed from exhaustion.

At noon, the children noticed a beautiful snow-white bird sitting on a branch. It sang so beautifully that they stopped to listen. But suddenly, the bird fell silent, flapped its wings, and flew ahead of them. They followed it until they finally reached a little cottage, where the bird perched on the roof. As they came closer, they saw that the cottage was made of bread, the roof was made of gingerbread, and the windows were made of clear sugar.

"Let’s get to work on this," said Hansel. "We’ll have a wonderful feast! I’ll take a piece of the roof, and you, Gretel, take a bite of the window—it must be very sweet."

Hansel climbed onto the cottage and broke off a piece of the roof to taste it, while Gretel went to the window and began to nibble on it.

Suddenly, a thin little voice called out from inside:

"Nibble, nibble, little mouse,
Who is nibbling at my house?"

The children replied:

"It’s the wind, the heavenly breeze,
Blowing through the trees!"

And without paying attention, they continued to eat the house.

Hansel, who really liked the roof, tore off a large piece and threw it down, while Gretel broke off a whole round pane of sugar and sat by the cottage, enjoying it.

Suddenly, the door opened, and an old, old woman came out, leaning on a crutch. Hansel and Gretel were so frightened that they dropped their treats. The old woman shook her head and said:

"Oh, dear children, who brought you here? Well, come in, you’re welcome. Nothing bad will happen to you."

She took them both by the hand and led them into her cottage. She brought them delicious food—milk with pancakes sprinkled with sugar, apples, and nuts. Then she made two beautiful little beds and covered them with white blankets. Hansel and Gretel lay down and thought they must have entered paradise.

But the old woman was only pretending to be kind. In truth, she was an evil witch who lured children in with her bread cottage. Whenever someone fell into her hands, she killed them, cooked them, and ate them, and this was a great feast for her. Witches always have red eyes and can’t see far, but they have a sense of smell like animals and can detect the presence of humans.

When Hansel and Gretel approached her cottage, she cackled wickedly and said with a smirk:

"Now I’ve got them! They won’t escape me now!"

Early in the morning, while the children were still asleep, she got up, looked at how peacefully they were sleeping and how plump and rosy their cheeks were, and muttered to herself, "What a delicious meal I’ll prepare."

She grabbed Hansel with her bony hand, carried him to the shed, and locked him behind a barred door—let him scream as much as he wanted, it wouldn’t help him. Then she went to Gretel, shook her awake, and said:

"Get up, lazy girl, and fetch me some water. Cook something tasty for your brother—he’s sitting in the shed, let him fatten up nicely. When he’s plump enough, I’ll eat him."

Gretel burst into bitter tears, but what could she do? She had to obey the evil witch’s orders.

And so, delicious dishes were prepared, but Gretel got only the leftovers.

Every morning, the old woman crept to the little shed and said:
- "Hansel, give me your fingers, I want to see if you've fattened up enough."

But Hansel held out a bone to her, and the old woman, whose eyes were weak, couldn't see what it was and thought it was Hansel's fingers. She wondered why he wasn't getting any fatter.

Four weeks passed, but Hansel remained as thin as ever. The old woman lost all patience and didn't want to wait any longer.

"Hey, Gretel," she shouted to the girl, "hurry up and fetch some water. It doesn't matter whether Hansel is fat or thin; I'll slaughter and cook him tomorrow morning."

Oh, how the poor sister grieved as she carried the water, her tears streaming down her cheeks!

"Dear God, please help us!" she cried. "It would have been better if wild beasts had torn us apart in the forest—at least we would have died together."

"Stop your whining," shouted the old woman. "Nothing can help you now."

Early in the morning, Gretel had to get up, go outside, hang a pot of water over the fire, and light it.

"First, we'll bake bread," said the old woman. "I've already heated the oven and prepared the dough." She pushed poor Gretel toward the oven, from which flames were leaping. "Now, climb into the oven," said the witch, "and see if it's hot enough—is it time to put the bread in?"

Just as Gretel was about to climb into the oven, the old woman intended to shut the door and roast Gretel to eat her. But Gretel guessed what the old woman was up to and said:

"I don't know how to do it. How am I supposed to climb in?"

"You silly goose," said the old woman, "look how big the opening is. Even I could fit in there." And she climbed onto the hearth and stuck her head into the oven.

At that moment, Gretel gave the witch a push, and she fell right into the oven. Then Gretel closed the oven door with the iron latch and locked it. Oh, how the witch howled in terror! But Gretel ran away, and the cursed witch burned to death in agony.

Gretel rushed to Hansel, opened the shed, and cried:

"Hansel, we're saved! The old witch is dead!"

Hansel burst out of the shed like a bird freed from its cage. How they rejoiced, how they threw their arms around each other, how they jumped for joy and kissed each other! And since they no longer had anything to fear, they went into the witch's house, where they found chests full of pearls and precious stones in every corner.

"These are probably better than our pebbles," said Hansel, filling his pockets with them.

And Gretel said:

"I want to bring something home too." And she filled her apron with them.

"Now let's get out of here quickly," said Hansel, "for we still have to find our way out of the witch's forest."

They walked for about two hours and finally came upon a large lake.

"We can't cross it," said Hansel. "There's no path or bridge anywhere."

"And there's no boat either," replied Gretel. "But look, there's a white duck swimming. If I ask her, she might help us get to the other side."

And Gretel called out:

"Duck, my little duck,
Swim closer to us, just a bit.
No path, no bridge in sight,
Help us cross, don't leave us tonight!"

The duck swam over, and Hansel climbed onto her back, calling for his sister to join him.

"No," replied Gretel, "it would be too heavy for the duck. Let her take you first, and then me."

The kind duck did just that, and when they safely reached the other shore and continued on their way, the forest began to look more and more familiar. Finally, they spotted their father's house in the distance. Overjoyed, they ran inside and threw themselves into their father's arms.

From the moment their father had left them in the forest, he had not known a single moment of happiness, and his wife had died. Gretel opened her apron, and pearls and precious stones spilled out onto the floor, while Hansel pulled handfuls of them from his pockets.

And so their hardship and sorrow came to an end, and they all lived happily together.

Here the tale comes to an end,
And there runs a mouse ahead.
Whoever catches it,
Will sew themselves a fur hat,
A big, very big one.

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Hansel and Gretel

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