"I'll
tell you what, husband," answered the woman, "early
to-morrow morning we will take the children out into the forest
to where it is the thickest. There we will light a fire for them,
and give each of them one more piece of bread, and then we will
go to our work and leave them alone. They will not find the way
home again, and we shall be rid of them."
"No,
wife," said the man, "I will not do that. How can I
bear to leave my children alone in the forest. The wild animals
would soon come and tear them to pieces."
"O' you
fool," said she, "then we must all four die of hunger,
you may as well plane the planks for our coffins," and she
left him no peace until he consented.
"But I
feel very sorry for the poor children, all the same," said
the man. The two children had also not been able to sleep for
hunger, and had heard what their step-mother had said to their
father.
Gretel wept
bitter tears, and said to Hansel, "now all is over with us."
"Be
quiet," Gretel, said Hansel, "do not distress yourself,
I will soon find a way to help us."
And when the
old folks had fallen asleep, he got up, put on his little coat,
opened the door below, and crept outside. The moon shone
brightly, and the white pebbles which lay in front of the house
glittered like real silver pennies. Hansel stooped and stuffed
the little pocket of his coat with as many as he could get in.
Then he went back and said to Gretel, "Be comforted, dear
little sister, and sleep in peace, God will not forsake us,"
and he lay down again in his bed.
When day
dawned, but before the sun had risen, the woman came and awoke
the two children, saying get up, you sluggards. We are going into
the forest to fetch wood. She gave each a little piece of bread,
and said, "There is something for your dinner, but do not
eat it up before then, for you will get nothing else."
Gretel took the
bread under her apron, as Hansel had the pebbles in his pocket.
Then they all set out together on the way to the forest. When
they had walked a short time, Hansel stood still and peeped back
at the house, and did so again and again.
His father
said, "Hansel, what are you looking at there and staying
behind for. Pay attention, and do not forget how to use your
legs."
"Ah,
father," said Hansel, "I am looking at my little white
cat, which is sitting up on the roof, and wants to say good-bye
to me."
The wife said,
"Fool, that is not your little cat, that is the morning sun
which is shining on the chimneys." Hansel, however, had not
been looking back at the cat, but had been constantly throwing
one of the white pebble-stones out of his pocket on the road.
When they had
reached the middle of the forest, the father said, "Now,
children, pile up some wood, and I will light a fire that you may
not be cold." Hansel and Gretel gathered brushwood together,
as high as a little hill.
The brushwood
was lighted, and when the flames were burning very high, the
woman said, "Now, children, lay yourselves down by the fire
and rest, we will go into the forest and cut some wood. When we
have done, we will come back and fetch you away".
Hansel and
Gretel sat by the fire, and when noon came, each ate a little
piece of bread, and as they heard the strokes of the wood-axe
they believed that their father was near. It was not the axe,
however, but a branch which he had fastened to a withered tree
which the wind was blowing backwards and forwards. And as they
had been sitting such a long time, their eyes closed with
fatigue, and they fell fast asleep. When at last they awoke, it
was already dark night.
Gretel began to
cry and said, "How are we to get out of the forest now."
But Hansel
comforted her and said, "Just wait a little, until the moon
has risen, and then we will soon find the way." And when the
full moon had risen, Hansel took his little sister by the hand,
and followed the pebbles which shone like newly-coined silver
pieces, and showed them the way.
They walked the
whole night long, and by break of day came once more to their
father's house. They knocked at the door, and when the woman
opened it and saw that it was Hansel and Gretel, she said, "You
naughty children, why have you slept so long in the forest. We
thought you were never coming back at all." The father,
however, rejoiced, for it had cut him to the heart to leave them
behind alone.
Not long
afterwards, there was once more great dearth throughout the land,
and the children heard their mother saying at night to their
father, "Everything is eaten again, we have one half loaf
left, and that is the end. The children must go, we will take
them farther into the wood, so that they will not find their way
out again. There is no other means of saving ourselves." The
man's heart was heavy, and he thought, it would be better for you
to share the last mouthful with your children.
The woman,
however, would listen to nothing that he had to say, but scolded
and reproached him. He who says a must say b, likewise, and as he
had yielded the first time, he had to do so a second time also.
The children,
however, were still awake and had heard the conversation. When
the old folks were asleep, Hansel again got up, and wanted to go
out and pick up pebbles as he had done before, but the woman had
locked the door, and Hansel could not get out. Nevertheless he
comforted his little sister, and said, "Do not cry, Gretel,
go to sleep quietly, the good God will help us." <
Early in the
morning came the woman, and took the children out of their beds.
Their piece of bread was given to them, but it was still smaller
than the time before. On the way into the forest Hansel crumbled
his in his pocket, and often stood still and threw a morsel on
the ground. "Hansel, why do you stop and look round, said
the father, "go on."
"I am
looking back at my little pigeon which is sitting on the roof,
and wants to say good-bye to me," answered Hansel.
"Fool,"
said the woman, "that is not your little pigeon, that is the
morning sun that is shining on the chimney." Hansel,
however, little by little, threw all the crumbs on the path.
The woman led
the children still deeper into the forest, where they had never
in their lives been before. Then a great fire was again made, and
the mother said, "Just sit there, you children, and when you
are tired you may sleep a little. We are going into the forest to
cut wood, and in the evening when we are done, we will come and
fetch you away." When it was noon, Gretel shared her piece
of bread with Hansel, who had scattered his by the way. Then they
fell asleep and evening passed, but no one came to the poor
children.
They did not
awake until it was dark night, and Hansel comforted his little
sister and said, "Just wait, Gretel, until the moon rises,
and then we shall see the crumbs of bread which I have strewn
about, they will show us our way home again." When the moon
came they set out, but they found no crumbs, for the many
thousands of birds which fly about in the woods and fields had
picked them all up.
Hansel said to
Gretel, "We shall soon find the way," but they did not
find it. They walked the whole night and all the next day too
from morning till evening, but they did not get out of the
forest, and were very hungry, for they had nothing to eat but two
or three berries, which grew on the ground. And as they were so
weary that their legs would carry them no longer, they lay down
beneath a tree and fell asleep.
It was now
three mornings since they had left their father's house. They
began to walk again, but they always came deeper into the forest,
and if help did not come soon, they must die of hunger and
weariness. When it was mid-day, they saw a beautiful snow-white
bird sitting on a bough, which sang so delightfully that they
stood still and listened to it. And when its song was over, it
spread its wings and flew away before them, and they followed it
until they reached a little house, on the roof of which it
alighted. And when they approached the little house they saw that
it was built of bread and covered with cakes, but that the
windows were of clear sugar.
"We will
set to work on that," said Hansel, "and have a good
meal. I will eat a bit of the roof, and you Gretel, can eat some
of the window, it will taste sweet." Hansel reached up
above, and broke off a little of the roof to try how it tasted,
and Gretel leant against the window and nibbled at the panes.
Then a soft
voice cried from the parlor -
"Nibble,
nibble, gnaw Who is nibbling at my little house."
The children
answered -
"The
wind, the wind, The heaven-born wind,"
and went on
eating without disturbing themselves. Hansel, who liked the taste
of the roof, tore down a great piece of it, and Gretel pushed out
the whole of one round window-pane, sat down, and enjoyed herself
with it. Suddenly the door opened, and a woman as old as the
hills, who supported herself on crutches, came creeping out.
Hansel and Gretel were so terribly frightened that they let fall
what they had in their hands.
The old woman,
however, nodded her head, and said, "Oh, you dear children,
who has brought you here. Do come in, and stay with me. No harm
shall happen to you." She took them both by the hand, and
led them into her little house. Then good food was set before
them, milk and pancakes, with sugar, apples, and nuts. Afterwards
two pretty little beds were covered with clean white linen, and
Hansel and Gretel lay down in them, and thought they were in
heaven.
The old woman
had only pretended to be so kind. She was in reality a wicked
witch, who lay in wait for children, and had only built the
little house of bread in order to entice them there. When a child
fell into her power, she killed it, cooked and ate it, and that
was a feast day with her. Witches have red eyes, and cannot see
far, but they have a keen scent like the beasts, and are aware
when human beings draw near.
When Hansel and
Gretel came into her neighborhood, she laughed with malice, and
said mockingly, "I have them, they shall not escape me
again."
Early in the
morning before the children were awake, she was already up, and
when she saw both of them sleeping and looking so pretty, with
their plump and rosy cheeks, she muttered to herself, "That
will be a dainty mouthful." Then she seized Hansel with her
shrivelled hand, carried him into a little stable, and locked him
in behind a grated door. Scream as he might, it would not help
him.
Then she went
to Gretel, shook her till she awoke, and cried, "Get up,
lazy thing, fetch some water, and cook something good for your
brother, he is in the stable outside, and is to be made fat. When
he is fat, I will eat him." Gretel began to weep bitterly,
but it was all in vain, for she was forced to do what the wicked
witch commanded.
And now the
best food was cooked for poor Hansel, but Gretel got nothing but
crab-shells.
Every morning
the woman crept to the little stable, and cried, "Hansel,
stretch out your finger that I may feel if you will soon be fat."
Hansel, however, stretched out a little bone to her, and the old
woman, who had dim eyes, could not see it, and thought it was
Hansel's finger, and was astonished that there was no way of
fattening him. When four weeks had gone by, and Hansel still
remained thin, she was seized with impatience and would not wait
any longer.
"Now,
then, Gretel," she cried to the girl, "stir yourself,
and bring some water. Let Hansel be fat or lean, to-morrow I will
kill him, and cook him."
Ah, how the
poor little sister did lament when she had to fetch the water,
and how her tears did flow down her cheeks. "Dear God, do
help us, she cried. If the wild beasts in the forest had but
devoured us, we should at any rate have died together."
"Just keep
your noise to yourself," said the old woman, "it won't
help you at all."
Early in the
morning, Gretel had to go out and hang up the cauldron with the
water, and light the fire. "We will bake first," said
the old woman, "I have already heated the oven, and kneaded
the dough."
She pushed poor
Gretel out to the oven, from which flames of fire were already
darting. "Creep in," said the witch, "and see if
it properly heated, so that we can put the bread in." And
once Gretel was inside, she intended to shut the oven and let her
bake in it, and then she would eat her, too.
But Gretel saw
what she had in mind, and said, "I do not know how I am to
do it. How do I get in."
"Silly
goose," said the old woman, "the door is big enough.
Just look, I can get in myself," and she crept up and thrust
her head into the oven. Then Gretel gave her a push that drove
her far into it, and shut the iron door, and fastened the bolt.
Oh. Then she began to howl quite horribly, but Gretel ran away,
and the godless witch was miserably burnt to death.
Gretel,
however, ran like lightning to Hansel, opened his little stable,
and cried, "Hansel, we are saved. The old witch is dead."
Then Hansel
sprang like a bird from its cage when the door is opened. How
they did rejoice and embrace each other, and dance about and kiss
each other. And as they had no longer any need to fear her, they
went into the witch's house, and in every corner there stood
chests full of pearls and jewels.
"These are
far better than pebbles," said Hansel, and thrust into his
pockets whatever could be got in.
And Gretel
said, "I, too, will take something home with me, and filled
her pinafore full".
"But now
we must be off," said Hansel, "that we may get out of
the witch's forest."
When they had
walked for two hours, they came to a great stretch of water.
"We cannot
cross," said Hansel, "I see no foot-plank, and no
bridge."
"And there
is also no ferry, answered Gretel, but a white duck is swimming
there. If I ask her, she will help us over. Then she cried -
"Little
duck, little duck, dost thou see, Hansel and Gretel are
waiting for thee. There's never a plank, or bridge in
sight, take us across on thy back so white."
The duck came
to them, and Hansel seated himself on its back, and told his
sister to sit by him. "No," replied Gretel, "that
will be too heavy for the little duck. She shall take us across,
one after the other."
The good little
duck did so, and when they were once safely across and had walked
for a short time, the forest seemed to be more and more familiar
to them, and at length they saw from afar their father's house.
Then they began to run, rushed into the parlor, and threw
themselves round their father's neck. The man had not known one
happy hour since he had left the children in the forest. The
woman, however, was dead. Gretel emptied her pinafore until
pearls and precious stones ran about the room, and Hansel threw
one handful after another out of his pocket to add to them. Then
all anxiety was at an end, and they lived together in perfect
happiness.
My tale is
done, there runs a mouse, whosoever catches it, may make himself
a big fur cap out of it.
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