Hansel
and Gretel
For
use after Lesson 21
Sight
Words to Know
live,
have
two,
what
the,
was, all, were, want, only
to,
do, who, into
you,
they, their
one,
of, come, from
his,
is, as
said,
again
there,
where, very
or,
for, her
would,
could
when
don’t,
I’ll, it’s, there’s
something,
someone
Sight
or Common Words Child Should Be Becoming Familiar With
cannot,
little, every
girl,
gone, walk, look
Words
above Instructional Level (From Context, Parent)
wood,
took, put, push
follow,
window, frightened, jewel
began,
eaten, apron, pocket, wicked, children, pretend, pancake
asleep,
across, inside
candy,
hungry, really, angry, silly
Hansel,
Gretel
bring,
white
heard,
bread
fire,
find, small, fall, call, told, old, gold, piece, both
door,
tore, sort, bird, near
mother,
supper, after, finger, never
nibble,
apple
eating,
morning, waiting
sugar,
woman, oven
A man lived in the woods. He had a
wife and two children. The boy was Hansel and the girl was Gretel. He cut wood
to sell. But they did not have much to eat.
One day the man sent his children to
bed. “What will we do?” he said. “There is no food left.”
“We must get rid of the children,”
said his wife. “We will bring them to the woods and then go home.”
“Oh no!” said the man. “We cannot do
that!”
“We must do that,” said his wife,
“or we will all die.” And at last the man told her he would do it.
But Hansel and Gretel were not
asleep. When they heard this, Gretel cried.
“Don’t cry,” said Hansel. “I’ll save
us.” He went out and got little stones. Then he and Gretel went to bed.
When the sun rose they all went into
the woods. The wife gave the children each a slice of bread. She told them to
save it for supper. Hansel took the stones he had found.
They walked and walked. Now and then
Hansel dropped a stone. Then they stopped. The man and his wife made a fire for
the children.
“We must go cut wood,” they said.
“We will come back.” But they did not come back. So Hansel and Gretel got up.
They could see the stones Hansel had dropped. They followed them home. The man
was glad to see them. His wife was not.
Soon they had no food again. The man
sent his children to bed. “Soon we will die,” he said.
“We must get rid of the children,”
said his wife. “This time we will take them very deep into the woods. They will
not find their way back.” The man did not want to, but again he gave in.
Hansel and Gretel had heard this.
Hansel went to the door to go get stones, but the mother had locked it. When
the sun rose they woke up to go to the woods. The wife gave the children each a
very small slice of bread.
They walked and walked. Hansel had
no stones. But he tore up his bread. He threw bits of the bread on the path. At
last they stopped.
“We must go cut wood,” said the man
again. “We will come back.” Again, they made a fire for the children and left.
And again they did not come back.
Hansel said, “Come on, Gretel. I put
bits of bread on the path. We can follow them.” But the bits of bread were
gone! The birds had eaten them all. Hansel and Gretel could not find the path.
The children walked and walked. They
got very hungry. Soon they would die if they did not eat. Then they saw a
little house.
“Look, Hansel!” said Gretel. “It’s
made of food!”
It was. And good food. The walls
were made of cake. The gate was made of candy. The little round window panes
were made of sugar. Every piece was made of something sweet. They ran up and
began to fill their mouths with pieces of the house.
Just then someone said:
“Nibble,
nibble, like a mouse!
Who
is nibbling at my house?”
The children said:
“The
wind, the wind!
The
wind from the sky.”
They went on eating. Hansel tore off
a piece of the roof. Gretel took out one of the sweet window-panes. Then a
woman as old as the hills came out of the house. Hansel and Gretel were
frightened. But the woman said, “Good children! Do come in.”
She took them both by the hand and
led them into her little house. Then she gave them good food: milk and
pancakes, with sugar, apples, and nuts. After that she put them in two little
beds. Hansel and Gretel fell asleep.
But the old woman only pretended to
be kind. She was really a wicked witch. She lay in wait for children. The house
of food was a trap. When children came to eat from it, she killed them. Then
she ate them.
In the morning, the witch locked Hansel
in a cage. She fed him all sorts of good things. When he got fat, she would eat
him. She made Gretel clean the house. Gretel only got to eat crab shells.
Every day, the witch told Hansel to
give her his finger. She would feel it to see if he was fat. But each day,
Hansel put out a bone for her to feel. The witch could not see well. It made
her very angry that he did not get fat. At last one day she said, “Gretel,
light the oven. I will eat Hansel now, fat or thin.”
When the fire grew, the witch told Gretel
to reach into the oven to see if it was hot.
“I don’t know how,” Gretel said. “I
will fall in.”
“Silly girl!” said the witch. “I’ll
show you.” She leaned into the oven. Quick as a flash, Gretel pushed her inside
and shut the door.
Gretel let Hansel out of his cage.
In the house, they found huge amounts of gold and jewels. Hansel put them in
his pockets and Gretel filled her apron. Then they left. They walked for a long
time. At last they came to a little stream. They knew it was near their own house,
but there was no bridge. But Gretel saw a little duck. She called to it:
“Little
duck, little duck, dost thou see?
Hansel
and Gretel are waiting for thee.
There’s
not a plank or a bridge in sight.
Take
us across on thy back so white!”
The little duck took them across the
stream. They knew where they were, and they ran home. When their father saw
them, he was very glad. And with the gold and jewels that the children had
found, they were never hungry again.
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