Hansel
and Gretel
Near a great forest dwelt a poor
wood-cutter with his wife and his two children. The boy was called Hansel and
the girl Gretel. There was little to eat, and once when great hunger fell on
the land, he could no longer procure even daily bread. Now when he thought over
this by night in his bed, and tossed about in his anxiety, he groaned and said
to his wife: “What is to become of us? How are we to feed our poor children,
when we no longer have anything even for ourselves?”
“I’ll tell you what, husband,”
answered the woman, “early tomorrow 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.”
She left him no peace until he agreed.
“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 stepmother 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 worry, 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. “Get up, you sluggards!
We are going into the forest to fetch wood.” She gave each a little piece of
bread. “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. He 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. It 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 throwing the
white pebbles 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 are 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 wearily, 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. Then we will soon find the way.” And
when the full moon had risen, Hansel took his little sister by the hand. They
followed the pebbles which shone like newly-coined silver pieces, and found 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 hunger 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. 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 bird
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 bird, 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. When
you are tired you may sleep a little. We are going into the forest to cut wood.
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. Then Hansel comforted his little sister and
said: “Just wait, Gretel, until the moon rises. 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. 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 that they found. When 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. 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 branch. It 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. But they
followed it until it landed on the roof of a little house. When they reached
the little house they saw that it was built of bread and covered with cakes, and
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 house:
“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. 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.
But the old woman had only pretended
to be so kind. She was in reality a wicked witch. She 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. That was a
feast day for 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
shriveled 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 told her.
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, with her blind red eyes, could not see it. She
thought it was Hansel’s finger, and was astonished that there was no way of
fattening him.
Four weeks had gone by, and Hansel
still remained thin. The witch was full of 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, tomorrow I will kill him, and cook him.”
Ah, how the poor little sister did cry 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 eaten us up, 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 pot 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. Flames of fire were already
darting from it. “Creep in,” said the witch, “and see if it is properly heated,
so that we can put the bread in.” Once Gretel was inside, she intended to shut
the oven and let her bake in it. Then she would eat her, too.
But Gretel saw what she had in mind.
“I do not know how I am to do it,” she said. “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.
She shut the iron door and fastened the bolt. Oh then the witch began to howl
quite horribly, but Gretel ran away. The evil woman was miserably burnt to
death.
Gretel ran like lightning to Hansel
and opened his little stable. She 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. 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 apron full. “But
now we must be off,” said Hansel. “We must 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 house, 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 apron
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.
