"Once
upon a time there dwelt on the outskirts of a large forest a
poor woodcutter with his wife and two children; the boy was called
Hansel and the girl Gretel. He had always little enough to live
on, and once, when there was a great famine in the land, he couldn't
even provide them with daily bread.
One night,
as he was tossing about in bed, full of cares and worry, he sighed
and said to his wife: "What's to become of us? how are we
to support our poor children, now that we have nothing more for
ourselves?"
"I'll
tell you what, husband," answered the woman; "early
tomorrow morning we'll take the children out into the thickest
part of the wood; there we shall light a fire for them and give
them each a piece of bread; then we'll go on to our work and
leave them alone. They won't be able to find their way home,
and we shall thus be rid of them."
"No,
wife," said her husband, "that I won't do; how could
I find it in my heart to leave my children alone in the wood?
The wild beasts would soon come and tear them to pieces."
"Oh!
you fool," said she, "then we must all four die of
hunger, and you may just as well go and plane the boards for
our coffins"; and she left him no peace till he consented.
"But I can't help feeling sorry for the poor children,"
added the husband.
The children,
too, had not been able to sleep for hunger, and had heard what
their step-mother had said to their father. Gretel wept bitterly
and spoke to Hansel: "Now it's all up with us."
"No,
no, Gretel," said Hansel, "don't fret yourself; I'll
be able to find a way to escape, no fear." And when the
old people had fallen asleep he got up, slipped on his little
coat, opened the back door and stole out. The moon was shining
clearly, and the white pebbles which lay in front of the house
glittered like bits of silver. Hansel bent down and filled his
pocket with as many of them as he could cram in. Then he went
back and said to Gretel: "Be comforted, my dear little sister,
and go to sleep: God will not desert us;" and he lay down
in bed again.
At daybreak,
even before the sun was up, the woman came and woke the two children:
"Get up, you lie-abeds, we're all going to the forest to
fetch wood." She gave them each a bit of bread and said:
"There's something for your luncheon, but don't you eat
it up before, for it's all you'll get." Gretel took the
bread under her apron, as Hansel had the stones in his pocket.
Then they all set out together on the way to the forest.
After they
had walked for a little, Hansel stood still and looked back at
the house, and this maneuver he repeated again and again. His
father observed him, and said: "Hansel, what are you gazing
at there, and why do you always remain behind? Take care, and
don't lose your footing."
"Oh!
father," said Hansel, "I am looking back at my white
kitten, which is sitting on the roof, waving me a farewell."
The woman
exclaimed: "What a donkey you are! That isn't your kitten,
that's the morning sun shining on the chimney."
But Hansel
had not looked back at his kitten, but had always dropped one
of the white pebbles out of his pocket on to the path.
When they
had reached the middle of the forest the father said: "Now,
children, go and fetch a lot of wood, and I'll light a fire that
you may not feel cold." Hansel and Gretel heaped up brush-wood
till they had made a pile nearly the size of a small hill. The
brush-wood was set fire to, and when the flames leaped high the
woman said: "Now lie down at the fire, children, and rest
yourselves: we are going into the forest to cut down wood; when
we've finished we'll come back and fetch you."
Hansel
and Gretel sat down beside the fire, and at midday ate their
little bits of bread. They heard the strokes of the axe, so they
thought their father was quite near. But it was no axe they heard,
but a bough he had tied on a dead tree, and that was blown about
by the wind. And when they had sat for a long time their eyes
closed with fatigue, and they fell fast asleep.
When they
awoke at last it was pitch dark. Gretel began to cry, and said:
"How are we ever to get out of the wood?" But Hansel
comforted her. "Wait a bit," he said, "till the
moon is up, and then we'll find our way sure enough." And
when the full moon had risen he took his sister by the hand and
followed the pebbles, which shone like new threepenny bits, and
showed them the path. They walked on through the night, and at
daybreak reached their father's house again. They knocked at
the door, and when the woman opened it she exclaimed: "You
naughty children, what a time you've slept in the wood! We thought
you were never going to come back." But the father rejoiced,
for his conscience had reproached him for leaving his children
behind by themselves.
Not long
afterward there was again great dearth in the land, and the children
heard their mother address their father thus in bed one night:
"Everything is eaten up once more; we have only half a loaf
in the house, and when that's done it's all up with us. The children
must be got rid of; we'll lead them deeper into the wood this
time, so that they won't be able to find their way out again.
There is no other way of saving ourselves."
The man's
heart smote him heavily, and he thought: "Surely it would
be better to share the last bite with one's children!" But
his wife wouldn't listen to his arguments, and did nothing but
scold and reproach him. If a man yields once he's done for, and
so, because he had given in the first time, he was forced to
do so the second.
But the
children were awake, and had heard the conversation. When the
old people were asleep Hansel got up, and wanted to go out and
pick up pebbles again, as he had done the first time; but the
woman had barred the door, and Hansel couldn't get out. But he
consoled his little sister, and said: "Don't cry, Gretel,
and sleep peacefully, for God is sure to help us."
At early
dawn the woman came and made the children get up. They received
their bit of bread, but it was even smaller than the time before.
On the way to the wood Hansel crumbled it in his pocket, and
every few minutes he stood still and dropped a crumb on the ground.
"Hansel, what are you stopping and looking about you for?"
said the father.
"I'm
looking back at my little pigeon, which is sitting on the roof
waving me a farewell," answered Hansel.
"Fool!"
said the wife; "that isn't your pigeon, it's the morning
sun glittering on the chimney." But Hansel gradually threw
all his crumbs on the path. The woman led the children still
deeper into the forest farther than they had ever been in their
lives before. Then a big fire was lit again, and the mother said:
"Just sit down there, children, and if you're tired you
can sleep a bit; we're going into the forest to cut down wood,
and in the evening when we're finished we'll come back to fetch
you."
At midday
Gretel divided her bread with Hansel, for he had strewn his all
along their path. Then they fell asleep, and evening passed away,
but nobody came to the poor children. They didn't awake till
it was pitch dark, and Hansel comforted his sister, saying: "Only
wait, Gretel, till the moon rises, then we shall see the bread-crumbs
I scattered along the path; they will show us the way back to
the house." When the moon appeared they got up, but they
found no crumbs, for the thousands of birds that fly about the
woods and fields had picked them all up.
"Never
mind," said Hansel to Gretel; "you'll see we'll find
a way out;" but all the same they did not. They wandered
about the whole night, and the next day, from morning till evening,
but they could not find a path out of the wood. They were very
hungry, too, for they had nothing to eat but a few berries they
found growing on the ground. And at last they were so tired that
their legs refused to carry them any longer, so they lay down
under a tree and fell fast asleep.
On the
third morning after they had left their father's house they set
about their wandering again, but only got deeper and deeper into
the wood, and now they felt that if help did not come to them
soon they must perish. At midday they saw a beautiful little
snow-white bird sitting on a branch, which sang so sweetly that
they stopped still and listened to it. And when its song was
finished it flapped its wings and flew on in front of them. They
followed it and came to a little house, on the roof of which
it perched; and when they came quite near they saw that the cottage
was made of bread and roofed with cakes, while the window was
made of transparent sugar.
"Now
we'll set to," said Hansel, "and have a regular blow-out.
I'll eat a bit of the roof, and you, Gretel, can eat some of
the window, which you'll find a sweet morsel." Hansel stretched
up his hand and broke off a little bit of the roof to see what
it was like, and Gretel went to the casement and began to nibble
at it. Thereupon a shrill voice called out from the room inside:
"Nibble,
nibble, little mouse,
Who's nibbling my house?"
The children
answered:
"Tis
Heaven's own child,
The tempest wild"
And they
went on eating, without putting themselves about. Hansel, who
thoroughly appreciated the roof, tore down a big bit of it, while
Gretel pushed out a whole round window-pane, and sat down the
better to enjoy it.
Suddenly
the door opened, and an ancient dame leaning on a staff hobbled
out. Hansel and Gretel were so terrified that they let what they
had in their hands fall. But the old woman shook her head and
said: "Oh, ho! you dear children, who led you here? Just
come in and stay with me, no ill shall befall you." She
took them both by the hand and let them into the house, and laid
a most sumptuous dinner before them - milk and sugared pancakes,
with apples and nuts. After they had finished, two beautiful
little white beds were prepared for them, and when Hansel and
Gretel lay down in them they felt as if they had got into heaven.
The old
woman had appeared to be most friendly, but she was really an
old witch who had waylaid the children, and had only built the
little bread house in order to lure them in. When anyone came
into her power she killed, cooked, and ate him, and held a regular
feast-day for the occasion. Now witches have red eyes, and cannot
see far, but, like beasts, they have a keen sense of smell, and
know when human beings pass by. When Hansel and Gretel fell into
her hands she laughed maliciously, and said jeeringly: "I've
got them now; they shan't escape me."
Early in
the morning, before the children were awake, she rose up, and
when she saw them both sleeping so peacefully, with their round
rosy cheeks, she muttered to herself: "That'll be a dainty
bite." Then she seized Hansel with her bony hand and carried
him into a little stable, and barred the door on him; he might
scream as much as he liked, it did him no good.
Then she
went to Gretel, shook her till she awoke, and cried: "Get
up, you lazy-bones, fetch water and cook something for your brother.
When he's fat I'll eat him up." Gretel began to cry bitterly,
but it was of no use; she had to do what the wicked witch bade
her.
So the
best food was cooked for poor Hansel, but Gretel got nothing
but crab-shells. Every morning the old woman hobbled out to the
stable and cried: "Hansel, put out your finger, that I may
feel if you are getting fat." But Hansel always stretched
out a bone, and the old dame, whose eyes were dim, couldn't see
it, and thinking always it was Hansel's finger, wondered why
he fattened so slowly.
When four
weeks had passed and Hansel still remained thin, she lost patience
and determined to wait no longer. "Hi, Gretel," she
called to the girl, "be quick and get some water. Hansel
may be fat or thin, I'm going to kill him tomorrow and cook him."
Oh! how
the poor little sister sobbed as she carried the water, and how
the tears rolled down her cheeks! "Kind heaven help us now!"
she cried; "if only the wild beasts in the wood had eaten
us, then at least we should have died together."
"Just
hold your peace," said the old hag; "it won't help
you."
Early in
the morning Gretel had to go out and hang up the kettle full
of water, and light the fire. "First we'll bake," said
the old dame; "I've heated the oven already and kneaded
the dough." She pushed Gretel out to the oven, from which
fiery flames were already issuing. "Creep in," said
the witch, "and see if it's properly heated, so that we
can shove in the bread." For when she had got Gretel in
she meant to close the oven and let the girl bake, that she might
eat her up too. But Gretel perceived her intention, and said:
"I don't know how I'm to do it; how do I get in?"
"You
silly goose!" said the hag, "the opening is big enough;
see, I could get in myself," and she crawled toward it,
and poked her head into the oven. Then Gretel gave her a shove
that sent her right in, shut the iron door, and drew the bolt.
Gracious! How she yelled, it was quite horrible; but Gretel fled,
and the wretched old woman was left to perish miserably.
Gretel
flew straight to Hansel, opened the little stable- door, and
cried: "Hansel, we are free; the old witch is dead."
Then Hansel sprang like a bird out of a cage when the door is
opened. How they rejoiced, and fell on each other's necks, and
jumped for joy, and kissed one another! And as they had no longer
any cause for fear, they went in the old hag's house, and here
they found, in every corner of the room, boxes with pearls and
precious stones.
"These
are even better than pebbles," said Hansel, and crammed
his pockets full of them; and Gretel said: "I too will bring
something home," and she filled her apron full. "But
now," said Hansel, "let's go and get well away from
the witch's wood." When they had wandered about for some
hours they came to a big lake. "We can't get over,"
said Hansel; "I see no bridge of any sort or kind."
"Yes, and there's no ferry-boat either," answered Gretel;
"but look, there swims a white duck; if I ask her she'll
help us over," and she called out:
"Here
are two children, mournful very,
Seeing neither bridge nor ferry;
Take us upon your white back,
And row us over, quack, quack!"
The duck
swam toward them, and Hansel got on her back and bade his little
sister sit beside him. "No", answered Gretel, "we
should be too heavy a load for the duck: she shall carry us across
separately." The good bird did this length they saw their
father's house in the distance. Then they set off to run, and
bounding into the room fell on their father's neck. The man had
not passed a happy hour since he left them in the wood, but the
woman had died. Gretel shook out her apron so that the pearls
and precious stones rolled about the room, and Hansel threw down
one handful after the other out of his pocket. Thus all their
troubles were ended, and they lived happily ever afterward.
My story
is done. See! There runs a little mouse; anyone who catches it
may make himself a large fur cap out of it."
By The
Brothers Grimm |