Hansel & Gretel /Fairy Tales

 Fairy Tales

Hansel & Gretel 

         Many, many years ago, there lived a woodcutter. He had a small house on the edge of a forest. He lived in the house with his wife and their two children, Hansel and Gretel. They were a poor family, and one day Hansel and Gretel's mother died. Their father decided to marry again. Alas! Hansel and Gretel's new stepmother was a very wicked woman. She often shouted and screamed at Hansel and Gretel. She made them do all the hard work in the house, while she sat combing her hair in the sun.

      Hansel and Gretel's stepmother wanted to get rid of them. One day she said to her husband, "You have not the money to buy us food dear husband. We have no choice but to get rid of Hansel and Gretel!" The father shouted, "What are you saying woman! They are my children. I love them dearly." But the wicked woman said, "If you do not get rid of them, we will all die! Let us take them into the woods and leave them there. Some traveller will find them and take them to his home." 

       Hansel and Gretel's father cried. He did not want to leave his children in the woods. But the wicked stepmother did not allow him to rest until he agreed. She said, "Tomorrow, we will take Hansel and Gretel deep into the woods and leave them there." Hansel and Gretel were hiding behind a pot. They heard their wicked stepmother's evil plan. Gretel cried and said, "Hansel! What shall we do! We will die in the woods." Hansel was brave. He said, "Fear not little sister. I will find a way to get us back home."    

      That night, when everyone was sleeping, Hansel crept out of the house. He filled his pockets with white pebbles. The pebbles shone like silver in the moonlight. When his pockets were full he crept back into bed. The next morning Hansel and Gretel's stepmother shook them awake and said, "Wake up you lazy children! We are going deep into the woods to cut wood. You must help us." She gave Hansel two pieces of bread and said, "Share this with your sister only when you are hungry, for we have no more bread."     

      Hansel and Gretel followed their father and stepmother into the woods. On the way, Hansel dropped the shiny white pebbles from his pocket. When they were deep in the woods their stepmother said, "Now you two sit down here. Your father and I will go cut some wood." Hansel and Gretel noticed that their father was crying. So Hansel said, "Father why are you crying?" Before the father could say a word, the wicked stepmother shouted, "Silence child! Don't you know that your father has many worries? Now sit down while we cut some wood."   

     Hansel and Gretel soon fell asleep. When they woke up it was already dark. Gretel began crying. So Hansel held her hand and said, "Fear not little sister. I will get you home soon." He took out the bread that their stepmother had given him and said, "Let us share this bread and wait till the moon rises." They waited for the moon to rise. As soon as the moonlight fell on the pebbles, they shone like silver. Hansel took his sister by the hand and followed the trail of pebbles back to their home.

     When Hansel and Gretel knocked on the door, their wicked stepmother was shocked to see them. She screamed, "Where have you children been? We thought that you were lost!" Hansel and Gretel's father was very happy to see them. When Hansel and Gretel lay down to sleep, the wicked stepmother said to her husband, "Tomorrow we shall take them deeper into the woods. This time they will not find their way back." Once again Hansel heard his wicked stepmother's evil plan. But when he crept out to collect pebbles, Hansel found that the door was locked.

      The next morning Hansel and Gretel's stepmother gave them two slices of bread and said, "Eat this only when you are hungry for we have no more." Hansel and Gretel followed their father and stepmother into the woods. On the way Hansel crumbled his piece of bread and threw the crumbs on the path. He hoped that the crumbs would lead them back home. Once they had gone very deep into the woods, their stepmother said, "Wait here. We will go and cut some wood." Hansel and Gretel fell asleep and woke up when it was nearly dark.

      Gretel began to cry. So Hansel said, "Fear not little sister. I have made a trail of breadcrumbs. If we follow the trail, we will find our way back home." But when they went looking for the breadcrumbs they found none. The birds in the woods had eaten up the breadcrumbs. So Hansel and Gretel wandered through the woods, hopelessly lost. When it became night once again, they shared the last piece of bread and fell asleep under an old oak tree. For the next two days they wandered through the woods, tired and hungry.

       On the third day, Hansel and Gretel suddenly found a small open space in the woods. There they saw a beautiful little cottage. Gretel said to Hansel, "Look Hansel! We are saved!" When they ran towards the cottage, they were shocked. Hansel and Gretel found that the cottage was made up of all sorts of goodies! The roof was made of biscuits. The walls of cakes and sweets. And the windows were made of pudding and sugar. The poor children were so hungry that they ran up to the house and began eating it up.

      Suddenly Hansel and Gretel heard an old woman's voice saying, "Who is there nibbling at my sweet little cottage?" Hansel and Gretel clung to each other in fear. An old woman, as old as the hills came out. She was so old that she had to use two sticks to walk about. Hansel said to her, "We are so sorry kind lady. We were so hungry that we forgot to ask your permission." The old woman pretended to smile. Then she said, "Since you ate a piece of my cottage, you must help me cook and clean."

      Hansel and Gretel agreed to help the old woman. So she took them into her cottage. As soon as Hansel and Gretel got into the cottage, the old woman began to laugh. She shouted, "He! He! He! At last I have got some human children into my cottage." The old woman was a wicked witch. She attracted little children into her cottage. Then she cooked them and ate them. She caught hold of Hansel and locked him up in a cage. Then the witch made Gretel cook and clean for her.

       

        The wicked witch fed Hansel very well She wanted to make him fat, so she could eat him up. Once in three days, the witch would go to the cage and say, "Hansel! Hansel! Stick your finger out!" Hansel was a clever boy. He knew that the witch wanted to find out if he was fat enough. So, instead of sticking his finger out, Hansel stuck a piece of bone outside the cage. The witch could not see very well. She felt the bone and said, "Gretel! Give your brother more food! He is still very thin."

      After three weeks the witch became impatient. She said, "I have waited long enough. Gretel! Fill the big pot with water and light the fire." Gretel cried, for she knew the witch would eat Hansel. Then the witch said, "Gretel! See if the water is boiling." Gretel quickly thought of a plan. She said, "I am too small to see if the water is boiling." The witch said, "Ack! I will have to do it myself." When the witch bent over the boiling pot, Gretel pushed her in and closed the lid. The wicked witch screamed and died.

      Once Gretel had set Hansel free, they looked around the witch's house and found a box filled with gold and diamonds. Hansel and Gretel filled their pockets with gold and diamonds and quickly ran away from the witch's cottage. As they ran through the woods, they met a woodcutter. He showed them the way to their house. Hansel and Gretel ran home and hugged their father. He cried and told them that their wicked stepmother had died of an illness. With all the gold and diamonds from the witch's cottage, Hansel, Gretel and their father lived happily ever after.