|
Buy the English version of this book (text not guaranteed to be the same).
For a complete list of recommended Fairy Tale Books, please see our bookstore.
A new collection of Disney Books is also now available.
|
This story is available in the following languages
[
English
-
French
-
German
]
Hansel and Gretel
by the Grimm Brothers
Hard by a great forest dwelt a poor wood-cutter with his wife and
his two children. The boy was called Hansel and the girl Gretel.
He had little to bite and to break, and once when great dearth
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
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.
|