Hansel and Gretel
Once upon a time a very poor woodcutter lived in a
tiny cottage in the forest with his two children, Hansel
and Gretel. His second wife often ill-treated the children
and was forever nagging the woodcutter.
"There is not enough food in the house for us all
.
There are too many mouths to feed! We must get rid of
the two brats," she declared. And she kept on trying to
persuade her husband to abandon his children in the
forest.
"Take them miles from home, so far that they can
never find their way back! Maybe someone will find
them and give them a home." The downcast woodcutter
didn't know what to do. Hansel who, one evening, had
overheard his parents' conversation, comforted Gretel.
"Don't worry! If they do leave us in the forest, we'll find
the way home," he said. And slipping out of the house
he filled his pockets with little white pebbles, then went
back to bed.
All night long, the woodcutter's wife harped on and on
at her husband till, at dawn, he led Hansel and Gretel
away into the forest. But as they went into the depths of
the trees, Hansel dropped a little white pebble here and
there on the mossy green ground. At a certain point, the
two children found they really were alone: the
woodcutter had plucked up enough courage to desert
them, had mumbled an excuse and was gone.
Night fell but the woodcutter did not return. Gretel
began to sob bitterly. Hansel too felt scared but he tried
to hide his feelings and comfort his sister.
"Don't cry, trust me! I swear I'll take you home even if
Father doesn't come back for us!" Luckily the moon was
full that night and Hansel waited till its cold light filtered
through the trees.
"Now give me your hand!" he said. "We'll get home
safely, you'll see!" The tiny white pebbles gleamed in
the moonlight, and the children found their way home.
They crept through a half open window, without
wakening their parents. Cold, tired but thankful to be
home again, they slipped into bed.
Next day, when their stepmother discovered that
Hansel and Gretel had returned, she went into a rage.
Stifling her anger in front of the children, she locked her
bedroom door, reproaching her husband for failing to
carry out her orders. The weak woodcutter protested,
torn as he was between shame and fear of disobeying
his cruel wife. The wicked stepmother kept Hansel and
Gretel under lock and key all day with nothing for
supper but a sip of water and some hard bread. All
night, husband and wife quarreled, and when dawn
came, the woodcutter led the children out into the
forest.
Hansel, however, had not eaten his bread, and as he
walked through the trees, he left a trail of crumbs
behind him to mark the way. But the little boy had
forgotten about the hungry birds that lived in the forest.
When they saw him, they flew along behind and in no
time at all, had eaten all the crumbs. Again, with a lame
excuse, the woodcutter left his two children by
themselves.
"I've left a trail, like last time!" Hansel whispered to
Gretel, consolingly. But when night fell, they saw to their
horror, that all the crumbs had gone.
"I'm frightened!" wept Gretel bitterly. "I'm cold and
hungry and I want to go home!"
"Don't be afraid. I'm here to look after you!" Hansel
tried to encourage his sister, but he too shivered when
he glimpsed frightening shadows and evil eyes around
them in the darkness. All night the two children huddled
forest, seeking a path, but all hope soon faded. They
together for warmth at the foot of a large tree.
When dawn broke, they started to wander about the
were well and truly lost. On they walked and walked, till
suddenly they came upon a strange cottage in the
middle of a glade.
"This is chocolate!" gasped Hansel as he broke a
lump of plaster from the wall.
"And this is icing!" exclaimed Gretel, putting another
piece of wall in her mouth. Starving but delighted, the
children began to eat pieces of candy broken off the
cottage.
"Isn't this delicious?" said Gretel, with her mouth full.
She had never tasted anything so nice.
"We'll stay here," Hansel declared, munching a bit of
nougat. They were just about to try a piece of the biscuit
door when it quietly swung open.
"Well, well!" said an old woman, peering out with a
crafty look. "And haven't you children a sweet tooth?"
"Come in! Come in, you've nothing to fear!" went on
the old woman. Unluckily for Hansel and Gretel,
however, the sugar candy cottage belonged to an old
witch, her trap for catching unwary victims. The two
children had come to a really nasty place.
"You're nothing but skin and bones!" said the witch,
locking Hansel into a cage. I shall fatten you up and eat
you!"
"You can do the housework," she told Gretel grimly,
"then I'll make a meal of you too!" As luck would have it,
the witch had very bad eyesight, andwhen Gretel
smeared butter on her glasses, she could see even
less.
"Let me feel your finger!" said the witch to Hansel
every day to check if he was getting any fatter. Now,
Gretel had brought her brother a chicken bone, and
when the witch went to touch his finger, Hansel held out
the bone.
"You're still much too thin!" she complained. When will
you become plump?" One day the witch grew tired of
waiting.
"Light the oven," she told Gretel. "We're going to have
a tasty roasted boy today!" A little later, hungry and
impatient, she went on: "Run and see if the oven is hot
enough." Gretel returned, whimpering: "I can't tell if it is
hot enough or not." Angrily, the witch screamed at the
little girl: "Useless child! All right, I'll see for myself." But
when the witch bent down to peer inside the oven and
check the heat, Gretel gave her a tremendous push and
slammed the oven door shut. The witch had come to a
fit and proper end. Gretel ran to set her brother free and
they made quite sure that the oven door was tightly shut
behind the witch. Indeed, just to be on the safe side,
they fastened it firmly with a large padlock. Then they
stayed for several days to
eat some more of the house, till they discovered
amongst the witch's belongings, a huge chocolate egg.
Inside lay a casket of gold coins.
"The witch is now burnt to a cinder," said Hansel, "so
we'll take this treasure with us." They filled a large
basket with food and set off into the forest to search for
the way home. This time, luck was with them, and on
the second day, they saw their father come out of the
house towards them, weeping.
"Your stepmother is dead. Come home with me now,
my dear children!" The two children hugged the
woodcutter.
"Promise you'll never ever desert us again," said
Gretel, throwing her arms round her father's neck.
Hansel opened the casket.
II
"Look, Father! We're rich now
chop wood again.'
You'll never have to
And they all lived happily together ever after.
The End
Questions:
1. In just a few words, define the following terms:
a. smeared
b. reproached
c. unwary
d. whimpering
e. padlock
2. In your own words, please rephrase what one of the lessons from the fairy tale might be.
3. What was your favorite part of the reading?
ned
th
4. As you were reading the text, did you feel comfortable that you understood what the author was
saying?
beck
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