Hard by a great forest dwelt a poor wood-cutter with his wife and histwo children. The boy was called Hansel and the girl Gretel. He hadlittle to bite and to break, and once when great dearth fell on theland, he could no longer procure even daily bread. Now when he thoughtover this by night in his bed, and tossed about in his anxiety, hegroaned and said to his wife: 'What is to become of us? How are weto feed our poor children, when we no longer have anything even forourselves?' 'I'll tell you what, husband,' answered the woman, 'earlytomorrow morning we will take the children out into the forest to whereit is the thickest; there we will light a fire for them, and give eachof them one more piece of bread, and then we will go to our work andleave them alone. They will not find the way home again, and we shall berid of them.' 'No, wife,' said the man, 'I will not do that; how can Ibear to leave my children alone in the forest?--the wild animals wouldsoon come and tear them to pieces.' 'O, you fool!' said she, 'then wemust all four die of hunger, you may as well plane the planks for ourcoffins,' and she left him no peace until he consented. 'But I feel verysorry for the poor children, all the same,' said the man.

The two children had also not been able to sleep for hunger, and hadheard what their stepmother had said to their father. Gretel weptbitter 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 wayto help us.' And when the old folks had fallen asleep, he got up, puton his little coat, opened the door below, and crept outside. The moonshone brightly, and the white pebbles which lay in front of the houseglittered like real silver pennies. Hansel stooped and stuffed thelittle pocket of his coat with as many as he could get in. Then he wentback and said to Gretel: 'Be comforted, dear little sister, and sleep inpeace, God will not forsake us,' and he lay down again in his bed. Whenday dawned, but before the sun had risen, the woman came and awoke thetwo children, saying: 'Get up, you sluggards! we are going into theforest 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 togetheron the way to the forest. When they had walked a short time, Hanselstood still and peeped back at the house, and did so again and again.His father said: 'Hansel, what are you looking at there and stayingbehind 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 issitting up on the roof, and wants to say goodbye to me.' The wife said:'Fool, that is not your little cat, that is the morning sun which isshining on the chimneys.' Hansel, however, had not been looking back atthe cat, but had been constantly throwing one of the white pebble-stonesout 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 notbe cold.' Hansel and Gretel gathered brushwood together, as high as alittle hill. The brushwood was lighted, and when the flames were burningvery high, the woman said: 'Now, children, lay yourselves down by thefire and rest, we will go into the forest and cut some wood. When wehave done, we will come back and fetch you away.'

Hansel and Gretel sat by the fire, and when noon came, each ate a littlepiece of bread, and as they heard the strokes of the wood-axe theybelieved that their father was near. It was not the axe, however, buta branch which he had fastened to a withered tree which the wind wasblowing backwards and forwards. And as they had been sitting such a longtime, their eyes closed with fatigue, and they fell fast asleep. Whenat last they awoke, it was already dark night. Gretel began to cry andsaid: 'How are we to get out of the forest now?' But Hansel comfortedher and said: 'Just wait a little, until the moon has risen, and then wewill soon find the way.' And when the full moon had risen, Hansel tookhis little sister by the hand, and followed the pebbles which shone likenewly-coined silver pieces, and showed them the way.

They walked the whole night long, and by break of day came once moreto their father's house. They knocked at the door, and when the womanopened it and saw that it was Hansel and Gretel, she said: 'You naughtychildren, why have you slept so long in the forest?--we thought you werenever coming back at all!' The father, however, rejoiced, for it had cuthim to the heart to leave them behind alone.

Not long afterwards, there was once more great dearth throughout theland, and the children heard their mother saying at night to theirfather: 'Everything is eaten again, we have one half loaf left, and thatis the end. The children must go, we will take them farther into thewood, so that they will not find their way out again; there is no othermeans of saving ourselves!' The man's heart was heavy, and he thought:'It would be better for you to share the last mouthful with yourchildren.' The woman, however, would listen to nothing that he had tosay, 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 timealso.

The children, however, were still awake and had heard the conversation.When the old folks were asleep, Hansel again got up, and wanted to goout and pick up pebbles as he had done before, but the woman had lockedthe door, and Hansel could not get out. Nevertheless he comforted hislittle sister, and said: 'Do not cry, Gretel, go to sleep quietly, thegood God will help us.'

Early in the morning came the woman, and took the children out of theirbeds. Their piece of bread was given to them, but it was still smallerthan the time before. On the way into the forest Hansel crumbled hisin 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.' 'Iam looking back at my little pigeon which is sitting on the roof, andwants to say goodbye to me,' answered Hansel. 'Fool!' said the woman,'that is not your little pigeon, that is the morning sun that is shiningon the chimney.' Hansel, however little by little, threw all the crumbson the path.

The woman led the children still deeper into the forest, where they hadnever in their lives been before. Then a great fire was again made, andthe mother said: 'Just sit there, you children, and when you are tiredyou may sleep a little; we are going into the forest to cut wood, and inthe evening when we are done, we will come and fetch you away.' Whenit was noon, Gretel shared her piece of bread with Hansel, who hadscattered his by the way. Then they fell asleep and evening passed, butno one came to the poor children. They did not awake until it was darknight, and Hansel comforted his little sister and said: 'Just wait,Gretel, until the moon rises, and then we shall see the crumbs of breadwhich I have strewn about, they will show us our way home again.' Whenthe moon came they set out, but they found no crumbs, for the manythousands of birds which fly about in the woods and fields had pickedthem all up. Hansel said to Gretel: 'We shall soon find the way,' butthey did not find it. They walked the whole night and all the next daytoo 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 threeberries, which grew on the ground. And as they were so weary that theirlegs would carry them no longer, they lay down beneath a tree and fellasleep.

It was now three mornings since they had left their father's house. Theybegan to walk again, but they always came deeper into the forest, and ifhelp did not come soon, they must die of hunger and weariness. When itwas 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. Andwhen 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 ofwhich it alighted; and when they approached the little house they sawthat it was built of bread and covered with cakes, but that the windowswere of clear sugar. 'We will set to work on that,' said Hansel, 'andhave a good meal. I will eat a bit of the roof, and you Gretel, can eatsome of the window, it will taste sweet.' Hansel reached up above, andbroke off a little of the roof to try how it tasted, and Gretel leantagainst the window and nibbled at the panes. Then a soft voice criedfrom the parlour:

'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 thetaste of the roof, tore down a great piece of it, and Gretel pushed outthe whole of one round window-pane, sat down, and enjoyed herself withit. Suddenly the door opened, and a woman as old as the hills, whosupported herself on crutches, came creeping out. Hansel and Gretel wereso terribly frightened that they let fall what they had in theirhands. The old woman, however, nodded her head, and said: 'Oh, you dearchildren, who has brought you here? do come in, and stay with me. Noharm shall happen to you.' She took them both by the hand, and led theminto her little house. Then good food was set before them, milk andpancakes, with sugar, apples, and nuts. Afterwards two pretty littlebeds were covered with clean white linen, and Hansel and Gretel lay downin them, and thought they were in heaven.

The old woman had only pretended to be so kind; she was in realitya wicked witch, who lay in wait for children, and had only built thelittle house of bread in order to entice them there. When a child fellinto her power, she killed it, cooked and ate it, and that was a feastday with her. Witches have red eyes, and cannot see far, but they havea keen scent like the beasts, and are aware when human beings draw near.When Hansel and Gretel came into her neighbourhood, she laughed withmalice, and said mockingly: 'I have them, they shall not escape meagain!' Early in the morning before the children were awake, she wasalready up, and when she saw both of them sleeping and looking sopretty, with their plump and rosy cheeks she muttered to herself: 'Thatwill be a dainty mouthful!' Then she seized Hansel with her shrivelledhand, carried him into a little stable, and locked him in behind agrated door. Scream as he might, it would not help him. Then she went toGretel, shook her till she awoke, and cried: 'Get up, lazy thing, fetchsome water, and cook something good for your brother, he is in thestable 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 wasforced to do what the wicked witch commanded.

And now the best food was cooked for poor Hansel, but Gretel got nothingbut crab-shells. Every morning the woman crept to the little stable, andcried: 'Hansel, stretch out your finger that I may feel if you will soonbe fat.' Hansel, however, stretched out a little bone to her, andthe old woman, who had dim eyes, could not see it, and thought it wasHansel's finger, and was astonished that there was no way of fatteninghim. When four weeks had gone by, and Hansel still remained thin, shewas 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, tomorrow 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,' shecried. 'If the wild beasts in the forest had but devoured us, we shouldat 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 withthe 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 poorGretel out to the oven, from which flames of fire were already darting.'Creep in,' said the witch, 'and see if it is properly heated, so thatwe can put the bread in.' And once Gretel was inside, she intended toshut 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 amto do it; how do I get in?' 'Silly goose,' said the old woman. 'The dooris big enough; just look, I can get in myself!' and she crept up andthrust her head into the oven. Then Gretel gave her a push that droveher far into it, and shut the iron door, and fastened the bolt. Oh! thenshe began to howl quite horribly, but Gretel ran away and the godlesswitch 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 Hanselsprang like a bird from its cage when the door is opened. How they didrejoice and embrace each other, and dance about and kiss each other! Andas they had no longer any need to fear her, they went into the witch'shouse, and in every corner there stood chests full of pearls and jewels.'These are far better than pebbles!' said Hansel, and thrust into hispockets whatever could be got in, and Gretel said: 'I, too, will takesomething home with me,' and filled her pinafore full. 'But now we mustbe 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 ofwater. 'We cannot cross,' said Hansel, 'I see no foot-plank, and nobridge.' 'And there is also no ferry,' answered Gretel, 'but a whiteduck is swimming there: if I ask her, she will help us over.' Then shecried:

'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 toldhis sister to sit by him. 'No,' replied Gretel, 'that will be too heavyfor the little duck; she shall take us across, one after the other.' Thegood little duck did so, and when they were once safely across and hadwalked for a short time, the forest seemed to be more and more familiarto them, and at length they saw from afar their father's house. Thenthey began to run, rushed into the parlour, and threw themselves roundtheir father's neck. The man had not known one happy hour since he hadleft the children in the forest; the woman, however, was dead. Gretelemptied her pinafore until pearls and precious stones ran about theroom, and Hansel threw one handful after another out of his pocket toadd to them. Then all anxiety was at an end, and they lived togetherin perfect happiness. My tale is done, there runs a mouse; whosoevercatches it, may make himself a big fur cap out of it.