1812
GRIMM'S FAIRY TALES
HANSEL AND GRETEL
by Jacob Ludwig Grimm and Wilhelm Carl Grimm
Electronically Enhanced Text (c) Copyright 1996, World Library(R)
HANSEL AND GRETEL
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NEAR a great forest there lived a poor woodcutter and his wife and
his two children; the boy's name was Hansel and the girl's Gretel.
They had very little to bite or to sup, and once, when there was great
dearth in the land, the man could not even gain the daily bread.
As he lay in bed one night thinking of this, and turning and
tossing, he sighed heavily, and said to his wife, "What will become of
us? We cannot even feed our children; there is nothing left for
ourselves."
"I will tell you what, husband," answered the wife; "we will take
the children early in the morning into the forest, where it is
thickest; we will make them a fire, and we will give each of them a
piece of bread, then we will go to our work and leave them alone; they
will never find the way home again, and we shall be quit of them."
"No, wife," said the man, "I cannot do that; I cannot find in my
heart to take my children into the forest and to leave them there
alone; the wild animals would soon come and devour them."
"O you fool," said she, "then we will all four starve; you had
better get the coffins ready"- and she left him no peace until he
consented.
"But I really pity the poor children," said the man.
The two children had not been able to sleep for hunger, and had
heard what their step-mother had said to their father. Gretel wept
bitterly, and said to Hansel, "It is all over with us." "Do be
quiet, Gretel," said Hansel, "and do not fret. I will manage
something."
And when the parents had gone to sleep he got up, put on his
little coat, opened the back door, and slipped out. The moon was
shining brightly, and the white flints that lay in front of the
house glistened like pieces of silver. Hansel stooped and filled the
little pocket of his coat as full as it would hold. Then he went
back again, and said to Gretel, "Be easy, dear little sister, and go
to sleep quietly; God will not forsake us," and laid himself down
again in his bed.
When the day was breaking, and before the sun had risen, the wife
came and awakened the two children, saying, "Get up, you lazy bones;
we are going into the forest to cut wood."
Then she gave each of them a piece of bread, and said, "That is
for dinner, and you must not eat it before then, for you will get no
more."
Gretel carried the bread under her apron, for Hansel had his pockets
full of the flints. Then they set off all together on their way to the
forest. When they had gone a little way Hansel stood still and
looked back towards the house, and this he did again and again, till
his father said to him, "Hansel, what are you looking at? Take care
not to forget your legs."
"O father," said Hansel, "I am looking at my little white kitten,
who is sitting up on the roof to bid me good-bye."
"You young fool," said the woman, "that is not your kitten, but
the sunshine on the chimney pot."
Of course Hansel had not been looking at his kitten, but had been
taking every now and then a flint from his pocket and dropping it on
the road.
When they reached the middle of the forest the father told the
children to collect wood to make a fire to keep them warm; and
Hansel and Gretel gathered brushwood enough for a little mountain; and
it was set on fire, and when the flame was burning quite high the wife
said, "Now lie down by the fire and rest yourselves, you children, and
we will go and cut wood; and when we are ready we will come and
fetch you."
So Hansel and Gretel sat by the fire, and at noon they each ate
their pieces of bread. They thought their father was in the wood all
the time, as they seemed to hear the strokes of the axe, but really it
was only a dry branch hanging to a withered tree that the wind moved
to and fro. So when they had stayed there a long time their eyelids
closed with weariness, and they fell fast asleep.
When at last they woke it was night, and Gretel began to cry, and
said, "How shall we ever get out of this wood?" But Hansel comforted
her, saying, "Wait a little while longer, until the moon rises, and
then we can easily find the way home."
And when the full moon got up Hansel took his little sister by the
hand, and followed the way where the flint stones shone like silver,
and showed them the road. They walked on the whole night through,
and at the break of day they came to their father's house. They
knocked at the door, and when the wife opened it and saw it was Hansel
and Gretel she said, "You naughty children, why did you sleep so
long in the wood? We thought you were never coming home again!" But
the father was glad, for it had gone to his heart to leave them both
in the woods alone.
Not very long after that there was again great scarcity in those
parts, and the children heard their mother say at night in bed to
their father, "Everything is finished up; we have only half a loaf,
and after that the tale comes to an end. The children must be off;
we will take them farther into the wood this time, so that they
shall not be able to find the way back again; there is no other way to
manage."
The man felt sad at heart, and he thought, "It would be better to
share one's last morsel with one's children." But the wife would
listen to nothing that he said, but scolded and reproached him. He who
says A must say B too, and when a man has given in once he has to do
it a second time.
But the children were not asleep, and had heard all the talk. When
the parents had gone to sleep Hansel got up to go out and get more
flint stones, as he did before, but the wife had locked the door,
and Hansel could not get out; but he comforted his little sister,
and said, "Don't cry, Gretel, and go to sleep quietly, and God will
help us."
Early the next morning the wife came and pulled the children out
of bed. She gave them each a little piece of bread- less than
before; and on the way to the wood Hansel crumbled the bread in his
pocket, and often stopped to throw a crumb on the ground.
"Hansel, what are you stopping behind and staring for?" said the
father.
"I am looking at my little pigeon sitting on the roof, to say
good-bye to me," answered Hansel.
"You fool," said the wife, "that is no pigeon, but the morning sun
shining on the chimney pots."
Hansel went on as before, and strewed bread crumbs all along the
road.
The woman led the children far into the wood, where they had never
been before in all their lives. And again there was a large fire made,
and the mother said, "Sit still there, you children, and when you
are tired you can go to sleep; we are going into the forest to cut
wood, and in the evening, when we are ready to go home we will come
and fetch you."
So when noon came Gretel shared her bread with Hansel, who had
strewed his along the road. Then they went to sleep, and the evening
passed, and no one came for the poor children. When they awoke it
was dark night, and Hansel comforted his little sister, and said,
"Wait a little, Gretel, until the moon gets up, then we shall be
able to see the way home by the crumbs of bread that I have
scattered along it."
So when the moon rose they got up, but they could find no crumbs
of bread, for the birds of the woods and of the fields had come and
picked them up. Hansel thought they might find the way all the same,
but they could not. They went on all that night, and the next day from
the morning until the evening, but they could not find the way out
of the wood, and they were very hungry, for they had nothing to eat
but the few berries they could pick up. And when they were so tired
that they could no longer drag themselves along, they lay down under a
tree and fell asleep.
It was now the third morning since they had left their father's
house. They were always trying to get back to it, but instead of
that they only found themselves farther in the wood, and if help had
not soon come they would have starved. About noon they saw a pretty
snow-white bird sitting on a bough, and singing so sweetly that they
stopped to listen. And when he had finished the bird spread his
wings and flew before them, and they followed after him until they
came to a little house, and the bird perched on the roof, and when
they came nearer they saw that the house was built of bread, and
roofed with cakes, and the window was of transparent sugar.
"We will have some of this," said Hansel, "and make a fine meal. I
will eat a piece of the roof, Gretel, and you can have some of the
window- that will taste sweet."
So Hansel reached up and broke off a bit of the roof, just to see
how it tasted, and Gretel stood by the window and gnawed at it. Then
they heard a thin voice call out from inside,
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"Nibble, nibble, like a mouse,
Who is nibbling at my house?"
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And the children answered,
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"Never mind,
It is the wind."
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And they went on eating, never disturbing themselves. Hansel, who
found that the roof tasted very nice, took down a great piece of it,
and Gretel pulled out a large round window-pane, and sat her down
and began upon it. Then the door opened, and an aged woman came out,
leaning upon a crutch. Hansel and Gretel felt very frightened, and let
fall what they had in their hands. The old woman, however, nodded
her head, and said, "Ah, my dear children, how come you here? You must
come indoors and stay with me, you will be no trouble."
So she took them each by the hand, and led them into her little
house. And there they found a good meal laid out, of milk and
pancakes, with sugar, apples, and nuts. After that she showed them two
little white beds, and Hansel and Gretel laid themselves down on them,
and thought they were in heaven.
The old woman, although her behavior was so kind, was a wicked
witch, who lay in wait for children, and had built the little house on
purpose to entice them. When they were once inside she used to kill
them, cook them, and eat them, and then it was a feast-day with her.
The witch's eyes were red, and she could not see very far, but she had
a keen scent, like the beasts, and knew very well when human creatures
were near. When she knew that Hansel and Gretel were coming, she
gave a spiteful laugh, and said triumphantly, "I have them, and they
shall not escape me!"
Early in the morning, before the children were awake, she got up
to look at them, and as they lay sleeping so peacefully with round
rosy cheeks, she said to herself, "What a fine feast I shall have!"
Then she grasped Hansel with her withered hand, and led him into a
little stable, and shut him up behind a grating; and call and scream
as he might, it was no good. Then she went back to Gretel and shook
her, crying, "Get up, lazy bones; fetch water, and cook something nice
for your brother; he is outside in the stable, and must be fattened
up. And when he is fat enough I will eat him."
Gretel began to weep bitterly, but it was no use, she had to do what
the wicked witch bade her.
And so the best kind of victuals was cooked for poor Hansel, while
Gretel got nothing but crab-shells. Each morning the old woman visited
the little stable, and cried, "Hansel, stretch out your finger, that I
may tell if you will soon be fat enough."
Hansel, however, used to hold out a little bone, and the old
woman, who had weak eyes, could not see what it was, and supposing
it to be Hansel's finger, wondered very much that it was not getting
fatter. When four weeks had passed and Hansel seemed to remain so
thin, she lost patience and could wait no longer.
"Now then, Gretel," cried she to the little girl; "be quick and draw
water; be Hansel fat or be he lean, tomorrow I must kill and cook
him."
Oh what a grief for the poor little sister to have to fetch water,
and how the tears flowed down over her cheeks! "Dear God, pray help
us!" cried she; "if we had been devoured by wild beasts in the wood at
least we should have died together."
"Spare me your lamentations," said the old woman; "they are of no
avail."
Early next morning Gretel had to get up, make the fire, and fill the
kettle. "First we will do the baking," said the old woman; "I have
heated the oven already, and kneaded the dough."
She pushed poor Gretel towards the oven, out of which the flames
were already shining. "Creep in," said the witch, "and see if it is
properly hot, so that the bread may be baked."
And Gretel once in, she meant to shut the door upon her and let
her be baked, and then she would have eaten her. But Gretel
perceived her intention, and said, "I don't know how to do it; how
shall I get in?"
"Stupid goose," said the old woman, "the opening is big enough, do
you see? I could get in myself!" and she stooped down and put her head
in the oven's mouth. Then Gretel gave her a push, so that she went
in farther, and she shut the iron door upon her, and put up the bar.
Oh how frightfully she howled! But Gretel ran away, and left the
wicked witch to burn miserably. Gretel went straight to Hansel, opened
the stable-door, and cried, "Hansel, we are free! the old witch is
dead!"
Then out flew Hansel like a bird from its cage as soon as the door
is opened. How rejoiced they both were! How they fell each on the
other's neck and danced about, and kissed each other! And as they
had nothing more to fear they went over all the old witch's house, and
in every corner there stood chests of pearls and precious stones.
"This is something better than flint stones," said Hansel, as he
filled his pockets; and Gretel, thinking she also would like to
carry something home with her, filled her apron full.
"Now, away we go," said Hansel- "if we only can get out of the
witch's wood."
When they had journeyed a few hours they came to a great piece of
water. "We can never get across this," said Hansel, "I see no
stepping-stones and no bridge." "And there is no boat either," said
Gretel; "but here comes a white duck; if I ask her she will help us
over." So she cried,
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"Duck, duck, here we stand,
Hansel and Gretel, on the land,
Stepping-stones and bridge we lack,
Carry us over on your nice white back."
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And the duck came accordingly, and Hansel got upon her and told
his sister to come too. "No," answered Gretel, "that would be too hard
upon the duck; we can go separately, one after the other."
And that was how it was managed, and after that they went on
happily, until they came to the wood, and the way grew more and more
familiar, till at last they saw in the distance their father's
house. Then they ran till they came up to it, rushed in at the door,
and fell on their father's neck. The man had not had a quiet hour
since he left his children in the wood; but the wife was dead. And
when Gretel opened her apron the pearls and precious stones were
scattered all over the room, and Hansel took one handful after another
out of his pocket. Then was all care at an end, and they lived in
great joy together.
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Sing every one,
My story is done.
And look! round the house
There runs a little mouse.
He that can catch her before she scampers in
May make himself a fur-cap out of her skin.
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THE END
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