Hansel and Gretel

Once upon a time there were two children,

a brother and a sister, whose names were Hansel and Gretel.

They lived with their father and their step-mother.

Their father worked as a woodcutter.

Times were hard and the family had a tough life.

One night the children were woken up by a conversation in the next room.

“They eat for too much.

If they keep on like this, soon we’ll all die of starvation.

We must get rid of them. Let’s do it tomorrow.”

They heard their step-mother say.

“I don’t want to abandon my children.” Said their father.

He didn’t think the plan was a good idea.

But his wife was very persistent and she kept talking and

talking until he was conceived and willing to do what she said.

“Hensel, tomorrow we are going to die, “whimpered Gretel, “what shall we do?”

Hensel reassured his sister that they would survive.

“Get a good night’s sleep!”

he soothed and as soon as his sister fell asleep,

he went outside and filled his pockets with as many white

pebbles as he could. Then he went to bed.

The next morning the family woke up early, before sunrise.”

Today we’re going to cut some wood for the winter.

It’s going to be a long day. “said their step-mother.

“Take these pieces of bread and don’t eat them before noon,

because then you will get hungry too early.”

Hansel gave his bread to Gretel to hold,

because his pockets were full of pebbles.

They went deep into the forest.

On the way Hansel stopped every few steps and dropped a pebble behind him without telling anyone.

After a while, they stopped.

They step-mother told the children to sit there and wait quietly for them to come back.

Their father said nothing. Hansel and Gretel waited the whole day.

They couldn’t believe that their father would actually leave them.

But as the sun set, they knew that everything they had heard the night before was true.

“Don’t worry Gretel,” said Hansel.

“I dropped a trail of pebbles all the way here.

Let’s eat our bread and have a sleep.

We will leave tomorrow morning and be home by noon. Trust me.”

They did just as Hansel had said.

They next morning they followed the trail Hansel had made and they made their way home.

Their father was so happy to see them,

that he could say a thing and just hugged them for as long as he could.

When evening came, the children heard their step-mother’s voice,”

we will leave them somewhere even further into the forest next time,

so they won’t be able to find their way back. “what are you talking about?

“we are not going to leave them alone in the woods again!

“But the women persisted,” Do you want to die of starvation?”

The man didn’t reply.

Hansel went to try and gather pebbles again,

but this time the door was locked.

The next morning their step-mother gave them even smaller pieces of bread for lunch.

On their way into the forest,

Hansel dropped crumbs behind him,

so that they would be able to find their way back home just like before.

They walked for hours and hours.

Eventually their step-mother said, “this looks like a good place.

You can have a nap here while your father and I cut wood.”

At lunch Gretel shared her piece of bread with Hansel and then they fell asleep.

it was already evening when they woke up and it was too dark to find the crumbs,

but Hansel told Gretel to keep calm and that they would go home the next morning.

When they woke up,

they saw that wild animals had eaten the crumbs during the night.

This time it was Hansel who was upset. “we will never find our way home now. “he said.

But this time it was Gretel’s time to be brave.” let’s walk.

I’m sure we’ll be able to find our house,” she said. They walk the entire day.

They were already very hungry and tired when they saw a white bird singing on a branch.

It flew off and the children decided to follow him.