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Once upon
a time...
There dwelt on the outskirts of a large forest a poor
woodcutter with his wife and two children; the boy was called Hansel
and the girl Grettel. He had always little enough to live on, and
once, when there was a great famine in the land, he couldn't even
provide them with daily bread. One night, as he was tossing about in
bed, full of cares and worry, he sighed and said to his wife:
"What's to become of us? how are we to support our poor children,
now that we have nothing more for ourselves?" "I'll tell you what,
husband," answered the woman; "early to-morrow morning we'll take
the children out into the thickest part of the wood; there we shall
light a fire for them and give them each a piece of bread; then
we'll go on to our work and leave them alone. They won't be able to
find their way home, and we shall thus be rid of them." "No, wife,"
said her husband, "that I won't do; how could I find it in my heart
to leave my children alone in the wood? The wild beasts would soon
come and tear them to pieces." "Oh! you fool," said she, "then we
must all four die of hunger, and you may just as well go and plane
the boards for our coffins"; and she left him no peace till he
consented. "But I can't help feeling sorry for the poor children,"
added the husband.
The children, too, had not been able to sleep for hunger, and had
heard what their step-mother had said to their father. Grettel wept
bitterly and spoke to Hansel: "Now it's all up with us." "No, no,
Grettel," said Hansel, "don't fret yourself; I'll be able to find a
way to escape, no fear." And when the old people had fallen asleep
he got up, slipped on his little coat, opened the back door and
stole out. The moon was shining clearly, and the white pebbles which
lay in front of the house glittered like bits of silver. Hansel bent
down and filled his pocket with as many of them as he could cram in.
Then he went back and said to Grettel: "Be comforted, my dear little
sister, and go to sleep: God will not desert us"; and he lay down in
bed again.
At daybreak, even before the sun was up, the woman came and woke the
two children: "Get up, you lie-abeds, we're all going to the forest
to fetch wood." She gave them each a bit of bread and said: "There's
something for your luncheon, but don't you eat it up before, for
it's all you'll get." Grettel took the bread under her apron, as
Hansel had the stones in his pocket. Then they all set out together
on the way to the forest. After they had walked for a little, Hansel
stood still and looked back at the house, and this manoeuvre he
repeated again and again. His father observed him, and said:
"Hansel, what are you gazing at there, and why do you always remain
behind? Take care, and don't lose your footing." "Oh! father," said
Hansel, "I am looking back at my white kitten, which is sitting on
the roof, waving me a farewell." The woman exclaimed: "What a donkey
you are! that isn't your kitten, that's the morning sun shining on
the chimney." But Hansel had not looked back at his kitten, but had
always dropped one of the white pebbles out of his pocket on to the
path.
When they had reached the middle of the forest the father said:
"Now, children, go and fetch a lot of wood, and I'll light a fire
that you may not feel cold." Hansel and Grettel heaped up brushwood
till they had made a pile nearly the size of a small hill. The
brushwood was set fire to, and when the flames leaped high the woman
said: "Now lie down at the fire, children, and rest yourselves: we
are going into the forest to cut down wood; when we've finished
we'll come back and fetch you." Hansel and Grettel sat down beside
the fire, and at midday ate their little bits of bread. They heard
the strokes of the axe, so they thought their father was quite near.
But it was no axe they heard, but a bough he had tied on a dead
tree, and that was blown about by the wind. And when they had sat
for a long time their eyes closed with fatigue, and they fell fast
asleep. When they awoke at last it was pitch dark. Grettel began to
cry, and said: "How are we ever to get out of the wood?" But Hansel
comforted her. "Wait a bit," he said, "till the moon is up, and then
we'll find our way sure enough." And when the full moon had risen he
took his sister by the hand and followed the pebbles, which shone
like new threepenny bits, and showed them the path. They walked on
through the night, and at daybreak reached their father's house
again. They knocked at the door, and when the woman opened it she
exclaimed: "You naughty children, what a time you've slept in the
wood! we thought you were never going to come back." But the father
rejoiced, for his conscience had reproached him for leaving his
children behind by themselves.
Not long afterward there was again great dearth in the land, and the
children heard their mother address their father thus in bed one
night: "Everything is eaten up once more; we have only half a loaf
in the house, and when that's done it's all up with us. The children
must be got rid of; we'll lead them deeper into the wood this time,
so that they won't be able to find their way out again. There is no
other way of saving ourselves." The man's heart smote him heavily,
and he thought: "Surely it would be better to share the last bite
with one's children!" But his wife wouldn't listen to his arguments,
and did nothing but scold and reproach him. If a man yields once
he's done for, and so, because he had given in the first time, he
was forced to do so the second.
But the children were awake, and had heard the conversation. When
the old people were asleep Hansel got up, and wanted to go out and
pick up pebbles again, as he had done the first time; but the woman
had barred the door, and Hansel couldn't get out. But he consoled
his little sister, and said: "Don't cry, Grettel, and sleep
peacefully, for God is sure to help us."
At early dawn the woman came and made the children get up. They
received their bit of bread, but it was even smaller than the time
before. On the way to the wood Hansel crumbled it in his pocket, and
every few minutes he stood still and dropped a crumb on the ground.
"Hansel, what are you stopping and looking about you for?" said the
father. "I'm looking back at my little pigeon, which is sitting on
the roof waving me a farewell," answered Hansel. "Fool!" said the
wife; "that isn't your pigeon, it's the morning sun glittering on
the chimney." But Hansel gradually threw all his crumbs on the path.
The woman led the children still deeper into the forest farther than
they had ever been in their lives before. Then a big fire was lit
again, and the mother said: "Just sit down there, children, and if
you're tired you can sleep a bit; we're going into the forest to cut
down wood, and in the evening when we're finished we'll come back to
fetch you." At midday Grettel divided her bread with Hansel, for he
had strewn his all along their path. Then they fell asleep, and
evening passed away, but nobody came to the poor children. They
didn't awake till it was pitch dark, and Hansel comforted his
sister, saying: "Only wait, Grettel, till the moon rises, then we
shall see the bread-crumbs I scattered along the path; they will
show us the way back to the house." When the moon appeared they got
up, but they found no crumbs, for the thousands of birds that fly
about the woods and fields had picked them all up. "Never mind,"
said Hansel to Grettel; "you'll see we'll find a way out"; but all
the same they did not. They wandered about the whole night, and the
next day, from morning till evening, but they could not find a path
out of the wood. They were very hungry, too, for they had nothing to
eat but a few berries they found growing on the ground. And at last
they were so tired that their legs refused to carry them any longer,
so they lay down under a tree and fell fast asleep.
On the third morning after they had left their father's house they
set about their wandering again, but only got deeper and deeper into
the wood, and now they felt that if help did not come to them soon
they must perish. At midday they saw a beautiful little snow-white
bird sitting on a branch, which sang so sweetly that they stopped
still and listened to it. And when its song was finished it flapped
its wings and flew on in front of them. They followed it and came to
a little house, on the roof of which it perched; and when they came
quite near they saw that the cottage was made of bread and roofed
with cakes, while the window was made of transparent sugar. "Now
we'll set to," said Hansel, "and have a regular blow-out.[1] I'll
eat a bit of the roof, and you, Grettel, can eat some of the window,
which you'll find a sweet morsel." Hansel stretched up his hand and
broke off a little bit of the roof to see what it was like, and
Grettel went to the casement and began to nibble at it. Thereupon a
shrill voice called out from the room inside:
"Nibble, nibble, little mouse, Who's nibbling my house?"
The children answered:
"Tis Heaven's own child, The tempest wild,"
and went on eating, without putting themselves about. Hansel, who
thoroughly appreciated the roof, tore down a big bit of it, while
Grettel pushed out a whole round window-pane, and sat down the
better to enjoy it. Suddenly the door opened, and an ancient dame
leaning on a staff hobbled out. Hansel and Grettel were so terrified
that they let what they had in their hands fall. But the old woman
shook her head and said: "Oh, ho! you dear children, who led you
here? Just come in and stay with me, no ill shall befall you." She
took them both by the hand and let them into the house, and laid a
most sumptuous dinner before them--milk and sugared pancakes, with
apples and nuts. After they had finished, two beautiful little white
beds were prepared for them, and when Hansel and Grettel lay down in
them they felt as if they had got into heaven.
[1] He was a vulgar boy!
The old woman had appeared to be most friendly, but she was really
an old witch who had waylaid the children, and had only built the
little bread house in order to lure them in. When anyone came into
her power she killed, cooked, and ate him, and held a regular
feast-day for the occasion. Now witches have red eyes, and cannot
see far, but, like beasts, they have a keen sense of smell, and know
when human beings pass by. When Hansel and Grettel fell into her
hands she laughed maliciously, and said jeeringly: "I've got them
now; they sha'n't escape me." Early in the morning, before the
children were awake, she rose up, and when she saw them both
sleeping so peacefully, with their round rosy cheeks, she muttered
to herself: "That'll be a dainty bite." Then she seized Hansel with
her bony hand and carried him into a little stable, and barred the
door on him; he might scream as much as he liked, it did him no
good. Then she went to Grettel, shook her till she awoke, and cried:
"Get up, you lazy-bones, fetch water and cook something for your
brother. When he's fat I'll eat him up." Grettel began to cry
bitterly, but it was of no use; she had to do what the wicked witch
bade her.
So the best food was cooked for poor Hansel, but Grettel got nothing
but crab-shells. Every morning the old woman hobbled out to the
stable and cried: "Hansel, put out your finger, that I may feel if
you are getting fat." But Hansel always stretched out a bone, and
the old dame, whose eyes were dim, couldn't see it, and thinking
always it was Hansel's finger, wondered why he fattened so slowly.
When four weeks had passed and Hansel still remained thin, she lost
patience and determined to wait no longer. "Hi, Grettel," she called
to the girl, be quick and get some water. Hansel may be fat or thin,
I'm going to kill him to-morrow and cook him." Oh! how the poor
little sister sobbed as she carried the water, and how the tears
rolled down her cheeks! "Kind heaven help us now!" she cried; "if
only the wild beasts in the wood had eaten us, then at least we
should have died together." "Just hold your peace," said the old
hag; "it won't help you."
Early in the morning Grettel had to go out and hang up the kettle
full of water, and light the fire. "First we'll bake," said the old
dame; "I've heated the oven already and kneaded the dough." She
pushed Grettel out to the oven, from which fiery flames were already
issuing. "Creep in," said the witch, "and see if it's properly
heated, so that we can shove in the bread." For when she had got
Grettel in she meant to close the oven and let the girl bake, that
she might eat her up too. But Grettel perceived her intention, and
said: "I don't know how I'm to do it; how do I get in?" "You silly
goose!" said the hag, "the opening is big enough; see, I could get
in myself," and she crawled toward it, and poked her head into the
oven. Then Grettel gave her a shove that sent her right in, shut the
iron door, and drew the bolt. Gracious! how she yelled, it was quite
horrible; but Grettel fled, and the wretched old woman was left to
perish miserably.
Grettel flew straight to Hansel, opened the little stable- door, and
cried: "Hansel, we are free; the old witch is dead." Then Hansel
sprang like a bird out of a cage when the door is opened. How they
rejoiced, and fell on each other's necks, and jumped for joy, and
kissed one another! And as they had no longer any cause for fear,
they went in the old hag's house, and here they found, in every
corner of the room, boxes with pearls and precious stones. "These
are even better than pebbles," said Hansel, and crammed his pockets
full of them; and Grettel said: "I too will bring something home,"
and she filled her apron full. "But now," said Hansel, "let's go and
get well away from the witch's wood." When they had wandered about
for some hours they came to a big lake. "We can't get over," said
Hansel; "I see no bridge of any sort or kind." "Yes, and there's no
ferry-boat either," answered Grettel; "but look, there swims a white
duck; if I ask her she'll help us over," and she called out:
"Here are two children, mournful very, Seeing neither bridge nor
ferry; Take us upon your white back, And row us over, quack, quack!"
The duck swam toward them, and Hansel got on her back and bade his
little sister sit beside him. "No," answered Grettel, "we should be
too heavy a load for the duck: she shall carry us across
separately." The good bird did this, and when they were landed
safely on the other side, and had gone for a while, the wood became
more and more familiar to them, and at length they saw their
father's house in the distance. Then they set off to run, and
bounding into the room fell on their father's neck. The man had not
passed a happy hour since he left them in the wood, but the woman
had died. Grettel shook out her apron so that the pearls and
precious stones rolled about the room, and Hansel threw down one
handful after the other out of his pocket. Thus all their troubles
were ended, and they lived happily ever afterward.
My story is done. See! there runs a little mouse; anyone who catches
it may make himself a large fur cap out of it.
Hansel and Grettel
from the Blue Fairy Book
Story Edited
by Andrew Lang |
