A poor woodcutter with his wife and his two children lived next to a great forest. The boy's name was Hansel and the girl's name was Gretel. The woodcutter had little to eat, and once, when a great hunger came to the land, he could no longer feed his family.
One evening he was lying in bed and thinking about his problems. Then he said to his wife, “What will happen to us? How can we feed our children when we have nothing to eat?”
“Man, do you know what?” answered the woman. “Tomorrow morning we will take the children into the woods, make a fire for them, and give each of them a little piece of bread, then leave them and go to our work. They will not find their way home, and we will not have to feed them anymore.”
“No, woman,” said the man. “I will not do that. How could I leave my own children alone in the woods? Wild animals would kill them.”
“Oh, you fool,” she said, “then all four of us will die from hunger.” And she scolded him until he agreed.
“But I do feel sorry for the poor children,” said the man.
The two children could not sleep because of their hunger, and they heard the conversation between the stepmother and the father.
Gretel cried and said to Hansel, “It is over for us!”
“Be calm, Gretel,” said Hansel, “and don't worry. I know what to do.”
When the adults were sleeping, he got up, put on his jacket and went outside. The moon was shining brightly, and the white little stones in front of the house were sparkling like silver coins. Hansel filled all of his jacket pockets with them.
Then he went back into the house and said, “Don't worry, Gretel. Sleep well. God will not leave us.” Then he went back to bed.
Early in the morning the woman came and woke the two children. “Get up, you lazy children. We are going into the forest to gather wood.” Then she gave each one a little piece of bread, saying, “Here is something for you. Don't eat it soon, for you'll not get any more.”
Gretel put the bread under her apron, because Hansel's pockets were full of stones. Then all together they went into the woods. When they were still not far from home, Hansel began stopping again and again and looking back toward the house.
The father said, “Hansel, why are you stopping and looking back? Be careful, and don't forget your legs.”
“Oh, father,” said Hansel, “I am looking at my white cat that is sitting on the roof and wants to say good-bye to me.”
The woman said, “You fool, that isn't your cat. That's the morning sun shining on the roof.”
However, Hansel was not looking at his cat. He was throwing the shiny little stones from his pocket on the road.
When they arrived in the middle of the woods, the father said, “You children gather some wood, and I will make a fire so you won't freeze.”
Hansel and Gretel gathered together a lot of sticks.
When the fire was burning well, the woman said, “Lie down by the fire and rest. We will go into the forest to cut wood. When we are finished, we will come back and get you.”
Hansel and Gretel sat by the fire. When noon came each one ate his little piece of bread. They sat there a long time. They were tired, so they closed their eyes, and fell asleep.
When they finally awoke, it was dark at night. Gretel began to cry and said, “How will we get out of woods?”
Hansel calmed her, “Wait a little until the moon comes up, and then we'll find the way.”
When full moon came up, Hansel took his little sister by the hand and followed the little stones that sparkled like new coins, showing them the way. They walked throughout the entire night, and early in the morning they arrived at the father's house.
They knocked on the door, and when the woman opened it and saw that it was Hansel and Gretel, she said, “You nasty children, why did you sleep so long in the woods? We thought that you did not want to come back.”
But the father was happy when he saw his children once more. He did not want to leave them alone.
Not long after there was once again great hunger everywhere. One evening the children heard that mother said to the father, “We have nothing to eat. We have only a half loaf of bread, and then the song will be over. We must get ridof the children. We will take them deeper into the woods, so they will not be able to come back. Or we will all die.”
The man was very sad, and he thought, “It would be better to share the last bit with the children.”
But the woman would not listen to him, scolded him, and criticized him. Who says A must also say B, and because he gave up the first time, he had to do so the second time too.
The children were still awake. They heard the conversation. When the adults were sleeping, Hansel got up and wanted again to gather little stones, but this time the door was locked, and Hansel could not go out. But he calmed his little sister and said, “Don't cry, Gretel. Sleep well. God will help us.”
Early the next morning the woman came and got the children from their beds. They received their little pieces of bread, even less than the last time. On the way to the woods, Hansel crumbled his piece in his pocket, then often stood still, and threw
