Query any story you want.

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 Grethel. 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. Grethel wept bitterly, and said to Hansel,

"It is all over with us."

"Do be quiet, Grethel," 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 Grethel,

"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."

Grethel 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 Grethel 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 Grethel 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 Grethel 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 that it was Hansel and Grethel 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 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, Grethel, 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 Grethel 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, Grethel, 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 been 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, Grethel, 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 Grethel stood by the window and gnawed at it. Then they heard a thin voice call out from inside,

And the children answered,

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 Grethel 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 Grethel 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 Grethel laid themselves down on them, and thought they were in heaven.

The old woman, although her behaviour 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 Grethel 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 Grethel 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."

Grethel began to weep bitterly, but it was of 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 Grethel 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, Grethel," cried she to the little girl; "be quick and draw water; be Hansel fat or be he lean, to-morrow 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 Grethel 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 Grethel 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 Grethel once in, she meant to shut the door upon her and let her be baked, and then she would have eaten her. But Grethel 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 Grethel 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 Grethel ran away, and left the wicked witch to burn miserably. Grethel 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 Grethel, 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 Grethel; "but here comes a white duck; if I ask her she will help us over." So she cried,

And the duck came accordingly, and Hansel got upon her and told his sister to come too.

"No," answered Grethel, "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 Grethel 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.

Once upon a time there dwelt near a large wood a poor

woodcutter, with his wife and two children by his former marriage,

a little boy called Hansel, and a girl named Grethel. He had little

enough to break or bite; and once, when there was a great famine in

the land, he could not procure even his daily bread; and as he lay

thinking in his bed one evening, rolling about for trouble, he

sighed, and said to his wife, "What will become of us? How can we

feed our children, when we have no more than we can eat

ourselves?"

"Know, then, my husband," answered she, "we will lead them away,

quite early in the morning, into the thickest part of the wood, and

there make them a fire, and give them each a little piece of bread;

then we will go to our work, and leave them alone, so they will not

find the way home again, and we shall be freed from them." "No,

wife," replied he, "that I can never do. How can you bring your

heart to leave my children all alone in the wood, for the wild

beasts will soon come and tear them to pieces?"

"Oh, you simpleton!" said she, "then we must all four die of

hunger; you had better plane the coffins for us." But she left him

no peace till he consented, saying, "Ah, but I shall regret the

poor children."

The two children, however, had not gone to sleep for very

hunger, and so they overheard what the stepmother said to their

father. Grethel wept bitterly, and said to Hansel, "What will

become of us?" "Be quiet, Grethel," said he; "do not cry— I

will soon help you." And as soon as their parents had fallen

asleep, he got up, put on his coat, and, unbarring the back door,

slipped out. The moon shone brilliantly, and the white pebbles

which lay before the door seemed like silver pieces, they glittered

so brightly. Hansel stooped down, and put as many into his pocket

as it would hold; and then going back, he said to Grethel, "Be

comforted, dear sister, and sleep in peace; God will not forsake

us." And so saying, he went to bed again.

The next morning, before the sun arose, the wife went and awoke

the two children. "Get up, you lazy things; we are going into the

forest to chop wood." Then she gave them each a piece of bread,

saying, "There is something for your dinner; do not eat it before

the time, for you will get nothing else." Grethel took the bread in

her apron, for Hansel's pocket was full of pebbles; and so they all

set out upon their way. When they had gone a little distance,

Hansel stood still, and peeped back at the house; and this he

repeated several times, till his father said, "Hansel, what are you

peeping at, and why do you lag behind? Take care, and remember your

legs."

"Ah, father," said Hansel, "I am looking at my white cat sitting

upon the roof of the house, and trying to say good-bye." "You

simpleton!" said the wife, "that is not a cat; it is only the sun

shining on the white chimney." But in reality Hansel was not

looking at a cat; but every time he stopped, he dropped a pebble

out of his pocket upon the path.

When they came to the middle of the forest, the father told the

children to collect wood, and he would make them a fire, so that

they should not be cold. So Hansel and Grethel gathered together

quite a little mountain of twigs. Then they set fire to them; and

as the flame burnt up high, the wife said, "Now, you children, lie

down near the fire, and rest yourselves, while we go into the

forest and chop wood; when we are ready, I will come and call

you."

Hansel and Grethel sat down by the fire, and when it was noon,

each ate the piece of bread; and because they could hear the blows

of an axe, they thought their father was near: but it was not an

axe, but a branch which he had bound to a withered tree, so as to

be blown to and fro by the wind. They waited so long that at last

their eyes closed from weariness, and they fell fast asleep. When

they awoke, it was quite dark, and Grethel began to cry, "How shall

we get out of the wood?" But Hansel tried to comfort her by saying,

"Wait a little while till the moon rises, and then we will quickly

find the way." The moon soon shone forth, and Hansel, taking his

sister's hand, followed the pebbles, which glittered like

new-coined silver pieces, and showed them the path. All night long

they walked on, and as day broke they came to their father's house.

They knocked at the door, and when the wife opened it, and saw

Hansel and Grethel, she exclaimed, "You wicked children! why did

you sleep so long in the wood? We thought you were never coming

home again." But their father was very glad, for it had grieved his

heart to leave them all alone.

Not long afterward there was again great scarcity in every

corner of the land; and one night the children overheard their

stepmother saying to their father, "Everything is again consumed;

we have only half a loaf left, and then the song is ended: the

children must be sent away. We will take them deeper into the wood,

so that they may not find the way out again; it is the only means

of escape for us."

But her husband felt heavy at heart, and thought, "It were

better to share the last crust with the children." His wife,

however, would listen to nothing that he said, and scolded and

reproached him without end.

He who says A must say B too; and he who consents the first time

must also the second.

The children, however, had heard the conversation as they lay

awake, and as soon as the old people went to sleep Hansel got up,

intending to pick up some pebbles as before; but the wife had

locked the door, so that he could not get out. Nevertheless, he

comforted Grethel, saying, "Do not cry; sleep in quiet; the good

God will not forsake us."

Early in the morning the stepmother came and pulled them out of

bed, and gave them each a slice of bread, which was still smaller

than the former piece. On the way, Hansel broke his in his pocket,

and, stooping every now and then, dropped a crumb upon the path.

"Hansel, why do you stop and look about?" said the father; "keep in

the path." "I am looking at my little dove," answered Hansel,

"nodding a good-bye to me." "Simpleton!" said the wife, "that is no

dove, but only the sun shining on the chimney." But Hansel still

kept dropping crumbs as he went along.

The mother led the children deep into the wood, where they had

never been before, and there making an immense fire, she said to

them, "Sit down here and rest, and when you feel tired you can

sleep for a little while. We are going into the forest to hew wood,

and in the evening, when we are ready, we will come and fetch

you."

When noon came Grethel shared her bread with Hansel, who had

strewn his on the path. Then they went to sleep; but the evening

arrived and no one came to visit the poor children, and in the dark

night they awoke, and Hansel comforted his sister by saying, "Only

wait, Grethel, till the moon comes out, then we shall see the

crumbs of bread which I have dropped, and they will show us the way

home." The moon shone and they got up, but they could not see any

crumbs, for the thousands of birds which had been flying about in

the woods and fields had picked them all up. Hansel kept saying to

Grethel, "We will soon find the way"; but they did not, and they

walked the whole night long and the next day, but still they did

not come out of the wood; and they got so hungry, for they had

nothing to eat but the berries which they found upon the bushes.

Soon they got so tired that they could not drag themselves along,

so they lay down under a tree and went to sleep.

It was now the third morning since they had left their father's

house, and they still walked on; but they only got deeper and

deeper into the wood, and Hansel saw that if help did not come very

soon they would die of hunger. At about noonday they saw a

beautiful snow-white bird sitting upon a bough, which sang so

sweetly that they stood still and listened to it. It soon ceased,

and spreading its wings flew off; and they followed it until it

arrived at a cottage, upon the roof of which it perched; and when

they went close up to it they saw that the cottage was made of

bread and cakes, and the window-panes were of clear sugar.

"We will go in there," said Hansel, "and have a glorious feast.

I will eat a piece of the roof, and you can eat the window. Will

they not be sweet?" So Hansel reached up and broke a piece off the

roof, in order to see how it tasted, while Grethel stepped up to

the window and began to bite it. Then a sweet voice called out in

the room, "Tip-tap, tip-tap, who raps at my door?" and the children

answered, "the wind, the wind, the child of heaven"; and they went

on eating without interruption. Hansel thought the roof tasted very

nice, so he tore off a great piece; while Grethel broke a large

round pane out of the window, and sat down quite contentedly. Just

then the door opened, and a very old woman, walking upon crutches,

came out. Hansel and Grethel were so frightened that they let fall

what they had in their hands; but the old woman, nodding her head,

said, "Ah, you dear children, what has brought you here? Come in

and stop with me, and no harm shall befall you"; and so saying she

took them both by the hand, and led them into her cottage. A good

meal of milk and pancakes, with sugar, apples, and nuts, was spread

on the table, and in the back room were two nice little beds,

covered with white, where Hansel and Grethel laid themselves down,

and thought themselves in heaven. The old woman behaved very kindly

to them, but in reality she was a wicked witch who waylaid

children, and built the bread-house in order to entice them in, but

as soon as they were in her power she killed them, cooked and ate

them, and made a great festival of the day. Witches have red eyes,

and cannot see very far; but they have a fine sense of smelling,

like wild beasts, so that they know when children approach them.

When Hansel and Grethel came near the witch's house she laughed

wickedly, saying, "Here come two who shall not escape me." And

early in the morning, before they awoke, she went up to them, and

saw how lovingly they lay sleeping, with their chubby red cheeks,

and she mumbled to herself, "That will be a good bite." Then she

took up Hansel with her rough hands, and shut him up in a little

cage with a lattice-door; and although he screamed loudly it was of

no use. Grethel came next, and, shaking her till she awoke, the

witch said, "Get up, you lazy thing, and fetch some water to cook

something good for your brother, who must remain in that stall and

get fat; when he is fat enough I shall eat him." Grethel began to

cry, but it was all useless, for the old witch made her do as she

wished. So a nice meal was cooked for Hansel, but Grethel got

nothing but a crab's claw.

Every morning the old witch came to the cage and said, "Hansel,

stretch out your finger that I may feel whether you are getting

fat." But Hansel used to stretch out a bone, and the old woman,

having very bad sight, thought it was his finger, and wondered very

much that he did not get fatter. When four weeks had passed, and

Hansel still kept quite lean, she lost all her patience, and would

not wait any longer. "Grethel," she called out in a passion, "get

some water quickly; be Hansel fat or lean, this morning I will kill

and cook him." Oh, how the poor little sister grieved, as she was

forced to fetch the water, and fast the tears ran down her cheeks!

"Dear good God, help us now!" she exclaimed. "Had we only been

eaten by the wild beasts in the wood, then we should have died

together." But the old witch called out, "Leave off that noise; it

will not help you a bit."

So early in the morning Grethel was forced to go out and fill

the kettle, and make a fire. "First, we will bake, however," said

the old woman; "I have already heated the oven and kneaded the

dough"; and so saying, she pushed poor Grethel up to the oven, out

of which the flames were burning fiercely. "Creep in," said the

witch, "and see if it is hot enough, and then we will put in the

bread"; but she intended when Grethel got in to shut up the oven

and let her bake, so that she might eat her as well as Hansel.

Grethel perceived what her thoughts were, and said, "I do not know

how to do it; how shall I get in?" "You stupid goose," said she,

"the opening is big enough. See, I could even get in myself!" and

she got up, and put her head into the oven. Then Grethel gave her a

push, so that she fell right in, and then shutting the iron door

she bolted it! Oh! how horribly she howled; but Grethel ran away,

and left the ungodly witch to burn to ashes.

Now she ran to Hansel, and, opening his door, called out,

"Hansel, we are saved; the old witch is dead!" So he sprang out,

like a bird out of his cage when the door is opened; and they were

so glad that they fell upon each other's neck, and kissed each

other over and over again. And now, as there was nothing to fear,

they went into the witch's house, where in every corner were

caskets full of pearls and precious stones. "These are better than

pebbles," said Hansel, putting as many into his pocket as it would

hold; while Grethel thought, "I will take some too," and filled her

apron full. "We must be off now," said Hansel, "and get out of this

enchanted forest." But when they had walked for two hours they came

to a large piece of water. "We cannot get over," said Hansel; "I

can see no bridge at all." "And there is no boat, either," said

Grethel; "but there swims a white duck, and I will ask her to help

us over." And she sang:

"Little Duck, good little Duck,

Grethel and Hansel, here we stand;

There is neither stile nor bridge,

Take us on your back to land."

So the duck came to them, and Hansel sat himself on, and bade

his sister sit behind him. "No," answered Grethel, "that will be

too much for the duck; she shall take us over one at a time." This

the good little bird did, and when both were happily arrived on the

other side, and had gone a little way, they came to a well-known

wood, which they knew the better every step they went, and at last

they perceived their father's house. Then they began to run, and,

bursting into the house, they fell into their father's arms. He had

not had one happy hour since he had left the children in the

forest; and his wife was dead. Grethel shook her apron, and the

pearls and precious stones rolled out upon the floor, and Hansel

threw down one handful after the other out of his pocket. Then all

their sorrows were ended, and they lived together in great

happiness.

My tale is done. There runs a mouse; whoever catches her may

make a great, great cap out of her fur.