Hello,
Dear one.
My name is Jessica Amos,
But you can call me Jessa.
Tonight,
I will be reading you the story of Hansel and Gretel.
But first,
Make yourself comfortable,
Settle down,
And take a deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth.
Let your whole body relax as you close your eyes,
And let your mind draw pictures of this story as I read you these words.
Hansel and Gretel Near the borders of a large forest,
There once lived a woodcutter and his wife,
Who had two children,
A boy named Hansel and his sister,
Gretel.
The family was very poor and had little to live on,
And once,
When there was a dreadful famine in the land,
The woodcutter could not earn sufficient money to buy enough for the family to eat.
One evening,
After the children had gone to bed,
The parents sat talking together about their troubles.
The poor husband sighed and said to his wife,
Who was not the mother of his children but their stepmother,
I know what to do,
Husband,
She replied.
Early tomorrow morning,
We will take the children for a walk across the forest and leave them in the thickest part.
We will light a fire and give each one a piece of bread.
Then we will leave them alone.
They will never find the way home again.
You can be sure of it,
And then we shall only have to work for ourselves.
No,
Wife,
Said the man,
That will never do.
How could I find it in my heart to leave my children all alone in the forest,
Where the wild animals would come quickly and eat them?
Oh,
You fool,
The wife said.
If you refuse to do this,
You know we will all four die of hunger.
You may as well go out and cut the wood for our coffins.
And after this,
She let him have no peace until he agreed with her plan.
That night,
He could not sleep for hours but lay thinking in sorrow about his children.
The two children,
Who were too hungry to sleep,
Were also awake and heard all their stepmother had said to their father.
Poor little Gretel wept bitter tears as she listened and said to her brother,
What is going to happen to us,
Hansel?
Hush,
Gretel,
He whispered,
Don't be so unhappy.
I know what we can do.
Then they lay quite still until their parents were asleep.
As soon as the house was quiet,
Hansel got up,
Put on his little vest,
Fastened the door and slipped out.
The moon was shining brightly and the white pebble stones that lay outside the cottage door glistened like new silver money.
Hansel stooped down and picked up as many of the pebbles as he could stuff into his little coat pockets.
Then he went back to Gretel and said,
Don't worry my dear little sister,
Sleep in peace,
Heaven will take care of us.
Then Hansel laid himself down again in his bed and slept until morning came.
As soon as the sun rose,
The stepmother hurried to wake the two children and said,
Get up you lazy bones and come into the forest with me to gather wood for the fire.
Then she gave each of them a piece of bread and said,
You must keep that to eat for your dinner and don't quarrel over it or eat it too soon for you will get nothing more.
Gretel put both pieces of bread in her apron because Hansel's pockets were already full of white pebbles.
Then the stepmother led them into the forest.
They had gone but a short distance when Hansel stopped and turned to look back at the house.
And this he did again and again.
At last his stepmother said,
Why do you keep staying behind and looking back so?
Oh mother,
Said the boy,
I can see my little white cat sitting on the roof of the house and I'm sure she is crying for me.
Nonsense,
She replied,
That is not your cat,
It is just the morning sun shining on the chimney.
But Hansel had seen no cat,
He had stayed behind each time to drop a white pebble from his pocket on the path as they walked along.
When they reached a thick and dark part of the forest,
Their stepmother said,
Come children,
Gather some wood and I will make a fire to warm you for it is very cold here.
Hansel and Gretel did as they were told and soon made quite a high heap of brushwood.
Their stepmother lit the pile of wood and it blazed up into a bright fire.
Then the woman said to them,
Sit down children and rest while I go find your father who is cutting wood in the forest.
When we have finished our work,
We will come and fetch you.
Hansel and Gretel sat by the fire and when noon arrived,
They each ate the bread that their stepmother had given them for their meal.
From deep in the forest,
They heard the sound of strokes of an axe.
The children felt safe for they believed that their father was chopping wood nearby.
But it was not the sound of an axe they heard,
It was only the sound of a branch that still hung on a withered tree and was moving up and down in the wind.
Finally,
After they had been sitting there a long time,
The children began to grow tired.
Their eyes began to close and they soon fell fast asleep.
When they awoke,
It was dark night and poor Gretel began to cry and said,
Oh Hansel,
Now how shall we find our way out of the wood?
Hansel comforted his sister,
Don't be afraid he said,
Let's just wait a little until the moon rises and then we shall easily find our way home.
Very soon,
The full moon rose and Hansel took his little sister by the hand.
The white pebbles,
Which glittered like bright coins in the moonlight,
In which Hansel had dropped as he walked into the forest,
Showed them the way.
They walked all night long and did not reach their father's house until the break of day.
They knocked at the door and when their stepmother opened it,
She exclaimed,
You naughty children,
Why have you stayed so long in the forest?
We thought you were never coming back.
But their father was overjoyed to see them,
For it broke his heart to think that they had been left alone in the dark wood.
Not long after this,
There was another season of famine and the children again heard their stepmother talking to their father at night after they were in bed.
The times are as bad as ever,
She said,
We have just half a loaf of bread left and when that is gone,
We have no hope.
The children must go away.
We will take them deeper into the forest this time and they will not be able to find their way home as they did before.
It is the only way to save ourselves from starvation.
But the husband felt heavy at heart,
For he thought it was better to share his last morsel with his children.
His wife would listen to nothing he said and continue to scold and argue with him.
And because he had given in to her the first time,
He could not refuse to do so now.
The children were awake and heard the conversation.
So as soon as their parents were asleep,
Hansel got up and wanted to go out and gather some more bright pebbles to drop as he walked to mark the way home.
But his stepmother had locked the door and he could not open it.
When he went back to his bed,
He again told his little sister not to fret,
But to go to sleep in peace,
For he was sure they would be taken care of.
Early the next morning,
The stepmother came and pulled the children out of bed and when they were dressed,
Gave them each a piece of bread for their afternoon meal.
Smaller pieces than they had been given before.
Then they started on their way into the forest.
As they walked,
Hansel,
Who had the bread in his pocket,
Broke it off into little crumbs and stopped every now and then to drop one,
Turning around as if he were looking back at his house.
Hansel,
Said the stepmother,
What are you stopping for?
Come along.
I saw my pigeon sitting on the roof and he wants to say goodbye to me,
Replied the boy.
Nonsense,
She said.
That is not your pigeon.
It is only the morning sun shining on the chimney.
But Hansel did not look back anymore.
He simply dropped pieces of bread behind him as they walked through the wood.
This time,
They went on until they reached the thickest and densest part of the forest,
Where they had never been before in all their lives.
Again,
They gathered a great mound of brushwood and the stepmother made a large fire.
Then she said to them,
Stay here children and rest while I go to help your father,
Who was cutting wood.
When you feel tired,
You can lie down and sleep for a while.
We will come and fetch you in the evening when your father has finished his work.
So the children remained alone.
At midday,
Gretel shared her piece of bread with Hansel,
For he had scattered his own along the road as they walked.
They slept for a while and the evening passed,
But no one came to fetch the poor children.
When they awoke,
It was still quite dark and poor little Gretel was afraid,
But Hansel comforted her as he had done before by telling her they need only wait until the moon rises.
As you know,
Little sister,
He said,
I have thrown breadcrumbs all along the path we traveled and they will easily show us the way back home.
But when they went out of the thicket into the moonlight,
They did not find any breadcrumbs,
For the many birds that lived in the trees of the forest had eaten them all up.
Hansel tried to hide his fear and said to his little sister,
Cheer up Gretel,
We shall find our way home even without the breadcrumbs.
Let's try.
But they could not.
They wandered about the whole night and the next day from morning until evening,
But they could not find their way out of the wood.
They were so hungry that,
Had it not been for the few berries they picked,
They might have starved.
The children finally grew so tired that their poor little legs could carry them no farther,
So they laid themselves down under a tree and went to sleep.
When they awoke,
It was the third morning since they had left their father's house.
They tried again to find their way home,
But it was no use.
They only walked deeper into the wood.
They knew that if no help came,
They would soon starve.
At midday,
They saw a lovely snow-white bird sitting on the branch of a tree.
It sang so beautifully that they stood still to listen.
When the bird finished his song,
He spread his wings and flew in front of them.
The children followed him until at last they saw a small house in the distance.
The bird flew up onto the roof.
But how surprised the boy and girl were when they came near to find that the house was built of gingerbread and decorated with sweet cakes and tarts with windows made of sugar.
Oh,
Exclaimed Hansel,
Let us stop here and have a splendid feast.
I will have a piece from the roof first,
Gretel,
And you can eat some of the sugar window,
Which will taste so sweet and nice.
Hansel stood on tiptoe and broke off a piece of the gingerbread.
He ate with all his might,
For he was very hungry.
Gretel sat on the doorstep and began munching on a piece of the window.
Suddenly,
A gentle voice came out of the cottage.
Nibbling,
Nibbling,
Little mouse,
Who is eating my little house?
The children then answered,
The wind,
The wind,
Only the wind.
And they continued eating as if they never meant to stop.
Hansel,
Who found the cake on the roof tasted so very good,
Broke off another large piece.
Gretel had just taken out a whole pane of sugar from the window and sat down to eat it when the door opened and a strange old woman came out.
Hansel and Gretel were so frightened that they dropped the sweets they held in their hands.
But the old woman only shook her head at them and said,
Ah,
You dear children,
Who has brought you here?
Come in and stay with me for a little while.
No harm shall come to you.
Offering them cakes and cookies,
She led them into the house.
For supper,
The old woman gave them plenty to eat and drink.
Pancakes and sugar,
Milk,
Apples and nuts.
When evening came,
Hansel and Gretel were each given a little bed with white curtains.
And when they lay down,
They felt they were in heaven.
Although the old woman pretended to be friendly and kind,
She was really a wicked witch who had built her house of gingerbread so that she could trap little children.
Once they were in her power,
She would feed them until they were fat.
Then she would cook them for dinner,
Which she called her great feast.
Luckily,
The witch had weak eyes and cannot see very well,
But she had a very sharp sense of smell,
As wild animals have and could easily tell when human beings were nearby.
When Hansel and Gretel walked up to her cottage,
She laughed to herself wickedly and said with a sneer,
Oh,
I have them now.
They shall not escape from me.
The witch got up early in the morning before the children were awake.
She stood by their beds and when she saw how beautiful they looked in their sleep with their round rosy cheeks,
She said to herself,
What a dainty morsel they will be.
Then she grabbed Hansel with her rough hands and dragged him out of bed,
Led him to a little cage that had bars on the door and locked him in.
He could scream as much as he liked,
But she would pay no attention.
Then she went to Gretel's bed and shaking the girl until she woke cried,
Get up,
You lazy bones and fetch some water.
So I may cook something good for your brother,
Who is to shut up in his cage until he gets nice and fat.
Then I shall cook him and eat him.
When Gretel heard this,
She began to cry bitterly,
But it was no use.
She had to do just what the wicked witch told her to do.
The best of everything was cooked for poor Hansel's breakfast.
Gretel had nothing to eat but the shell of a crab.
Every morning,
The old woman would go out to the little cage and say,
Hansel,
Stick out your fingers so I can feel how fat you are.
But Hansel,
Who knew how dim her eyes were,
Always stuck a bone to the bars of his cage.
And the old witch,
Who could not see,
Thought it was his finger.
Each time she felt how thin it was,
She wondered why he did not ever get fat.
As the weeks passed and Hansel seemed only to grow thinner,
The witch became very impatient until she could not wait any longer.
Go,
Gretel,
She cried to the little girl.
Hurry and fetch some water.
Hansel may be fat or lean.
I don't care.
Tomorrow morning we will cook him and I will have my feast.
Oh,
How the poor little sister cried as she drew the water from the well.
And as the tears rolled down her cheeks,
She said,
It would have been better to be eaten by wild animals or to have starved to death in the woods.
Then at least we should have died together.
Stop your crying,
Said the old witch.
It is not the least of use.
No one will come to help you.
Early the next morning,
Gretel was forced to fill the great pot with water and hang it over the fire to boil.
When this was done,
The old woman said,
We will bake some bread first.
I have made the oven hot and the dough is already kneaded.
Then she pulled poor little Gretel close to the oven door where the flames were burning fiercely,
Creeping enough to bake the bread.
If Gretel had obeyed her,
She would have shut the door on the poor child and baked her for dinner instead of boiling Hansel.
But Gretel guessed what the witch wanted to do and said,
I don't know how to get in through that narrow door.
Stupid goose,
Said the witch.
Why,
The oven door is quite large enough even for me.
Just look,
I could get in myself.
She stepped forward and pretended to put her head in the oven.
Just then,
Gretel gave her a push and sent the old witch right into the oven.
Then she shut the iron door and fastened the bolts.
Oh,
How the witch did howl.
It was quite horrible to hear.
But Gretel ran away and left the witch to burn in the oven,
Just as the witch had left many poor children to burn there before.
Gretel ran as fast as she could to Hansel,
Opened the door of his cage and cried,
Hansel,
Hansel,
We are free.
The old witch is dead.
Hansel rushed out like a bird flying out of its cage when the door is left open.
The children were so happy that they ran into each other's arms,
Kissed each other and danced about with joy.
And now that there was nothing more to be afraid of,
The children went back into the witch's house and looking around,
They saw an old oak chest,
Which they opened.
It was full of pearls and precious stones.
These are better than pebbles,
Said Hansel.
And he filled his pockets until they could hold no more.
I will carry some home too,
Said Gretel.
And she filled her apron,
Which held quite as much as Hansel's pockets.
Now we must go,
He said,
And get away as soon as we can from this enchanted forest.
They had been walking for nearly two hours when they came to a large body of water.
What shall we do,
Asked Hansel.
We can't get across and there is no bridge of any sort.
Oh,
Here comes a boat,
Cried Gretel.
But she was mistaken.
It was only a white duck which came swimming toward the children.
Perhaps she will help us across if we asked,
Said Gretel,
Who then began to sing out,
Little duck,
Little duck,
Do help poor Hansel and Gretel.
There is not a bridge nor a boat.
Will you let us sail across on your white back?
The duck came near the bank as Gretel spoke,
So close indeed that Hansel could seat himself on its back.
He wanted his little sister to sit on his lap,
But she said,
No,
We will be too heavy for the kind duck.
Let her take us across the water one at a time.
The good creature did as the children wished.
She carried Hansel over first and then came back for Gretel.
And then how happy the children were to find themselves in a part of the wood that they remembered quite well.
As they walked on,
The wood grew more and more familiar until at last they caught sight of their father's house.
Then they began to run and rushing inside,
They threw themselves into their father's arms.
Poor man,
He had not had a moment's peace since his wife had left his children in the forest.
Now he was full of joy at finding them safe and well again,
And they had nothing more to fear for their wicked stepmother had died.
But how surprised the poor woodcutter was when Gretel took out her little apron and scattered glittering pearls and precious stones about the room.
And Hansel pulled handful after handful from his pockets.
From this moment,
The father's sorrow was at an end and he lived in happiness with his children for the rest of his long life.
The end.
Okay,
My darling,
It's time to go to sleep.
You are so very loved.
And your heart is good.
I'm glad to be here with you.
Sleep tight.
May your dreams be full of love and light.
