Once upon a time there were two children, a boy called Hansel and a girl called Gretel. They lived with their father and stepmother in a little cottage at the forest. Their father was a woodcutter, and was very poor. one day he had so little money that he could no longer give his family enough to eat. This made him very unhappy. How can we feed the children? he asked his wife one night.We have food for only two people.
His wife did not really like the children.I know what we must do,she replied.Tomorrow we will take the children into the thickest part of the forest. Then we must leave them there. They will never find their way home. We shall be free from them!The woodcutter loved his children very much. The woodcutter's wife gave no peace, until at last he agreed. Hansel and gretel both heard the conversation and at night Hansel went to pick pebbles.
The next day as soon as they left the house Hansel stopped and dropped a pebble from his pocket onto the path. When they came to the middle of the forest, the woodcutter said,I will make a fire so you won't be cold. The stepmother told them to wait for them to come and then they would go home.Hansel and Gretel sat by the fire. They waited so long that they fell asleep. When they woke uo, it was already dark.
Gretel was frightened but Hansel comforted her.Wait until the moon comes up,Hansel saidThen we will find our way home.At last the moon rose in the sky and Hansel took his sister's hand and followed the pebbles he had left on the path.They shone like silver coins and showed the children the way back home. The woodcutter was very happy to see them. It had broken his heart to leave them in the forest.
The stepmother was angry to see them back so she said to do the same again but the woodcutter again refused but al last he sadly agreed. At midnight Hansel went to fetch some pebbles again but his stepmother locked the door this time.Sadly he went back to bed. Early next morning when they were about to leave hansel took some bread and each time he stopped he would drop some crumb of bread which was eaten by the birds.
Hansel and Gretel again started to wait for the moon to shine but the breads were already eaten by the birds so they had no option but to walk inside the forest the next morning. On the way they saw a candy house in the middle of the forest and started eating it as they were very hungry. Suddenly an old lady walking on crutches came out of the house.