Selected Tales of the Brothers Grimm(6)

“Oh, Father,” said Hansel, “I’m looking back at my little white cat that’s seated on the rooftop and wants to say goodbye.”

The woman said, “Fool, that’s no cat, that’s the rising sun shining on the chimney.” But Hansel hadn’t been looking at his cat, for each time he turned he dropped a white pebble from his pocket on the path.

Once they’d reached the heart of the forest, the father said, “Go fetch wood, children, I’ll build you a fire so that you don’t freeze.” Hansel and Gretel gathered brushwood, a whole heap of it.

The brushwood was lighted, and when the flames burned high, the woman said, “Now lay yourselves down beside the fire, children, and rest up. We’re going into the forest to cut wood. When we’re done, we’ll come back and get you.”

Hansel and Gretel sat by the fire, and when midday came, each ate their little crust of bread. And because they heard the sound of the wood ax chopping, they thought their father was near. But it was not the ax, it was a branch their father had tied to a withered tree, which the wind rattled back and forth. And as they had sat there waiting a long while, their eyes grew heavy with fatigue and they fell fast asleep. When at last they woke up it was already the dead of night. Gretel started crying. “How will we ever find our way out of the woods!”

But Hansel comforted her. “Just wait for a while until the moon rises, and we’ll find our way all right.” And when the full moon had risen, Hansel took his little sister by the hand and followed the white pebbles; they shimmered like newly minted coins and showed him the way. They walked the whole night and at daybreak got back to their father’s house.

They knocked at the door, and the woman opened it, saw that it was Hansel and Gretel, and said, “You naughty children, why did you sleep so long in the woods? We thought you’d never come home.” But the father, whose heart was heavy at having left them behind in the woods, was overjoyed to see his children again.

Not long thereafter, things got bad again all over the land, and the children overheard their stepmother say to their father in bed at night, “We’re scraping the barrel again, all we have left is half a loaf of bread, and then we’re done for. The children have to go. We’ll take them deeper into the forest this time so that they won’t find their way back, or else we’re goners.” The man felt bad, and thought, Better I should share my last bite with my children. But the woman wouldn’t listen to anything he said and kept on complaining and badgering him. One mistake leads to another, and because he had given in the first time he had to give in again.

But the children were still awake and had overheard the conversation. As soon as the grown-ups were asleep, Hansel got up again and wanted to go out to gather pebbles as he had the last time, but the woman had locked the door and Hansel could not get out. Still he comforted his little sister and said, “Don’t cry, Gretel, and sleep tight. God will help us, you’ll see.”

Early the next morning the woman came to drag the children out of bed. They each received a crust of bread that was even smaller than the last time. On the way into the woods, Hansel crumbled it in his pocket, often stopping to toss a crumb on the ground. “Hansel, why are you just standing there looking around,” said the father. “Shake a leg.”

“I’m looking after my little pigeon that’s perched on the rooftop and wants to wave goodbye,” replied Hansel.

“Fool,” said the woman, “that’s no pigeon, that’s the morning sun shining on the chimney.” But Hansel kept on dropping bread crumbs along the way.

The woman led the children deeper and deeper into the woods, where they’d never been before. Another big fire was lit, and the stepmother said, “Just sit here, children, and when you get tired you can take a little nap. We’re going into the forest to cut wood, and in the evening when we’re done, we’ll come and get you.”

At midday, Gretel shared her bread with Hansel, who had crumbled and scattered his share along the way. Then they nodded off to sleep and darkness fell, but nobody came to pick up the poor children. They awakened in the dead of night and Hansel comforted his little sister and said, “Just wait, Gretel, until the moon rises, then we’ll see the bread crumbs I scattered and they’ll show us the way home.” When the moon rose they set out, but they could not find any bread crumbs, for the flocks of birds that circle woods and fields had eaten them up. They walked all night and another day from morning until evening, but they never made it out of the woods and were very hungry, as they’d eaten nothing but a few berries they found on the ground. And because they were so tired, and their little legs couldn’t carry them any farther, they lay themselves down under a tree and fell asleep.