Hansel and Gretel

Once upon a time, there was a poor woodcutter who lived in a small house with his wife and two children, Hansel and Gretel. They had very little food, and when there was a terrible famine in the land, they didn't even have enough to eat. One night, the wife told her husband, "Tomorrow, we will take the children into the forest and leave them there. This way, we won't have to worry about feeding them anymore."

The man didn't want to do it. He loved his children and was afraid that they would be hurt by wild animals. But the wife kept insisting, and finally, he agreed.

That night, Hansel and Gretel overheard their parents talking, and they became very sad. Hansel, however, promised Gretel that he would find a way to help them. While everyone was sleeping, he quietly went outside and picked up small white pebbles, filling his pockets with them.

The next morning, their mother gave them a small piece of bread each. The children began walking into the forest with their parents. As they walked, Hansel kept stopping to look back, pretending he was looking at a cat on the roof. Really, he was dropping the pebbles along the path.

When they reached the deep forest, the parents told Hansel and Gretel to sit by a fire while they went to cut wood. The children ate their bread and soon fell asleep. By the time they woke up, it was dark, and their parents were gone. Hansel, remembering the pebbles, stood up and followed them, using the shining pebbles to find his way home. They walked through the night and made it back to their house by morning. Their father was happy to see them, but their mother was angry.

Later, when the famine returned, their mother decided to take the children even deeper into the forest. This time, Hansel couldn't collect any pebbles because their parents had locked the door. But he had an idea. As they walked, Hansel crumbled his bread and dropped the crumbs along the path. When they reached the deep forest, their parents again told them to stay by the fire, and they would be back soon.

The children fell asleep, but when they woke up, they could not find the breadcrumbs. The birds had eaten them all. They wandered through the forest for days, hungry and tired, until they found a house made of bread, cakes, and sugar. Hungry, they began to eat it.

Suddenly, an old woman appeared. She invited them inside and gave them food and a soft bed to sleep in. But the old woman was really a wicked witch who wanted to eat them. She locked Hansel in a cage and told Gretel to cook for him so that he would grow fat. Every day, the witch would check Hansel’s finger to see if he was getting fatter, but Hansel tricked her by offering her a bone instead.

After weeks of waiting, the witch became impatient. One day, she told Gretel to prepare the oven because she was going to cook Hansel. But Gretel was smart. When the witch asked her to check if the oven was hot enough, Gretel pretended not to understand. When the witch showed her how to do it, Gretel pushed her into the oven and slammed the door shut.

Gretel freed Hansel, and they found the witch’s treasure chest filled with jewels and pearls. They filled their pockets with as much as they could carry and left the witch's house. Soon, they came to a river, but a friendly duck helped them across. When they returned home, their father was overjoyed to see them, and the wicked stepmother was gone.

Hansel and Gretel lived happily ever after, and they never had to worry about hunger again.