On the edge of the great forest lived a poor woodcutter whose wife and two children depended on him. His son's name was Hansel, and his daughter's name was Gretel. Their family was already short of food and drink, and this year coincided with the soaring domestic prices, and the woodcutter's family even had no last meal, and they could not even guarantee bread every day. That night, the woodcutter, who was so worried that he couldn't sleep, lay in bed and was tormented, he sighed and moaned. Finally he said to his wife, "What shall we do?" I don't have anything to eat, so what can I do to feed our poor child? ”

"Listen to me, father," replied his wife, "and we will take the children early tomorrow morning into the far woods, and make them a fire there, and give each of them a small piece of bread, and then we will pretend to go about our work, and leave them there alone." They don't know the way, they can't go home, so we don't have to support them anymore. ”

"No, wife," said the woodcutter, "I can't do that." How could I bear to leave my child in the jungle to feed the wild beasts! ”

"Well, you fool," said his wife, "if you don't, we'll all starve to death!" Then she tried to persuade him endlessly, and at last he had no choice but to acquiesce.

The two children were so hungry that they couldn't sleep, and they happened to hear all the conversations between the stepmother and the father. Hearing his stepmother's advice to his father, Gretel wept bitterly and said to Hansel, "Now we're both done." ”

"Don't squeak, Gretel," said Hansel, reassuring her, "don't worry, I'll do it." ”

When the two adults were asleep, he put on his little coat, opened the back door and sneaked out of the room. At this time, the moon was shining, and the bright moonlight made the small white pebbles in the open space in front of the house shine like pieces of silver coins. Hansel crouched down and tried his best to stuff his coat pocket with white stones. Then he went back to the house and said to Gretel, "Don't worry, little sister, just sleep well, God will be with us." ”

With that, he went back to his cot and went to sleep.

As soon as dawn broke, and the sun had barely jumped above the horizon, the woman woke up the two children, "Get up, get up, you two lazy worms!" "We're going into the mountains to cut wood," she shouted. So saying, she gave one of the children a small piece of bread and told them, "This is your lunch, don't eat it early, for you will never want anything more." Gretel took the bread and hid it under her apron, for Hansel's pocket was now filled with white stones.

Then the family headed for the forest. Hansel always walked for a while and then stopped to look back at his home, and after a short walk he stopped and looked back at his home. When his father saw this, he said, "Hansel, what do you keep looking back at?" Concentrate on walking your way. ”

"Oh, Daddy," replied Hansel, "I'm looking at my white cat, who is crouching high on the roof and wants to say 'goodbye' to me!" ”

"That's not your kitten, little fool," said the stepmother, "it's the morning sun shining on the chimney." In fact, Hansel was not really looking at the kitten, he quietly took the shiny white pebbles out of his pocket and threw them one by one on the road.

When they reached the depths of the forest, their father said to them, "Hey, children, go and gather some firewood, and I will make you a fire." ”

Hansel and Gretel picked up many dead branches and piled them up as high as a hill. When the dead branches were lit and the flames had risen high, the stepmother said to them, "Lie down by the fire, both of you, and stay put, while your father and I will go into the woods to cut wood." When we're done, we'll take you home. ”

So Hansel and Gretel sat by the fire and waited for their parents to finish their work before picking them up. At noon, they ate their small piece of bread. Because they could hear the clatter and bang of axes cutting down trees, they believed that their father was near. In fact, what they heard was not the sound of an axe at all, but the sound of a dead branch tied to a small tree hitting the trunk of the tree under the blowing of the wind. The brother and sister sat for a long time, and they were so tired that their upper and lower eyelids were fighting. It wasn't long before the two of them fell asleep, and by the time they woke up from their dreams, it was already dark night. Gretel cried out in fear, and said, "Now we can't find our way out of the forest!" ”

"Don't worry," said Hansel, reassuring her, "and when the moon comes out, we'll soon find our way out of the forest." ”

Soon, when a full moon rose, Hansel took his sister's hand and followed the path of the white stones that glittered like silver coins on the ground in the moonlight. They walked all night, and returned to their father's house at dawn. They knocked on the door, and it was their stepmother who came to open it. When she opened the door, she saw that it was Hansel and Gretel, and said, "Why have you slept in the forest for so long, and we thought you didn't want to go home!" ”

The father was overjoyed to see the children, because he was very uncomfortable because he coldly abandoned his two children.

The family is struggling to live together again. But not long after, there was a nationwide famine. One night, the two children heard their stepmother say to their father, "Oops! Everything you can eat is gone, and there is only half of the bread left, what can you do in the future? We still have to lighten the burden, we have to throw the two children away! This time we can take them deeper and farther into the forest, so that they will never find their way back. Only in this way can we save ourselves. ”

When he heard his wife say that she would abandon the child, the woodcutter was very sad. Wouldn't it be better for everyone to share the last piece of bread together, he thought to himself. But like all men in the world, it is too difficult and difficult to say "no" to a woman, and woodcutters are no exception. Just as the truth goes, "Whoever puts on the halter must pull the cart", since the woodcutter has made the first concession to his wife, of course there must be a second concession, and he no longer opposes his wife's suggestion.

However, the children heard their full conversation. When his parents had fallen asleep, Hansel got up from his bed again and tried to sneak out of the door, as he had done last time, to pick up some pebbles, but this time he found that the door had been locked by his stepmother. But he had a new idea in his heart, and he comforted his little sister and said, "Don't cry, Gretel, don't worry, sleep well." God will help us. ”

Early in the morning, the stepmother pulled the children out of bed. She gave each of them a piece of bread, but it was much smaller than the last one.

On the way to the forest, Hansel crumbled his bread in his pocket, stopping from time to time to scatter crumbs on the road.

"Hansel, what are you looking at in the back?" His father, seeing that he was always lagging behind, asked him.

"I'm looking at my little pigeon, which is standing on the roof and 'cooing' goodbye to me." Hansel replied.

"You idiot," cried his stepmother, "it's not your pigeon, it's the morning sun shining on the chimney." But Hansel still sprinkled his crumbs little by little on the road.

The stepmother led them on a long, long walk to a forest they had never been before. As last time, a great fire was made again, and the stepmother said to them, "Stay here, children, if you are sleepy, you will sleep, and we will go to a farther place to cut wood, and we will come to fetch you when we are done." ”

At noon, Gretel divided her bread with Hansel, for Hansel's bread had been scattered on the road. Then, the two of them fell asleep again. Until midnight, there was still no one to pick up the poor children, and they woke up in total darkness. Hansel comforted his sister by saying, "When the moon comes out, we will see the crumbs I have sprinkled on the ground, and it will show us our way home." ”

But when the moon rose, they could not find a single crumb of bread on the ground, for they were all pecked little by little by the birds that flew around in the woods and fields.

Although Hansel was a little anxious, he comforted his sister and said, "We will definitely find our way, Gretel." ”

But they could not find their way, and although they walked for a day and a night, they could not get out of the forest. They were already dizzy with hunger, for they had not eaten anything except a few grass molds they had found on the ground. Then they were so tired that they could not even move on their feet, and fell asleep under a tree.

It was the third morning they had left their father's house, and they had lost themselves in the jungle. If they can't get help, they will surely die. At that moment, they saw a very beautiful bird standing on a branch of a tree and singing so beautifully that the brother and sister involuntarily stopped and listened to it. When it had finished singing, it spread its wings and flew before them, as if to signal them to follow it. So they followed it until they came to the front of a hut, and the bird came to rest on the roof of the hut. It was only then that they realized that the hut was actually made of fragrant bread, with a thick cake on the roof and bright sugar cubes in the window.

"Let's let go of our bellies," said Hansel, "and now we should have a good meal." I'm going to eat a little piece of the roof, Gretel, you can eat the window, it must taste so beautiful and sweet. ”

As he spoke, Hansel climbed up and broke a small piece of the roof down and tasted it. But Gretel stood in front of the window and gnawed on the sweet window with her mouth. At this time, a voice suddenly came from the house: "Gnaw! Gnaw! Gnaw, gnaw! Who's gnawing on my little house? ”

The children replied, "It's the wind, it's the wind, it's the little doll in heaven." ”

They answered as they ate, undisturbed at all.

Hansel thought the roof smelled so beautiful that he removed a large piece; Gretel also simply cut out a small round window and sat on the ground to enjoy it slowly. Suddenly, the door of the house opened, and an old woman came out tremblingly on crutches. Hansel and Gretel trembled in fright, and the food they were holding fell to the ground.

The old woman shook her trembling head and said, "Good boy, who brought you here?" Come, come into the house with me, no one will hurt you here!" ”

As she spoke, she took the siblings by the hand, led them into her hut, and prepared them a sumptuous dinner of milk, sugar cakes, apples, and nuts. When the children had finished eating, she made two more white beds for the children, and as soon as Hansel and Gretel lay down on the beds, they immediately felt like they had entered heaven.

In fact, this old woman is smiling with a knife, her friendliness is only disguised to show them, she is in fact an evil witch who specializes in seducing children, and her house built with good food is designed to let children fall into her trap. As soon as a child falls into her clutches, she kills him, boils him and eats him. The witch's red eyes were not good and she couldn't see far, but her sense of smell was as sensitive as that of a wild animal, and she could smell people from afar. Hansel and Gretel knew it as soon as they approached her house, laughed maniacally with joy, and then made up their minds with a sneer: "I will hold on to them and never let them run away." ”

The next morning, before the children could wake up, she got up. Looking at the red and round faces of the two little guys, she couldn't help but drool: "What a good meal!" So saying, he took Hansel by the arm, carried him into a small stable, and locked him up with a fence. Hansel yelled inside, but to no avail. Then the old witch went over and shook Gretel awake, and shouted at her, "Get up, lazy girl! Go fetch water and cook something delicious for your brother. He's locked up in the stable outside, and I'm going to raise him for nothing and eat him. ”

Gretel burst into tears of grief, but she still had to do as the old witch had told. As a result, Hansel was able to eat many good things every day, while poor Gretel only ate crab shells every day. Every morning the old witch would tremble to the stable and call out to Hansel: "Hansel, stretch out your finger and let me touch you if you have gained weight!" But Hansel always stretched out a little bone that she had gnawed on, and the old witch with dizzy eyes couldn't see it clearly, and she really thought it was Hansel's finger! She wondered in her heart, why hadn't Hansel gained a little weight?

Another four weeks passed, and Hansel was still very thin. The old witch lost patience and threatened that she did not want to wait any longer.

"Come here, Gretel," she yelled at the little girl, "hurry up and fetch water!" It doesn't matter if he's fat or thin, tomorrow I'll kill Hansel and cook him and eat him. ”

The poor little sister is forced to fetch water to prepare her brother to cook, and along the way she is so sad that tears fall down her cheeks! "Dear God, please help us!" She cried out, "It's better to be eaten by wild beasts in the forest, then we'll still die together!" ”

While the old witch was away for a while, poor Gretel saw the opportunity to run to Hansel, and told him all that she had heard: "Let us run quickly, for this old woman is an evil witch, and she will kill us." ”

But Hansel said, "I know how to escape, because I've already opened the latch." But first you have to go and steal her wand and the flute hanging in her room, so that if she comes after us, we won't be afraid of her. ”

After Gretel managed to steal both the wand and the flute, the two children fled.

Then the old witch came to see if her meal was ready, and found that the two children were missing. Although her eyes were bad, she still saw the two children running away from the window.

She was furious, and hurried to put on her boots, which could walk a few yards in one step, and in a moment she would catch up with the two children. Seeing that the old witch was about to catch up with them, Gretel used the wand she had stolen to turn Hansel into a lake, and herself into a swan swimming around the lake. The old witch came to the lake and threw some crumbs into the lake to trick the little swan. But the little swan just couldn't come, and at last the old witch had to go back empty-handed.

Seeing that the old witch was gone, Gretel used the wand to transform herself and Hansel back into their original ways. Then they continued on their way until dark.

Soon, the old witch caught up again.

Then the little girl turned herself into a rose in the hawthorn hedge, and Hansel sat down beside it and became a flute.

"Good Samaritan who plays the flute," said the old witch, "shall I pluck that beautiful rose?" ”

"Oh, yes." Hansel said.

So the old witch, who knew very well what the rose was, hurried to the hedge and tried to pluck it as quickly as she could. At that moment, Hansel took out his flute and began to blow.

This is a magic flute, and anyone who hears this flute will involuntarily dance. So the old witch had to keep spinning to the sound of the flute, and never plucked the rose again. Hansel kept blowing until the thorns hung the witch's clothes and pierced her flesh so much that she screamed. At last the old witch was firmly entangled in the thorns.

At this point, Gretel returned to his original form and walked home with Hansel. After a long walk, Gretel was exhausted. So they found a hollow tree in the meadow near the forest, and lay down in the hollow. While they were asleep, the old witch, who had managed to get out of the thorn bushes, came after them. As soon as she saw her wand, she grabbed it triumphantly. Then, at once, turned poor Hansel into a fawn.

When Gretel woke up, seeing what had happened, she threw herself on the poor little creature and cried. At this time, tears also kept flowing down from the fawn's eyes.

Gretel said, "Don't worry, dear fawn, I will never leave you. ”

So saying, she took off her long golden necklace and put it around his neck, and then tore off some of the corduroy and braided it into a straw rope that she put around the fawn's neck, and she took the poor fawn with her wherever she went.

Finally, one day they came to a hut. When Gretel saw that there was no one living in the hut, he said, "Let's stay here." ”

She gathered a lot of leaves and moss to make a soft bed for the fawn. Every morning, she went out to pick nuts and berries to satisfy her hunger, and picked leaves and grass for her brother. She fed the fawn with leaves and grass in her hands, and the fawn jumped happily around beside her. At night, when Gretel is tired, he will sleep with his head on the fawn. If poor Hansel could be restored to his original form, how happy would their lives be!

They lived in the forest for many years, by which time Glitter had grown into a maiden. One day, the king came here to hunt. When the fawn hears the horns echoing through the forest, the howling of the hounds, and the shouts of the hunters, they can't help but want to see what is going on. "Oh, sister," he said, "let me go into the forest, I can't stay here any longer." He pleaded and pleaded, and at last she agreed to let him go.

"But," she said, "you must come back before dark." I'll keep the door closed and won't let the hunters in. If you knock on the door and say, 'Sister, let me in.' I knew you were back. If you don't speak, I'll keep the door shut. ”

So the fawn jumped out and ran out. When the king and his hunters saw the beautiful fawn, they came after him, but they could not catch him, for every time they thought they were about to catch him, he would jump into the bushes and hide.

When it got dark, the fawn ran back to the hut, and he knocked on the door and said, "Sister, let me in!" So Gretel opened the door, and he jumped in, and slept soundly in his soft bed.

The next morning, the hunt began again. As soon as the fawn heard the trumpets of the hunters, he said, "Sister, open the door for me." I have to go out. ”

When the king and his hunters saw the fawn, they immediately began to round it up again. They chased him all day, and at last they surrounded him, and one of the hunters shot him in the foot. He limped and managed to escape back home. The hunter who had wounded him followed him and heard the fawn say, "Sister, let me in." He also saw the door open, and the fawn went in and soon closed it again. So the hunter went back and told the king what he had seen. The king said, "Then let's round it up again tomorrow." ”

When Gretel saw that her dear fawn was wounded, she was terrified. Still, she cleaned his wound and applied some herbs. The next morning, the wound had healed. When the trumpet sounded again, the little thing said, "I can't stay here, I must go out and see." I'll be more careful not to let them catch me. ”

But Gretel said, "I'm sure they're going to kill you this time, and I'm not going to let you go." ”

"If you lock me up here, I'll die of regret." He said. Gretel had to let him out, and she opened the door with a heavy heart, and the fawn ran merrily into the woods again.

As soon as the king saw the fawn, he commanded in a loud voice: "You must chase him to-day, but none of you shall harm him." ”

However, when the sun went down, they still failed to catch him. Then the king said to the hunter who had followed the fawn, "Then take me to the hut." ”

So they came to the hut, and the king knocked at the door, and said, "Sister, let me in." ”

When the door was opened, the king entered, and saw in the house standing the most beautiful maiden he had ever seen.

When Gretel saw that it was not her fawn, but a king with a crown, she was terrified. But the king kindly took her by the hand and said, "Will you come with me to my castle and be my wife?" ”

"Yes," said Gretel, "I can go with you to your castle, but I cannot be your wife, for my fawn must be with me, and I cannot be separated from him. ”

"Well, then," said the king, "he may go with you, never leave you, and have whatever he wants." ”

Just then, the fawn jumped in. So Gretel put a straw rope around his neck, and they left the hut together.

The king had taken little Gretel on his tall horse and ran towards his palace. The fawn followed them merrily. Along the way, Gretel told the king everything about her, and the king, knowing the old witch, sent for her and ordered her to return to the fawn's human form.

When Gretel saw that his dear brother had returned to his original form, she was so grateful to the king that she readily agreed to marry him. They lived happily ever after, and Hansel became the king's court minister.