An Interesting story for kids - Hansel And Gretel by the Grimm Brothers

 

This is a short story about two kids named Hansel and Gretel. The story tells us about their experience in the woods.

An Interesting story for kids - Hansel And Gretel by the Grimm Brothers

A long time ago in a certain village lived a woodcutter and his beautiful wife. They lived in perfect happiness alongside their two kids in a wood cottage just at the outskirt of the village.

The two children, Hansel and Gretel grew up just fine, having wisdom far beyond their age. Hansel was soft-spoken, smart, and charming while Gretel was a poet, meticulous, and of high intellect.

They both loved skipping stones in the lake half a mile over. They had a very large collection of skipping stones because they spent more time picking the flattest of skipping stones than skipping the stones over the lake.

 Over time, a strange bird would their house and steal their skipping stones. The bird in turn would go on to hide them in different places all over the land. Although it didn’t bother Hansel and Gretel very much, they didn’t understand why a bird would do that.

A few years later, just at the peak of Hansel and Gretel’s childhood, a very great famine struck their village. It was so severe that it left the rich secluded from the middle and poor classes. The rich barely survived and the poor were utterly ravished by the hunger in the land. The woodcutter and his family struggled to get fed as the day went by.

The continuous struggle to survive in the land drove the woodcutter’s wife to choose selfishness over the wellbeing of her children. One evening after the day’s struggle and with Hansel and Gretel already in bed, she went to meet her husband, the woodcutter. “we have to survive this coming winter, we can’t afford to feed everyone in this cottage, we don’t have the resources,” she said to him. 

“It’s been a tough year for everyone, but what must we do to survive the winter?” He asked his wife.

“It would be best if we leave the children in this cottage and go away. That way we will only have to provide for ourselves without considering other mouths to feed,” she replied.

“They will surely die of starvation if we leave them alone here,” the woodcutter cried with a sad face.

“If we stay here with them, we will surely die of starvation alongside them. We have to leave,” she said to him more determined than ever.

While the discussion was going between the woodcutter and his wife, Gretel and Hansel had been listening to the whole time unknown to them.

“It is quite obvious that our mother wants us no more,” cried Gretel.

“Father will never let her have her way,” said Hansel to Gretel trying to calm him down.

“But what choice does father have once our mother leaves us?” Gretel queried.

“Let me think about that,” he said.

Hansel was a very smart boy; he always thought his actions through before executing them. Early the next morning, before the chores of the day, Hansel hurried down the lake which was half a mile from the cottage, and gathered dozens of skipping stones.

When he got home from the lake, he found his mother and sister packing up few things for a normal journey into the woods. At this point, Hansel knew that their mother had come up with a new plan. He then approached his mother holding his sack of skipping stones firmly.

“My dear, times are tough for everyone, we must venture into the woods to assist your father with his works so that we can provide food for everyone in the family.

“But we…” both children started.

“This is no time for buts,” their mother interrupted, “hurry, we must leave now.”

Hansel, Gretel, and their mother journeyed into the woods. The forest was as eerie as thick fogs on a stormy night. The sky was so grey and the trees so dark and gloomy.

But Hansel already suspecting something fishy about their mother’s action remembered dropping skipping stones every few feet from the sack as they journeyed into the dark forest so that they can find their way back home.

“What are you up to, Hansel?” Their mother asked impatiently staring hard at him.

“Mother! Look at those squirrels on the tree, I swear I saw them dancing right now as if they are ready for the ball,” said Gretel, sensing what her mother was up to.

Gretel knew exactly what Hansel has been doing all along, she could tell immediately she saw the look on her mother’s face.

“where are the squirrels you saw? I can’t see anything on the tree!” her mother exclaimed. This distraction gave Hansel enough time to catch up with her mother and sister. “Hurry up, we don’t have the whole day, we just need to travel a little further into the forest,” their mother said.

“But where are we going, mother?” Hansel asked. Their mother refused to answer the question and walked on. This action from their mother confirmed their worst fears. Their mother was going to abandon them in the forest.

Hansel quickly dropped another rock to the ground to mark the spot, Gretel heard its sound.

They journeyed further into the forest with Hansel occasionally dropping skipping stones along their path. They kept moving until they came to a small clearing, their mother then ordered both to sit on a dead log of wood.

“Sit here, while I gather some woods to keep us warm. I will be back shortly,” their mother said and walked away before they could say anything.

Both children sat on the dead log of wood as their mother had commanded. They waited and waited, but their mother never showed up again.

 

When it was obvious that their mother wasn’t returning for them, Hansel began to worry for their safety. “What if something goes wrong or we are attacked by wild animals? What do we do Gretel?” he cried.

“I will find a way for us,” she replied getting up from the dead log of wood. She held Hansel’s hand and they journeyed back home following the skipping stones which shimmered under the moonlight of the night.

They finally arrived home at the break of the dawn but were so tired that they immediately fell asleep at the entrance of their cottage door.

When they awoke, they were surprised to see themselves well tucked in their beds. They could hear the father and mother arguing about what had happened.

“How could you do such a terrible thing?” They heard their father ask.

“It is the only way left for us to survive. there isn’t much food and there are too many mouths to feed,” she replied.

It became obvious to Hansel and Gretel that they were running out of time. Something needs to be done to salvage any hope of their survival.

They sat on their bed thinking of what to do. Hansel looked all over the place in search of their skipping stones but couldn’t find any. “That stupid bird has stolen all the skipping stones,” he said to Gretel.

Hopeless and without any other plan, they sat on their bed waiting for their mother to come and get them.

A few minutes later, their mother walked into their room and ordered Hansel and Gretel to dress up for their journey into the forest. The children had no choice but to obey.

Just before they left, the woodcutter, their father slipped a loaf of bread into Hansel’s pocket. Hansel could tell his father wasn’t happy with the way things turned out.

As they journeyed through the woods, Hansel came up with another plan. He would crush a piece of the bread his father had slipped into his pocket on the ground at every few feet.

Soon their mother suspected that he was up to something. “What do you think you are doing, Hansel?” Their mother asked him.

Gretel on hearing her mother quickly came up with a plan to distract her. “Mother! Mother! A wild forest fairy just flew into your hair right now” she called.

Subdued with fear, their mother began to squirm and shake with fear. She disheveled her hair and screamed in fear.

This bought Hansel enough time to catch up with his mother and lovely sister.  

“you want to bring me to my death, right? Hurry up now,” their mother said.

They kept traveling into the forest until they came to a small clearing, smaller than the previous one they had seen.

“Stay here! I am going to look for a good place to chop woods, I will be back shortly. do not leave this spot for any reason,” she declared and went away.

Hansel reached for the little bread that remained in his pocket and gave it to Gretel.

“Is this what you have been dropping on the ground?” Gretel asked.

“I dropped most of our skipping stones on the ground the last time. I never thought mother was going to take us through a different route and that stupid has stolen the remainder of the stones. There is nothing to worry about, the breadcrumbs will be here in the morning, and we can follow them back home,” Hansel replied.

“In the morning? I don’t intend to spend the night out here in the forest, Hansel! Gretel said. Remembering Gretel’s panic last night about wolves, she asked, “what about the wolves?”

“Alright, calm yourself. No wild animals of any sort will get us. Let’s just stick to our plans and we will get out of here safely,” Hansel said interrupting before she could say more.

At last, Gretel agreed with Hansel and they relaxed in a small glade, resting their feet, and playing guessing games. Suddenly, the air was filled with a sweet-smelling aroma. They followed the aroma and journeyed towards it was coming from.

With mouths agape and dripping with drool, they finally reached the place.

Right in front of them stood a building made with entirely the most delicious sweets.

The roof of the building was coated with fluffy white icing. Pink, sticky syrup drizzled and dripped along the sides of the dark chocolate exterior. A gum door frame was sopping with sparkling icing sugar, a frothy milk chocolate river flowed under a gingerbread bridge that led to a gingerbread door, and a lollipop garden sat in front of a large, crystallized sugar window.

They were astonished for a moment, and then without caution, they ran towards the building and started stuffing their faces with candy.

“Woah! What lovely pretties have come to my house today?” An odd voice screeched from behind them.

Hansel and Gretel quickly stopped what they were doing and turned around to see who it was. They were both messy and covered in candy.

“Ouch!” they whisper-shouted in unison as they realized that they had acted without caution.

A very small woman with scruffy hair wearing a long pink dress walked towards them. She was very strange looking and smelled quite funny. “Oh, two little ones here to enjoy!” the voice screeched again.

“You must go inside with me, there are lots of fresh candy in there,” she said motioning them towards her house.

Without thinking, Hansel ran straight through the door despite Gretel’s cautious protest. After a while standing outside, the strange-looking woman popped her head outside of her little window and urged Gretel to come in.

“Please come in, pretty child,” she said.

Gretel finally made up her mind and went into the candy building.

When Gretel went into the building, the gingerbread door shut heavily behind her. Immediately, she turned around and noticed that the interior of the building was made of steel. There lots of bags containing brilliant gold coins.

Just then, Gretel noticed that her brother, Hansel has been locked up in a cage hanging directly over a pot of boiling water. “This woman is evil,” she said to herself.

The witch had used her candy house to lure them inside so she could eat them up for dinner.

Gretel didn’t know what to do as she sat at the large metal table slicing meat for the witch. She sliced and sobbed at the same time. Gretel filled three large buckets with the fatty food for the old woman to cook in her large boiling pot.

Hansel hanging over the boiling pot could only watch her as she sliced the meats. He watched as his sister threw the scraps and bones into a separate pile beside the buckets of sliced meats.

Just then, a brilliant idea struck Hansel. He couldn’t find a way to gain the attention of his sister who was crying, so he began to cough violently to attract her attention.

“oh, come off it! You better not be sick if I am going to eat you. I need you to be in the best of shapes, the witch said. This little distraction bought some time for Gretel to look and see what her brother was up to. He signaled her to distract the witch. Gretel scoured her brain for a perfect way to distract the witch seeing how desperate her brother was.

“Oh my!” Screamed Gretel as she dropped the knife to the ground.

“What do you think you are doing? Get back to work! Yelled the evil witch.

“There is a dragon outside!” Gretel cried, convincingly. Hansel had to hold himself from laughing as his sister’s claims were becoming very ridiculous to believe.

“A dragon?” the witch asked.

“It is definitely a dragon that I saw! I am sure it is here to burn down your beautiful candy house and reveal its location to the grown-ups in the land! Gretel claimed.

“how do you intend to lure more children inside your house if it burnt to the ground and the location made known to the grown-ups,” she questioned with her voice as sweet as the syrup that dripped from the roof.

Gretel’s words convinced the witch, she unlocked the gingerbread door and ran outside in search of the mysterious dragon.

Immediately, Hansel motioned Gretel to hand him one of the bones lying in the scrap pile. Gretel held up a large bone, but Hansel shook his head. She took up another a bit thicker than the previous, but Hansel shook his head too. from the bottom of the pile, Gretel found the type of bone needed by his brother. She held up a very thin bone and Hansel nodded. She took it to the cage where Hansel was locked up.

He quickly told Gretel his plans just before the witch entered the building.

Gretel had barely returned to her seat behind the metal table when the evil witch stormed in.

“There is no dragon anywhere! Not even the tip of a tail or the smell of smoke!” she exclaimed.

“I am sure I saw a dragon, perhaps he sensed you coming to get him,” Gretel said still slicing the meat. “It is said that dragons have a strong sense of smell, you know, right?” she said curtly.

 “Enough of your ranting! get back to work and chop larger, the larger the better! She exclaimed closing the steel door but forgetting to lock it.

As the evil witch watched Gretel’s slicing, Hansel quietly maneuvered the thin bone around the keyhole of his and unlocked it.

CLINK! CLICK! DING!

He slowly and quietly removed the bone and waited patiently for his plan to unfold.

Once Gretel finished her slicing, the evil witch took them over to the pot located directly underneath Hansel.

“It is time, little pretty,” the evil witch called to Gretel. “help me get this food in the pot,” she said to her.

“Not yet, I don’t think the pot is quite hot enough for the food,” she replied the evil witch.

“Alright then, I will dip your little feet in, and we can check, she sneered.

“what if I lie about how hot the pot is and the intended food you wish to prepare for my brother to eat is never cooked?” Gretel asked.

“Alright, I guess you are right. I will have to check it myself to see if the water is at a boil, stay here,” she said almost fuming.

Gretel stood behind the evil witch as she moved towards the pot. She waited for her brother, Hansel to give him the signal.

Just as the evil witch got to the pot and brought the tip of her long, crooked nose to the boiling water, Hansel kicked open his cage door, giving her sister the signal to push the evil witch into the boiling pot of water. The evil witch toppled over in time for Hansel to land right on her head, avoiding the boiling water. The heat from the water melted the old witch into sweet, gooey syrup.

Hansel and Gretel ran out of the house with sacks of gold that the evil witch had accumulated over the years.

Hansel and Gretel followed the path from which they first smelled the candy until they reached the very small glade where Hansel had last dropped breadcrumbs. But to their surprise, the breadcrumbs had been eaten and replaced with their skipping stones by the stupid bird that stole it. They saw the bird chirping happily as it finished its last breadcrumbs.

It appears the bird had been very hungry!

Hansel and Gretel quickly gathered their skipping stones in the bags of gold and made their way home.

When they arrived, they ran into the embrace of their father who had become widowed after their mother had died from food poisoning.

Their father was happy to see them again. He apologized to them for letting their mother do her selfish bidding. They accepted him and took care of him until his death.

Hansel and Gretel lived in happiness and good health enjoying the wealth they had carried from the witch’s house.

Did you enjoy this story? Feel free to leave a comment below. We have got other beautiful short stories for you. Visit us regularly for more interesting short stories by renowned authors.

See also:

A Hole In The Fence

The King And His Hawk

Peter Rabbit