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.
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