HANSEL AND GRETEL

"Once upon a time", these fours immediately transport us into a land where candy grows on trees and the air is fresh, where trees talk and tales have morals. One such tale is as follows.

Alongside the woods there lived a tired woodcutter with a nagging wife and two children. The step mother disliked the kids and would always find ways to get them out of the house. She would nag her husband till sundown and he would listen compelled as he had no way out.

As times got harder, the woodcutter found it difficult to bring bread home daily and feed everyone. Chancing on the opportunity the wife said that it was not possible to feed all mouths and so the husband would have to abandon his children in the forest, and she assured him that there would be someone who would take them home. Gretel heard this and told her brother while she wept. Hansel though scared told his sister not to worry and that he would bring them home safely.

Early at dawn the father took both the kids and went deep into the woods. As they walked Hansel slipped out small white pebbles every metre. When the sun shone, the father knew that they had walked a long way and the children would find it hard to come back and so he mumbled some excuse that he would come back and scurried away. The moon came but not the father and so Gretel began to wail. As the moonlight filled the forest and the white stones began to glitter in the dark, Hansel told his sister that he knew the way home and by dawn they were back, standing in front of their father.

Seeing them the distressed step-mother locked them with no food with only a sip of water. The next day the father took them deeper into the forest and when Hansel set to find their way, he realized that they were truly lost. They frayed into the woods in hope to find the way back but in vain. When night fell they stumbled near a house that looked tasty. So Gretel plucked a small chip of the wall and found it tasty. Soon the two were gloating on every corner of the house. Hansel found a huge doughnut while Gretel ate candy and since they had never tasted such heavenly delights in their life, they feasted.

Listening to the noise outside, the door opened and a witch stood there. Oohh, she said, what lovely children, why are you outside. Come in and stay here for the night. With nowhere else to go both the children walked in and feasted even more with the delights the witch dished before them

When dawn broke, the witch pulled Hansel from his sleep and locked him in a cage and covered him so that even if he screamed, nobody could hear him. She pushed Gretel till she woke and told her to get food done so that they could feed Hansel till he was fat enough to be eaten. Hearing this Gretel broke down and found herself, helplessly making food to fatten her brother.

As days passed by the witch would go to Hansel and ask him to put his hands out so that he could see how fat he had become. But Hansel always put out a bone he found in the cage and as the witch was almost blind as a bat thought him to be really thin. As the bone was always the same, the witch was frustrated after a week and thought of killing the boy the next day as she wanted to eat him.

The very next day, she made Gretel fetch water and do all the chores. She made her fill the pot with water to boil the boy in. But first she thought she would bake him. So she told Gretel to get the oven ready. After sometime she asked her to check if the oven was hot enough to be cooked in. How do I do that asked Gretel, I have never done anything like that before? So the witch thumped to the oven and opened the lid. Gretel looking at the chance kicked her hard and closed the lid immediately.

Then she ran and freed her brother and they ran back into the woods. As time passed, they found to recognize the woods and soon they came to their cottage. Their father’s eyes were filled on seeing them and proclaimed that their mother was dead, leaving them to live a happy life ever after.