Who wrote Hansel and Gretel the author. Hansel and Gretel. Psychological analysis of the fairy tale. "Here's a tasty morsel"

In a large forest at the edge of the forest lived a poor woodcutter with his wife and two children: the boy's name was Hansel, and the girl's name was Gretel.

The poor man's family was both poor and hungry; and from the time when the high cost came, he sometimes did not even have daily bread.

And then one evening he lay in bed, thinking and tossing and turning from side to side from worries, and said to his wife with a sigh: “I really don’t know how we should be! !" “Do you know what, hubby,” answered the wife, “tomorrow we’ll take the children out into the very thicket of the forest; there we’ll light a fire for them and give each one another piece of bread in reserve, and then we’ll go to work and leave them there alone. can't find their way home, and we'll get rid of them." “No, little wife,” said the husband, “I won’t do that. I can’t bear to leave my children alone in the forest - perhaps wild animals will come and tear them to pieces.” - "Oh, you fool, fool!" she answered.

And until then he sawed that he finally agreed. “Still, I feel sorry for the poor children,” he said, even agreeing with his wife.

And the children, too, could not sleep because of hunger, and they heard everything that their stepmother said to their father. Gretel wept bitter tears and said to Hansel: "Our heads are gone!" - "Come on, Gretel," said Hansel, "don't be sad! I'll somehow manage to help the trouble."

And when his father and stepmother fell asleep, he got out of bed, put on his dress, opened the door, and slipped out of the house.

The moon shone brightly, and the white pebbles, of which there were many lying in front of the house, shone like coins. Hansel bent down and put as many of them into the pocket of his dress as he could fit.

Then he returned home and said to his sister: "Calm down and sleep with God: he will not leave us." And lay down in his bed.

As soon as it began to get light, the sun had not yet risen - the stepmother came to the children and began to wake them up: "Well, well, get up, lazy ones, let's go into the forest for firewood."

Then she gave each a piece of bread for lunch and said: "Here is bread for your lunch, just be careful not to eat it before dinner, because you won't get anything else."

Gretel took the bread under her apron, because Hansel's pocket was full of stones. And so they all went into the forest together.

After walking a little, Hansel stopped and looked back at the house, and then again and again.

His father asked him: "Hansel, why are you yawning and lagging behind? If you please, quicken your pace." - "Ah, father," said Hansel, "I keep looking at my white cat: she is sitting there on the roof, as if saying goodbye to me."

The stepmother said: "Fool! Yes, this is not your cat at all, but a white pipe glitters in the sun." And Hansel did not even think of looking at the cat, he was just quietly throwing pebbles out of his pocket onto the road.

When they came to the thicket of the forest, the father said: "Well, pick up deadwood, kids, and I'll make a light for you so that you don't get cold."

Hansel and Gretel dragged brushwood and piled it up in a mountain-mountain. The fire was lit, and when the fire flared up, the stepmother said: "Here, lie down on the fire, children, and rest; and we will go into the forest and chop wood. When we finish the work, we will return to you and take it with us."

Hansel and Gretel were sitting by the fire, and when it was time for dinner they had eaten their pieces of bread. And since they heard the blows of an ax, they thought that their father was somewhere right there, not far away.

And it was not an ax that tapped at all, but a simple bough that my father tied to a dry tree: it was swayed by the wind and hit the tree.

They sat and sat, their eyes began to close with fatigue, and they fell sound asleep.

When they woke up, it was dark night all around. Gretel began to cry and say: "How will we get out of the forest?" But Hansel consoled her: "Just wait a little, until the moon rises, then we will find the way."

And just as a full moon rose in the sky, Hansel took his sister by the hand and went, finding the way through the pebbles, which shone like newly minted coins, and showed them the way.

All night long they walked, and at dawn they came to their father's house. They knocked on the door, and when the stepmother opened it and saw who was knocking, she said to them: "Oh, you wretched children, why did you sleep so long in the forest? We already thought that you would not return at all."

And the father was very happy with them: his conscience was already tormenting him so much that he left them alone in the forest.

Soon after that, a terrible need arose again, and the children heard how the stepmother once again began to say to the father one night: “We have eaten everything again; we only have half a loaf of bread in stock, and then the song will end!

Drawing by Alexander Tsik

Japanese theater actors playing Hansel and Gretel

Folklorists Jonah and Peter Opie, in Classic Tales (1974), point out that "Hansel and Gretel" belongs to a group of European stories, especially popular in the Baltic region, about children tricking cannibals into whose hands they inadvertently fall. The story has similarities with the first half of the fairy tale "Thumb Boy" (1697) by Charles Perrault and the fairy tale "Clever Ashes" (1721) Madame d'Onois. In both stories, abandoned children mark their way back home. In "Smart Ash", Opie notices that the heroine burns the giant by shoving it into the oven in a similar manner. The linguist and folklorist Edward Wajda has suggested that these stories represent an echo of an initiation rite that exists in Proto-Indo-European society.

A house made of sweets found in a 14th century manuscript about the fairy land of Kokan. Also, the ancient Romans had a custom to bake houses from sweet dough placed on the home altar. Within 1-2 days, the house was eaten, which symbolized unity with the gods.

In The Annotated Classical Tales, Maria Tatar remarks that the witch's death in the furnace was read as a foreshadowing of the "horrors of the Third Reich". Since the witch is often depicted with "stereotypical Jewish features, especially in twentieth-century illustration", her death scene becomes "all the more ominous". Tatar remarks that the poetess Anne Sexton, when transcribing Hansel and Gretel, described child abandonment as "the final solution".

Max Luthi remarks that the mother or stepmother dies when the children killed the witch, hinting that the mother or stepmother and the witch are, in fact, the same woman, or at least very similar. In addition to highlighting the threat to children (as well as their own minds), the tale also has a theme of concern for food: the mother or stepmother wants to avoid hunger, while at the same time the witch has a house built of sweets to seduce and eat children.

Translations into Russian

The Russian reader is most familiar with the classic translation of the tale from German, edited by Polevoy.

In art

In numismatics

see also

• Witch Hunters - A film by Tommy Wirkola

Gallery

Notes

There lived at the edge of a dense forest a poor woodcutter with his wife and two children; the boy's name was Hansel, and the girl's name was Gretel. The woodcutter lived from hand to mouth; one day, such a high cost came in that land that he had nothing to buy even bread for food.

And so, towards evening, lying in bed, he began to think, and all kinds of thoughts and worries overwhelmed him; he sighed and said to his wife:

What will happen to us now? How can we feed the poor children, after all, we ourselves have nothing to eat!

And you know what, - answered the wife, - let's go early in the morning, as soon as it starts to get light, let's take the children into the forest, into the most remote thicket; let's build a fire for them, give each a piece of bread, and we ourselves will go to work and leave them alone. They won't find their way home, so we'll get rid of them.

No, wife, says the woodcutter, I won't do that; after all, my heart is not a stone, I cannot leave my children alone in the forest, wild animals will attack them there and tear them apart.

Oh you simpleton! - says the wife. “Otherwise, all four of us will perish from hunger, and there will be only one thing left - to knock together coffins. - And she pestered him until he agreed with her.

And yet I feel sorry for my poor children! said the woodcutter.

The children could not sleep because of hunger and heard everything that their stepmother said to their father. Gretel burst into bitter tears and said to Hansel:

Looks like we're going to have to disappear.

Hush, Gretel, - said Hansel, - don't worry, I'll think of something.

And when his parents fell asleep, he got up, put on his jacket, opened the door to the hallway, and quietly got out into the street. At that time, the moon shone brightly, and the white pebbles lying in front of the hut shone like heaps of silver coins.

Hansel bent down and filled his pocket with them. Then he returned home and said to Gretel:

Comfort yourself, dear sister, now sleep peacefully, the Lord will not leave us. And with that, he went back to bed.

It had just begun to dawn, and the sun had not yet risen, and the stepmother had already come up and began to wake up the children:

Hey you, couch potatoes, it's time to get up, get together with us in the forest for firewood!

She gave each of them a piece of bread and said:

This is what you will have for lunch; Yes, look, do not eat it ahead of time, you will not get anything else.

Gretel hid the bread in her apron, because Hansel had a pocket full of stones. And they were going to go together into the forest. They walked a little, then suddenly Hansel stopped, looked back, looked at the hut - so he kept looking back and stopping. And his father says to him:

Hansel, why do you keep looking back and falling behind? Look, don't yawn, go quickly.

Ah, father, - Hansel answered him, - I keep looking at my white cat, she is sitting on the roof, as if she wants to say goodbye to me.

And the stepmother says:

Eh, you fool, this is not your cat at all, this morning sun shines on the pipe.

And Hansel did not look at the cat at all, but took out shiny pebbles from his pocket and threw them on the road.

So they entered the very thicket of the forest, and the father said:

Well, children, gather firewood now, and I will build a fire so that you do not get cold.

Hansel and Gretel collected a whole bunch of brushwood. They kindled a fire. When the flame is well lit, the stepmother says:

Well, children, now lie down by the fire and have a good rest, and we will go into the forest to cut firewood. When we're done, we'll come back and take you home.

Hansel and Gretel sat down by the fire, and when noon came, each of them ate a piece of bread. They all the time heard the sound of an ax and thought that their father was somewhere nearby. But it was not the sound of an ax at all, but a block of wood, which the woodcutter tied to a dry tree, and he, swinging in the wind, knocked on the trunk.

For a long time they sat like that by the fire, their eyes began to close from fatigue, and they fell soundly, soundly asleep. And when we woke up, it was already dead of night. Gretel wept and said:

How can we get out of the forest now?

Hansel began to console her.

Wait a little, the moon will soon rise, and we will already find the way.

When the moon rose, Hansel took his sister by the hand and went from pebble to pebble - and they sparkled like new silver money, and showed the children the way, the way. They walked all night long and at dawn came to their father's hut.

They knocked, the stepmother opened the door for them; she sees that they are Hansel and Gretel, and says:

What is it you, nasty children, have been sleeping in the forest for so long? And we already thought that you did not want to go back at all.

The father was delighted when he saw the children - it was hard on his heart that he left them alone.

And soon hunger and want set in again, and the children heard how the stepmother, lying in bed at night, said to her father:

We have already eaten everything again, only half an edge of bread remains, it is clear that the end will come to us soon. We ought to get rid of the children: let's take them into the forest further away, so as not to find their way back - we have no other way out.

The children were still awake and heard the whole conversation. And as soon as the parents fell asleep, Hansel got up again and wanted to leave the house to collect the pebbles, just like last time, but the stepmother locked the door, and Hansel could not get out of the hut. He began to comfort his sister and said:

Don't cry, Gretel, sleep well, God help us somehow.

Early in the morning the stepmother came and raised the children from the bed. I gave them a piece of bread, it was even smaller than the first time. On the way to the forest, Hansel crumbled bread in his pocket, kept stopping and throwing bread crumbs on the road.

What are you, Hansel, you keep stopping and looking around, - said the father, - go on your way.

Yes, I am looking at my dove, he is sitting on the roof of the house, as if he is saying goodbye to me, - Hansel answered.

You fool, - said the stepmother, - this is not your dove at all, this morning sun shines on the top of the pipe.

But Hansel threw everything and threw bread crumbs along the way. So the stepmother took the children even deeper into the forest, where they had never been before. A big fire was kindled again, and the stepmother said:

Children, sit down here, and if you get tired, then sleep a little; and we'll go into the woods to chop wood, and in the evening, when we finish the work, we'll come back here and take you home.

When noon came, Gretel shared her piece of bread with Hansel, because he crumbled all his bread on the way. Then they fell asleep. But now the evening passed, and no one came for the poor children. They woke up in the dark night, and Hansel began to console his sister:

Wait, Gretel, soon the moon will rise, and the bread crumbs that I scattered along the road will be visible, they will show us the way home.

Here the moon rose, and the children set off on their journey, but they did not find bread crumbs - thousands of birds that fly in the forest and in the field pecked them all. Then Hansel says to Gretel:

We'll find our way somehow.

But they didn't find her. They had to walk all night and all day, from morning until evening, but they could not get out of the forest. The children were very hungry, because they did not eat anything, except for the berries that they picked along the way. They were so tired that they could hardly move their legs, and so they lay down under a tree and fell asleep.

It was already the third morning since they had left their father's hut. They went further. They go and go, and the forest is deeper and darker, and if help had not arrived soon, they would have exhausted themselves.

It was noon, and they noticed a beautiful snow-white bird on a branch. She sang so well that they stopped and listened to her singing. But suddenly the bird fell silent and, flapping its wings, flew in front of them, and they followed it, and walked until, finally, they reached the hut, where the bird sat on the roof. They came closer, they see - the hut is made of bread, the roof on it is made of gingerbread, and the windows are all made of transparent candy.

Here we will take it, - said Hansel, - and then we will have a glorious treat! I'll take a piece of the roof, and you, Gretel, take hold of the window - it must be very sweet.

Hansel climbed onto the hut and broke off a piece of the roof to try what it tasted like, and Gretel went to the window and began to gnaw it.

Suddenly, a thin voice was heard from inside:

Fragile and crumpled everything under the window,

Who gnaws and gnaws at the house?

The children replied:

This is a wonderful guest.

Celestial wind!

And, not paying attention, they continued to eat the house.

Hansel, who really liked the roof, tore off a large piece from it and threw it down, and Gretel broke a whole round glass from a candy and, sitting down near the hut, began to feast on it.

Suddenly the door opens, and out of there, leaning on a crutch, an old, old grandmother. Hansel and Gretel were so frightened of her that they dropped the treat from their hands. The old woman shook her head and said:

Hey, dear children, who brought you here? Well, you are welcome, enter the hut, it will not be bad for you here.

She took them both by the hand and led them into her hut. She brought them delicious food - milk with pancakes sprinkled with sugar, apples and nuts. Then she made two beautiful beds and covered them with white blankets. Hansel and Gretel lay down and thought that they must have gone to heaven.

But the old woman only pretended to be so kind, but she was in fact an evil witch that lies in wait for children, and she built a hut of bread for bait. If someone fell into her hands, she killed him, then cooked and ate, and it was a holiday for her. Witches always have red eyes, and they see badly into the distance, but they have a scent, like animals, and they smell the proximity of a person.

When Hansel and Gretel approached her hut, she laughed angrily and said with a grin:

Here they are! Well, now they can't get away from me!

Early in the morning, when the children were still asleep, she got up, looked at how they slept peacefully and what plump and ruddy cheeks they had, and muttered to herself: “So I’ll cook myself a tasty dish.”

She seized Hansel with her bony hand, carried him into the barn and locked him there behind the barred door - let him shout to himself as much as he likes, nothing will help him. Then she went to Gretel, pushed her aside, woke her up and said:

Get up, you lazybones, and bring me some water, cook something tasty for your brother, - there he sits in a barn, let him be well fattened. And when it gets fat, I'll eat it.

Gretel burst into bitter tears, but what to do? - she had to fulfill the order of the evil witch.

And here were prepared for Hansel the most delicious food, and Gretel got only leftovers.

Every morning the old woman made her way to the little barn and said:

Hansel, give me your fingers, I want to see if you're fat enough.

But Hansel held out the bone to her, and the old woman, who had weak eyes, could not see what it was, and thought it was Hansel's fingers, and wondered why he was not getting fat.

So four weeks passed, but Hansel still remained thin, - then the old woman lost all patience and did not want to wait any longer.

Hey, Gretel, she called to the girl, move quickly, bring some water: it doesn’t matter if Hansel is fat or thin, and tomorrow morning I’ll stab him and boil him.

Oh, how the poor sister grieved when she had to carry water, how tears flowed down her cheeks in streams!

Lord, help us! - she exclaimed. - It would be better if we were torn to pieces by wild animals in the forest, then at least we died together.

Well, nothing to whine about! cried the old woman. - Nothing will help you now.

Early in the morning, Gretel had to get up, go out into the yard, hang a cauldron of water, and light a fire.

First we will bake bread, - said the old woman, - I have already heated the oven and kneaded the dough. - She pushed poor Gretel to the very stove, from where a great flame blazed.

Well, get into the oven, - said the witch, - and see if it is well heated, isn't it time to plant bread?

As soon as Gretel climbed into the oven, and the old woman at that time wanted to close it with a damper so that Gretel would be fried and then eaten. But Gretel guessed what the old woman was up to, and said:

Yes, I don’t know how to do it, how can I get through there?

Here is a stupid goose, - said the old woman, - look what a big mouth, I could even climb there, - and she climbed onto the hearth and stuck her head into the furnace.

Here Gretel will push the witch, so much so that she found herself right in the furnace itself. Then Gretel covered the stove with an iron damper and bolted it. Wow, how terribly the witch howled! And Gretel ran away; and the accursed witch burned in terrible agony.

Gretel rushed quickly to Hansel, opened the barn and shouted:

Hansel, we are saved: the old witch is dead!

Hansel jumped out of the barn, like a bird out of a cage, when they open the door for her. How delighted they were, how they threw themselves on each other's necks, how they jumped for joy, how passionately they kissed! And since now they had nothing to be afraid of, they entered the witch's hut, and chests with pearls and precious stones stood everywhere in the corners.

These, perhaps, will be better than our pebbles, - said Hansel and filled his pockets with them. And Gretel says:

I also want to bring something home, - and poured them a full apron.

Well, now let's get out of here as soon as possible, - said Hansel, - because we still have to get out of the witch forest.

So they walked like this for about two hours and finally came across a large lake.

We can't get over it, - says Hansel, - nowhere to see a path or a bridge.

Yes, and the boat is not visible, - answered Gretel, - and there is a white duck swimming; if I ask her, she will help us cross over to the other side.

And Gretel called:

Duck, my duck,

Come join us a little

No path, no bridge

Pass us on, don't leave us!

A duck swam up, Hansel sat on it and called his sister to sit with him.

No, Gretel answered, it will be too hard for the duck; let it transport you first, and then me.

So the good duck did, and when they happily crossed over to the other side and went on, the forest became more and more familiar to them, and they noticed, at last, from a distance their father's house. Then, in joy, they started to run, jumped into the room and threw themselves on their father's neck.

Since the father left the children in the forest, he had not had a moment of joy, and his wife had died. Gretel opened her apron, and the pearls and gems, and Hansel took them out of his pocket in handfuls.

And the end of their need and grief came, and they lived happily all together.

Here the fairy tale ends

And there the mouse runs forward;

Whoever catches her

He sews himself a fur hat,

Who wrote: The Brothers Grimm
Name: "Hansel and Gretel"
Type: mp3, text
The size: 22 MB
Duration: 0:24:11

Audio fairy tale "Hansel and Gretel" listen online

"HANSEL AND GRETEL" read the text

Fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm

A poor lumberjack lived on the edge of a dense forest with his wife and two children: the boy's name was Hansel, and the girl's name was Gretel. The woodcutter lived from hand to mouth; and one day such high prices came in that land that he had nothing to buy even a piece of bread.

One evening he lies in bed, does not sleep, and everything turns from side to side, sighs, and finally says to his wife:

What will happen to us now? How can we feed our children, we ourselves have nothing to eat!

And you know what, - answered the wife, - tomorrow morning we will bring the children early into the forest, into the very thicket; Let's make a fire there and give them a piece of bread. Let's go to work and leave them alone. Do not find their way back - so we will get rid of them.

No, wife, - says the woodcutter, - I will not do this: after all, my heart is not a stone, I cannot leave my children alone in the forest. Wild animals will attack them and eat them.

What a fool! - says the wife. - Then all four of us will have to starve to death, and you will have only one thing left - to knock together coffins. And she pestered him until he agreed with her.

And yet I feel sorry for my poor children! said the woodcutter.
The children could not sleep because of hunger and heard everything that their stepmother said to their father. Gretel wept bitter tears and said to Hansel:

Poor we are with you, poor! Looks like we're going to have to get lost!

Hush, Gretel, don't worry! Hansel said. - I'll think of something.

And so, when his parents fell asleep, he got up, put on his jacket, opened the door to the hallway and quietly got out into the street. The moon shone brightly in the sky. The white pebbles in the yard gleamed like money under its rays. Hansel bent down and filled his pocket with them.

Then he returned home and said to Gretel:

Comfort yourself, dear sister, now sleep peacefully! And with that, he went back to bed.

As soon as it began to get light, the stepmother came and began to wake up the children.

Get up, you lazybones! You need to go to the forest for firewood. - Then she gave them a piece of bread and said: - This bread will be your lunch. Just look, don't eat it now, you won't get anything else.

Gretel took all the bread and hid it under her apron. After all, Hansel had nowhere to hide the bread, his pocket was full of pebbles. Then they all went to the forest. They go, but Hansel stops and looks back. His father tells him:

Why are you, Hansel, turning around and falling behind? Go quickly.

I, father, - answered Hansel, - I keep looking at my white cat. She sits on the roof and looks at me so pitifully, as if saying goodbye.

Do not talk nonsense, - said the stepmother, - this is not your cat at all, this is a white pipe in the sun shines.

But Hansel did not look at the cat at all, but took out shiny pebbles from his pocket and threw them on the road.

So they came to the very bowl of the forest, and the woodcutter said:

Well, children, collect brushwood, and I will make a fire so that you do not get cold.

Gained Hansel and Gretel a whole bunch of brushwood. When the fire flared up well, the stepmother says:

Well, children, now lie down by the fire and have a good rest, and we will go into the forest to cut firewood. When we're done, we'll come back for you.

Hansel and Gretel sat down by the fire, and at noon they ate their bread. They all the time heard the sound of an ax and thought that it was somewhere nearby that their father was working. And it was not an ax that tapped at all, but a dry bough that my father tied to an old tree. The bough was swayed by the wind, it hit the trunk and knocked. They sat like that, sat, their eyes began to close from fatigue, and they fell sound asleep.

When they woke up, it was already completely dark in the forest. Gretel wept and said:

How can we find our way home now?

Wait, - Hansel consoled her, - the moon will rise, it will become brighter, and we will find the way.

And sure enough, the month is up. He took Hansel Gretel by the hand and went from pebble to pebble - and they shone like money, and showed the children the way. They walked all night, and at dawn they came to their father's house and knocked on the door. The stepmother opened the door, sees Hansel and Gretel standing in front of her, and says:

Oh, you nasty children, why did you sleep in the forest for so long? And we already thought that you did not want to go back at all.

The father was delighted to see the children. It was hard for him to leave them alone in the forest. But soon hunger and want set in again, and there was nothing to eat in the woodcutter's house. And then the children heard how the stepmother, lying in bed at night, said to her father:

We have already eaten everything again, only half an edge of bread remains, and then we are finished! We must get rid of the children - we will lead them into the forest far away so as not to find their way back! We have no other choice.

And the children did not sleep and heard their entire conversation. When the father and stepmother fell asleep, Hansel got up from his bed and wanted to go into the yard to pick up pebbles, as he had done the last time. But the stepmother locked the door, and Hansel could not leave the hut. He began to comfort his sister and said:

Do not cry, Gretel, sleep well, you will see that we will not be lost.

Early in the morning the stepmother woke them up and gave them a piece of bread, it was even smaller than the last time. They went into the forest, and along the way Hansel crumbled bread in his pocket, stopped and threw bread crumbs on the road. His father tells him:

What are you doing, Hansel, keep stopping and looking around? Go quickly.

I, father, - answered Hansel, - look at my white dove. He sits on the roof and looks at me so pitifully, as if saying goodbye.

Don't talk nonsense, his stepmother tells him. - It's not your dove at all, it's a white pipe glistens in the sun.

But Hansel threw everything and threw bread crumbs on the road. The stepmother led the children even deeper into the forest, where they had never been before. A big fire was kindled again, and the stepmother said:

Sit here, children, and when you get tired, sleep a little. And we will go to the forest to cut firewood and by the evening, when we finish the work, we will come for you.

When noon came, Gretel shared her piece of bread with Hansel, because he had crumbled his bread on the way. Then they fell asleep. So the evening passed, but no one came for the poor children.

They woke up - and in the forest it was already a dark night. Hansel began to console his sister:

Wait, Gretel, soon the moon will rise, we'll find our way through the breadcrumbs.

When the moon rose, they went to look for a way. They searched and searched for her, but they never found her. Thousands of birds fly in the forest and in the field - and they all pecked at them.

Hansel says to Gretel, "We'll find a way somehow," but they didn't find it. They walked all night and all day from morning to evening, but could not get out of the forest. The children were very hungry: after all, apart from the berries they picked along the way, they did not have a piece in their mouths. They were so tired that they could hardly move their legs, lay down under a tree and fell asleep.

It was already the third morning since they had left their father's hut. They went further. They go and go, and the forest is deeper and darker, and if help had not arrived in time, they would have exhausted themselves.

Then noon came, and the children noticed a beautiful snow-white bird on a branch. He sits to himself and sings, so well that the children stopped and listened. The bird fell silent, flapped its wings and flew in front of them, and they followed after it, until at last they reached the hut, where the bird sat on the roof. The children came closer, they see - the hut is not simple: it is all made of bread, its roof is made of gingerbread, and the windows are made of sugar.
Hansel says:

Here we are now and eat for glory. I'll take the roof, it must be very tasty.

Hansel stretched out to his full height and broke off a piece of the roof to taste what it tasted like, while Gretel began to feast on the windows.
Suddenly, a thin voice was heard from inside:

Who walks under the window there?
Who gnaws at my sweet home?

Children answer:

This is a wonderful guest.
Celestial wind!

And they continue to tear off and eat pieces from a delicious house.

Hansel liked the roof very much, and he tore off a large piece from it, and Gretel broke a whole round glass of sugar and, sitting down near the hut, began to eat it.

Suddenly the door opens, and an old, very old woman comes out, leaning on a crutch. Hansel and Gretel were frightened, and they dropped all the goodies from their hands. The old woman shook her head and said:

Hey cute kids, how did you get here? Well, come to me, I won't hurt you.

She took them both by the hand and led them to her hut. She brought a treat - milk with pancakes sprinkled with sugar, apples and nuts. Then she made two beautiful beds for them and covered them with white blankets. Hansel and Gretel lay down and thought: "We must have gone to heaven."

But the old woman only pretended to be so kind, but in reality she was an evil witch who lay in wait for the children, and built a hut of bread for bait. If any child fell into her hands, she killed him, boiled in a cauldron and ate, and this was the greatest delicacy for her. Her eyes were, like all witches, red, and they saw poorly, but they have a delicate scent, like animals, and they sense the proximity of a person.

When Hansel and Gretel approached her hut, she laughed angrily and said with a grin: “Here they are! Now they can't get away from me!"

Early in the morning, when the children were still sleeping, she got up, looked at how they slept peacefully and what plump and ruddy cheeks they had, and said to herself: “This will be a tidbit!” She grabbed Hansel with her bony hand, took him to the barn and locked him behind the barred door - let him scream as much as he wants, nothing will help him!

And then Gretel woke up and said:

Get up soon, lazybones! Go get some water and cook something tasty for your brother, he is sitting in the barn. I want it to become fatter, then I will eat it.
Gretel wept bitterly. But what was to be done, she had to fulfill the order of the evil witch. And so she prepared the most delicious dishes for Hansel, and she herself got only leftovers. Every morning the old woman hobbled to the barn and said:

Come on, Hansel, give me your finger, I want to see if you're fat.

And Hansel took and handed the witch a bone instead of a finger. The witch could not see well, felt the bone and wondered why Hansel was not getting fat. So four weeks passed, and Hansel still did not grow fat. Tired of the old woman waiting, she called out to the girl:

Hey Gretel, get some water quick! Fat or skinny, I'll stab Hansel tomorrow morning and boil him.

Oh, how the poor sister grieved when she had to carry water! Tears were running down her cheeks.

It would be better if we were torn to pieces by wild animals in the forest, then at least we would die together!

Well, nothing to whine about! cried the old woman. - Nothing will help you now.

Early in the morning, Gretel had to get up, go out into the yard, hang a cauldron of water and make a fire.

First we will bake bread, - said the old woman, - I have already heated the oven and kneaded the dough. - And she pushed poor Gretel to the very stove, from where a great flame blazed. “Well, get into the oven,” said the witch, “and see if it’s well heated, isn’t it time to plant bread?”

Gretel climbed into the oven, and the old woman at that time wanted to close it with a damper so that Gretel could be fried and eaten. But Gretel guessed what the old woman was up to, and said:

Yes, I don’t know how to do it, how can I get through there?

Here is a stupid goose, - said the old woman, - look what a big mouth, and I could climb into it, - and she climbed onto the hearth and stuck her head into the furnace.

Here Gretel will push the witch, so much so that she found herself right in the furnace itself. Then Gretel covered the stove with an iron damper and bolted it. Wow, how terribly the witch howled! But Gretel ran away, and the cursed witch burned to the ground.

Gretel rushed quickly to Hansel, opened the barn and shouted:

Come out, Hansel, we are saved! The old witch burned in the oven!

Hansel jumped out of the barn, like a bird out of a cage, when the door is opened for her. How delighted they were, how they threw themselves on each other's necks, how they jumped for joy and kissed! Now they had nothing to be afraid of, and now they entered the witch's hut and see - there are caskets with pearls and precious stones everywhere in the corners.

Well, it will be, perhaps, better than our pebbles, - said Hansel and filled his pockets with them.

And Gretel says:

I also want to bring something home, - and poured them a full apron.

And now let's run away from here as soon as possible, - said Hansel, - because we need to get out of the witch forest.

They walked like this for about two hours and finally came to a large lake.

We can’t get over it, - says Hansel, - we can’t see a bench or a bridge anywhere.

Yes, and the boat is not visible, - answered Gretel, - but there is a white duck swimming; if I ask her, she will help us cross to the other side.

And Gretel called to the duck:

There is no bridge anywhere
You take us on the water!

A duck swam up, Hansel sat on it and called his sister to sit with him.

No, Gretel answered, it will be too hard for the duck. Let her transport you first, and then me.

The good duck did just that. They happily crossed over to the other side and went on. And there the forest seemed quite familiar to them, and, finally, they saw their father's house from a distance.
Then the children began to run, flew into the room and threw themselves on their father's neck.

Since the time when the father left the children in the forest, he did not have a moment of joy, and his wife died. Gretel opened her apron, and pearls and precious stones scattered around the room, and Hansel threw them out of his pocket in handfuls. And the end of their need and grief came, and they lived happily and well.

ALL FAIRY TALES BY THE BROTHERS GRIMM

Abstract

The gripping story about Hansel and Gretel, who, at the behest of their evil stepmother, found themselves in a dark forest and tried decisively and courageously to outwit the terrible witch from the gingerbread house, has become one of the most famous fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm among children and adults.

Brothers Grimm

Brothers Grimm

Hansel and Gretel

In a large forest on the edge of the forest lived a poor woodcutter with his wife and two children: the boy was called Hansel, and the girl was Gretel.

The poor man's family was both poor and hungry; and from the time when the high cost came, he sometimes did not even have daily bread.

And then one evening he lay in bed, thinking and tossing and turning from side to side from worries, and said to his wife with a sigh: “I really don’t know how we should be! How are we going to feed our children when we ourselves have nothing to eat!” - “Do you know what, hubby,” the wife answered, “tomorrow we will take the children early into the very thicket of the forest; there we will kindle a fire for them and give each one another piece of bread in reserve, and then we will go to work and leave them there alone. They won't find their way home from there, and we'll get rid of them." “No, little wife,” said the husband, “I will not do that. I can’t bear to leave my children alone in the forest - yet, perhaps, wild animals will come and tear them to pieces. “Oh, you fool, you fool! she answered. “So, would it be better when all four of us begin to die of hunger, and you know plan the boards for the coffins.”

And until then he sawed that he finally agreed. “Still, I feel sorry for the poor children,” he said, even agreeing with his wife.

And the children, too, could not sleep because of hunger, and they heard everything that their stepmother said to their father. Gretel wept bitter tears and said to Hansel: "Our heads are gone!" “Enough, Gretel,” Hansel said, “don’t be sad! I'll somehow manage to help the trouble.

And when his father and stepmother fell asleep, he got out of bed, put on his dress, opened the door, and slipped out of the house. The moon shone brightly, and the white pebbles, of which there were many lying in front of the house, shone like coins. Hansel bent down and put as many of them into the pocket of his dress as he could fit.

Then he returned home and said to his sister: "Calm down and sleep with God: he will not leave us." And crawled into his bed.

As soon as it began to get light, the sun had not yet risen - the stepmother came to the children and began to wake them up: "Well, well, get up, lazy ones, let's go into the forest for firewood."

Then she gave each a piece of bread for lunch and said: “Here is bread for your lunch, just be careful not to eat it before dinner, because you won’t get anything else.”

Gretel took the bread under her apron, because Hansel had a pocket full of stones. And so they all went into the forest together.

After walking a little, Hansel stopped and looked back at the house, and then again and again.

His father asked him: “Hansel, why are you yawning and lagging behind? Let's take a step forward." “Ah, father,” said Hansel, “I keep looking at my white cat: she is sitting there on the roof, as if saying goodbye to me.” The stepmother said: “Fool! Yes, this is not your cat at all, but a white pipe glitters in the sun. But Hansel did not even think of looking at the cat, he was only quietly throwing pebbles out of his pocket onto the road.

When they came to the thicket of the forest, the father said: “Well, pick up deadwood, children, and I will kindle a light for you so that you don’t get cold.”

Hansel and Gretel dragged brushwood and piled it up in a mountain-mountain. The fire was lit, and when the fire flared up, the stepmother said: “Here, lie down by the fire, children, and rest; and we will go into the forest and chop wood. When we finish the work, we will return to you and take it with us.”

Hansel and Gretel were sitting by the fire, and when it was time for dinner they had eaten their pieces of bread. And since they heard the blows of an ax, they thought that their father was somewhere right there, not far away.

And it was not an ax that tapped at all, but a simple bough that my father tied to a dry tree: it was swayed by the wind and hit the tree. They sat, sat, their eyes began to close from fatigue, and they fell asleep soundly.

When they woke up, it was dark night all around. Gretel began to cry and said: “How will we get out of the forest?” But Hansel comforted her: "Just wait a little while until the moon rises, then we will find the way." And just as a full moon rose in the sky, Hansel took his sister by the hand and went, finding the way through the pebbles, which shone like newly minted coins, and showed them the way.

All night long they walked, and at dawn they came to their father's house. They knocked on the door, and when the stepmother opened it and saw who was knocking, she said to them: “Oh, you wretched children, why did you sleep so long in the forest? We thought you weren't coming back at all."

And the father was very happy with him: his conscience was already so tormented that he left them alone in the forest. Soon after that, a terrible need arose again, and the children heard how the stepmother once again began to say to the father one night: “We ate everything again; we only have half a loaf of bread in reserve, and then the song is over! The guys need to be sent away; we will lead them even further into the forest, so that they can no longer find the way to the house. And then we will have to disappear with them. ”

It was heavy on my father’s heart, and he thought: “It would be better if you shared the last crumbs with your children.” But his wife did not want to listen to him, scolded him and expressed all sorts of reproaches to him.

“He called himself a loader, so climb into the back!” - says the proverb; so did he: he yielded to his wife the first time, he had to yield the second.

And the children did not sleep and listened to the conversation. When the parents fell asleep, Hansel, like last time, got out of bed and wanted to get naked, but the stepmother locked the door, and the boy could not leave the house. But he still calmed his sister and told her: “Do not cry, Gretel, and sleep well. God will help us."

Early in the morning the stepmother came and got the children out of bed. They received a piece of bread each - even less than the one that was given to them last time. On the way to the forest, Hansel crumbled his piece in his pocket, often stopped and threw the crumbs on the ground.

“Hansel, why do you keep stopping and looking around,” his father told him, “go on your way.” “I look back at my dove, who sits on the roof and says goodbye to me,” answered Hansel. "Fool! his stepmother told him. “This is not your dove at all: this is a trumpet that turns white in the sun.”

But Hansel, little by little, managed to scatter all the crumbs along the road.

The stepmother took the children even further into the forest, where they had never been before. Again a large fire was lit, and the stepmother said to them: “Sit here, and if you are exhausted, you can also sleep a little: we will go into the forest to cut firewood, and in the evening, when we finish the work, we will come for you and take you with us.”

When it was time for dinner, Gretel shared her piece of bread with Hansel, who crumbled his portion along the way.

Then they fell asleep, and it was already evening, and yet no one came for the poor children.

They woke up already when the dark night had come, and Hansel, comforting his sister, said: “Wait, Gretel, the moon will rise, then we will see all the bread crumbs that I scattered, over them and find the way home.”