blue fairy tale book

Chapter 35 Hansel and Gredo (1)

Once upon a time, on the edge of a big forest lived a poor woodcutter, his wife and two children, the boy named Hanso and the girl named Gredo.He always had only a little to live on. Once, there was a severe famine in that land, and he could not even eat bread for his family every day.One night, tossing and turning in bed, full of worries and worries, he sighed to his wife, "What will become of us? How will we feed our poor children? We have nothing for ourselves now." "I tell you What to do, husband." The woman replied. "Early tomorrow morning we'll take the boys deep into the woods, where we'll make a fire for them and give each a piece of bread, and then we'll go about our business and leave them there. They Can't find a way home so we can get rid of them." "No, wife," said her husband, "I wouldn't do that, how could I have the heart to throw my own children into the woods? Beast Will run and tear them to pieces." "Oh! you fool," she said, "then four of us will starve to death, and you'll have to plan the planks for our coffins." She Make him restless until he agrees. "But I can't help but feel sorry for the poor children," added the husband.

The two children were too hungry to sleep, and they heard what the stepmother said to their father.Gredo burst into tears, and said to Hansuo: "Now I am finished." "No, no, Gredo." Hansuo said, "Don't worry, I can find a way to escape, don't be afraid." After the two adults fell asleep, he got up, quietly put on his little coat, opened the back door and slipped out.The moonlight was exceptionally bright, and the pebbles in front of the house were as bright as pieces of silver.Hansuo bent down and stuffed as many pebbles into his pocket as he could, and then he went back to the house and said to Greedo, "Don't worry, dear little sister, go to sleep, God will not abandon us." He lay down again to bed.

At dawn, before the sun had risen, the woman came to wake up the two children: "Get up, you two sleepy bugs, we are going to the forest to collect firewood and come back." She gave them each a small loaf of bread, said:

"Here's your lunch, but don't eat it up first, that's all for lunch." As Hansel's pocket was full of stones, Gredo put the bread in her apron.Then the whole family set off together and walked into the forest.After walking for a while, Hansel stopped and looked back at his house—an action he repeated over and over again.His father noticed and said, "Han Suo, what are you looking at there? Why are you always lagging behind? Be careful, don't trip over." "Oh! Dad," Han Suo said, "I'm looking back at me That little white cat, sitting on the roof, is waving goodbye to me." The woman cried out, "What a fool! Where is your kitten, it's the morning sun shining on the chimney Of course Hansuo didn't look back at his kitten, but kept throwing the white pebbles in his pocket on the path one by one.

When they came to the middle of the forest, the father said, "Now, boys, go and gather a lot of sticks, and I will make a fire, so that you won't be cold." Hansel and Gredo piled up sticks. Get up until the pile of wood is as high as a hill.The sticks were set alight, and when the flames rose high, the woman said, "Lie down by the fire and rest a little, children; we are going into the forest to cut trees, and when we are done we will come back to fetch you. Hansuo and Gredo sat down by the fire and ate the two small pieces of bread at noon.They heard the sound of an ax chopping down a tree, and they thought their father was not far away.But what they heard was not the sound of an ax falling on a tree, but the blowing sound of a large branch that their father had tied to a dead tree being blown by the wind.After sitting for a long time, they closed their eyes tiredly and fell asleep.When they finally woke up, it was dark.Greedo cried and said, "How can we get out of the forest?" Hansuo comforted her. "Wait a little longer," he said, "and when the moon comes up, we'll surely find our way back." When the full moon came up, he took his sister's hand, and followed the ones that shone like new threepenny pieces. And show the pebbles of the way to go.They traveled through the night and arrived home at dawn.They knocked at the door, and when the woman opened it, she exclaimed, "You two naughty children, you have slept so long in the woods! We thought you would never come back." But their father Glad, because he threw the child himself, and his conscience was condemned.

Not long after that, there was another great famine here. One night the two children heard their mother say to their father in bed: "Everything is eaten up again, and there is only half a loaf of bread left in the house. After eating it, we all eat it." There is no way to survive. The two children must be driven away, this time taking them deeper into the forest, where they will never find their way out again. There is no other way to save ourselves." The man felt extremely disturbed , he thought: "It will undoubtedly be better to eat the last bite of food with the children!" But his wife did not listen to his defense and kept scolding him.If a man yields once, he is useless, because he will be forced to yield the second time after he yields the first time.

While the two children were not asleep, they heard their conversation.After the adults went to bed, Han Suo got up and wanted to go out to pick up pebbles like the first time, but the woman barred the door, and Han Suo couldn't get out.But he comforted his little sister and said, "Don't cry, Gredo, sleep well, God will surely help us."

Just after dawn, the woman came and woke the two children out of bed.They each got a small piece of bread, but this time it was even smaller than the last time.On the way to the forest, Hansel crumbled the bread in his pocket, stopping every few minutes to throw a small piece on the ground. "Hansel, what are you stopping to look around for?" said the father. "I'm looking back at my little pigeon, which is squatting on the roof and waving goodbye to me." Hansuo replied. "Stupid!" said the woman. "That's not your pigeon, it's the morning sun shining on the chimney." But Hansuo gradually scattered all the crumbs on the path.The woman took the two children deep into the woods, and they never went farther than this time in their lives.Then another big fire was lit, and the mother said, "Just sit there, children, and you can sleep for a while if you are tired. We are going to the forest to cut trees, and we will come back to fetch you in the evening when we are done.

(End of this chapter)