HanselandGretel故事_0.doc

HanselandGretel故事 storyHansel and Gretel故事 ONCE upon a time there dwelt on the outskirts of a large forest1 a poor woodcutter2 with his wife and two children; the boy was called Hansel3 and the girl Gretel.4 He had always little enough to live on, and once, when there was a great famine5 in the land, he couldnt even provide them with daily bread.6 One night, as he was tossing about in bed, full of cares and worry, he sighed and said to his wife: Whats to become of us? how are we to support our poor children, now that we have nothing more for ourselves? Ill tell you what, husband, answered the woman; early to-morrow morning well take the children out into the thickest part of the wood; there we shall light a fire for them and give them each a piece of bread; then well go on to our work and leave them alone. They wont be able to find their way home, and we shall thus be rid of them.7 No, wife, said her husband, that I wont do; how could I find it in my heart to leave my children alone in the wood?8 The wild beasts would soon come and tear them to pieces. Oh! you fool, said she, then we must all four die of hunger, and you may just as well go and plane the boards for our coffins; and she left him no peace till he consented.9 But I cant help feeling sorry for the poor children, added the husband.10 The children, too, had not been able to sleep for hunger, and had heard11 what their step-mother12 had said to their father. Gretel wept bitterly and spoke to Hansel: Now its all up with us. No, no, Gretel, said Hansel, dont fret yourself; Ill be able to find a way to escape, no fear.13 And when the old people had fallen asleep he got up, slipped on his little coat, opened the back door and stole out. The moon14 was shining clearly, and the white pebbles15 which lay in front of the house glittered like bits of silver. Hansel bent down and filled his pocket with as many of them as he could cram in. Then he went back and said to Gretel: Be comforted, my dear little sister,