Grethel wept
bitter tears, and said to Hansel, “Now all is over with us.” “Be quiet,
Grethel,” said Hansel, “do not distress thyself, I will soon find a way
to help us.” And when the old folks had fallen asleep, he got up, put
on his little coat, opened the door below, and crept outside. The moon
shone brightly, and the white pebbles which lay in front of the house
glittered like real silver pennies. Hansel stooped and put as many of
them in the little pocket of his coat as he could possibly get in. Then
he went back and said to Grethel, “Be comforted, dear little sister,
and sleep in peace, God will not forsake us,” and he lay down again in
his bed. When day dawned, but before the sun had risen, the woman came
and awoke the two children, saying “Get up, you sluggards! we are going
into the forest to fetch wood.” She gave each a little piece of bread,
and said, “There is something for your dinner, but do not eat it up
before then, for you will get nothing else.” Grethel took the bread
under her apron, as Hansel had the stones in his pocket. Then they all
set out together on the way to the forest. When they had walked a short
time, Hansel stood still and peeped back at the house, and did so again
and again. His father said, “Hansel, what art thou looking at there and
staying behind for? Mind what thou art about, and do not forget how to
use thy legs.” “Ah, father,” said Hansel, “I am looking at my little
white cat, which is sitting up on the roof, and wants to say good-bye
to me.” The wife said, “Fool, that is not thy little cat, that is the
morning sun which is shining on the chimneys.” Hansel, however, had not
been looking back at the cat, but had been constantly throwing one of
the white pebble-stones out of his pocket on the road. When they had reached the middle of the forest, the father said, “Now,
children, pile up some wood, and I will light a fire that you may not
be cold.” Hansel and Grethel gathered brushwood together, as high as a
little hill. The brushwood was lighted, and when the flames were
burning very high, the woman said, “Now, children, lay yourselves down
by the fire and rest, we will go into the forest and cut some wood. When we have done, we will come back and fetch you away.”

Hansel and Grethel sat by the fire, and when noon came, each ate a
little piece of bread, and as they heard the strokes of the wood-axe
they believed that their father was near. It was not, however, the axe,
it was a branch which he had fastened to a withered tree which the wind
was blowing backwards and forwards. And as they had been sitting such a
long time, their eyes shut with fatigue, and they fell fast asleep. When at last they awoke, it was already dark night. Grethel began to
cry and said, “How are we to get out of the forest now?” But Hansel
comforted her and said, “Just wait a little, until the moon has risen,
and then we will soon find the way.” And when the full moon had risen,
Hansel took his little sister by the hand, and followed the pebbles
which shone like newly-coined silver pieces, and showed them the way. They walked the whole night long, and by break of day came once more to
their father’s house. They knocked at the door, and when the woman
opened it and saw that it was Hansel and Grethel, she said, “You
naughty children, why have you slept so long in the forest?—we thought
you were never coming back at all!” The father, however, rejoiced, for
it had cut him to the heart to leave them behind alone. Not long afterwards, there was once more great scarcity in all parts,
and the children heard their mother saying at night to their father,
“Everything is eaten again, we have one half loaf left, and after that
there is an end. The children must go, we will take them farther into
the wood, so that they will not find their way out again; there is no
other means of saving ourselves!” The man’s heart was heavy, and he
thought “it would be better for thee to share the last mouthful with
thy children.” The woman, however, would listen to nothing that he had
to say, but scolded and reproached him. He who says A must say B,
likewise, and as he had yielded the first time, he had to do so a
second time also. The children were, however, still awake and had heard the conversation. When the old folks were asleep, Hansel again got up, and wanted to go
out and pick up pebbles as he had done before, but the woman had locked
the door, and Hansel could not get out. Nevertheless he comforted his
little sister, and said, “Do not cry, Grethel, go to sleep quietly, the
good God will help us.”

Early in the morning came the woman, and took the children out of their
beds. Their bit of bread was given to them, but it was still smaller
than the time before. On the way into the forest Hansel crumbled his in
his pocket, and often stood still and threw a morsel on the ground. “Hansel, why dost thou stop and look round?” said the father, “go on.”
“I am looking back at my little pigeon which is sitting on the roof,
and wants to say good-bye to me,” answered Hansel. “Simpleton!” said
the woman, “that is not thy little pigeon, that is the morning sun that
is shining on the chimney.” Hansel, however, little by little, threw
all the crumbs on the path. The woman led the children still deeper into the forest, where they had
never in their lives been before. Then a great fire was again made, and
the mother said, “Just sit there, you children, and when you are tired
you may sleep a little; we are going into the forest to cut wood, and
in the evening when we are done, we will come and fetch you away.” When
it was noon, Grethel shared her piece of bread with Hansel, who had
scattered his by the way. Then they fell asleep and evening came and
went, but no one came to the poor children. They did not awake until it
was dark night, and Hansel comforted his little sister and said, “Just
wait, Grethel, until the moon rises, and then we shall see the crumbs
of bread which I have strewn about, they will show us our way home
again.” When the moon came they set out, but they found no crumbs, for
the many thousands of birds which fly about in the woods and fields had
picked them all up. Hansel said to Grethel, “We shall soon find the
way,” but they did not find it. They walked the whole night and all the
next day too from morning till evening, but they did not get out of the
forest, and were very hungry, for they had nothing to eat but two or
three berries, which grew on the ground. And as they were so weary that
their legs would carry them no longer, they lay down beneath a tree and
fell asleep. It was now three mornings since they had left their father’s house. They began to walk again, but they always got deeper into the forest,
and if help did not come soon, they must die of hunger and weariness. When it was mid-day, they saw a beautiful snow-white bird sitting on a
bough, which sang so delightfully that they stood still and listened to
it.