Hansel and Gretel. (Gretel) Can I have a little more, stepmother? At least give me some more, mother. Please! asked the hungry Gretel.

Transcription

1 Hansel and Gretel Once upon a time, there lived a poor woodcutter and his wife. They had two children named Hansel and Gretel. They lived in a small house by the forest. They were poor and had very little to eat. Their mother died as she suffered from illness, leaving behind the husband and two kids. Hansel and Gretel were very sad. Father alone used to take care and cook for the kids. He couldn t earn because of this. One day, their father decided to remarry. He finally married for the children s happiness but the stepmother was a very cruel woman. She didn t give the children food to eat and made them starve. They cried and cried. (Gretel) Can I have a little more, stepmother? At least give me some more, mother. Please! asked the hungry Gretel. (Stepmother) No, I cannot give you more. You greedy little kid. You want to eat and eat every time. The father had no money. The stepmother fought with the father and asked him to find a job. Unable to do so, they all would starve very soon. Gretel was a naughty kid. She asked for food again and again. Mother was tired of all this. (Stepmother) If we continue like this, we all will starve very soon. One fine morning, she decided to leave the children into a deep forest. She thought this would leave them with food to eat and she wouldn t have to share with the kids and they wouldn t have to starve anymore. (Stepmother) Sweetheart, I m going to the forest to collect some berries and mushrooms and I m taking Hansel and Gretel along to help me collect some berries. (Hansel) No, mother. I won t come. (Stepmother) I will get you fresh berries to eat. Come on! (Gretel) Let s go, brother! Please! I want to see the forest and taste fresh berries. (Stepmother) Come on, kids! Pick up your baskets. Do I have to do everything myself? She asked the kids to pick their baskets up just to show that she was taking them to collect berries.

2 (Stepmother) What are you waiting for? Hurry up, you little monsters! Hansel had heard from his mother that marked the way to the forest so that while coming back, you do not lose your way to home. Hansel knew that it would be evening by the time they returned so he decided to drop pebbles because the pebbles used to shine at night. He collected some pebbles in the basket which he dropped along the way to the forest. He dropped pebbles so that they and their mother could find their way back home and not get lost. (Gretel) Brother, I will drop the pebbles. (Hansel) No, let me do it. (Gretel) No, no. (Hansel) OK, OK. Let s throw it one by one. Hansel and Gretel decided to drop pebbles one by one on the way. As they entered the midst of the forest, Gretel was very tired walking. She wanted to rest for a while. Mother told Hansel to take care of Gretel until she returns. She found this to be a good chance to escape. (Stepmother) This is a good chance. I shall escape. Gretel falls asleep. Meanwhile; (Stepmother) Hey, you! Just wait here. Take care of Gretel! I will go and collect some firewood. Don t you worry! I will be back in some time. The mother was a very cruel lady. She had left the kids. As Gretel got up, they started finding the mother. (Hansel) Mother, oh, Mother! Where are you stepmother? The children waited and waited but the mother did not return. The sun had set and it had turned dark. As Gretel woke up, she started crying. (Gretel) Hansel, where is mum? What will we do now? How will we go home? They sit below some tree and cry. There was a monkey on the tree watching the kids. They realized that they had left pebbles along the way so that they could find their way back home. They got up and started searching for the pebbles. They searched

3 here and there for the pebbles but couldn t find any. They saw something strange. A monkey came and held Hansel s hands and showed him the pebbles. The pebbles were shining in bright moonlight, while mother on her way back. (Hansel) Don t cry Gretel! Trust me! I will take you home even if mother doesn t come back. Come on! Give me your hand now. (Stepmother) Oh, this clever Hansel has left some pebbles. How smart! I ll remove the trace. Oh, no! Wait! I ll put it on the other path. She learned that clever Hansel had left some pebbles for the trail to home. She then picked up pebbles one by one and scattered them here and there. Meanwhile, when Hansel finds the pebbles, he walks and walks and suddenly stops. The pebbles had disappeared. There were no more pebbles. Hansel and Gretel started fighting as to who had dropped pebbles. They started blaming each other. (Hansel) You had pebbles left here. Where are they? Or you simply didn t drop any pebbles. (Gretel) No, it was your turn to drop pebbles. It is all because of you. I m frightened now. (Hansel) Don t be afraid! I m here to look after you. They walked and walked. When (Gretel) Hansel, look there. I can see a pebble shining. That s the way. Both the kids walked a little in the direction of the pebble. They realized the road had two turns. One of the turns said: Beware! Witch s home ahead! The cruel mother removed the board and put it on the right path which would lead them home thinking that the witch would eat up both the kids. The kids chose the path without the board and walked ahead. It was getting darker. They were very tired and hungry now. They walked and walked. They had lost all hopes. They walked all night. Finally, after walking a long time, gradually the sun rose and it was morning. They saw a house made up of chocolate and cookies. (Gretel) Look, there Hansel! A chocolate house. (Hansel) Wow, look at that! That s made up of cookies. The door is made up of jelly and the windows are made up of chocolate bars. Let s eat this.

4 They removed a huge bar from the roof and began to eat up. Hansel and Gretel nibbled away like hungry mice. As they were eating, they heard a noise of someone opening the door. The old woman who looked sick came out. The old woman had nothing to eat since many days. She had fallen sick. (The Witch) Who are you and what are you doing here? Why are you eating this? (Gretel) Sorry, we are hungry and we are lost in the woods. We didn t mean to eat your house. Taking advantage of this, she invited them home and gave them something to eat. (The Witch) Well, well come in my dear children. Grandma will give you some food. Grandma will take care of you. You must be tired, children. Why don t you take a nap? Now when she saw Hansel and Gretel, she wanted to eat them. The old woman was a witch. She made a plan and decided to make a soup out of Hansel and eat him first. The next morning she grabbed him and locked him in the cage. (The Witch) Come on, you little boy. Come and sit here. Grow fat. I am going to make a meal out of you soon. You lazybone! Come here and do the housework. She pushed him in the cage and she began feeding him as much as she could so that he would grow fatter, so that she could eat him. She made Gretel her servant. The witch had a poor eyesight. The children learned this. Every day she went to the cage to check Hansel. (The Witch) Show me your finger, Hansel! Let me feel it and see how fat you have become. Hansel was very clever. He knew that the witch had a plan to eat him once he was fat knowing that the grandma had weak eyesight, he used to show a bone instead of the finger. So, smartly Hansel moved out a chicken bone. (The Witch) Hansel, why don t you grow fat, you stupid boy? I will feed you more and more now. I am going to eat this stupid boy now. I can t wait anymore.

5 (Gretel) She is going to eat Hansel up. Oh, God! Please save my brother. I have to do something now. That morning she couldn t wait any longer and she began boiling a huge pot of water for the soup. Gretel learned that the witch would eat up Hansel now. (The Witch) Come on, you little girl. Go! Light the fire for me. I m going to boil water. (Gretel) But there is no wood. The witch goes out to collect firewood. Meanwhile, Gretel alerts her brother. (Gretel) Brother, she is going to eat you up now. The witch comes back with firewood. (The Witch) Go and light up. (Gretel) I don t know how to do it. The witch started lighting the fire. When Gretel saw this, she gave the wicked witch a mighty push from behind and the witch fell and got burnt in the flaming fire. (Gretel) Take this, you witch. Now you can t eat my brother up. The witch howled in pain, got burnt and died instantly. Gretel freed Hansel from his cage. (Gretel) Come on, Hansel! Let s go! The children went to the witch s room and found treasure lying around in there. (Hansel) Look up, Gretel. What s in there? (Gretel) That s a bag full of treasure. (Hansel) Let s take this home. (Gretel) Let s take this home.

6 They carried it with them and left the witch s home to find their own home. The father fought with mother each day because she had abandoned the kids. Mother was very guilty. Both the mother and the father left in search of the kids in the forest. Meanwhile, kids left out searching for their own home. Suddenly Gretel hears a voice of her dad. (Gretel) Daddy! Is that you? The kids see their parents. (Hansel) Daddy! Mommy! We are back! We are back! (Dad) You are back, my kids! I had been searching for you since a long time. Where were you? Welcome back! (Stepmother) Oh, Hansel and Gretel! I m sorry for what I did. Forgive me, please! The father cried with joy on seeing his kids and welcomes them back. The mother cried with guilt and asked for forgiveness. The mother had learned the lesson. The parents took the kids home. (Gretel) It s OK, mom. I guess this was God s plan for us to get rid of our poverty. (Stepmother) What? I didn t get it. (Gretel) See this, mother. The kids showed the treasure and narrated the story to their parents and they never went hungry again and lived happily ever after. Never trust strangers!