Hansel & Gretel

Chapter 01

It all happened a long time ago, at the time of your grandmother, or at the time of her grandfather. A long time ago. That time, everybody lived at the edge of a huge forest. 

There was a lumberjack. He cut the trees. He cut down the branches of trees and cut the trunk and branches to turn them into firewood, which he took to the city in a wheelbarrow, making the shortest path. Cutting trees was a job that badly could fill the belly.

The lumberjack married a woman much younger than him, that helped him the best way she could. The woman cooked for him and provided him with all the comforts, so the two were not surprised to see that, shortly after the wedding, her belly started to swell. In winter, when the snow was high, the woman gave birth to a baby girl. The chield was named Gretel. Two years late, the lumberjack's wife gave birth to a boy that was called Hansel. 

Hansel and Gretel didn't go to school, as their school was very far from the forest where they lived, and transport to the school was expensive, something that the lumberjack could not afford, as he could not make a lot of money cutting trees and transporting wood. Even so, the father taught them both to live in the forest, and the mother taught them to cook, clean and sew. And Hansel and Gretel did not care if the mother sometimes seemed bitter and had a sharp tongue and if the father was sometimes crestfallen and anxious to leave the little house where they lived. It was enough that they could play in the forest, climb trees and swim in rivers; it was enough that there was fresh bread, eggs, and cooked cabbage on the table. 

When he sold a lot of firewood, his father went to the store and bought meat for the family: a wide-tailed sheep or a goat, which trotted back behind the wheelbarrow. Sometimes, the father bought a piece of raw meat, which dripped blood and was dark with so many flies or yellow with so many wasps. On those nights, the family had a banquet. There were rabbits in the forest, ducks in the lake and chickens pecking in the yard behind the house. There was never a shortage of food.

Chapter 02

But that was in the good times, before the war, before the famine.

When the war came, soldiers came with it - hungry, furious, bored and frightened men who, as they passed, stole cabbages, chickens, and ducks. The lumberjack's family never quite knew exactly who was fighting against who, let alone the reason for the fight. But in addition to the forest, crops were burned, barley fields turned into battlefields, and farmers were killed or became soldiers, marching away. And soon the mill owner ran out of grains to turn it into flour, the butcher run out of animals to slaughter and hang in the window, and everyone started to say that they would pay anything for a fat rabbit. 

Soon the vegetables and the roots rotted in the fields. All turnips, carrots, and potatoes are gone,  as the number of people working on the harvest was decreasing more and more. In addition, the rain was not stopping falling. It was raining such an extent that, in those fields, the only thing that managed to eat properly was the slugs.  

The lumberjack's hut was far from the battles, but him, the woman, Hansel and Gretel felt the effects of war. They drank old cabbage soup with stale bread, now hard as stone, and the family went to sleep hungry and woke up hungry even more.

The children slept on haystacks. The parents, in an old bed that had belonged to the lumberjack's grandmother. Hansel woke up in the middle of the night with a sharp, empty pain in his belly, but he did not say anything, because he knew he had few things to eat. He kept his eyes closed and tried to go back to sleep. When slept, he did not feel hungry.

He heard his parents talking in the dark.

Chapter 03

''We are four'' said the mother - Four mouths to feed. If we keep this way, we all gonna die. Without the extra mouths, you and I will have a good chance. 

"We can't do that," replied the woodcutter, whispering. - It is monstrous to kill children, I will never agree with that.

"We are not going to kill them, we are going to lose them," replied the woodcutter's wife. - Nobody talked about killing. We will take them to the depths of the forest and lose them there. They gonna be fine. Perhaps a good person will welcome and feed them. And there is always the possibility of having more children, she added, pragmatically.

"Children can be eaten by a bear," said the lumberjack, discouraged.

- We can not do that.

"If you don't eat," replied the woman, "you won't be able to brandish the ax. And, if you can't cut a tree or bring firewood to the city, we will all starve to death. It is better to die two than four. It is just a mathematical question, a logical situation.''

"I don't want to know your logic or your maths," grunted the woodcutter. - But I can't argue anymore.

Hansel heard only the silence coming from the parent's bed.  

Gretel woke up Hansel on the next morning. 

''Today is gonna be a good day'' she said. -Daddy gonna take us to the forest to teach us how to chop wood. 

The father was not in the habit of taking them when he went to the depths of the forest. He said it was too dangerous for children.

Hansel went to the small stream of fast and noisy waters behind the hut and filled his pockets with the small white stones that covered the stream bed.

'Why are you doing this?'' asked Gretel.

João looked up and saw his parents near the door, so he didn't answer his sister. The father took them both to the forest. At each curve, João discreetly dropped a white pebble to mark changes in direction. 

The father told the two to wait in a birch grove, whose white trunks seemed to be made of paper in the darkness of the forest. He built a fire pit to keep them warm.

So that they would not be hungry, the father gave them their lunch: old black bread and hard cheese.

Then he said he would be back soon to pick them up.

The two waited.

"He will never come back," said Hansel.

"We have to wait," replied Gretel. - Maybe he's late.

She gathered a pile of leaves, and the brothers snuggled as well as they could near the fire.

The two woke up at dawn. When there were only embers from the fire. The moon was full and, under the moonlight, João had no trouble making his way back home: he could see the white pebbles very well, even in the darkness. João and Maria walked hand in hand.

It was almost dawn when they returned to the cabin. The father's face was scarlet, and his eyes were red and damp, as if he had been crying and drinking heavily. Seeing them, the woodcutter jumped in surprise.

Chapter 04

- It is Hansel! He exclaimed. - It's Gretel! We think you two got lost in the forest. But look, woman! Look at them! Our children are here!

The mother was pale and her lips were tight, and she looked at them without saying a word.

The woodcutter hugged his children tightly, laughing and crying. Then he laughed and cried even more, and to show how happy he was that they were back, he gave each child a bloated, syrup-soaked cherry, taken from a glass that had once been full of them but was now almost empty.

The mother looked hungrily at the last four cherries in the glass.

The children took as long as they could to eat the cherries they won, prolonging the flavor in their mouths until they finally swallowed them.

Hansel and Gretel stayed at the house for another week, then another, and nothing was said about the time when they got lost in the forest and found their way back. João lay awake at night, listening to the darkness, but he only caught snoring and rummaging the sheets.

Then, one morning, the father announced that he would take the two of them to work with him.

João was not prepared: there was no time to go to the stream, nor to fill his pockets with white stones. The mother had woken up early to bake bread with what little flour was left, and while they were preparing to walk through the forest, she approached the children with two warm and soft white rolls out of the oven.

Chapter 05

The children followed their father to the depths of the forest, past trees with intertwined branches that looked like crossed hands, with fingers that poked and scratched themselves.

Hansel had no pebbles, but he made small balls of bread between his fingers and dropped them at each intersection and each time they changed direction, to show the way.

They came to a river, and their father showed them how to cross it, crossing where the river was shallower and the rocks were emerging from the water. The three took off their shoes and carried them until they reached the opposite bank, where the trees were thick and old, twisted in shapes that looked like furious giants, frozen in time.

They went so deep into the old forest that the sunlight was tinted green by the leaves. They made their way through the bushes, and the thorns curled up in their clothes as if to say, “Stay here! Stay here!".

But they dove deeper into the forest.

Finally, the father said:

''Wait for me here. I'll be right back to pick you up.'' Then he turned his back on them and walked away. Hansel and Gretel heard him pushing away the thick bushes, then they heard nothing more.

"He's not going to come back for us," said Gretel.

"You really won't," agreed Hansel.

They were both very hungry. Gretel broke her piece of bread in two, handing half to her brother. The daylight started to fade. They talked about what they could do and where they could go, but the only place they knew was home.

The two stopped at the first place where João remembered leaving a bread ball. The boy looked at the floor, trying to figure out where they should go, but the bread ball was gone.

Chapter 06

"I think we came that way," suggested Gretel.

But she was not sure. They went in that direction.

- I left another bread ball at the foot of that hill - commented Hansel.

But there was nothing at the bottom of the hill, just a pigeon scratching the remaining crumbs. The bird flew as soon as it saw the children.

"The creatures of the forest are also hungry," said Gretel.

Gretel did not answer. He knew he could not find his way back without the clues he had left. The trees, hills, twisted roots and streams were very similar.

They walked until it was too dark to see and slept under a huge oak tree, in an improvised bed made of fallen leaves. They were sad, cold and afraid of bears, wolves and other things from the forest that could eat them. 

The morning came.

"I'm cold and hungry," complained Hansel.

Gretel hugged her brother tightly.

"We have to go home," she said. - Our parents must be worried about.

Hansel did not answer. He had smelled something different in the morning air. A sweet and warm smell, of something nutritious and tasty like ...

- Gingerbread! He shouted at his sister. - I smell Gingerbread!

- What a lie!

- Use your nose! Replied Hansel.

Chapter 07

Gretel inspired. Fresh gingerbread: even now she could smell it. His mouth started to salivate and his belly started to hurt.

They went in the direction of the smell: gingerbread, ginger and spices, a glorious sweetness that enveloped them. The children began to run in search of the source of the smell, driven by hunger, hiding in places they had never been until they reached a clearing and saw a very small house, even smaller than theirs.

"Someone must be baking a cake in that house," said Gretel.

But she was wrong. The smell came from the house itself. It was made of fresh gingerbread and decorated with green and red jelly beans.

The windows were made of caramel. Hansel reached out and broke a piece of a window sill.

Gretel hesitated, but when she saw her brother eating and smiling, she took a splinter from the wall. The two ate together, letting the strong flavor of the gingerbread fill their mouths, heads, and stomachs.

A voice came from within, sweet and fun:

- Who's nibbling on my cabin? Is it a rat?

João and Maria did not answer, because they were afraid and their mouths were full. The two were relieved when they saw that the person who left the house was not an ogre or a monster, but a kind old lady, leaning on a cane, who studied the surroundings, squinting to see better.

"They're children!" She exclaimed. - They must be very hungry to eat my house like that. Come in, kids, come in, let me feed you!

There was only one room in the little house. A huge brick oven was in one corner, and there was a table full of delights of all kinds: fruit jams, cakes, pies, cookies, breads and cookies. But there was no meat, and the old lady apologized, explaining that she was very old, and her eyes were no longer the same as when she was young, so she was no longer able to catch animals from the forest as before. Now he would bait the prey and wait, and it was common for the trap to be empty all year. The few animals he caught were too thin and had to be fattened first.

Chapter 08

"Still, children," she said, "you give me hope. I think your coming is a sign of good luck. Maybe we have meat again.

The children told about their mother and father and that they had been abandoned in the forest, and the old lady clicked her tongue and shook her head.

- Where will this world end? She asked sadly.

She took the children to two beds with very white and well-pressed sheets and very soft pillows.

They both slept soundly, asleep as heavy as if someone had put a sleeping pill on the food. And someone had done it.

The old lady was stronger than she looked. He had a thin and bony strength.

She took Hansel in her arms and, without waking him, carried the boy to the empty stable at the back of the house, where there was a large metal cage with rusty bars. The ground was covered with hay, in addition to some old and well-chewed bones. The old woman threw the boy over there. Then he locked the cage, feeling around the wall to find his way back to the house.

"Meat," he said happily.

Gretel woke up on the floor of the hut, in a dark corner. The small beds had been removed, as well as the food leftover. The girl was tied to the table leg by a long chain.

There was nothing sweet about the old lady, at least not anymore. She forced Gretel to work on the house, cleaning, and if the girl did not obey quickly, the old woman would beat her and call her several horrible things.

Every day the woman went to the stable with short steps, approaching the bars of the cage and asking Hansel to extend her finger. And she squeezed the boy's finger to see if he was already fat enough.

The old woman fed him cakes, potatoes and fruit jams. He brought puddings of all kinds, as well as creams, porridges, pasta and bread. She stood beside the cage while he ate, listening carefully to make sure he would put in the last crumb and scrape each plate. If Hansel dared to complain that he was satisfied and that he was unable to swallow another mouthful, she would nudge him with the walking stick.

Tied inside the house, Gretel could not see her brother. She could only hope that he was okay. Sometimes, when she returned from one of her visits to Hansel, the old woman would get excited and tell Gretel that she would take care of her and protect her until the girl grew up and became a woman. He said that he would teach her all her secrets, including how to call birds in the trees, to imprison travelers and to ensure that everyone who arrived at the hut would never leave.

But, an hour later, the old woman returned to fight with Gretel, saying that the girl was of no use.

With each passing day, the old woman came back from visits to Hansel more sulky. Hansel was gaining weight, but the old woman was too blind to notice. Every day, when she asked to see the boy's finger, he held out a bone he had found in the hay. The old woman felt the bone and, thinking it was Hansel's finger, left it to cook it another day. But his patience had limits.

One morning, a little more than a month after the capture of the children, the old woman returned from visiting the stable and sent Gretel to light the fire in the wood oven.

Chapter 09

"Today, when the oven is hot enough, we are going to roast your brother," explained the old woman. - But don't be sad little one. I'll give you his bones to chew on.

Gretel felt a shiver. He never spoke to the old woman, only said a word or two when necessary. The old lady had begun to suspect that the girl was not very smart.

Greta obeyed the order she had received. She lit the wood in the oven and watched as the branches caught fire and burned. Then she closed the oven door. Inside, the wood burned. Soon the wood would become a pile of glowing embers.

"I don't know how to do that," replied Gretel, still standing, without moving or opening the oven door.

"Is easy. Just open the oven door, put part of the body inside and feel if the heat is enough to roast meat."

"I don't know how to do that," repeated Gretel.

"You really are a stupid pig!" Exclaimed the old woman. "Idiot girl! I'll show you how to do it." The old woman hobbled to the oven, leaning on her cane. "Look and learn."

The old lady opened the oven door.

Gretel had learned more than the old woman suspected. She came forward suddenly and pushed the old woman forward hard, throwing her entirely into the oven. Then he closed the door. And he kept it closed, listening intently until the screams stopped echoing inside.

Gretel stared at the oven door, fearing that the old woman might have survived, that she would open the door and the woman would come after her, but nothing happened.

Chapter 10

She found the keyring hidden under the old woman's pillow. Then she opened the chain lock on his leg and went to the stable.

"The old woman is dead," she said to her brother, as she released him. - I killed her.

Gretel helped Hansel out of the cage, back in the daylight, amazed to see how his brother had turned into a plump young man and curious at his insistence on keeping the bone. Hansel held the bone firmly as if his life depended on it.

The two brothers hugged each other tightly in the sunlight.

The kitchen smelled of burnt meat. Only, when the oven cooled and they opened the door, they did not find a body, just a pile of dark, charred shells and a small iron key.

The key was used to open a chest that was under the old woman's bed. In it, the children found all sorts of things: gloves and traveler's hats, gold and silver coins, a pearl necklace, gold, and silver chains, inlaid with diamonds and rubies. They were the treasures of the people who had visited the old woman's hut over the years and who had never been able to leave. There were also expensive silk and satin clothes, with golden embroidery, bows, and lace. Men's clothes and beautiful dresses.

The children decided to dress the clothes since what they were wearing most looked like rags. They filled a bag with coins, jewelry, and precious stones and left without looking back.

They headed south until they found a river. They crossed the river at the shallowest point and soon recognized the familiar places where they had played and the trees they had climbed.

They walked along a path they had known since they understood each other and ended up in front of the small house in which they had been born. They screamed, not daring to get too close.

Chapter 11

The woodcutter ran up to them. The man dropped the ax and gave the children a very tight hug. He said that he had not had a single moment of happiness since the two disappeared, that he could not sleep properly at night. He had gone to look for them in the forest every day, but he had never found them.

- And our mother? Asked Hansel. "Where is she?" We brought precious stones and treasures of all kinds, and now she will be able to eat what she wants and live where she wants, without fear of everyone starving.

The woodcutter did not answer, just showed the tomb in the garden. He had dug it with his bare hands. Their mother had died shortly after the children disappeared, and no one knows whether it was because something devoured her inside, whether it was from hunger or anger, or because she lost her children.

Hansel, Gretel and the woodcutter father lived happily in the house for many years. The treasures brought from the old woman's hut ensured the family's comfort, and there were never empty dishes in their lives again.

In the years that followed, Hansel and Gretel found partners and got married, and they were wonderful marriages. The party guests ate so many delicious things that their belts tore and the fat from the meat trickled down their chins. All this while the pale moon watched them sweetly.