Hansel and Gretel: The Right Way Pages

"No, I won't abandon my children at any cost," said the man, unmoved.

Are the children well-fed?

The children are not hungry and are fast asleep, unable to hear their parents. The next morning they are unprepared when they are abandoned in the woods and have no hope of finding their way back home.

The two children had not been able to fall asleep because of their hunger, and they heard what the stepmother had said to the father.

As soon as the adults had fallen asleep, he got up, pulled on his jacket, opened the lower door, and crept outside. The moon was shining brightly, and the white pebbles in front of the house were glistening like silver coins. Hansel bent over and filled his jacket pockets with them, as many as would fit.

Hansel, ignoring the rest of his sister's pleas, fell fast asleep. He dreamed that he and his family were rich beyond their wildest dreams. They lived in a golden castle and had all they could ever eat. He dreamed soundly all night as Gretel stayed up, worrying and crying.

Hansel burst into the room his parents were in.

Hansel began stopping again and again and looking back toward the house.

Hansel thought he could memorize his way home, he didn't need a trail to help him. Well, let's go through this quick then. Kids were left to make a fire as the parents went to work getting wood (but really were going to abandon Hansel and Gretel). Night comes and Hansel tried to recall the way home and instead got...

Without any sort of cover on what he is doing, Hansel lets go of the stones from his pockets. Because he didn't care to hide his actions, the woman quickly noticed what he was doing.

The kids don't gather wood. They froze to death before they could even follow the rocks home that night.

Hansel and Gretel gathered together some twigs, a pile as high as a small mountain.

Both Hansel and Gretel bolt into the forest away from their parents.

After the full moon had come up, Hansel took his little sister by the hand. They followed the pebbles that glistened there like newly minted coins, showing them the way. They walked throughout the entire night, and as morning was breaking, they arrived at the father's house.

"We got to go back as soon as possible," Gretel said, storming off. Hansel went after her and both ended up moving away from where the path was. They stumbled, instead, into a cave. In the cave, Gretel screamed since she was scared and lost. Hansel ran in to find bats swarming around Gretel. He screamed for the bats to...

"So, you would have us all starve, you're a fool of a husband," the woman said.

He who says A must also say B, and because he had given in the first time, he had to do so the second time as well. The children were still awake and had overheard the conversation. When the adults were asleep, Hansel got up again and wanted to gather pebbles as he had done before, but the woman had...

But they did all starve. This reminds me of what Thomas Malthus said: "The superior power of population cannot be checked without producing misery or vice."

Well, the woodcutter had had enough with the woman. She was cast out of the house and the woodcutter, Hansel, and Gretel lived happily ever after. They may have had to ration food a bit more but they all were content and happy.

Hansel crumbled his pieces in his pocket, then often stood still, and threw crumbs onto the ground.

Hansel is confident this time he knows the way home. Too bad they go deeper into the woods. And too bad that it's hard to see anything in the evening. Even with the moonlight, nothing looks distinct. A path wasn't such a bad option, use one next time. Too bad Hansel and Gretel don't have a next time.

Really? Want to end it there? I'm not against that, but there is still a whole second half of this story to get through. But, if you chose this option then you're not that interested to find out what else happens. Okay, then, and they both lived ever after, I guess.

They walked through the entire night and the next day from morning until evening, but they did not find their way out of the woods. They were terribly hungry, for they had eaten only a few small berries that were growing on the ground. And because they were so tired that their legs would no longer carry them, they lay...

They followed it until they came to a little house. The bird sat on the roof, and when they came closer, they saw that the little house was built entirely from bread with a roof made of cake, and the windows were made of clear sugar.

Hansel and Gretel decide not to follow the bird. They, instead, wander around in the woods on their own. The bird tried to make up for its misdeed of eating their path but they did not forgive it. Now they would keep wandering in the woods as the birds looked down on them and laughed.

Let's help ourselves to a good meal," said Hansel. "I'll eat a piece of the roof, and Gretel, you eat from the window. That will be sweet."

Hansel and Gretel knocked on the door and waited a while. They thought they saw the curtain move inside the window but dismissed it and kept waiting. Before the door opened, they were crushed by a piece of the roof cake and were pinned to the ground. All they could do was squirm while a woman approached them.

Hansel and Gretel tried to break off a piece of the house and go. Hansel turned to leave but was grabbed by the witch who lived in the house who pulled him inside.

Hansel and Gretel decided not to tread forward. Though enticed, there was a feeling of dread and terror that seemed to radiate from the house. They went off back into the woods. They continued to search for a way out of the forest. Eventually, they stumbled out of the forest into a valley clearing. They didn't recognize the surroundings but...

Hansel and Gretel looked at each other. Fear lit up in both their eyes and they started to run. As they did, a flash of light appeared and both Hansel and Gretel became black piles of ash.