SS+Hansel+and+Gretel

==== Once upon a time there was poor woodcutter with his wife and two children named Hansel and Gretel. Since the family was poor there was not to feed the whole family. The greedy stepmother suggested to the woodcutter they get rid of their two children by abandoning them in the forest. The wife and woodcutter were discussing it one evening when Hansel overheard them. Gretel grabbed little white pebbles on their way out to the forest. On their journey he left a trail of white pebbles because he knew the woodcutter would desert them. Soon enough he did! Luckily enough they had the trail of white pebbles to lead them safely home. ==== ==== The next day the stepmother discovered that Hansel and Gretel returned home safe. With fury, she screamed at the woodcutter that he had failed to complete his task. Therefore she locked up Hansel and Gretel and gave them nothing for dinner except a sip of water and a piece of bread. Sooner than later the woodcutter lead them out into the forest and by coincidence Hansel had not eaten his bread. Therefore he left a trail of crumbs behind them to lead them home. Unfortunately, the birds that lived in the forest ate their path and they were now in fear of not returning home. ==== ==== After wondering in the forest for quite some time they came along a little cottage made of chocolate, icing, and candy! Hansel and Gretel thought it was delicious so they continued to eat it until an old woman invited them inside. They assumed she was friendly but underneath she was a wicked witch who waits for children like them. She fed them well before they went to bed. The next morning Hansel was locked in a cage and Gretel was being woken up abruptly to cook her brother something good. The witch’s goal was for Hansel to stay in the cage and become fat but he stay as thin as he was. Even as thin as he started out to be, the witch decided to still eat him. She ordered Gretel to start boiling water as she went to heat the oven. After the oven was shooting hot flames, the witch told Gretel to “crawl in.” ====

 The wit angrily said, “the oven is big enough-- why, look I can even get in myself.”
==== The witch stuck her head in the oven and Gretel pushed her in; she then locked the oven to leave the witch to die. She ran to release Hansel from the cage. They ate more of the witch’s house and discovered golden coins hidden within a huge chocolate egg. They filled their pockets with coins and headed home. ==== ==== On their way they ran into a little white duck that helped them get cross the river safely. Once they arrived home they were thrilled to see the woodcutter. The woodcutter said, “Your stepmother is dead.” They revealed their coins to him and said, “You'll never have to chop wood again and we'll never be hungry again." And they all lived happily together ever after.” ====

** Origin: **
It is a well-known fairy tale of German origin, recorded by the Grimm Brother's and published in 1812.

**Murphy, Louise. The True Story of Hansel and Gretel. New York: Penguin, 2003. **
====﻿"In the last months of the Nazi occupation of Poland, two children are left by their father and stepmother to find safety in a dense forest. Because their real names will reveal their Jewishness, they are renamed "Hansel" and "Gretel." They wander in the woods until they are taken in by Magda, an eccentric and stubborn old woman called "witch" by the nearby villagers. Magda is determined to save them, even as a German officer arrives in the village with his own plans for the children." ====

**Catanese, P. W. The Eye of the Warlock. New York: Aladdin, 2005. **
====Life has been unkind to Rudi -- and to Lucie and Elsebeth, the two little girls he looks after. So when this stranger announces he needs Rudi's help to uncover Hansel's treasure, Rudi sees a way out. And so an incredible journey -- one filled with mist-covered castles, a treehouse-dwelling outsider, and creatures called murglins -- begins. But as Rudi, the girls, and the stranger weave their way through the rambling woods, Rudi notices the clouds blackening and a thick fog descending. He wonders, Has the forest always been this...creepy? And those shadows between the trees -- is their tiny group being followed? Then the unthinkable happens: Lucie and Elsebeth are stolen! Who would take them? Rudi gets his answer in the shape of a warlock. And his ransom price is steep: Bring me Hansel and the children will be returned. Is a simple woodcutter like Rudi any match for a thousand-year-old villain ====


 * Parodies of the original Hansel and Gretel: **

====Once upon a time a very poor woodcutter lived in a tiny cottage in the forest with his two children, Hansel and Gretel. His second wife often ill-treated the children and was forever nagging the woodcutter. ==== ==== "There is not enough food in the house for us all. There are too many mouths to feed! We must get rid of the two brats," she declared. And she kept on trying to persuade her husband to abandon his children in the forest. ==== ==== "Take them miles from home, so far that they can never find their way back! Maybe someone will find them and give them a home." The downcast woodcutter didn't know what to do. Hansel who, one evening, had overheard his parents' conversation, comforted Gretel. ==== ==== "Don't worry! If they do leave us in the forest, we'll find the way home," he said. And slipping out of the house he filled his pockets with little white pebbles, then went back to bed. ==== ==== All night long, the woodcutter's wife harped on and on at her husband till, at dawn, he led Hansel and Gretel away into the forest. But as they went into the depths of the trees, Hansel dropped a little white pebble here and there on the mossy green ground. At a certain point, the two children found they really were alone: the woodcutter had plucked up enough courage to desert ====

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> them, had mumbled an excuse and was gone.
====<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Night fell but the woodcutter did not return. Gretel began to sob bitterly. Hansel too felt scared but he tried to hide his feelings and comfort his sister. ==== ====<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> "Don't cry, trust me! I swear I'll take you home even if Father doesn't come back for us!" Luckily the moon was full that night and Hansel waited till its cold light filtered through the trees. ==== ====<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> "Now give me your hand!" he said. "We'll get home safely, you'll see!" The tiny white pebbles gleamed in the moonlight, and the children found their way home. They crept through a half open window, without wakening their parents. Cold, tired but thankful to be home again, they slipped into bed. ==== ====<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Next day, when their stepmother discovered that Hansel and Gretel had returned, she went into a rage. Stifling her anger in front of the children, she locked her bedroom door, reproaching her husband for failing to carry out her orders. The weak woodcutter protested, torn as he was between shame and fear of disobeying his cruel wife. The wicked stepmother kept Hansel and Gretel under lock and key all day with nothing for supper but a sip of water and some hard bread. All night, husband and wife quarreled, and when dawn came, the woodcutter led the children out into the forest. ==== ====<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Hansel, however, had not eaten his bread, and as he walked through the trees, he left a trail of crumbs behind him to mark the way. But the little boy had forgotten about the hungry birds that lived in the forest. When they saw him, they flew along behind and in no time at all, had eaten all the crumbs. Again, with a lame excuse, the woodcutter left his two children by ====

====<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> "I've left a trail, like last time!" Hansel whispered to Gretel, consolingly. But when night fell, they saw to their horror, that all the crumbs had gone. ====

====<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> "Don't be afraid. I'm here to look after you!" Hansel tried to encourage his sister, but he too shivered when he glimpsed frightening shadows and evil eyes around them in the darkness. All night the two children huddled together for warmth at the foot of a large tree. ====

====<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> When dawn broke, they started to wander about the forest, seeking a path, but all hope soon faded. They were well and truly lost. On they walked and walked, till suddenly they came upon a strange cottage in the middle of a glade. ====

====<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> "And this is icing!" exclaimed Gretel, putting another piece of wall in her mouth. Starving but delighted, the children began to eat pieces of candy broken off the cottage. ====

====<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> "We'll stay here," Hansel declared, munching a bit of nougat. They were just about to try a piece of the biscuit door when it quietly swung open. ====

====<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> "Come in! Come in, you've nothing to fear!" went on the old woman. Unluckily for Hansel and Gretel, however, the sugar candy cottage belonged to an old witch, her trap for catching unwary victims. The two children had come to a really nasty place. ====

====<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> "You can do the housework," she told Gretel grimly, "then I'll make a meal of you too!" As luck would have it, the witch had very bad eyesight, an when Gretel smeared butter on her glasses, she could see even less. ====

====<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> "Let me feel your finger!" said the witch to Hansel every day to check if he was getting any fatter. Now, Gretel had brought her brother a chicken bone, and when the witch went to touch his finger, Hansel held out the bone. ====

====<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> "Light the oven," she told Gretel. "We're going to have a tasty roasted boy today!" A little later, hungry and impatient, she went on: "Run and see if the oven is hot enough." Gretel returned, whimpering: "I can't tell if it is hot enough or not." Angrily, the witch screamed at the little girl: "Useless child! All right, I'll see for myself." But when the witch bent down to peer inside the oven and check the heat, Gretel gave her a tremendous push and slammed the oven door shut. The witch had come to a fit and proper end. Gretel ran to set her brother free and they made quite sure that the oven door was tightly shut behind the witch. Indeed, just to be on the safe side, they fastened it firmly with a large padlock. Then they stayed for several days to ==== ====<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> eat some more of the house, till they discovered amongst the witch's belongings, a huge chocolate egg. Inside lay a casket of gold coins. ====

====<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> "The witch is now burnt to a cinder," said Hansel, "so we'll take this treasure with us." They filled a large basket with food and set off into the forest to search for the way home. This time, luck was with them, and on the second day, they saw their father come out of the house towards them, weeping. ====

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">And they all lived happily together ever after.
====<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Once upon a time in a far away land, there lives Hansel and Gretel with their father and stepmother. Their parents work in their own bakery named No Recipe Bakery. Hansel and Gretel like to eat bread everyday. There is the time when both of them eat breads in the bakery with overlimit quantity. Because of that, the bakery turns to have more loss than profit for the business. One day, the stepmother plans to take the children to a big shopping mall and leave them there to be lost, therefore with two fewer mouths to feed, she and her husband might run the business effectively. The father do not agree with the plan but he is in the “queen’s control” situation. Meanwhile, outside from their bedroom, Hansel and Gretel have overheard them. After the parents have gone to bed, the children take something from their drawer, which is a GPS navigation device. ==== ====<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> On the next day, the family walk around in the big shopping mall. After their parents abandon them with such a far distance, the children switch on their GPS navigation device. They return home safely and that makes such a big shock for the stepmother. A week or so later, the stepmother angrily orders her husband to take the children to a bigger shopping mall and leave them there to be lost again. However after Hansel and Gratel are once again abandoned, they discover that their GPS navigation device is running out of battery and they cannot reach their home again. After several days of wandering, they meet with a wonderful bakery named Secret Recipe Bakery. Without any hesitation, they enter the bakery and eat breads as much as they can. ==== ====<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> The owner of Secret Recipe Bakery is very angry towards Hansel and Gretel. He beats the two children and forces them to be his slave. The owner of the bakery is always giving them eat much breads even though he treats them like slaves. This situation brings Hansel to curiosity prejudice. Hansel starts to think that there must be something fishy with the owner. He thinks that the owner wants them to be fat before he can sell them in the black market. Therefore Gretel plans for both of them to run away from the bakery. As they make the attempt to run, the owner of the bakery tries to catch them. But unfortunately, he slips away and fall down the stairs at the bakery. His head is full with blood while he tries to shout out Hansel and Gretel’s name. Gretel feels sympathy towards the owner. She turns back and help the owner. Suddenly the owner spokes. ==== ====<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> “Hansel and Gretel, I am very sorry for treating both of you like a slave. I need to do that because I want you to know the reality of life. I want both of you know that run a business is not easy as talk and eat. I only have both of you as my children, even though we are not biologically related. I am sorry for not telling this very early to you. I want both of you to inherite my Secret Recipe Bakery. I am sorry that I cannot see it grows in your hands...” ==== ====<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> The owner died. Hansel and Gretel have nothing to say. They put themselves in silence. They cannot be really happy. They may get such a big wealth from the inheritance b ====

====<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Based on the fairy tale by The Brothers Grimm. Hansel and Gretel are trapped in the deceptively decorated house of the witch Griselda who wishes to fatten Hansel so that he may be baked into a delicious gingerbread treat. ====

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">media type="youtube" key="wqfOb8Yrqr0" height="390" width="480"
 * Brothers Grimm Version**

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Mike and Minny Mouse** <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">media type="youtube" key="n7ZMFLyZ4BU" height="390" width="480"

Go here to learn about multiple interpretations of the Grimm’s version of Hansel and Gretel: []
 * Interpretations of Hansel and Gretel: **

Go here to learn about the symbols in Hansel and Gretel: []
 * <span style="color: #008080; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Interesting links **:

Revised version from the New Yorker: []