Candy House

At the edge of a big forest, there lived a poor woodcutter. He had two intelligent children. The elder brother was called Hansel and the sister was called Gretel.

The woodcutter's first wife died and he married his second wife. This woman was always complaining that they had no money. She wanted the woodcutter to abandon the two children. Without much choice, he agreed to do as his wife wished.

The children overheard the conversation. Hansel consoled his sister that he would find their way home. At night, he picked a bag full of little white stones from outside the house.

The second day, the stepmother gave them two pieces of bread each and told them to go and chop wood with their father. Hansel followed slowly behind his father. As he walked he dropped a trail of stones onto the road.

The woodcutter took them deep into the forest. He started a fire and tricked them into waiting for him while he had chopped wood.

So that he could sneak away, the woodcutter tied a piece of wood onto a branch so that when the wind blew, the wood would hit the branch repeatedly. It would sound to the children as if he was chopping wood not too far away.

The moon came up and, the father was still not back. The white stones on the grass could be seen clearly at night. The siblings followed the road markers home. They walked nervously through the night and finally reached home.

The woodcutter was both happy and embarrassed to see them home. The stepmother was very angry and locked them up in the house. She wanted the woodcutter to abandon them even further away again the next day. The cowardly woodcutter again agreed with his wife.

The next day, the stepmother gave the brother and sister two even smaller pieces of bread and let them follow their father as he went to chop wood. Hansel had guessed their intention to loose them again. He was worried because he did not have any stones to use as road markers.

Then, he came up with another brilliant idea. He threw the pieces of bread crumbs on the road as markers but over-looked the fact that the birds in the forest could eat the bread crumbs.

This time, the siblings were abandoned further away. The sky turned dark. They wanted to turn back but could not find the pieces of bread crumbs. In no time, they lost their way.

The forest was dark and frightening. The sound of wild animals was scary, and the trees looked like monsters waving their claws in the dark at night. Gretel was frightened and cried. Both brother and sister spent their night in a tree hole.

The next morning, they were woken up by the smell of freshly baked cakes. They saw a funny looking little house. The wall of the house was made of bread, the roof was made of cake, the windows and doors were made of chocolates, and sweets were used to decorate the walls.

Both Hansel and Gretel were very hungry. They started eating the bread and chocolate. The door opened, there stood an old ugly woman. She smiled happily and invited them into the house.

The old lady treated them with nice food, as soon as they took a few bites they fell asleep.

The old lady with red eyes was actually a witch who ate children. The house was the bait to lure the children to her.

The old witch locked Hansel in a metal cage and ordered Gretel to do all the housework. She only allowed Gretel to have the leftovers but gave Hansel good food. She wanted Hansel to grow fatter so that she could eat him later.

The old witch was short-sighted so Gretel thought of a way to trick her. When the old witch was sleeping, Gretel spread a layer of oil on the witch's glasses to prevent her from seeing clearly.

Since the old witch could not see properly, she had to touch Hansel to determine whether he had put on weight. Hansel tricked her into touching chicken bones instead of him. The old witch was very surprised that Hansel had not grown any fatter.

Finally the old witch became impatient, she wanted Gretel to start the oven so that she could eat Hansel. The clever Gretel did not start the oven and instead, she lied to the old witch telling her that the oven was not working properly.

The old witch was cursing as she walked towards the oven to take a look. At that moment, Gretel used all her strength to push the old witch into the oven. As quickly as she could, she locked the oven door. The old witch was burned to death.

Gretel saved her brother and also found the gold coins left behind by the old witch. They took the gold coins and some food before leaving the Sweet House. Not long after that, they met their father who had come looking for them.

Full of emotion the woodcutter said:“I am sorry I left you behind. I have sent your stepmother away.” Both brother and sister were overjoyed and handed the gold coins to their father. From then onwards, the family lived happily ever after.