Poor Babes in the Wood! They fled in terror, back to the mossy bank
under the fir tree. There they huddled close together.
Presently a little man with a long white beard stood before them. He was
dressed in gray clothes, and he carried a gray sack upon his back.
Hansel and Gretel were not afraid of the little man, for he seemed very
friendly.
The little man sang softly,
"Golden slumbers close your eyes,
Smiles awake you when you rise.
Sleep, pretty darlings, do not cry,
And I will sing a lullaby.
Lullaby, lullaby, the Sandman am I."
Then the Sandman threw into their tired eyes the sand of sleep. Soon the
children had gone safely to Slumberland.
At midnight a little elf, whose home was deep in the heart of an oak
tree, came forth and rang a fairy bell. He sang,
"Twelve small strokes on my tinkling bell--
'Twas made of the white snail's pearly shell;--
Midnight comes, and all is well!
Hither, hither, wing your way,
'Tis the dawn of the fairy day!"
At the last stroke of twelve, a troop of fairies and wood nymphs
appeared. They danced merrily to the tune of the flower bells, forming a
ring around the children.
When the sun's rays began to shine through the branches of the trees,
the fairies tripped away. Only the Dew Fairy remained. She sprinkled dew
upon the children's faces with her magic wand.
The Dew Fairy sang,
"Awake you, O children dear,
Wake you and rise!
The sun glowing brightly, peeps
Into your eyes!"
Then the Dew Fairy departed.
"O Hansel! Hear the birds singing! Where are we?" exclaimed Gretel.
"Come, Hansel, wake up!"
The children looked about them in wonder. The giant trees had
disappeared, and near them stood a little house.
"What a pretty cottage!" said Hansel. "Why, it is a candy house! The
roof is chocolate, and the windows are sugar plums. What a queer fence!
It is gingerbread!"
Soon they heard some one say, in a squeaky voice,
"Nibble, nibble, little mouse,
Who is nibbling my sweet house?"
The children only ate and sang and laughed.
Suddenly the door of the house flew open. An old witch came out. On her
head she wore a pointed hat, and in her hand she carried a stick.
The candy cottage belonged to the Witch of the Forest.
"Oh, ho!" cried the witch. "You dear children, who led you here? Come
in, and I will give you candies, cakes, apples, and nuts--all that you
wish to eat!"
Hansel and Gretel were frightened. They started to run away, but the old
witch waved her Elder Bush above her head. It cast a spell over the
children. They could not move.
Then the witch put Hansel into a cage. She brought from the cottage a
basket of sugar plums, candies, and nuts. She gave him the sweets to
eat.
"You will soon be fat enough to cook," she muttered. "I will bake the
girl first."
Grasping the little girl's arm, she shook her roughly, saying, "Go into
the house and set the table while I build a fire."
The old witch gathered some wood. As she threw it upon the fire, she
said, "Now for a ride through the air on my broom, while the oven is
heating!"
Astride her big broom, the witch rode high above the cottage. She
circled around like a huge bird, over the trees and back again, while
she sang a strange song.
Hansel, shut up in the cage, watched her in terror.
At last the witch flew down to the ground, on her broom. She alighted
close beside the oven, which stood in the front yard.
Calling the little girl out of the house she said, "Open the oven door.
Then creep inside and see if it is hot enough to bake the bread."
But Gretel guessed that the witch meant to shut the door upon her, so
she said, "I am afraid to creep into the oven."
"Silly child!" said the witch. "The door is wide enough. Why, even I
could pass through!"
As she spoke, she popped her head into the oven.
Gretel sprang toward her and shut the oven door. That was the end of the
old witch!
Then Gretel ran and unfastened the door of the cage.
"We are saved, Hansel!" she exclaimed. Then she danced about, singing
merrily,
"First your foot you tap, tap, tap,
Then your hands you clap, clap, clap;
Right foot first, left foot then,
Round about and back again."
Then, taking the Elder Bush, Gretel waved it above her head as the witch
had done.
Instantly the candy house became a log cabin. Sunflowers and
morning-glories were growing in the front yard, where the witch's cage
and the oven had stood.
Soon voices were heard. The sounds came nearer, and the father and
mother clasped their children in their arms.
Peter and Gertrude lived with the two children in the log cabin in the
forest, for many happy years. And the fairies always took good care of
both Hansel and Gretel.