Once upon a time, there lived in a village a lovely brother and sister called Hansel and Gretel. But their stepmother did not like them at all. The morning of one day, their stepmother said to the children, "Let's go to the forest to pick some fruit."

The older brother Hansel marked his way by dropping white pebbles¹, without letting his stepmother know. When they reached a deep forest, their stepmother had the children work. And she stealthily crept² away from them and out of the forest.

Total darkness surrounded the children after they had worked for some time, and the day grew to a close. Then Hansel saw the shining pebbles in white along the trail³ of the dark mountain. The children came home by looking at the pebbles Hansel had cast⁴.

After a few days, their stepmother suggested to the children that they again go pick fruit. Hansel marked his way by dropping the pieces of bread that remained from breakfast in the morning. When they arrived at the deep forest, their stepmother ran away in secret again.

When night fell, Hansel tried to find the pieces of bread he had dropped down on the road. But the pieces of bread had been eaten up by the birds and were not to be found. The children suddenly began to be afraid.

Hansel and Gretel wandered around the forest for some time. "Brother, there is a house." Gretel shouted. They came near the house, and found that it was made entirely⁵ of cookies and candies. The children were so hungry and fell upon the walls of the house with great appetite⁶.

At that time, a dreadful⁷ hag appeared. Upon seeing the children, she thought that, 'I am going to eat them up after they become fat.' The hag pretended⁸ to be friendly to the brother and sister, saying, "Little children, live with me. Then I will give you many things to eat."

But she locked up Hansel in a prison and had Gretel work hard. She gave a large amount of cookies and candies to Hansel every day in order to eat him after he became fat. However, the hag had weak eyesight⁹ and was unable to see well.

"Dear Hansel, please stick out your finger." Every time Hansel would stick out chicken bone through the bars of his cage. The hag was very angry and shouted, "Why you don't get fat soon? You must eat a lot in order to be fat."

Gretel knew that the like of her brother was in danger. Gretel said to the hag, "Please see if the fire in the stove is burning well. My eyesight is weak, and I am unable to see well."

The hag said, "You foolish girl! Can't you even do that? You shall not eat anything today, either!" The hag looked in the stove. At that moment, Gretel forcefully pushed the hag into the stove and closed the door.

When the hag was burnt and dead, Gretel saved Hansel and they escaped from the witch's cottage. The children wandered around for several days to find their house, eating the cookies they brought from the gingerbread house. When they returned home they found that their stepmother had run away, but their father greeted them with delight¹⁰. Thereafter¹¹, Hansel and Gretel lived happily with their father.