Comparing: Hansel and Gretel

Hard by a great forest dwelt a poor wood-cutter with his wife and his two children. The boy was called Hansel and the girl Gretel. He had little to bite and to break, and once when great dearth fell on the land, he could no longer procure even daily bread. Now when he thought over this by night in his bed, he groaned and said to his wife, 'What is to become of us? How are we to feed our poor children, when we no longer have anything even for ourselves?' 'I'll tell you what,' answered the wife, 'early tomorrow morning we will take the children out into the forest to where it is the thickest; there we will light a fire for them, and give each of them one more piece of bread, and then we will go to our work and leave them alone. They will not find the way home again, and we shall be rid of them.' 'No, wife,' said the man, 'I will not do that; how can I bear to leave my children alone in the forest? The wild animals would soon come and tear them to pieces.' 'Oh, you fool!' said she, 'then we must all four die of hunger, you may as well plane the planks for our coffins,' and she let him have no peace until he consented. 'But I feel very sorry for the poor children, all the same,' said the man. The two children had also not been able to sleep for hunger, and had heard what their step-mother had said to their father. Gretel wept bitter tears, and said to Hansel, 'Now all is over with us.' 'Be quiet, Gretel,' said Hansel, 'do not fret; I will manage something.' And when the grown-ups were asleep, he got up, put on his little coat, opened the door below, and crept out. The moon shone quite bright, and the white pebbles which lay before the house glittered like real silver pennies. Hansel stooped and filled the little pocket of his coat as full as it would hold. Then he went back and said to Gretel, 'Be comforted, dear little sister, and sleep in peace, God will not forsake us,' and he lay down in his bed. When day dawned, but before the sun had risen, the woman came and awoke the two children, 'Get up, you lazy things, we are going into the forest to fetch wood.' She gave each of them a little piece of bread, and said, 'There is something for your dinner, but do not eat it up, as you will get nothing else.' Gretel took the bread under her apron, as Hansel had the stones in his pocket. Then they all set out together on the way to the forest. When they had walked a short time, Hansel stood still and peeped back at the house, and did so again and again. His father said, 'Hansel, what do you look at there and stay behind for? Pay attention, and do not forget how to use your legs.' 'Ah, father,' said Hansel, 'I am looking at my little white cat which is sitting up on the roof, and wants to say good-bye to me.' The wife said, 'Oh, you fool, that is not your little cat, that is the morning sun which is shining on the chimney.' Hansel, however little by little, threw all the crumbs on the path. The woman led the children still deeper into the forest, where they had never been before. Then a great fire was again made, and the mother said, 'Just sit there, you children, and when you are tired you may sleep a little; we are going into the forest to cut wood, and in the evening when we are done, we will come and fetch you away.' When it was noon, Gretel shared her bread with Hansel, who had scattered his by the way. Then they fell asleep, and evening passed, but no one came to the poor children. They did not awake until it was dark night, and Hansel comforted his little sister and said, 'Just wait, Gretel, until the moon rises, and then we shall see the crumbs of bread which I have strewn about, they will show us our way home again.' When the moon came they set out, but they found no crumbs, for the many thousands of birds which fly about in the woods and fields had picked them all up. Hansel said to Gretel, 'We shall soon find the way.' But they did not find it. They walked the whole night long, and all the next day too from morning till evening, but they could not find the way out of the forest, and they were very hungry, for they had nothing to eat but the few berries they found on the ground. And when they were so tired that their legs would carry them no longer, they lay down beneath a tree and fell asleep. It was now three mornings since they had left their father's house. They began to walk again, but they only got deeper and deeper into the forest, and if help did not come soon, they must die of hunger and weariness. When it was mid-day, they saw a beautiful snow-white bird sitting on a bough, which sang so delightfully that they stood still and listened to it. And when its song was ended, it spread its wings and flew away before them. They followed it until they reached a little house, and the bird perched on the roof. When they came nearer, they saw that the little house was built entirely of bread and covered with cake, and that the windows were made of clear sugar. 'We will set to work and eat,' said Hansel, 'and make a good meal.' 'I will eat a bit of the roof,' Gretel cried, and Hansel ate up a piece of the window. Then the good woman called out, 'Nibble, nibble, little mouse, who is nibbling at my house?' The children answered, 'The wind, the wind, the heaven-born wind,' and went on eating without disturbing themselves. Hansel, who thought the roof tasted very nice, tore down a great piece of it, and Gretel pulled out the round panes of the window and sat down the better to eat them. Suddenly the door opened, and a very old woman, supporting herself on a crutch, came creeping out. Hansel and Gretel were so terrified that they let fall what they had in their hands. The old woman, however, nodded her head, and said, 'Now, then, little children, come in; no one will hurt you.' She took them both by the hand, and led them into her little house. Then good food was set before them, milk and pancakes, with sugar, apples, and nuts. Afterwards two pretty little beds were covered with clean white linen, and Hansel and Gretel lay down in them, and thought they were in heaven. The old woman had only pretended to be so kind; she was in reality a wicked witch, who lay in wait for children, and had only built the little house of bread in order to entice them there. When a child came into her power, she killed it, cooked and ate it, and that was a feast day with her. Witches have red eyes, and cannot see very far, but they have a keen scent, like animals, and know when human children approach. When Hansel and Gretel came near her, she laughed wickedly and said mockingly, 'Now I have them, and then she seized Hansel with her withered hand, carried him into a little stable, and locked him in behind a barred door. He might scream as he liked, that did not help him. Then she went to Gretel, shook her till she awoke, and cried, 'Get up, lazy thing, fetch some water, and cook something good for your brother; he is outside in the stable, and must be made fat. When he is fat, I will eat him.' Gretel began to weep bitterly, but it was all in vain, she had to do what the wicked woman bade her. Now the best food was cooked for poor Hansel, but Gretel got nothing but crab-shells. Every morning the woman crept to the little stable, and cried, 'Hansel, stretch out your finger that I may feel if you will soon be fat.' Hansel, however, stretched out a little bone to her, and the old woman, whose dim eyes could not see anything, thought it was Hansel's finger, and wondered very much that he did not get fat. When four weeks had gone by, and Hansel still remained thin, she was seized with impatience and would not wait any longer. 'Now, then, Gretel,' she cried, 'bring some water. Let Hansel be fat or lean, to-morrow I will kill and cook him.' Ah, how the poor little sister did lament when she had to fetch the water, and how her tears did flow down her cheeks! 'Dear God, do help us,' she cried. 'If the wild beasts in the forest had but eaten us, we should at any rate have died together.' 'Just keep your noise to yourself,' said the old woman, 'it won't help you at all.' Early in the morning, Gretel had to go out and hang up the kettle with the water, and light the fire. 'First we will bake,' said the old woman, 'I have already heated the oven, and kneaded the dough.' She pushed poor Gretel out to the oven, from which flames of fire were already darting. 'Creep in,' said the woman, 'and see if it is properly heated, so that we can put the bread in.' And once Gretel was inside, she intended to close the oven and let her bake in it, and then she would eat her, too. But Gretel saw what she had in mind, and said, 'I do not know how I am to do it; how do I get in?' 'Silly goose,' said the old woman, 'the opening is big enough; see, I myself could get in!' and she crept up and thrust her head into the oven. Then Gretel gave her a push that she went in farther, and she shut the iron door, and fastened the bolt. Oh! then she began to howl quite horribly, but Gretel ran away, and the godless witch was miserably burnt to death. Gretel, however, ran like lightning to Hansel, opened his little stable, and cried, 'Hansel, we are saved! The old witch is dead!' Then Hansel sprang like a bird out of a cage when the door is opened. How they did rejoice, and embrace each other, and dance about and kiss each other! And as they had nothing more to fear, they went into the witch's house. In every corner were chests of pearls and jewels. 'These are far better than pebbles,' said Hansel, and thrust into his pockets whatever could be got. And Gretel said, 'I, too, will take something home with me,' and filled her pinafore. 'But we must go away now,' said Hansel, 'and get out of this witch's forest.' When they had walked for two hours, they came to a great stretch of water. 'We cannot get over,' said Hansel, 'I see no foot-plank, and no bridge.' 'And there is also no ferry,' answered Gretel, 'but a white duck is swimming there: if I ask her, she will help us over.' So she cried, 'Little duck, little duck, here stand Gretel and Hansel. Neither a foot-plank nor a bridge, take us on your white back.' The duck came to them, and Hansel sat on her back and bade his sister sit beside him. 'No,' answered Gretel, 'that will be too heavy for the little duck; she shall take us across one after the other.' The good little duck did so, and when they were once safely on the other side, and had walked for a short time, the forest seemed to be more and more familiar to them, and at length they saw from afar their father's house. Then they began to run, rushed into the parlour, and threw themselves round their father's neck. The man had not known one happy hour since he had left the children in the forest; the woman, however, was dead. Gretel emptied her pinafore until pearls and precious stones ran about the room, and Hansel threw one handful after the other out of his pocket to add to them. Then all anxiety was at an end, and they lived together in perfect happiness.

Il etait une fois un pauvre bucheron qui vivait avec sa femme et ses deux enfants au bord d'une grande foret. Le garcon s'appelait Hansel et la fille Gretel. La famille etait si pauvre qu'elle manquait souvent de pain. Une nuit, la maratre convainquit le bucheron d'abandonner les enfants dans la foret, car ils n'avaient plus rien a manger. Hansel, qui avait entendu la conversation, rampa dehors sous la lune et remplit ses poches de cailloux blancs. Le lendemain, en marchant vers la foret, il laissa tomber les cailloux un par un pour marquer le chemin. Apres que leurs parents les eurent abandonnes, les enfants attendirent que la lune se leve et suivirent les cailloux jusqu'a la maison. Leur pere fut soulagé, mais la maratre insista pour essayer a nouveau. Cette fois, la porte etait verrouillee et Hansel ne put ramasser de cailloux. Il eparpilla des miettes de pain sur le chemin, mais les oiseaux de la foret les mangerent toutes. Perdus dans les profondeurs du bois, les enfants errerent pendant trois jours. Enfin, un magnifique oiseau blanc leur montra le chemin vers une maisonnette construitee entierement en pain d'epice, avec un toit de gateau et des vitres en sucre candi. Affames, les enfants commencerent a manger la maison. Une vieille femme sortit et les invita a entrer, leur offrant un festin de crepes, de lait et de fruits. Mais cette vieille femme n'etait autre qu'une mechante sorciere qui attirait les enfants pour les devorer. Elle enferma Hansel dans une cage et le gava de nourriture pour l'engraisser, tandis que Gretel devait travailler dur a la maison. Chaque matin, la sorciere demandait a Hansel de tendre le doigt pour sentir s'il avait grossi, mais le malin garcon tendait un os au lieu de son doigt. Quatre semaines passerent sans que Hansel grossisse, et la sorciere, impatiente, decida de le manger tout de suite, gras ou maigre. Elle ordonna a Gretel de chauffer le four. « Glisse-toi dedans pour voir s'il est assez chaud pour cuire le pain, » dit-elle a la petite fille. Mais Gretel comprit le piege et repondit : « Je ne sais pas comment faire, comment dois-je m'y prendre ? — Imbecile! » s'exclama la sorciere. « L'ouverture est assez grande, regarde, je peux y entrer moi-meme! » Et la sorciere glissa la tete dans le four. Gretel lui donna alors une violente poussee, la fit tomber entierement a l'interieur et referma la porte de fer. La mechante sorciere fut brulee vive. Gretel courut liberer Hansel, et les deux enfants remplirent leurs poches de perles et de pierres precieuses trouvees dans les coffres de la sorciere. Ils marcherent longtemps et finirent par retrouver la maison de leur pere. La maratre etait morte entre-temps, et le bucheron accueillit ses enfants avec des larmes de joie. Avec les richesses de la sorciere, ils vecurent heureux tous ensemble. L'histoire de Hansel et Gretel est particulierement resonante dans la tradition francaise des contes de fees, ou la foret est un lieu d'epreuves et de metamorphoses. On la rapproche du « Petit Poucet » de Charles Perrault, un autre conte d'enfants abandonnes dans les bois qui retrouvent le chemin grace a leur ruse.