Hansel and Gretel

Hansel and Gretel are the children of a poor woodcutter. One day their stepmother convinces their father to desert them in the forest. Hansel and Gretel hear of the plan and gather little stones from their garden to leave a trail so they can find their way back home. They find their way back home. The stepmother clears the garden of all stones and tells the woodcutter to abandon them farther in the forest so that they are unable to find their way back home. This time they have no stones so they leave a trail of breadcrumbs. The forest animals eat their crumbs and Hansel and Gretel, unable to find them, lose their way.

As they are wandering in the forest they find a house made of gingerbread and candies. The house belongs to an old witch and she invites them in for dinner. The old witch plans to eat them after fattening them up. She locks Hansel in a cage and orders Gretel to cook. The witch feeds Hansel for a week and after that asks him to stick his finger out of the cage to check how fat he has become. Hansel cleverly sticks out a thin bone. The witch has poor eyesight and mistakes the bone for Hansel’s finger. Disappointed that he has not put on weight she continues to feed him. One day, she gets frustrated and decides she will eat him anyway. She orders Gretel to climb into the oven to see if it’s ready to bake. Gretel understands that the witch intends to bake her, so she uses her wit to trick the witch into climbing into the oven. The moment the witch is in, Gretel closes the oven door. Gretel frees Hansel; together, they take the witch’s jewels and set off for home. When they reach home they find that their step mother has died. Hansel and Gretel along with their father live happily after.