Once upon a time, there was a brother and sister named Hansel and Gretel. They lived with their woodcutter father and their stepmother in a simple house near the forest. The family was very poor and barely had any food to eat. One day, the wicked stepmother decided that the only solution to their problems was to abandon the children in the forest.
So, one morning, while Hansel and Gretel were still sleeping, the stepmother woke them up and said:
— Let’s all go into the forest to gather wood.
She gave each of them a piece of bread for the journey and set off with them. When they reached the middle of the forest, the stepmother said:
— Stay here and rest while we go and fetch more wood.
Hansel and Gretel, trusting her, waited and waited, but no one returned. When they realized they were alone, they were very frightened. They remembered leaving breadcrumbs along the path, but to their dismay, the birds had eaten all the crumbs!
Hansel held Gretel’s hand and said:
— Don’t worry, Gretel. We’ll find our way back.
The two siblings walked through the forest until, finally, they found a house made of sweets! The walls were made of chocolate, the roof of cookies, and the windows of sugar.
Hungry, they began to eat pieces of the house. Suddenly, an old lady came out of the house and said:
— Who is eating my house?
— We’re sorry, we’re very hungry — explained Hansel.
The old lady, who seemed very kind, invited them inside and gave them a delicious feast. But, in reality, she was a wicked witch who planned to cook Hansel in a big pot and eat Gretel!
The next day, the witch locked Hansel in a cage and ordered Gretel to cook and clean the house. However, Gretel was clever and, while the witch was distracted, she came up with a plan to save her brother.
— I’ll heat the oven so we can bake bread — said Gretel to the witch.
— Very well — replied the witch. — Check if the oven is hot enough.
Gretel, pretending not to know, said:
— I don’t know how to do that. Could you show me?
The witch, impatient, leaned over to check the oven. That was when Gretel, with all her strength, pushed the witch into the oven and shut the door!
Gretel ran to the cage, freed Hansel, and together they found a chest full of gold and jewels in the witch’s house. They took the treasure home, where they found their father, who was desperately searching for them and very sorry for having left them with the wicked stepmother.
Together, they sold the treasure and never went hungry again, living happily ever after. And the stepmother? She ran away and was never seen again.
The End.
The story of Hansel and Gretel teaches us how courage and cleverness can help us overcome any challenge.
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