The Retold Folktale of Hansel and Gretel
By: Kelly Crowley
Once upon a time, there were these two young siblings named Hansel and Gretel. They lived on a land with their father who was a woodcutter and his not so nice second wife. During this time, a famine settles over their land.
All the second wife cared about was herself and her husband, so she came up with this plan to take her step children Hansel and Gretel deep into the woods and abandoned them there. Her reasoning for her plan was because the children eat too much and Hansel and Gretel would eat all the food leaving her and her husband to starve to death.
When the second wife told Hansel and Gretel’s father this, he opposed right away. But, he later submits to her evil scheme. The children over heard the plan, so when the parents went to bed; Hansel sneaks out to collect white pebbles.
The next day, the family walks deep into the woods. While walking, Hansel has been leaving a trail of white pebbles.
The parents left the children in the woods to die, but Hansel and Gretel waited until the moon rose to use the moonlight to follow the trail of pebbles back home.
The stepmother was so angry, she told her Husband that he needs to take the children deeper into the woods. Hansel and Gretel overheard this conversation as well, so again when the parents went to bed; they were going to sneak out to collect more white pebbles. But this time, all the doors and windows were locked.
The following morning came and Hansel took a slice of bread to make his trail back home. When Hansel and Gretel were abandoned for a second time into the woods, the children noticed that birds have eaten there crumb trail and they were lost in the woods.
After days of wandering in the woods, they came across this white bird. They followed this bird and it brought the children to this large cottage built of gingerbread and candy.
Wandering for a couple days without food, the children were very hungry. So they started to eat the rooftop of this candy house. While eating the rooftop, an old lady came out and lured the children inside by offering a home cooked meal and soft beds.
After being abandoned in the woods for a couple of days, Hansel and Gretel could not resist the offer. So the children went inside, and the nice old lady turned into this mean old wicked witch.
She uses her house made out of candy to lure children inside and then cooks and eats the children.
Hansel was locked up in a cage and the witch made Gretel become her slave. The witch wanted to fatten up Hansel before she cooked him and ate him, so she would feed him regularly.
But, Hansel found a bone in the cage and would use the bone to his advantage to trick the witch that he was not fat enough to be cooked and eaten. The witch was partially blind, that is why she did not know the trick that Hansel was pulling on her.
After weeks of tricking the witch, the witch became impatient and decided to cook Hansel anyway. She was so hungry; she decided to cook Gretel too. The witch told Gretel to open the oven and see if the fire was hot, but Gretel knew the witch’s plan. So Gretel pretended that she did not understand what the witch told her to do. So the witch became impatient again and did it herself.
Once, the witch opened the oven to check the heat of the fire, Gretel pushed the witch into the oven and locked the door.
Once the witch died, Gretel unlocks the cage that her brother Hansel was in. They both discover a vase full of treasure and precious jewels that belonged to the witch. They tucked the treasure and precious jewels into their clothing and set off for home.
When arriving home, the children find only their father because the wife had died of unknown causes. The children’s father spent days thinking about the loss of his children and he was very happy to see them alive and safe.
With the witch’s wealth, Hansel, Gretel, and their father lived happily ever after.