Deep in the forests of old, there lived a woodcutter and his wife. They had two children named Hansel and Gretel, and they loved them dearly. Even though they were not very well-off, they were a happy family, and want for nothing.
Sadly, the wife died when the children were 10, but the woodcutter could not take care of two children alone, so he remarried again. His new wife was, unfortunately, very demanding, only caring for herself and had no interest in raising the children. And because the woodcutter was too soft-hearted and too good a Christian to divorce her, she got away with everything.
One day, while Hansel accompanied Gretel to get water, they accidentally eavesdropped on the woodcutter and his wife planning to get rid of them. The wife complained that they did not have enough food to feed one person, let alone four, and the extra mouths had to go. The woodcutter was not too thrilled about the idea, but the wife would not let up, and gave him no quarter until he was forced to agree with her decision.
"What are we to do?" Gretel asked worriedly. "If we are left alone in the woods, we will surely die."
"Don't worry, sis," Hansel assured her. "I will not allow that to happen."
After he tucked Gretel to bed, Hansel snuck out of the house to collect marble pebbles that shone under the moonlight, filling his pouch with them till it was almost near sunrise before he snuck back into bed.
The next day, after packing their breakfast, the woodcutter brought Hansel and Gretel into the woods as a pretense to teach them the trade. While they entered the woods, Hansel lagged behind to drop the pebbles, creating a trail for them to their home. The woodcutter wandered until they were deep enough before he snuck away, leaving the children to their devices.
Come nightfall, the children had really lost their way, but thankfully, because of the pebbles Hansel dropped, they managed to find their way home, much to the chagrin of their stepmother. They used that tactic for the next few nights until finally the stepmother decided to take matters in her own hands.
First, she inspected Hansel's belongings and found the pebbles in his pouch. Then she emptied the pouch of its pebbles and locked the door so that Hansel could not sneak out. The next day, she decided to take the children instead and brought them dangerously deep into the woods and into the territory where she heard legends about a flesh-eating witch lurking about before making a run for it.
Without the pebbles, the children could not find their way back home, and Hansel's alternative option of using a trail of breadcrumbs failed when the birds have picked it off clean. Poor Hansel and Gretel wandered for days, maybe weeks, with no food and only rain as their source of water.
Before they knew it, they have entered into the realm where the flesh-eating witch lived. Lured by the sweet-smelling aroma of candies and pastries, they found the sweet house that the witch built to lure her victims in and started digging into it, gobbling with abandon.
The witch was delighted to have caught them in her trap and lured them into her home with the promise of more candy and treats. Once the children had their fill and fell into a stupor from their hearty meal, the witch locked Hansel up in a cage made of bones and chained Gretel to the floor, giving them a rude awakening of their fate. Gretel was forced under the threat of death to do all the witch's chores, including fattening up Hansel, for the witch had a rather fond taste for boys' flesh.
Gretel watched helplessly as her brother, traumatized by starvation, devoured his meal portions without question. She was only allowed to have whatever scraps was left after Hansel and the witch was done, which was very little, and was beaten black and blue if her chores were not done right. As Hansel grew fatter and fatter, Gretel grew thinner and thinner.
Finally, the witch, after feeling his finger, thought that Hansel was fat enough to be cooked. She ordered Gretel to start up the oven to bake while she prepared to cut Hansel up. That was when Gretel had an epiphany and struggled before the oven.
"Please help me," she begged. "I'm too thin and frail to reach the oven."
"Then go and get the stool for it," the witch barked as she picked up her knives.
"But the oven door is too heavy, and I'm too weak to reach in to start the fire."
"Oh, for goodness sake, child. Do I have to do everything myself?"
Frustrated, the witch made her way to the oven and stuck into it to start the fire. Gretel seized the chance and pushed the witch into the oven, shutting her in and let the oven cook her alive, the witch's cries falling on deaf ears. She quickly hunted for the keys to release Hansel before opening the oven to make sure the witch was really dead.
The moment Gretel opened the oven door, the strong delicious smell of meat permeated the air. Gretel, who had not eaten a decent meal in weeks, couldn't help it as her hunger pangs hit her like a ton of bricks. Without even thinking twice, she dragged the cooked witch out of the oven and started devouring her, clothes, skin, meat and all. Hansel watched with eager eyes at her sister eating like no tomorrow.
"Does it taste good?" Hansel asked with intrigue.
"Very," Gretel replied as she gnawed on a foot. "Would you like to try some?"
Hansel didn't need to be asked twice as he dug in too.
Hansel and Gretel were no longer heard from again, as the woodcutter had been driven to madness with grief over the loss of his children and there was no one to search for them.
But the legend of the flesh-eating witch continued to live on through them, still striking fear in the hearts of many.
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