亨舍尔和格莱特

亨舍尔和格莱特

从前，有一个贫穷的农夫，他有两个可爱的孩子，哥哥叫亨舍尔，妹妹叫格莱特。

一天，农夫带着两个孩子到森林里去。农夫让孩子们在那里等着，自己去砍柴。小兄妹俩在森林里玩着玩着迷了路。幸亏亨舍尔是个聪明的孩子，他早已在来时的路上，扔下了许多白色的石头子儿做标记。当天黑下来的时候，路上的石头子儿在月亮的照耀下闪闪发光，亨舍尔领着妹妹沿着发光的石头子儿路回到了家里。

没过几天，兄妹两人又到森林里去了。这回亨舍尔把随身带的面包撕碎了，扔在路上做标记。可是，森林里的小鸟闻到香味，把面包屑全吃光了。没有面包屑做路标，兄妹俩找不到回家的路了。

不久，他们看到了一座用糖和面包做的香喷喷的小房子，正要上前吃面包，一个老太婆走了出来，原来她是一个老巫婆，非常喜欢吃小孩子。她马上用魔法把亨舍尔关进了铁笼子里，每天给他吃最好的东西，她想把亨舍尔养胖了，好煮来吃。她又让格莱特做她的女仆，让她干所有的家务活。

Hansel and Gretel

Once upon a time, there was a poor farmer who had two lovable children. The brother was called Hansel, and the younger sister was called Gretel.

One day, the farmer took the two children into the forest. The farmer told the children to stay where they were while he went to chop firewood. The two siblings played in the forest and lost their way. Luckily, Hansel was a clever child. On the way, he had thrown plenty of white stones to mark the route. When it got dark that evening, the white stones shone in the moonlight, and Hansel and Gretel found their way home by following the glowing stones.

After a few days, the two of them went into the forest again. This time Hansel tore up the bread he had brought with him and scattered it to mark the way. However, the birds in the forest detected this fragrant smell, and gobbled up all the bread crumbs. There were no bread crumbs left to mark the way. The two siblings could not find their way home.

After a short while, they saw a sweet-smelling, small house made from sugar and bread. They were about to eat the bread, when an old woman came out.It just so happened that this old woman was a witch who loved to eat children. She immediately used magic to imprison Hansel in an iron cage. Every day, she fed him the tastiest food. She wanted to fatten him up to cook and eat. She turned Gretel into her servant, and made her do all the house chores.

老巫婆每天都要用手捏捏亨舍尔的手臂，看看是不是胖起来了。聪明的亨舍尔在老巫婆每次来捏他的手臂的时候，都把一根吃剩的猪骨头递给她摸。老巫婆年老眼花，没看出那是猪骨头，以为亨舍尔还是那么瘦呢。

一转眼四个星期过去了，老巫婆终于忍不住了。她大声地命令格莱特挑水烧火，要把亨舍尔煮了熬汤喝。眼看大铁锅里的水已经煮沸了，老巫婆又命令格莱特到炉门里去，看看炉火是不是烧旺了。机灵的格莱特故意说：“我不知道怎么才能进去呀？”老巫婆就示范给她看，说：“瞧，先把头伸进去……”

Every day, the witch pinched Hansel's arm with her fingers to see whether he was fatter or not. Clever little Hansel would give her a left-over pig bone to touch. The old witch had become short-sighted in her old age, and could not see that it was a pig bone. She thought that Hansel was still very thin.

In the blink of an eye, four weeks had passed. The old witch could wait no longer. In a shrill voice, she ordered Gretel to prepare some water and light the fire. She was going to stew Hansel in a broth. On seeing that the water in the big iron pot had boiled, the old witch ordered Gretel to go to the stove door and see if the furnace was burning well. Clever little Gretel said, "I don't know how to open the door." So the old witch demonstrated how, saying,"Look, first you stretch your head in…"

格莱特一看老巫婆的头已经伸进炉门去了，就在她的屁股上使劲踢了一脚，老巫婆没提防，一个跟头栽到炉子里去了。格莱特急忙关上了炉子的小铁门，老巫婆就被烧死了。格莱特打开铁笼子，救出了哥哥亨舍尔。

他们离开了老巫婆的小房子，沿着森林里的小溪一路走去，很快就走出了森林。可是一条很宽的河拦在前面，他们没法儿过去。

一只好心的大白鸭游了过来，把亨舍尔和格莱特兄妹俩一个一个驮过了河。他们告别了大白鸭，欢欢喜喜地回到了家。

Gretel saw that the old witch's head had already stretched into the stove, so she used all her strength to kick her on the bottom. The old witch was caught off her guard, and tumbled into the furnace. Gretel hurriedly closed the small iron door of the stove, and the witch was burned to death. Gretel opened the iron cage and saved her brother Hansel.

They left the old witch's house and followed a small forest stream. Very soon, they emerged from the forest. However, the river blocked their route. They had no way to cross it.

A kind, big, white duck swam over and carried Hansel and Gretel across the river. They bid farewell to the big white duck and merrily returned home.

siblings n.兄弟姐妹

scattered v.分散（scatter的过去时）

imprison v.禁闭

demonstrated v.示范（demonstrat的过去时）