Like all other stories, this one too begins with… once upon a time, there was a little boy called Hansel. He lived in a small hut near a forest, together with his Father, Step-Mother and younger sister, Gretel. His Father was not an engineer, nor a doctor, nor a banker or any other modern profession, but a mere woodcutter, who barely managed to support his family and make ends meet.

– What are we to do? We don’t have any money left for food… he would sometimes say and sigh.

– Here’s an idea, answered the Step-Mother one day. How about you take the children and take them to the forest tomorrow? Make a fire, give them the last loaf of bread and just leave them there, as we can no longer care for them.

 Hansel overheard his parents, so he came up with a plan: at midnight, he got up, he put on his coat and snuck out. He immediately saw a pile of white pebbles, which glowed in the moon light, and filled his pockets with them. Then he went back inside and whispered to Gretel, who was still asleep:

– Don’t worry, my darling sister, everything will be fine.

 The following day, at sun rise, the children started playing in the woods, as they always did. As his pockets were full, Hansel kept on dropping pebbles along the way, to remember the way back home.

– Let’s go to that little glade! I want to make a little wreath.

– Gretel, I have no more pebbles left and I don’t want to get lost. Oh, but I can leave some breadcrumbs on the trail…

 No sooner had he finished talking, than the girl was already heading towards the glade. They started playing around, but, after a while, they got lost. As it was already getting dark, they couldn’t find their way back home.

– Oh no, Gretel started crying. How are you going to get out of the woods?

– Patience, little one, the moon will be out in no time and we will find our way back, you will see. The pebbles will glow in the moon-light and they will take us home. And until then, we can follow the bread-crumbs.

 But lo and behold, the birds had eaten all of the bread-crumbs.

– Oh no, now it will really be impossible…

 Tweet-tweet! they heard after a while. It was a small, white bird, whose roll was so enticing! After a few moments, she spread her wings and swiiiiiish, she flew past them.

– Let’s follow her!
The children followed the bird up to a beautiful and colorful little cottage.

 – Wow, I have never seen anything like this!

 The walls were made out of ginger-bread, the windows were made out of sugar and the
roof was made out of chocolate.

– Let’s eat! said Hansel! And enjoy! I’ll eat a piece of the roof, I’m starving!

– Yumm, yumm, yumm, who’s munching on my house? Who is outside?

 But the children were too excited and they didn’t answer, so out of the cottage came an
old, humpy woman, very very ugly indeed. The moment she saw them, she told them, in a very sweet voice:

– Come now, children, don’t be frightened, I won’t scold you. Tell me… how did you end
up here? Actually… let’s go inside, where it’s warm, and you can tell me all about it. There’s no need to be scared.

 Before they even managed to realize what was happening, the children were already inside,
surrounded by piles of delicious food: pancakes with jam, sweet milk, apples and pies. Even more so, the old woman offered them two beds, where they could rest for the night.

 But the old woman was anything but kind, she was in fact a wicked witch, who had built
the cottage out of sweets precisely to lure in innocent children. The moment they got close, she would invite them in and never let them go. She kept some around to keep her company and tell her stories, while others had to prepare her food. The unluckiest ones were eaten alive!

 Come sunrise, the witch grabbed Hansel and pushed him in a cage. She locked it up and
there was no way for the boy to come out. She then woke Gretel up:

– Wake up, you sleepy girl, go fetch some water and cook something for me and for your
brother. Make sure it’s delicious, as I want to fatten Hansel up. He’s way too skinny and I want to eat him once he’s a bit plumper.

 Gretel started crying, saying she didn’t want the witch to eat her brother, but, at the end of
the day, there was no way she could resist.

– Hansel, stick out a finger through these bars, so that I can see whether you’ve gained
enough weight, the old woman said every morning.

 But Hansel knew what the witch was up to and he kept sticking out a little bone.

– Well, well, well. You don’t seem to fatten up at all. Whatever will I do with you?

 After more than a month, the witch lost her temper and said:

– I can’t wait any longer, I’ll eat you today, no matter what! Gretel, fetch a cauldron and
let’s roast your bother up! And then get the oven ready, I want bread and pies!

 But Gretel had her own plan. She pretended she didn’t know how to work the oven and
asked the witch to help her. The old woman got close to the oven, then stuck her whole head in, to show the girl how to light up the coal and stir the ember. That was the moment Gretel was waiting for: she pushed the witch into the oven, slammed the door as hard as she could and set Hansel free.

– We’re free, we’re free! The witch is gone! She’s turning into ashes as we speak!

– Let’s get out of here!

 But lo and behold! The house was full of gold coins and jewelry, so Hansel filled his pockets and Gretel her little apron and then went home.

– Welcome back! said their father when he saw them, with tears in his eyes.

– We promise we’ll never stray away from you ever again!