【美音】汉塞尔与格雷特 | Hansel and Gretel

Hansel and Gretel

Many years ago, there was a woodcutter. He lived deep in theforest with his wife. She was a kind and gentle woman. They had two children:Hansel and Gretel.

The family did not have much money,but their home was always cozy and warm, and the children always had soup andbread to eat. They never went hungry.

One year, there was a terribly coldwinter, and Hansel and Gretel's mother became ill and died.

In time the woodcutter marriedanother woman, but she was not kind and gentle. She was cruel and selfish. Shewanted to be rich, and she wanted to eat fancy foods like roast beef, mashedpotatoes, peas, corn, lemon cakes, and exotic fruits from sunny lands.

She was angry that they could onlyafford soup and bread for every meal."Soupand bread! Soup and bread! Every day! Soup and bread! I am so tired of soup andbread!" she complained.

The stepmother was especially cruelto Hansel and Gretel because she believed they were the reason the family wasso poor.

"Youchildren eat too much! It's your fault that we only have soup and bread!"She wanted the children gone.

One day, while the woodcutter wasout cutting wood, the stepmother called Hansel and Gretel into the kitchen oftheir cottage.

"Thereis not enough food to make soup for dinner”, said thestepmother. "We will all go hungry tonight. Go into the forest and pick somemushrooms to make a mushroom soup. I know where the best mushrooms grow…"

Then she gave them the mostconfusing directions she could think of. She knew they would never be able tofind their way home.

"Walknorth for two hours, turn left at the tall trees, walk east for twenty minutes,c