Hansel and Grethel (Academy Storytime)
Episode Stats
Harmful content
Misogyny
7
sentences flagged
Toxicity
17
sentences flagged
Hate speech
12
sentences flagged
Summary
The tale of a poor wood cutter and his wife, and their two children, Hansel and Grethel, and how they managed to survive the harsh conditions of the forest. The story is told by Hans Christian Andersen, and narrated by Robert Fagles.
Transcript
00:00:00.000
here a great forest there lived a poor woodcutter and his wife and his two children
00:00:26.080
the boy's name was hansel and the girls grethel they had very little to bite or to sup and once
00:00:34.760
when there was great dearth in the land the man could not even gain the daily bread
00:00:40.420
as he lay in bed one night thinking of this and turning and tossing he sighed heavily and said to
00:00:46.300
his wife what will become of us we cannot even feed our children there is nothing left for
00:00:51.960
ourselves i will tell you what husband answered the wife we will take the children early in the
00:00:59.720
morning into the forest where it is thickest we will make them a fire and we will give them each
00:01:05.540
a piece of bread then we will go to our work and leave them alone they will never find the way home
00:01:10.560
again and she and we shall be quit of them no wife said the man i cannot do that i cannot find
00:01:19.740
my heart to take my children into the forest and to leave them there alone the wild animals will
0.99
00:01:24.780
soon come and devour them oh you fool said she then we will all four starve you had better get
0.99
00:01:34.520
the coffins ready and she left him no peace until he consented but i really pity the poor children
0.99
00:01:41.200
said the man the two children had not been able to sleep for hunger and had heard what their
00:01:46.560
stepmother had said to their father grothel wept bitterly and said to hansel
00:01:52.900
it is all over with us do be quiet grothel said hansel and do not fret i will manage something
00:02:04.800
and when the parents had gone to sleep he got up put on his little coat opened the back door and
00:02:11.040
slipped out. The moon was shining brightly, and the white flints that lay in front of the house
00:02:16.700
glistened like pieces of silver. Hansel stooped and filled the little pocket of his coat as full
00:02:24.820
as it would hold. Then he went back again and said to Grothald, Be easy, dear little sister,
00:02:31.460
and go to sleep quietly. Gods will not forsake us. And he laid himself down again in his bed
00:02:40.400
when the day was breaking and before the sun had risen the wife came and awakened the two children
00:02:46.820
saying get up you lazy bones we are going into the forest to cut wood then she gave each of them a
00:02:54.560
piece of bread and said that is for dinner and you must not eat it before then for you will get no
0.56
00:02:59.220
more rothal carried the bread under her apron for hansel had his pockets full of the flints
0.92
00:03:07.760
then they set off together on their way to the forest when they had gone a little way Hansel
00:03:15.300
stood still and looked back toward the house and this he did again and again till his father said
00:03:21.340
to him Hansel what are you looking at take care not to forget your legs oh father said Hansel
00:03:29.140
I am looking at my little white kitten who is sitting up on the roof to bid me goodbye
0.99
00:03:34.900
you young fool said the woman that is not your kitten but the sunshine on the chimney pot
0.99
00:03:40.600
of course hansel had not been looking at his kitten he had been taking every now and then
0.99
00:03:47.000
a flint from his pocket and dropping it on the road when they reached the middle of the forest
00:03:51.380
the father told the children to collect wood to make a fire to keep them warm and hansel and
00:03:56.180
gathered brushwood enough for a little mountain and it was set on fire and when the flame was
00:04:02.660
burning quite high the wife said now lie down by the fire and rest yourselves you children
00:04:07.940
and we will go and cut wood and when we are ready we will come and fetch you
00:04:12.440
so hansel and grethel sat by the fire and at noon they each ate their pieces of bread
00:04:20.480
they thought their father was in the wood all the time as they seemed to hear the strokes of the axe
00:04:26.260
but really it was only a dry branch hanging to the withered tree that the wind moved to and fro
00:04:32.520
so when they had stayed there a long time their eyelids closed with wariness and they fell fast
00:04:38.660
asleep when they at last they woke it was night and grothal began to cry and said how shall we
00:04:45.960
ever get out of this wood but hansel comfort her saying wait a little while longer until the moon
00:04:52.020
rises and then we can easily find the way home and when the full moon got up hansel took his
00:04:58.500
little sister by the hand and followed the way where the flint stones shone like silver and
00:05:03.940
showed them the road they walked on the whole night through and at the break of day they came
00:05:09.740
to their father's house they knocked at the door and when the wife opened it and saw there was
00:05:14.100
Hansel and Grethel she said you naughty children why did you sleep so long in the wood we thought
00:05:19.360
you were never coming home again but the father was glad for he had gone to his heart to leave
00:05:25.940
them both in the woods alone not very long after that there was again great scarcity in those parts
00:05:32.040
and the children heard their stepmother say at night in bed to their father everything is finished
00:05:36.860
up we have only half a loaf and after that the tale comes to an end the children must be off
00:05:43.960
we will take them farther into the wood this time so they shall not be able to find the way back
00:05:50.200
again there is no other way to manage the man felt sad at heart and he thought it would be better to
00:05:57.640
share one's last morsel with one's children but the wife would listen to nothing that he said
00:06:02.680
but scolded and reproached him he who says a must say b too and when a man has given in once he has
00:06:12.760
to do it a second time but the children were not asleep and had heard all the talk when the parents
00:06:19.540
had gone to sleep, Hansel got up to go out and get more flintstones, as he did before. But the
00:06:25.140
wife had locked the door, and Hansel could not get out. But he comforted his little sister and said,
00:06:30.000
Don't cry, Grethel, and go to sleep quietly, and God will help us.
00:06:38.400
Early the next morning, the wife came and pulled the children out of bed. She gave them each a
00:06:42.600
little piece of bread, less than before. And on the way to the wood, Hansel crumbled the bread
00:06:47.140
in his pocket and often stopped to throw a crumb on the ground hansel what are you stopping behind
00:06:52.880
and staring for said the father i am looking at my little pigeon sitting on the roof to say goodbye
0.86
00:06:58.100
to me answered hansel you fool said the wife that is no pigeon but the morning sun shining on the
0.93
00:07:04.200
chimney pots hansel went on as before and drew breadcrumbs all along the road the woman led the
0.98
00:07:11.900
children far into the wood, where they had never been before in all their lives. And again, there
00:07:18.700
was a large fire made, and the stepmother said, Sit still there, you children, and when you are
00:07:23.940
tired, you can go to sleep. We are going into the forest to cut wood, and in the evening, when we
00:07:28.940
are ready to go home, we will come and fetch you. So when noon came, Grethel shared her bread with
00:07:34.400
Hansel, who had strewed his along the road. Then they went to sleep, and the evening passed,
00:07:41.900
and no one came for the poor children when they awoke it was dark night and hansel comforted his
00:07:47.440
little sister and said wait a little grethel until the moon gets up and we shall be able to
00:07:52.880
see the way home by the crumbs of bread that i have scattered along it so when the moon rose
00:07:58.200
they got up but they could find no crumbs of bread for the birds of the wood
00:08:03.060
now the fields had come and pick them up hansel thought they might find the way all the same
00:08:08.600
but they could not they went on all night and the next day from the morning until the evening
00:08:15.960
but they could not find the way out of the wood and they were very hungry for they had nothing
00:08:21.340
to eat but the few berries they could pick up and when they were so tired that they could no longer
00:08:26.800
drag themselves along they lied down under a tree and fell asleep it was now the third morning since
00:08:33.900
they had left their father's house they were always trying to get back to it but instead of
00:08:39.560
that they only found themselves farther into the wood and if help had not soon come they would have
00:08:45.060
been starved about noon they saw a pretty snow white bird sitting on a bow and singing so sweetly
00:08:55.680
that they stopped to listen and we had finished the bird spread his wings and flew before them
00:09:01.500
and they followed after him until they came to a little house and the bird perched on the roof
00:09:07.940
and when they came nearer they saw that the house was built of bread and roofed with cakes
00:09:12.120
and the window was of transparent sugar we will have some of this said Hansel and make a fine
00:09:19.560
meal i will eat a piece of the roof Grethel and you can have some of the window that will taste
00:09:24.960
sweet so Hansel reached up and broke off a bit of the roof just to see how it tasted and Grethel
00:09:33.100
Then they heard a thin voice call out from inside,
00:09:47.260
They went on eating, never disturbing themselves.
00:09:51.140
Ansel, who found that the roof tasted very nice,
00:09:55.140
and Grethel pulled out a large round windowpane
00:10:01.080
Then the door opened, and an aged woman came out, leaning upon a crutch.
00:10:05.440
Hansel and Grethel felt very frightened, and let fall what they had in their hands.
00:10:10.380
The old woman, however, nodded her head and said,
00:10:17.960
You must come indoors and stay with me. You will be no trouble.
00:10:22.500
So she took them each by the hand and led them into her little house.
00:10:25.820
and there they found a good meal laid out of milk and pancakes with sugar apples and nuts
00:10:32.580
after she showed them two little white beds and hansel and grethel laid themselves down on them
1.00
00:10:39.300
and thought they were in heaven the old woman although her behavior was kind was a wicked witch
0.99
00:10:45.040
who lay in wait for children and had built the little house on purpose to entice them
1.00
00:10:50.180
when they were once inside she used to kill them cook them and eat them and then it was a feast day
0.71
00:10:58.760
with her the witch's eyes were red and she could not see very far but she had a keen scent like
0.90
00:11:04.660
the beasts and knew very well when human creatures were near when she knew that hansel and grithel
0.67
00:11:10.360
were coming she gave a spiteful laugh and said triumphantly i have them and they shall not escape
00:11:16.420
me early in the morning before the children were awake she got up to look at them and as they were
00:11:22.840
lay sleeping so peacefully with round rosy cheeks she said to herself what a fine feast i shall have
00:11:29.660
then she grasped hansel with both her withered hand and led him into a little stable and shut
00:11:38.180
him up behind the grating and call and scream as he might it was no good then she went back
0.60
00:11:45.940
to grethel and shook her crying get up lazy bones fetch water and cook something nice for your
00:11:51.520
brother he is outside in the stable and must be fattened up and when he is fat enough i will eat
0.68
00:11:57.340
him grethel began to weep bitterly but it was of no use she had to do what the wicked witch bade her
00:12:04.300
and so the best kind of victuals was cooked for poor hansel while grethel got nothing but crab
00:12:11.860
shells each morning the old woman visited the little stable and cried Hansel stretch out your
00:12:17.360
fingers that I may tell if you will soon be fat enough Hansel however used to hold out a little
00:12:25.540
bone and the old woman who had weak eyes could not see what it is and supposing it was to be
00:12:31.800
Hansel's finger wondered very much that it was not getting fatter when four weeks had passed and
00:12:37.580
Hansel seemed to remain so thin she lost patience and could wait no longer now then Grethel cried
0.89
00:12:45.880
she to the little girl be quick and draw water the Hansel fat or he be lean tomorrow I must kill
0.79
00:12:52.200
and cook him oh what a grief for the poor little sister to have to fetch water and how the tears
0.92
00:12:57.780
flowed down over her cheeks your god's prey help us she cried if we had been devoured by wild
00:13:05.640
beast in the wood at least we would have died together spare me your lamentation said the old
00:13:12.460
woman they are of no avail early next morning grethel had to get up make the fire and fill
00:13:18.020
the kettle first we will do the baking said the old woman i have heated the oven already and
00:13:24.080
kneaded the dough she pushed poor grethel towards the oven out of which the flames were already
00:13:28.980
shining creep in said the witch and see if it's properly hot so that the bread may be baked
1.00
00:13:34.820
and grithel once in the witch meant to shut the door upon her and let her be baked and then she
00:13:40.720
would have eaten her but grithel perceived the witch's intention and said i don't know how to do
0.80
00:13:45.940
it how shall i get in stupid goose said the old woman the opening is big enough do you see i could
0.95
00:13:52.520
get in myself and then she stooped down and put her head in the oven's mouth then grithel gave
0.99
00:13:58.820
the witch a push so that she went in farther and grethel shut the iron door upon her and put up
0.93
00:14:03.980
the bar oh how frightfully she howled but grethel ran away and left the wicked witch to burn
00:14:12.060
miserably grethel went straight to hansel opened the stable door and cried hansel we are free the
00:14:17.820
old witch is dead then out flew hansel like a bird from its cage as soon as the door is opened
00:14:23.020
how rejoiced they both were how they fell each on the other's neck danced about and kissed each
00:14:29.640
other and as they had nothing more to fear they went over to the old witch's house and in every
00:14:33.960
corner there stood chests of pearls and precious stones this is something better than flint stones
00:14:40.380
said hansel as he filled his pockets and grethel thinking also would like to carry something home
0.97
00:14:46.880
with her filled her apron full now away we go said hansel if we only can get out of the witch's
00:14:53.880
wood and then they journeyed a few hours they came to a great piece of water we can never get
00:14:59.560
across this said hansel i see no stepping stones and no bridge and there is no boat either said
00:15:04.520
grethel but here comes a white duck if i ask her she will help us over so she cried duck duck here
00:15:12.100
we stand hansel and grethel on the land stepping stones and bridge we lack carious over on your
00:15:18.680
nice white back and the duck came accordingly and hansel got upon her and told his sister to come
00:15:26.580
too no answered grethel that would be too hard upon the duck we can go separately one after the
00:15:32.980
other and that was how it was managed and after that they went unhappily until they came to the
00:15:41.540
wood and they the way grew more and more familiar till at last they saw in the distance their
00:15:47.620
father's house then they ran till they came up to it rushing at the door and fell on their father's
00:15:54.140
neck the man had not had a quiet hour since he left his children in the wood but the wife was
00:16:02.280
dead and when grithel opened her apron the pearls and precious stones were scattered all over the
00:16:07.700
room, and Hansel took one handful after another out of his pocket. Then all was care at the end,