00:00Once upon a time, there lived a brother and sister named Hansel and Gretel.
00:09Their father was a poor woodcutter who hardly earned enough to feed their family.
00:17Their wicked stepmother would always complain that the two children ate too much,
00:23whereas they would even stay hungry many a night.
00:29One night, Gretel heard stepmother whisper to their father,
00:34Take the children deep into the forest so far that they won't remember the way back,
00:40and then leave them there. We will be better off without them.
00:45For the next seven nights, Gretel heard their stepmother saying the same thing again and again,
00:52every time their father would protest, but soon his protests began to weaken.
00:58Gretel told Hansel what she had heard, but Hansel said,
01:04Don't worry. We will find our way back.
01:07One day, as Hansel and Gretel had feared, their father said,
01:13Hansel, Gretel, I am not feeling well today.
01:17Please come with me to the forest and help me cut the wood and bring it home.
01:24Hansel already had a plan.
01:27He filled his pocket with shiny white pebbles before they left with their father.
01:33As they went deeper into the forest, Hansel dropped the pebbles one by one behind him.
01:52After walking for a long time, father said to them lovingly,
01:56My dear children, please sit here while I get some water for us to drink.
02:03Eat this bread. I saved it for you too from my last night's meal.
02:09They sat under a tree as their father went away.
02:15They ate the bread and waited for a long time, but their father did not return.
02:21When it began to get dark, poor Gretel got really worried.
02:26Upon that, Hansel said to her,
02:29Our fear has come true. Father has left us.
02:34But don't worry. Just hold my hand and follow me. Everything shall be fine.
02:44As they started walking, Hansel followed the pebbles he had dropped,
02:49which gleamed in the silvery moonlight and showed them the way.
02:54After walking the whole night, they reached their home in the morning.
03:20Father was happy to see them.
03:22He hugged them and kissed them.
03:26But their stepmother shattered the milk bowl in her hand to the ground and stomped away angrily.
03:34The following night, Gretel heard their stepmother whisper to their father again.
03:40Perhaps you did not take them far enough.
03:44But you must do it again.
03:46And this time, you will leave them further up in the forest.
03:52For the next seven days, their stepmother harassed their father.
03:56Then in the morning, just like before, father asked the children to accompany him.
04:02Hansel was prepared.
04:06Only this time, instead of pebbles, he had taken with him the bread he had been saving since one week.
04:14For he had thought, as they would be taken much deeper into the forest.
04:20The pebbles won't last.
04:22Hansel dropped crumbs of bread behind him as they went into the forest.
04:28But Hansel had not thought about the birds in the forest.
04:36No sooner than they went ahead, the hungry birds swooped upon the bread crumbs and finished them.
04:44When finally they stopped in the darkest part of the forest, their father gave them some bread to eat and left them making another excuse.
05:02Soon when the night came, Gretel started crying again.
05:06Hansel said to her,
05:08Do not cry, Gretel. We will find out way back, like the last time.
05:14However, to Hansel's horror, there was not a single crumb of bread to be found.
05:28And what's more, there was no moonlight this time.
05:32The children sat together under a tree throughout the night.
05:37Listening to the sounds of fearsome animals bearing with the bitter cold.
05:43When the morning came, the two of them started looking for the way.
06:01But they were so far away from their home, that even after wandering through the forest for the whole day, they could not find the way.
06:11They were so far away from their home.
06:17Towards the evening, when they were hungry and tired, and it was going to be dark and cold soon, they spotted a beautiful house through the trees.
06:27Elated, they ran up to it.
06:37Look, Gretel. This is not an ordinary house. It is made of chocolates.
06:49Said Hansel, breaking a piece from the wall of the house and tasting it.
06:55It is very delicious.
06:57Said Gretel, eating a piece from the window.
07:01Gretel.
07:03Just when Gretel was about to eat the doorknob, the door swung open and an ugly woman stepped out.
07:11Oh, what sweet little children.
07:15She said in a voice that was surprisingly kind.
07:19Come inside.
07:21Why don't you?
07:23Feed you some nice food.
07:25I will.
07:27The children at first got scared by the look of the old woman.
07:31But then they stepped inside, listening to her sweet voice.
07:35But as soon as they stepped in, the old woman, who was actually a cruel witch, put Hansel in a cage and locked the door.
07:47Then she held Gretel briskly by her arm and said,
07:51Work for me from now. You will. Or else eat the boy. I will.
08:01Poor Gretel. What would she do but as told?
08:05She worked day and night, fetched water from the river and cleaned the floor.
08:13Although the witch was very unkind and cruel, she did not starve them.
08:19She gave them nice food.
08:21The children wondered why.
08:24And one day, Gretel found the answer when she heard the witch mutter inside her room.
08:31Fat enough to be cooked is the boy. I shall see.
08:37At once, Gretel understood the witch's plan.
08:41She rushed to Hansel's cage and gave him some chicken bones and whispered something into his ear.
08:48Shortly, the old witch came to the cage and said,
08:52Your fingers, boy. Show me.
08:56Hansel and Gretel knew that the witch could not see very well.
09:00So Hansel cleverly slipped out the bones instead of his fingers.
09:06The witch muttered angrily.
09:10Still so thin he is.
09:14Wonder where it goes.
09:16All that I feed him.
09:18For many days, the witch kept on checking Hansel's fingers.
09:23And Hansel kept on slipping the bones Gretel had given him.
09:27Until one day, the witch's patience ended and she said,
09:41Girl, light the oven. Cook and eat the boy, I shall.
09:49Gretel did exactly as she was told.
09:52But when she went to the witch, she said,
09:55I tried to light up the oven. But something is wrong. The fire wouldn't start.
10:03Share on you. Let me see.
10:06Said the hasty, impatient witch.
10:10And when she leaned before the oven, Gretel gave her a tremendous push from behind.
10:17The witch fell right inside the burning oven and Gretel quickly closed its door.
10:24Then she ran to the witch's room to find the key to Hansel's cage.
10:30But what a wonder. There she found a huge heap of gold.
10:35Gretel freed Hansel and then the two of them filled as much gold as they could in the big sacks.
10:42Took big pieces of chocolate from a wall and left the house.
10:47For many days, they walked through the forest eating the chocolate they had taken from the walls of the witch's house.
10:56Then one day, they heard their father calling them.
11:00Hansel, Gretel, where are you?
11:05The children ran to their father and they hugged.
11:09For a long time, father looked at them.
11:12I missed you, Hansel and Gretel.
11:16Please forgive me for what I did.
11:19But I am not going back to your stepmother again.
11:23We don't have to go back to that house, father, said Gretel, smiling.
11:30We are rich now. See how much gold we have, said Hansel.
11:36The children and their father then built a big house from the gold, which their stepmother did not get to share.
11:43And they lived happily ever after.
11:46And they lived happily ever after.
