Once upon a time a brother and sister named Hansel and Gretel lived in a hut in the woods with their father who was a poor woodcutter.

They had a stepmother who made life very hard for Hansel and Gretel.  The children were not allowed to eat until after the stepmother had taken everything she wanted off the plates.  Most of the time, there was only a crust of bread left and all day long was hard chores for them to do.

One night, the two children were not allowed to sleep in the hut. Outside in the cold, they shivered and tried to keep each other warm.  Winter was coming and the clothes they wore were so thin it felt almost as if they had no clothes on at all.

The next morning when the sun rose, Gretel turned to her little brother. “Hansel,” she said, “we cannot stay here.  We must escape now, today, into the woods!  Surely we will find more to eat when we are on our own than what we get here at home.”

"But what if we get lost?”, asked Hansel. 

“We won’t!” said Gretel.  “I will take bread. We will drop breadcrumbs behind us.  If we have to, we can follow the crumbs back home.” So, the two of them went off into the woods and left their hard life behind.

Suddenly, they saw a hut  made all of candy!  From its gingerbread roof, with frosting all over the walls and with candies tucked into the frosting, what a sight to see!

Suddenly, there is a sharp voice! “WHO is that?” Hansel and Gretel spun around.  An old witch! "Ouh little children,” said the witch in a gentler tone, “come inside.  I'll get something for you to eat.” Hansel and Gretel looked at each other in delight and skipped into the witch’s hut.

As the siblings licked the last crust of pancake and looked around the hut, what the brother and sister saw made their hearts turn cold.  Piles and piles of bones in the corners!  Yet the two children were very tired, and so they slept.

The next morning when they woke, Hansel found himself locked in a cage.  The witch roared, “That's where your brother will stay! Every day I will fatten him up.  Soon he will make me a fine dinner!”  She laughed and laughed, rubbing her hands with glee.  “Till then,” she said sharply to Gretel, “you will work for me.”