-LRB- 1 -RRB- -LRB- 1 -RRB- Arabian Nights . HANSEL AND GRETTEL Once upon a time there dwelt on the outskirts of a large forest a poor woodcutter with his wife and two children ; the boy was called Hansel and the girl Grettel . He had always little enough to live on , and once , when there was a great famine in the land , he could n't even provide them with daily bread . One night , as he was tossing about in bed , full of cares and worry , he sighed and said to his wife : `` What 's to become of us ? how are we to support our poor children , now that we have nothing more for ourselves ? '' `` I 'll tell you what , husband , '' answered the woman ; `` early to-morrow morning we 'll take the children out into the thickest part of the wood ; there we shall light a fire for them and give them each a piece of bread ; then we 'll go on to our work and leave them alone . They wo n't be able to find their way home , and we shall thus be rid of them . '' `` No , wife , '' said her husband , `` that I wo n't do ; how could I find it in my heart to leave my children alone in the wood ? The wild beasts would soon come and tear them to pieces . '' `` Oh ! you fool , '' said she , `` then we must all four die of hunger , and you may just as well go and plane the boards for our coffins '' ; and she left him no peace till he consented . `` But I ca n't help feeling sorry for the poor children , '' added the husband . The children , too , had not been able to sleep for hunger , and had heard what their step-mother had said to their father . Grettel wept bitterly and spoke to Hansel : `` Now it 's all up with us . '' `` No , no , Grettel , '' said Hansel , `` do n't fret yourself ; I 'll be able to find a way to escape , no fear . '' And when the old people had fallen asleep he got up , slipped on his little coat , opened the back door and stole out . The moon was shining clearly , and the white pebbles which lay in front of the house glittered like bits of silver . Hansel bent down and filled his pocket with as many of them as he could cram in . Then he went back and said to Grettel : `` Be comforted , my dear little sister , and go to sleep : God will not desert us '' ; and he lay down in bed again . At daybreak , even before the sun was up , the woman came and woke the two children : `` Get up , you lie-abeds , we 're all going to the forest to fetch wood . ''
She gave them each a bit of bread and said : `` There 's something XXXXX your luncheon , but do n't you eat it up before , for it 's all you 'll get . ''
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