When they had reached the middle of the forest the father said : `` Now , children , go and fetch a lot of wood , and I 'll light a fire that you may not feel cold . '' Hansel and Grettel heaped up brushwood till they had made a pile nearly the size of a small hill . The brushwood was set fire to , and when the flames leaped high the woman said : `` Now lie down at the fire , children , and rest yourselves : we are going into the forest to cut down wood ; when we 've finished we 'll come back and fetch you . '' Hansel and Grettel sat down beside the fire , and at midday ate their little bits of bread . They heard the strokes of the axe , so they thought their father was quite near . But it was no axe they heard , but a bough he had tied on a dead tree , and that was blown about by the wind . And when they had sat for a long time their eyes closed with fatigue , and they fell fast asleep . When they awoke at last it was pitch dark . Grettel began to cry , and said : `` How are we ever to get out of the wood ? '' But Hansel comforted her . `` Wait a bit , '' he said , `` till the moon is up , and then we 'll find our way sure enough . '' And when the full moon had risen he took his sister by the hand and followed the pebbles , which shone like new threepenny bits , and showed them the path . They walked on through the night , and at daybreak reached their father 's house again . They knocked at the door , and when the woman opened it she exclaimed : `` You naughty children , what a time you 've slept in the wood ! we thought you were never going to come back . '' But the father rejoiced , for his conscience had reproached him for leaving his children behind by themselves . Not long afterward there was again great dearth in the land , and the children heard their mother address their father thus in bed one night : `` Everything is eaten up once more ; we have only half a loaf in the house , and when that 's done it 's all up with us . The children must be got rid of ; we 'll lead them deeper into the wood this time , so that they wo n't be able to find their way out again . There is no other way of saving ourselves . '' The man 's heart smote him heavily , and he thought : `` Surely it would be better to share the last bite with one 's children ! ''
But his wife would n't listen XXXXX his arguments , and did nothing but scold and reproach him .
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