y
found no crumbs, for the thousands of birds that fly about the woods
and fields had picked them all up. "Never mind," said Hansel to Grettel;
"you'll see we'll find a way out"; but all the same they did not. They
wandered about the whole night, and the next day, from morning till
evening, but they could not find a path out of the wood. They were very
hungry, too, for they had nothing to eat but a few berries they found
growing on the ground. And at last they were so tired that their legs
refused to carry them any longer, so they lay down under a tree and fell
fast asleep.

On the third morning after they had left their father's house they set
about their wandering again, but only got deeper and deeper into the
wood, and now they felt that if help did not come to them soon they must
perish. At midday they saw a beautiful little snow-white bird sitting on
a branch, which sang so sweetly that they stopped still and listened to
it. And when its song was finished it flapped its wings and flew on in
front of them. They followed it and came to a little house, on the roof
of which it perched; and when they came quite near they saw that the
cottage was made of bread and roofed with cakes, while the window was
made of transparent sugar. "Now we'll set to," said Hansel, "and have a
regular blow-out.(1) I'll eat a bit of the roof, and you, Grettel,
can eat some of the window, which you'll find a sweet morsel." Hansel
stretched up his hand and broke off a little bit of the roof to see what
it was like, and Grettel went to the casement and began to nibble at it.
Thereupon a shrill voice called out from the room inside:

"Nibble, nibble, little mouse,
Who's nibbling my house?"

The children answered:

"Tis Heaven's own child,
The tempest wild,"

and went on eating, without putting themselves about. Hansel, who
thoroughly appreciated the roof, tore down a big bit of it, while
Grettel pushed out a whole round window-pane, and sat down the better
to enjoy it. Suddenly the door opened, and an ancient dame leaning on
a staff hobbled out. Hansel and Grettel were so terrified that they let
what they had in their hands fall. But the old woman shook her head and
said: "Oh, ho! you dear children, who led you here? Just come in and
stay with me, no ill shall befall you." She took them both by the hand
and let them into the house, and laid a most sumptuous dinner before
them--milk and sugared pancakes, with apples and nuts. After