Early in the morning came the woman, and took the children out of their beds.  Their bit of bread was given to them, but it was still smaller than the time before.  On the way into the forest Haensel crumbled his in his pocket, and often stood still and threw a morsel on the ground.  “Haensel, why dost thou stop and look around?” asked the father; “go on.”  “I am looking back at my little pigeon which is sitting on the roof, and wants to say good-bye to me,” answered Haensel.  “Simpleton!” said the woman, “that is not thy little pigeon, that is the morning sun that is shining on the chimney.”  Haensel, however, little by little, threw all the crumbs on the path.

The woman led the children still deeper into the forest, where they had never in their lives been before.  Then a great fire was again made, and the mother said, “Just sit there, you children, and when you are tired you may sleep a little; we are going into the forest to cut wood, and in the evening, when we are done, we will come and fetch you away.”  When it was noon, Grethel shared her piece of bread with Haensel, who had scattered his by the way.  Then they fell asleep and evening came and went, but no one came to the poor children.  They did not awake until it was dark night; but Haensel comforted his little sister and said, “Just wait, Grethel, until the moon rises, and then we shall see the crumbs of bread which I have strewn about.  They will show us our way home again.”  When the moon rose they set out, but they found no crumbs, for the many thousands of birds which fly about in the woods and fields had picked them all up.  Haensel said to Grethel, “We shall soon find the way,” but they did not find it.  They walked the whole night and all the next day too, from morning till evening, but they did not get out of the forest, and were very hungry, for they had nothing to eat but two or three berries which grew on the ground.  And as they were so weary that their legs would carry them no longer, they lay down beneath a tree and fell asleep.

It was now three mornings since they had left their father’s house.  They began to walk again, but they always got so much deeper into the forest that, if help did not come soon, they must die of hunger and weariness.  When it was mid-day, they saw a beautiful snow-white bird sitting on a bough, which sang so delightfully that they stood still and listened to it.  And when it had finished its song, it spread its wings and flew away before them, and they followed it until they reached a little house, on the roof of which it alighted; and when they came quite up to the little house they saw that it was built of bread and covered with cakes, and that the windows were of clear sugar.  “We will set to work on that,” said Haensel, “and have a good meal.  I will eat a bit of the roof, and thou, Grethel, canst eat some of the window; it will taste sweet.”  Haensel reached up above, and broke off a little of the roof to try how it tasted, and Grethel leant against the window and nibbled at the panes.  Then a soft voice cried from the room—­