and all the next day from morning till night, but they could not get out of the wood.
They were very hungry, for they had nothing to eat but a few berries which they found. They were so tired that their legs would not carry them any further, and they lay down under a tree and went to sleep.
When they woke in the morning, it was the third day since they had left their Father’s cottage. They started to walk again, but they only got deeper and deeper into the wood, and if no help came they must perish.
At midday they saw a beautiful snow-white bird sitting on a tree. It sang so beautifully that they stood still to listen to it. When it stopped, it fluttered its wings and flew round them. They followed it till they came to a little cottage, on the roof of which it settled itself.
When they got quite near, they saw that the little house was made of bread, and it was roofed with cake; the windows were transparent sugar.
‘This will be something for us,’ said Hansel. ‘We will have a good meal. I will have a piece of the roof, Grethel, and you can have a bit of the window, it will be nice and sweet.’
Hansel stretched up and broke off a piece of the roof to try what it was like. Grethel went to the window and nibbled at that. A gentle voice called out from within:
Who’s nibbling at my little house?’
From heaven to earth below,’
