Страшные сказки / Scary stories. Оскар Уайльд
the window, it will taste sweet”.
Hansel reached up above, and broke off a little of the roof to try how it tasted. Gretel leant against the window and nibbled at the panes. Then a soft voice cried from the parlour:
‘Nibble, nibble, gnaw,
Who is at my little house?’
The children answered:
‘The wind, the wind,
The heaven-born wind,’
and continued to eat. Hansel, who liked the taste of the roof, tore down a great piece of it. Gretel pushed out the whole of one round window-pane, sat down, and enjoyed herself with it. Suddenly the door opened, and an old woman, who supported herself on crutches, came out. Hansel and Gretel were so terribly frightened that they let fall[6] what they had in their hands. The old woman, however, nodded her head, and said:
“Oh, you dear children, who brought you here? Come in, and stay with me. No harm will happen to you”.
She took them both by the hand, and led them into her little house. Then she gave them good food, milk and pancakes, with sugar, apples, and nuts. Afterwards she covered two pretty little beds with clean white linen for them. Hansel and Gretel lay down in them, and thought they were in heaven.
But the old woman only pretended to be so kind. She was actually a wicked witch, who lay in wait for[7] children. She only built the little house of bread in order to entice them there. When a child fell into her power, she killed it, cooked and ate it, and that was a feast day with her. Witches have red eyes, and cannot see far, but they have a keen scent like the beasts, and are aware when human beings draw near.
When Hansel and Gretel came into her neighbourhood, she laughed with malice, and said mockingly:
“I got them, they won’t escape me again!”
Early in the morning before the children were awake, she was already up. The children looked so pretty, with their plump and rosy cheeks, that the witch muttered to herself:
“That will be a dainty mouthful!”
Then she seized Hansel with her shriveled hand, carried him into a little stable, and locked him in behind a grated door. He cried and screamed, but it did not help him.
Then the witch went to Gretel, shook her till she awoke, and cried:
“Get up, lazy bones, fetch some water, and cook something good for your brother. He is in the stable outside, and he must be fat. When he is fat, I will eat him”.
Gretel began to weep bitterly, but it was all in vain.
And now the best food was cooked for poor Hansel, but Gretel got nothing but crab-shells. Every morning the woman crept to the little stable, and cried:
“Hansel, stretch out your finger to see whether you are fat enough”.
Hansel, however, stretched out a little bone to her, and the old woman, who had dim eyes, could not see it, and thought it was Hansel’s finger. She was astonished that the boy still was not fat.
When four weeks passed by, and Hansel still remained thin, the witch became impatient and did not want to wait any longer.
“Now, then, Gretel”, she cried to the girl, “bring some water. Fast! Let Hansel be fat or lean, tomorrow I will kill him, and cook him”.
Ah, how the poor little sister lamented when she fetched the water! How her tears flew down her cheeks!
“Dear God, help us!” she cried. “If the wild beasts in the forest devoured us, we at any rate died together”.
“Shut up![8]” said the old woman, “it won’t help you at all”.
Early in the morning, the witch told Gretel to go out and hang up the cauldron with the water, and light the fire.
“We will bake first”, said the old woman, “I heated the oven, and kneaded the dough”.
She pushed poor Gretel out to the oven, from which flames of fire darted.
“Creep in”, said the witch, “and see if it is properly heated, so that we can put the bread in”.
And once Gretel was inside, she intended to shut the oven and bake the girl. Then the witch wanted to eat her, too.
But Gretel understood this, and said:
“I do not know how to do it. How do I get in?”
“Silly goose”, said the old woman. “The door is big enough; just look, I can get in myself!”
And the witch crept up and thrust her head into the oven. Then Gretel pushed the witch far into it, and shut the iron door, and fastened the bolt. Oh! Then the witch began to howl quite horribly, but Gretel ran away and the witch was burnt to death.
Gretel, however, ran like lightning to Hansel, opened his little stable, and cried:
“Hansel, we are saved! The old witch is dead!”
Then Hansel sprang like a bird from its cage when the door is opened. How they rejoiced and embraced each other! How they danced about and kissed each other! And as they had no longer any need to fear her, they went into the witch’s house. In every corner there stood chests full of pearls and jewels.
“These are far better than pebbles!” said Hansel, and thrust the pearls and jewels into his pockets.
Gretel said:
“I, too, will take something home with me”, and filled her pinafore full.
“But now we must go away”, said Hansel, “to get out of the witch’s forest”.
They walked for two hours, and they came to a great stretch of water.
“We cannot cross it”, said Hansel, “I see no plank, and no bridge”.
“And there is also no ferry”, answered Gretel, “but I see a white duck. I ask it, and it will help us”.
Then Gretel cried:
‘Little duck, little duck, do you see,
Hansel and Gretel are here?
There’s not a plank, or bridge in sight,
Take us across on your back so white.’
The duck came to them, and Hansel seated himself on its back, and told his sister to sit by him.
“No”, replied Gretel, “that will be too heavy for the little duck. The duck will take us across, one after the other”.
The good little duck did so, and when they were once safely across and walked for a short time, the forest was more and more familiar to them. At length[9] they saw from afar their father’s house. Then they began to run, rushed into the parlour, and threw themselves round their father’s neck. The man was very happy to see them again. The stepwoman, however, was dead. Gretel emptied her pinafore until pearls and precious stones ran about the room. Hansel threw one handful after another out of his pocket to add to them. Then they lived together in perfect happiness.
The Girl without Hands
Brothers Grimm
A certain miller was very poor, and had nothing but his mill and a large apple-tree behind it. Once when he went into the forest to fetch wood, an old man stepped up to him, and said,
“Why do you plague yourself with this wood? I will make you rich, if you promise me what is behind your mill”.
“What can that be? It’s my apple-tree”, thought the miller, and said, “Yes”.
So he gave a promise to the stranger. The old man, however, laughed mockingly and said,
“When
let fall – уронили
lay in wait for – подстерегала
Shut up! – Заткнись!
at length – наконец