They walked the whole night long, and by break of day came once more to
their father's house.

They knocked at the door, and when the woman opened it, and saw that it
was Hansel and Grethel, she said, "You naughty children, why have you
slept so long in the forest? we thought you were never coming back at
all!"

The father, however, was glad, for it had cut him to the heart to leave
them behind alone.

Not long after, there was once more a great lack of food in all parts,
and the children heard the woman saying at night to their father:--

"Everything is eaten again; we have one half-loaf left, and after that
there is an end. The children must go; we will take them farther into
the wood, so that they will not find their way out again; there is no
other means of saving ourselves!"

The man's heart was heavy, and he thought, "It would be better to share
our last mouthful with the children."

The woman, however, would listen to nothing he had to say, but scolded
him. He who says A must say B, too, and as he had given way the first
time, he had to do so a second time also.

The children were still awake and had heard the talk. When the old folks
were asleep, Hansel again got up, and wanted to go and pick up pebbles,
but the woman had locked the door, and he could not get out.

So he comforted his little sister, and said:--

"Do not cry, Grethel; go to sleep quietly, the good God will help us."

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 Hansel crumbled his
in his pocket, and often threw a morsel on the ground until little by
little, he had thrown 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
she 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 Hansel, 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, and Hansel comforted his
little sister, and said:--

"Just wait, Grethel, until the moon rises, and then we shall see