100个儿童英语小故事: Hansel and Gretel 韩塞尔与葛雷特

 

074 Hansel and Gretel

Once upon a time, there lived in a village a lovely brother and sister called Hansel and Gretel. But their stepmother did not like them at all. The morning of one day, their stepmother said to the children, "Let's go to the forest to pick some fruit."

The older brother Hansel marked his way by dropping white pebbles¹, without letting his stepmother know. When they reached a deep forest, their stepmother had the children work. And she stealthily crept² away from them and out of the forest.

Total darkness surrounded the children after they had worked for some time, and the day grew to a close. Then Hansel saw the shining pebbles in white along the trail³ of the dark mountain. The children came home by looking at the pebbles Hansel had cast⁴.

After a few days, their stepmother suggested to the children that they again go pick fruit. Hansel marked his way by dropping the pieces of bread that remained from breakfast in the morning. When they arrived at the deep forest, their stepmother ran away in secret again.

When night fell, Hansel tried to find the pieces of bread he had dropped down on the road. But the pieces of bread had been eaten up by the birds and were not to be found. The children suddenly began to be afraid.

Hansel and Gretel wandered around the forest for some time. "Brother, there is a house." Gretel shouted. They came near the house, and found that it was made entirely⁵ of cookies and candies. The children were so hungry and fell upon the walls of the house with great appetite⁶.

At that time, a dreadful⁷ hag appeared. Upon seeing the children, she thought that, 'I am going to eat them up after they become fat.' The hag pretended⁸ to be friendly to the brother and sister, saying, "Little children, live with me. Then I will give you many things to eat."

But she locked up Hansel in a prison and had Gretel work hard. She gave a large amount of cookies and candies to Hansel every day in order to eat him after he became fat. However, the hag had weak eyesight⁹ and was unable to see well.

"Dear Hansel, please stick out your finger." Every time Hansel would stick out chicken bone through the bars of his cage. The hag was very angry and shouted, "Why you don't get fat soon? You must eat a lot in order to be fat."

Gretel knew that the like of her brother was in danger. Gretel said to the hag, "Please see if the fire in the stove is burning well. My eyesight is weak, and I am unable to see well."

The hag said, "You foolish girl! Can't you even do that? You shall not eat anything today, either!" The hag looked in the stove. At that moment, Gretel forcefully pushed the hag into the stove and closed the door.

When the hag was burnt and dead, Gretel saved Hansel and they escaped from the witch's cottage. The children wandered around for several days to find their house, eating the cookies they brought from the gingerbread house. When they returned home they found that their stepmother had run away, but their father greeted them with delight¹⁰. Thereafter¹¹, Hansel and Gretel lived happily with their father.

1 pebbles   

[复数]鹅卵石； 沙砾； 卵石，小圆石( pebble的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The pebbles of the drive crunched under his feet. 汽车道上的小石子在他脚底下喀嚓作响。
• Line the pots with pebbles to ensure good drainage. 在罐子里铺一层鹅卵石，以确保排水良好。

2 crept   

v.蹑手蹑足地走( creep的过去式和过去分词 )；缓慢地行进；爬行；匍匐

参考例句：

• I crept up the stairs, trying not to wake my parents. 为了尽量不吵醒父母，我蹑手蹑脚地上了楼。
• He had crept up on his unsuspecting victim from behind. 他从背后悄悄逼近了那毫无戒备的受害者。

3 trail   

n.踪迹，痕迹，一串，尾部，小径，尾，持枪姿势；vt.拖，尾随，追踪，落后于

参考例句：

• The car raised a trail of dust.汽车掀起了一股尘土。
• The hound found the trail of the rabbit.猎狗发现了兔子的踪迹。

4 cast   

vt./vi.(cast,cast)投掷；投射；抛

参考例句：

• You can cast your vote at the local polling station.你可以在当地的投票站投票。
• He cast off fear and decided to make a try.他去掉害怕心理，决定试一试。

5 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

6 appetite   

n.食欲，胃口；欲望，性欲；爱好，趣味

参考例句：

• The baby has a good appetite.这个婴儿食欲很好。
• She feels pretty well,but she hasn't much of an appetite.她精神还不错，不过胃口不太好。

7 dreadful   

adj.糟透了的，极端的，可怕的，令人畏惧的

参考例句：

• I cannot imagine what to do in this dreadful situation.我不能想像在这么糟的情况下该怎么办。
• I must apologize for the dreadful mistake I made.我为我所犯的严重错误深表歉意。

8 pretended   

adj.假装的；徒有外表的；传说的；号称的v.假装( pretend的过去式和过去分词 )；伪装；（尤指儿童）（在游戏中）装扮；自诩

参考例句：

• He pretended that resigning was part of his long-term career strategy. 他假装辞职是他长远事业规划的一部分。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He politely pretended not to have heard this remark. 他有礼貌地假装没有听到这句话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 eyesight   

n.视力；视觉；眼力

参考例句：

• Her eyesight grew so bad that she could hardly see.她的视力变得很糟，几乎什么也看不见了。
• Everyone should pay attention to preserving his own eyesight.每人都应注意保护视力。

10 delight   

n.高兴，愉快；vt.给（某人）乐趣；使愉快；vi.喜爱

参考例句：

• Your new book is a real delight!你的新书真讨人喜欢！
• He takes delight in annoying me.他以惹我生气为乐。

11 thereafter   

adv.此后，以后

参考例句：

• Thereafter they did not speak.此后他们就不再讲话了。
• On the opening day all tickets are a dollar, thereafter,they'll be two dollars.开张那天票价一元，以后两元。