| Hansel & Gretel | |
May 25, 2015
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| Hansel was a boy, Gretel was his younger sister. Their father was a good guy but he was always busy for work, and so he left his children to his second wife. His second wife was jealous of his previous wife, who died young. Because of this, she hated Hansel and Gretel. Hansel and Gretel were good natured children, so they didn't hate their stepmother, even though receiving harsh treatments. Sometimes, the stepmother and the children would go on a picnic far into the deep forest, and the stepmother would leave the children there and return home alone. The mother was not such a cruel person to think about murdering the young children, even as an accidental homicide. But, she couldn't help stopping this routine, maybe because of this deep jealousy of the children's mother. After getting home, she would feel a sense of remorse or guilt, and would think about returning to look for them. But, every time, Hansel and Gretel would return. They wouldn't say anything to her, not any complaints. But, it would make her feel uneasy. "Butc" she thought, "How can they return? The distance where I left them was rather far from here. I chose complicated
Each time she would prolong the distance of the picnic place, even though she had a little fear in thinking that she could not be able to return home herself. On this particular day, they were in the deep forest. They were walking along a subtle path to which only hunters or animals would use. It had taken a couple of hours to get there after they had left their house. When they came to an open space, she said for them to take a break. She asked Hansel if he was tired. Hansel answered no. She asked if he felt fear. Hansel replied no. She became irritated and asked, "Why are you so calm every time?" In her mind she was thinking, "I will leave you soon." Hansel thought a second and answered, "To tell you the truth, I'm afraid. But my mom told me that a man should not panic." She didn't like to hear about his mother but said nothing. He continued, "She said that I would have to take care of Gretel if she died, because our father isn't reliable." She was surprised. She didn't think that his mother was the type of person to criticize her husband. Actually, she realized recently that her husband was a little bit of a coward. This is the first time to feel close to his former wife. She said, "Ok. I'll go to the toilet. After that we'll start. We should go in a hurry." She added, "Proverb says 'Haste makes waste.'" The children looked blank. She asked, "What? Is something wrong? You don't know this proverb?" Hansel nodded. She was shocked. She thought Hansel was a smart boy. She even felt that Hansel secretly laughed at her because she was not so sophisticated. She asked, "How about this? 'Even the smallest worm has its life.' Do you know this?" He shook his head. She felt her mind lifting, "How about 'When the cat is away, the mice will play.'?" He shook his head again. She continued asking, "'Dead men tell no tales.' 'Every dog has his day.' 'You can't judge a book by its cover.'" Hansel kept shaking his head. "Oh." She said cheerfully and triumphantly, "You don't need to know everything. You are a child." She pretended to look for a toilet and went away from them to check the present position. This time, for the first time, she was hesitant to leave them. They seemed to be innocent kids. This idea was new to her. She drew a map and took out a compass, and started to check the present place. Soon she realized that she couldn't find her present position because they were 'off' of the map. She went too far. She became upset. She breathed deeply, and returned to them. She cleared her throat and asked Hansel, "Ok. It's time to return. Hansel, you are a man, right? Why don't you lead us?" Hansel looked back at her suspiciously, and said, "Me? I don't think I can. I'm not good at directions." She looked at him in shock, "What are you talking about? You two returned every time. Don't be modest." He said, "You know that my dad has no sense of direction. Me, too." She got confused, "Bc but how did you c" Hansel said, "It was Gretel. She should lead." "Butc she is only five years old!" She looked at Gretel. Gretel shyly nodded. After talking, Gretel started to return and Hansel and the stepmother followed her. Gretel's way of looking for the path was rather unique. She bent her back and carefully checked the tracks, she sometimes even sniffed the trunks of trees, or looked at animals' droppings carefully. It was rather like a wild animal. The mother looked at her back in amazement. It took time but looked to progress. And after a while, they came to a place where the stepmother could remember that they surely had passed. The mother was very relieved, and asked Gretel if she would like to be carried on her back. Gretel nodded. The mother put Gretel on her back and started to walk. It was her first time to carry somebody on her back. Soon the daughter started to sleep. It began to get dark when they got to their home. The mother greatly thanked Gretel, and Gretel shyly nodded. Hansel looked uncomfortable. She asked, "What?" Hansel said, "I have two things I want to say." The stepmother urged him to speak. He said, "I'm sorry to say this, but I think your saying 'Haste makes waste' didn't make sense at that point, you should have said 'Hasten to do good' or something like that." The mother looked nervous, "So, you knew all the proverbs that I mentioned?" Hansel said, "Yes. Sorry. I couldn't say so, as you looked happy." She felt offended and thought about another 'picnic' outing, but remembered and asked, "You said you wanted to say two things, what's the other?" Hansel looked uneasy but said, "Can I call you 'mom'?" She felt weak and couldn't say anything, she just nodded. When their father got home, he soon realized that the atmosphere was somehow different from before, it was kind of cheerful. Together -- his wife, Hansel and Gretel -- had a fun time teasing him throughout the night. |
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*homicide : the crime of killing someone (C)
*remorse : the feeling that you are sorry for something bad that you have done (C)
*hesitant : If you are hesitant, you do not do something immediately or quickly because you are nervous or not certain (C)