Hansel and Gretel

A poor woodcutter and his wife had two children named Hansel and Gretel. Their mother died
when they were young. Hansel and Gretel were very sad. Soon their father remarried but their
stepmother was very cruel. One day, she took the children deep into the forest and left them
there. Clever Hansel had some breadcrumbs in his pocket and had dropped them on the way so
that they could find their way back home. Alas! The birds ate all the crumbs and they couldnt
find the path that led back home.
Hansel and Gretel went deeper and deeper into the forest. They were hungry and tired. Finally,
after walking for a long time, they saw a cottage made of chocolate, candies, and cake. Look,
Hansel! A chocolate brick! shouted
Gretel in delight and both ate it hungrily.
Now, a wicked witch lived there. When she saw Hansel and Gretel, she wanted to eat them. She
grabbed the children and locked them in a cage. The witch decided to make a soup out of Hansel
and eat him first. She began boiling a huge pot of water for the soup. Just then, Gretel crept out
of her cage. She gave the wicked witch a mighty push from behind and the witch fell into the
boiling water. She howled in pain and died instantly. Hansel and Gretel found treasure lying
around the cottage. They carried it home with them. Their stepmother had died and their father
welcomed them back with tears of joy. They never went hungry again!
Heidi
Heidi (short for Adelheid), a little Swiss girl, is take by her maternal aunt to live with her
paternal grandfather, who lives alone high on a mountain (the Alm, from which he is locally
called "Alm Uncle")and has as little to do with anyone else as he can help. Heidi, an orphan, has
been brought up by her mother's relatives until now, but now the aunt has been offered a job in
Frankfurt and can't take Heidi with her. The grandfather does his best to fit the little girl into his
solitary life and grows to be very attached to her. She proves a good influence on him and on
Peter, a neighbor boy down the mountain who lives with his widowed mother and his blind
grandmother. Once Heidi has become a part of these people's lives, her aunt, Dete, returns and
takes her off to Frankfurt to be a companion to Clara Seseman, the crippled daughter of a friend
of Dete's employer. The Seseman family becomes very fond of Heidi, despite the resentment of
Fraulein Rottenmeyer, who is either Clara' governess or the housekeeper and who keeps trying to
put Heidi "in her place." Clara's grandmother comes for a prolonged visit and takes Heidi to her
heart as the rest of the family has. Eventually Heidi becomes so homesick that she begins
sleepwalking, and the Sesemans realize that they must send her home--but Clara is to accompany
her. At home, Peter becomes jealous of Clara and, thinking that without her wheelchair she will
have to go home, secretly pushes it down the mountain and smashes it. Instead of sending Clara
home, however, Heidi's grandfather carries her about until they agree that a better solution exists,
and when Herr Seseman comes to take Clara home, he finds her walking.. At the end, the
Sesemans depart but promise to return for a visit every year.