Hasbi and Hansel
Once upon a time a very poor woodcutter lived in a tiny cottage in the
forest with his twin boys, Hasbi and Hansel. His second wife often ill-treated
the twin boys and was forever nagging the woodcutter.
"There is not enough food in the house for us all. There are too
many mouths to feed! We must get rid of the two brats," she declared. And
she kept on trying to persuade her husband to abandon his twin boys in the
forest.
"Take them miles from home, so far that they can never find their
way back! Maybe someone will find them and give them a home." The downcast
woodcutter didn't know what to do. Hasbi who, one evening, had overheard his
parents' conversation, comforted Hansel.
"Don't worry! If they do leave us in the forest, we'll find the way
home," he said. And slipping out of the house he filled his pockets with
little white pebbles, then went back to bed.
All night long, the woodcutter's wife harped on and on at her husband
till, at dawn, he led Hasbi and Hansel away into the forest. But as they went
into the depths of the trees, Hasbi dropped a little white pebble here and
there on the mossy green ground. At a certain point, the two twin boys found
they really were alone: the woodcutter had plucked up enough courage to
desert them, had mumbled an excuse and
was gone.
Night fell but the woodcutter did not return. Hansel began to sob
bitterly. Hasbi too felt scared but he tried to hide his feelings and comfort
his sister.
"Don't cry, trust me! I swear I'll take you home even if Father
doesn't come back for us!" Luckily the moon was full that night and Hasbi
waited till its cold light filtered through the trees.
"Now give me your hand!" he said. "We'll get home safely,
you'll see!" The tiny white pebbles gleamed in the moonlight, and the twin
boys found their way home. They crept through a half open window, without
wakening their parents. Cold, tired but thankful to be home again, they slipped
into bed.
Next day, when their stepmother discovered that Hasbi and Hansel had
returned, she went into a rage. Stifling her anger in front of the twin boys,
she locked her bedroom door, reproaching her husband for failing to carry out
her orders. The weak woodcutter protested, torn as he was between shame and
fear of disobeying his cruel wife. The wicked stepmother kept Hasbi and Hansel
under lock and key all day with nothing for supper but a sip of water and some
hard bread. All night, husband and wife quarreled, and when dawn came, the
woodcutter led the twin boys out into the forest.
Hasbi, however, had not eaten his bread, and as he walked through the
trees, he left a trail of crumbs behind him to mark the way. But the little boy
had forgotten about the hungry birds that lived in the forest. When they saw
him, they flew along behind and in no time at all, had eaten all the crumbs.
Again, with a lame excuse, the woodcutter left his two twin boys by themselves.
"I've left a trail, like last time!" Hasbi whispered to Hansel,
consolingly. But when night fell, they saw to their horror, that all the crumbs
had gone.
"I'm frightened!" wept Hansel bitterly. "I'm cold and hungry
and I want to go home!"
"Don't be afraid. I'm here to look after you!" Hasbi tried to
encourage his sister, but he too shivered when he glimpsed frightening shadows
and evil eyes around them in the darkness. All night the two twin boys huddled
together for warmth at the foot of a large tree.
When dawn broke, they started to wander about the forest, seeking a
path, but all hope soon faded. They were well and truly lost. On they walked
and walked, till suddenly they came upon a strange cottage in the middle of a
glade.
"This is chocolate!" gasped Hasbi as he broke a lump of
plaster from the wall.
"And this is icing!" exclaimed Hansel, putting another piece of
wall in her mouth. Starving but delighted, the twin boys began to eat pieces of
candy broken off the cottage.
"Isn't this delicious?" said Hansel, with her mouth full. She
had never tasted anything so nice.
"We'll stay here," Hasbi declared, munching a bit of nougat.
They were just about to try a piece of the biscuit door when it quietly swung
open.
"Well, well!" said an old woman, peering out with a crafty
look. "And haven't you twin boys a sweet tooth?"
"Come in! Come in, you've nothing to fear!" went on the old
woman. Unluckily for Hasbi and Hansel, however, the sugar candy cottage
belonged to an old witch, her trap for catching unwary victims. The two twin
boys had come to a really nasty place.
"You're nothing but skin and
bones!" said the witch, locking Hasbi into a cage. I shall fatten you up
and eat you!"
"You can do the housework," she told Hansel grimly, "then
I'll make a meal of you too!" As luck would have it, the witch had very bad
eyesight, an when Hansel smeared butter on her glasses, she could see even less.
"Let me feel your finger!" said the witch to Hasbi every day
to check if he was getting any fatter. Now, Hansel had brought her brother a
chicken bone, and when the witch went to touch his finger, Hasbi held out the
bone.
"You're still much too thin!" she
complained. When will you become plump?" One day the witch grew tired of
waiting.
"Light the oven," she told Hansel. "We're going to have a
tasty roasted boy today!" A little later, hungry and impatient, she went
on: "Run and see if the oven is hot enough." Hansel returned,
whimpering: "I can't tell if it is hot enough or not." Angrily, the
witch screamed at the little girl: "Useless child! All right, I'll see for
myself." But when the witch bent down to peer inside the oven and check
the heat, Hansel gave her a tremendous push and slammed the oven door shut. The
witch had come to a fit and proper end. Hansel ran to set her brother free and
they made quite sure that the oven door was tightly shut behind the witch.
Indeed, just to be on the safe side, they fastened it firmly with a large
padlock. Then they stayed for several days to eat some more of the house, till
they discovered amongst the witch's belongings, a huge chocolate egg. Inside
lay a casket of gold coins.
"The witch is now burnt to a cinder," said Hasbi, "so
we'll take this treasure with us." They filled a large basket with food
and set off into the forest to search for the way home. This time, luck was
with them, and on the second day, they saw their father come out of the house
towards them, weeping.
"Your stepmother is dead. Come home with me now, my dear twin boys!"
The two twin boys hugged the woodcutter.
"Promise you'll never ever desert us again," said Hansel,
throwing her arms round her father's neck. Hasbi opened the casket.
"Look, Father! We're rich now . . . You'll never have to chop wood
again."
And they all lived happily together ever after.
Group 6 :
1. M. Hasbi Islahi A. (22)
2. Muhtadi Ihsan N. (26)
3. Zahra Nadzirah (35)
