Hansel and Gretel: The Candy House · chapter 3 of 4
The Witch's Cage
巫婆的笼子
A kind old granny takes the starving children in, with warm milk, sweet pancakes and two little white beds. But Gretel notices something strange about her eyes.
Read what you hear
- Gretel 是风，是风！是天上的风！
Shì fēng, shì fēng! Shì tiānshàng de fēng!
It's the wind, only the wind! The wind from the sky!
- Hansel 对，风……风也很饿！
Duì, fēng… fēng yě hěn è!
Yes, the wind… and the wind's very hungry!
- Narrator 门忽然开了。一个很老很老的老奶奶，慢慢走了出来。
Mén hūrán kāi le. Yí gè hěn lǎo hěn lǎo de lǎo nǎinai, mànmàn zǒu le chūlái.
Suddenly the door opened, and a very, very old woman came slowly out.
Chapter 3 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of Hansel and Gretel: The Candy House is free, and so are The Second Cup of Tea, Mulan, The Butterfly Lovers, Journey to the West: The Monkey King, Cinderella, The Night of the Nian, Chang'e and the Moon, The Great Race: The Twelve Animals, Aesop's Fables, Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs, The Ugly Duckling, Pangu and Nüwa: How the World Began, Beauty and the Beast, The Magic Lotus Lantern, Alice in Wonderland, Zhong Kui the Demon Queller and The Odyssey from start to finish.
- Hansel 啊！奶奶，对不起！我们……我们太饿了！
À! Nǎinai, duìbuqǐ! Wǒmen… wǒmen tài è le!
Oh! Sorry, Granny! We… we were just so hungry!
- The Witch 哎呀，两个好孩子！别怕，进来吧。里面还有更好吃的！
Āiyā, liǎng gè hǎo háizi! Bié pà, jìnlái ba. Lǐmiàn hái yǒu gèng hǎochī de!
Oh my, two sweet children! Don't be afraid. Come in, there's even better food inside!
- The Witch 喝点儿热牛奶，吃点儿甜饼和苹果。多吃点儿，多吃点儿！
Hē diǎnr rè niúnǎi, chī diǎnr tián bǐng hé píngguǒ. Duō chī diǎnr, duō chī diǎnr!
Have some warm milk, some sweet pancakes and apples. Eat up, eat up!
- Hansel 奶奶，您真好！我是不是在做梦？
Nǎinai, nín zhēn hǎo! Wǒ shì bu shì zài zuò mèng?
Granny, you're so kind! Am I dreaming?
- The Witch 晚上，你们就睡在这两张小白床上。好好睡吧……
Wǎnshang, nǐmen jiù shuì zài zhè liǎng zhāng xiǎo bái chuáng shang. Hǎohǎo shuì ba…
Tonight you'll sleep in these two little white beds. Sleep well…
- Gretel 奶奶的眼睛红红的，好像看不清楚。可是她老是在闻我们……
Nǎinai de yǎnjing hónghóng de, hǎoxiàng kàn bù qīngchu. Kěshì tā lǎoshì zài wén wǒmen…
Granny's eyes are red, and she can't seem to see very well. But she keeps sniffing at us…
- Narrator 原来，这个老奶奶不是好人。她是一个巫婆。
Yuánlái, zhège lǎo nǎinai bú shì hǎo rén. Tā shì yí gè wūpó.
As it turned out, the old woman was not kind at all. She was a witch.
- The Witch 哈哈，又来了两个！我的面包房子，真好用！
Hāha, yòu lái le liǎng gè! Wǒ de miànbāo fángzi, zhēn hǎo yòng!
Ha ha! Two more! My little bread house works every time!
- Narrator 第二天一早，巫婆抓起汉赛尔，把他关进了一个小笼子。
Dì èr tiān yì zǎo, wūpó zhuā qǐ Hànsài'ěr, bǎ tā guān jìn le yí gè xiǎo lóngzi.
Early the next morning, the witch grabbed Hansel and shut him up in a little cage.
- Hansel 放我出去！放我出去！格莱特，救我！
Fàng wǒ chūqù! Fàng wǒ chūqù! Géláitè, jiù wǒ!
Let me out! Let me out! Gretel, help me!
- The Witch 叫吧，叫吧！在这个森林里，没有人听得见！
Jiào ba, jiào ba! Zài zhège sēnlín lǐ, méiyǒu rén tīng de jiàn!
Shout all you like! Out here in the forest, nobody can hear you!
- The Witch 懒丫头，快起来！去打水，给你哥哥做好吃的！
Lǎn yātou, kuài qǐlái! Qù dǎ shuǐ, gěi nǐ gēge zuò hǎochī de!
Get up, you lazy girl! Fetch water and cook something good for your brother!
- Gretel 给哥哥做好吃的？为什么？
Gěi gēge zuò hǎochī de? Wèishénme?
Cook something good for Hansel? Why?
- The Witch 他还不够胖。我天天摸他的手指，等他胖了，我就吃了他！
Tā hái bú gòu pàng. Wǒ tiāntiān mō tā de shǒuzhǐ, děng tā pàng le, wǒ jiù chī le tā!
He isn't fat enough yet. I'll feel his finger every day, and when he's nice and fat, I'm going to eat him!
- Gretel 不……不能这样……哥哥，我该怎么办？
Bù… bù néng zhèyàng… gēge, wǒ gāi zěnme bàn?
No… this can't be happening… Oh Hansel, what do I do?
- Narrator 从那天起，汉赛尔在笼子里天天吃最好的饭。格莱特只能吃一点点。
Cóng nà tiān qǐ, Hànsài'ěr zài lóngzi lǐ tiāntiān chī zuì hǎo de fàn. Géláitè zhǐ néng chī yìdiǎndiǎn.
From that day on, Hansel got the best food every day in his cage, and Gretel got only scraps.
- The Witch 汉赛尔，多吃点儿，多吃点儿！快点儿胖起来吧！
Hànsài'ěr, duō chī diǎnr, duō chī diǎnr! Kuài diǎnr pàng qǐlái ba!
Eat up, Hansel, eat up! Hurry up and get nice and fat!
- Gretel 哥哥，拿着这个小骨头。巫婆眼睛不好，看不清楚！
Gēge, názhe zhège xiǎo gǔtou. Wūpó yǎnjing bù hǎo, kàn bù qīngchu!
Hansel, take this little bone. The witch's eyes are bad. She can't see clearly!
- The Witch 汉赛尔，把手指给我！我摸摸，看你胖了没有。
Hànsài'ěr, bǎ shǒuzhǐ gěi wǒ! Wǒ mōmo, kàn nǐ pàng le méiyǒu.
Hansel, give me your finger! Let me feel if you're fat yet.
- Hansel 给您，奶奶。这是我的手指！
Gěi nín, nǎinai. Zhè shì wǒ de shǒuzhǐ!
Here you are, Granny. That's my finger!
- The Witch 还是这么小，这么硬？你怎么还不胖？
Hái shi zhème xiǎo, zhème yìng? Nǐ zěnme hái bú pàng?
Still this skinny? Still this hard? Why aren't you getting fat?
- Hansel 格莱特，她真的看不清楚！她以为骨头是我的手指！
Géláitè, tā zhēn de kàn bù qīngchu! Tā yǐwéi gǔtou shì wǒ de shǒuzhǐ!
Gretel, she really can't see! She thinks the bone is my finger!
- Gretel 小声点儿！她看不清楚，可是听得见！
Xiǎoshēng diǎnr! Tā kàn bù qīngchu, kěshì tīng de jiàn!
Shh, not so loud! She can't see, but she can hear!
- Narrator 一天，两天……四个星期过去了。巫婆天天来看，汉赛尔还是不胖。
Yì tiān, liǎng tiān… sì gè xīngqī guòqù le. Wūpó tiāntiān lái kàn, Hànsài'ěr hái shi bú pàng.
One day, two days… four weeks went by. The witch checked every morning, and Hansel never got any fatter.
- The Witch 我不想再等了！不胖也没关系，明天我就吃了他！
Wǒ bù xiǎng zài děng le! Bú pàng yě méi guānxi, míngtiān wǒ jiù chī le tā!
I'm done waiting! Fat or not, tomorrow I'm going to eat him!
- Gretel 不要！奶奶，求求您，不要吃我哥哥！
Bú yào! Nǎinai, qiúqiu nín, bú yào chī wǒ gēge!
No! Granny, please, please don't eat my brother!
- The Witch 哭有什么用？明天一早，你去把炉子烧热。我们先烤面包！
Kū yǒu shénme yòng? Míngtiān yì zǎo, nǐ qù bǎ lúzi shāo rè. Wǒmen xiān kǎo miànbāo!
What good is crying? First thing tomorrow, go and heat up the oven. We'll bake some bread first!
- Hansel 格莱特，怎么办？小骨头也没有用了……
Géláitè, zěnme bàn? Xiǎo gǔtou yě méiyǒu yòng le…
Gretel, what do we do? The little bone can't save me now…
- Gretel 哥哥，别怕。这一次，我有办法！
Gēge, bié pà. Zhè yí cì, wǒ yǒu bànfǎ!
Don't be afraid, Hansel. This time, I have a plan!
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- What does Gretel say when the voice asks who is eating the house?
“是风，是风！是天上的风！”
- What does Gretel notice about the old woman?
“奶奶的眼睛红红的，好像看不清楚。可是她老是在闻我们……”
- Why does the witch want Gretel to cook good food for Hansel?
“等他胖了，我就吃了他！”
- How do the children fool the witch every morning?
“拿着这个小骨头。巫婆眼睛不好，看不清楚！”……“这是我的手指！”
- What does the witch tell Gretel to do first thing tomorrow?
“明天一早，你去把炉子烧热。”