Hansel and Gretel

糖果屋

Long ago there lived a little brother and sister whose names were Hansel and Gretel。

很久以前，有一對小兄妹，他們的名字叫漢賽爾和格蕾特。

They lived with their father and stepmother in a tiny cottage at the edge of a forest。

他們和父親、繼母一起住在森林邊上的一間小屋裡。

Hansel and Gretel‘s father was a woodcutter。 He used to chop trees in the forest。

漢賽爾和格蕾特的父親是個樵夫。他過去常在森林裡砍樹。

He didn’t earn very much money from his work， so the family had very little to eat。

他的工作掙不了多少錢，所以一家人吃得很少。

Hansel and Gretel‘s stepmother did not like the children，

漢賽爾和格蕾特的繼母不喜歡這兩個孩子，

she thought they ate too much and that caring for them was too much work。

她覺得他們吃得太多了，照顧他們太辛苦了。

One night， she complained to Hansel and Gretel’s father，

一天晚上，她向漢賽爾和格蕾特的父親抱怨道，

“I am fed up with your children， you need to leave them in the woods。”

“我受夠了你的孩子們，你得把他們留在樹林裡。”

“I can‘t do that！They are my children！”。

“我做不到！他們是我的孩子！”，

“Of course you can！ I’ll show you how！ Tomorrow at dawn， we‘ll take them into the forest and leave them there！”

“你當然可以！我來教你怎麼做！ 明天黎明，我們就把他們帶到森林裡，把他們留在那裡！”

Hansel was still awake and he heard everything his stepmother had said。

漢賽爾還醒著，他聽到了繼母所說的一切。

Later that night， Hansel snuck out of the house and picked up some shiny white pebbles that were sparkling in the dark。

那天晚上晚些時候，漢賽爾偷偷溜出房子，撿起一些在黑暗中閃閃發光的白色鵝卵石。

At dawn the next day， Hansel and Gretel’s stepmother called out to them。

第二天黎明時分，漢賽爾和格蕾特的繼母喊他們。

“Your father and I are going to the forest to chop wood。”

“你爸爸和我要去森林裡砍柴。”

“You children are coming with us， here‘s a loaf of bread in case you get hungry。”

“孩子們跟我們走，這裡有條麵包，你們餓了再吃。”

As they walked into the forest， Hansel secretly dropped the pebbles he had to mark the path。

當他們走進森林時，漢賽爾偷偷扔下鵝卵石用來標記道路。

When they arrived deep in the heart of the forest， the children’s father and stepmother split off to chop some wood。

當他們到達森林深處時，孩子們的父親和繼母要走開去劈柴。

“We are going to chop wood。 You two must wait here till we return。”

“我們要去砍柴。你們倆必須在這裡等我們回來。”

“Yes， mother！”

“是的，媽媽！”

The kids spent the whole day alone in the forest，

孩子們在森林裡獨自呆了一整天，

as night approached， Hansel and Gretel‘s father and stepmother had not returned。

當夜幕降臨時，漢賽爾和格蕾特的父親和繼母還沒有回來。

“I’m starting to get really scared， when are mother and father going to come back to take us home？”

“我開始真的害怕了，爸爸媽媽什麼時候回來接我們回家呢？”

“I don‘t think they’re coming back， Gretel， but you don‘t have to worry， I’ll get us home。”

“我想他們不會回來了，格蕾特，但你不用擔心，我會帶我們回家的。”

The pebbles Hansel had dropped on the ground were sparkling in the dark，

漢賽爾扔在地上的鵝卵石在黑暗中閃閃發光，

and the kids were able to follow them all the way back to their house。

孩子們可以一路跟著它們回家。

Their father was delighted to see them。 “Hansel and Gretel！ Thank goodness you are safe！ I am sorry！ I‘ll never leave you alone again。”

他們的父親見到他們很高興。“漢賽爾和格蕾特！謝天謝地你們平安無事！對不起！我再也不會把你們單獨丟下了。”

Hansel and Gretel’s father went to the town to repair his axe，

漢賽爾和格蕾特的父親去鎮上修理他的斧頭，

and Hansel and Gretel were left alone in the house with their stepmother。

漢賽爾和格蕾特與他們的繼母單獨留在房子裡。

“Hmm！ Now that their father is far away， this is the perfect time for me to get rid of those brats。”

“哼！現在他們的爸爸已經走遠，這是我把那些小鬼趕走的最佳時機。”