Hansel and GregoryOnce upon a time at the edge of a great forest, there lived a lonely woodcutter and his son, Hansel. The woodcutter’s wife had died in childbirth some years before; the child, a baby girl, had also died. The woodcutter had so loved his wife that he withdrew from all society, except his son. There was a village nearby, but the woodcutter always sent Hansel to sell their wood to the villagers. Their life had a pleasant rhythm. They woke at dawn and fixed a modest breakfast—usually of porridge and goat’s milk. Hansel would then feed the chickens and gather eggs while his father fed and milked the goats—separating the milk for drinking and cooking with the milk to set for cheeses. Then they worked in their small garden, weeding and picking ripe vegetables, fruit, and herbs. D
