The brushwood was lighted, and when the flames were burning very high the woman said:—
“Now, children, lie down by the fire and rest; we will go into the forest and cut some wood. When we have done, we will come back and fetch you away.”
Hansel and Grethel sat by the fire, and when noon came, each ate a little piece of bread, and as they heard the strokes of the wood-axe they were sure their father was near. But it was not the axe, it was a branch which he had tied to a dry tree, and the wind was blowing it backward and forward. As they had been sitting such a long time they were tired, their eyes shut, and they fell fast asleep. When at last they awoke, it was dark night.
Grethel began to cry, and said, “How are we to get out of the forest now?”
But Hansel comforted her, saying, “Just wait a little, until the moon has risen, and then we will soon find the way.”
And when the full moon had risen, Hansel took his little sister by the hand, and followed the pebbles, which shone like bright silver pieces, and showed them the way.
They walked the whole night long, and by break of day came once more to their father's house.
They knocked at the door, and when the woman opened it, and saw that it was Hansel and Grethel, she said, “You naughty children, why have you slept so long in the forest? we thought you were never coming back at all!”
The father, however, was glad, for it had cut him to the heart to leave them behind alone.
Not long after, there was once more a great lack of food in all parts, and the children heard the woman saying at night to their father:—