The True Story of Hansel and Gretel

Magda and Hansel nurse Gretel, who is very sick. Gretel is delirious with fever, and Magda fears she will try to flee the hut. Magda retrieves a chicken cage from the snow and puts Gretel inside to prevent her from harming herself. When Gretel realizes that she is caged, she accuses Magda of planning to eat her. This situation recalls the fairy tale “Hansel and Gretel,” in which the witch cages Hansel while fattening him up to cook. Gretel’s fever continues to rage, and she begins to scream. Hansel remembers a custom of the ghetto. He pretends to sell Gretel to Magda and says aloud that she is dead. He also burns her clothes. By taking these actions, Hansel hopes to trick the angel of death into leaving Gretel alone. Suddenly, Gretel’s fever breaks and it seems she will recover.

Magda feels relieved. In her exuberance, she practices a custom of her grandmother’s by telling Hansel’s future. Though she says that he will live a long life and bear children, she also says that he will have to be the older sibling to Gretel. Hansel wants to take Magda and Gretel around the world with him. Once he has fallen asleep, Magda says aloud that she will not live to see his children or travel with him.