Many years ago, there was a woodcutter. He lived deep in the forest with his wife. She was a kind and gentle woman. They had two children: Hansel and Gretel.
The family did not have much money, but their home was always cozy and warm, and the children always had soup and bread to eat. They never went hungry.
One year, there was a terribly cold winter, and Hansel and Gretel's mother became ill and died.
In time the woodcutter married another woman, but she was not kind and gentle. She was cruel and selfish. She wanted to be rich, and she wanted to eat fancy foods like roast beef, mashed potatoes, peas, corn, lemon cakes, and exotic fruits from sunny lands.
She was angry that they could only afford soup and bread for every meal.
"Soup and bread! Soup and bread! Every day! Soup and bread! I am so tired of soup and bread!" she complained.
The stepmother was especially cruel to Hansel and Gretel because she believed they were the reason the family was so poor.
"You children eat too much! It's your fault that we only have soup and bread!"
She wanted the children gone.
One day, while the woodcutter was out cutting wood, the stepmother called Hansel and Gretel into the kitchen of their cottage.
"There is not enough food to make soup for dinner”, said the stepmother. "We will all go hungry tonight. Go into the forest and pick some mushrooms to make a mushroom soup. I know where the best mushrooms grow…"
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