Hansel and Gretel A Fariry Opera in Three Acts (English Edition) [Kindle-editie] beoordelingen het boek quotes

Hänsel and Gretel is an opera in three acts, the music by Engelbert Humperdinck and the libretto by Adelheid Wette. It is the German version of the old nursery legend—Babes in the Wood.The first scene discloses a wretched homestead. The two children, Hänsel and Gretel, are at work—the boy making brooms and the girl knitting stockings. They both complain of feeling very hungry, and there isn't a thing in the house. Yes, there's a jug of milk that will make nice blanc-mange when mother comes home. Hänsel tastes it and Gretel raps his fingers. He says he won't work any more and proposes they dance instead. Gretel is delighted. He is very awkward at first but she teaches him the steps and they are getting along so famously that they whirl around the room and fall exhausted on the floor. At this moment the mother enters and she is so angry at seeing them do no work that she boxes their ears for it. In her excitement she gives the milk pitcher a push. It falls off the table, breaks in pieces, and spills all the milk. At this she is beside herself and seizes a basket and tells the children to go to the wood and pick strawberries. They must not come home till the basket is full. They run off while she, weary of life, sits sobbing herself to sleep.