Ji Zhang		2/6/1999		Per3 Ger3
Das Bruederchen und das Schwesterchen (short story) Translation

“The little brother & little sister”

1	There was once a poor woodcutter who lived in a big forest.  He was so poor, that he could hardly 
feed his wife and his two children.  One day he had no more bread and was in deep worry, then his wife at 
night in bed tells him, “Take both children tomorrow morning and lead them into the big forest, give them 
the remaining bread and make them a big fire and then go away and leave them alone.”  The man did not 
want this for a long time, but the wife left him no peace, until he conceded in the end. 
2.	But the kids heard everything that the mother said.  The sister began to cry; the brother said to her, 
she should be calm and consoled her.  Then he stood quietly up and went outside the door.  There was 
moonshine, and the small white stones glowed in front of the house.  The lad carefully picked them up and 
filled his pocket with as much as he could bring.  Then he went again to his sister in bed and went to sleep.
3.	 Early in the morning, before the sun rose, the father and mother came and woke up the kids who 
should go into the big forest.  They gave each a piece of bread.  The sister put it under the apron because 
the brother had the pocket full of stones.  Then they went away to the path to the big forest.  The brother 
often stood still and looked back at their house.  The father said, “Why do you always stay and look back?”  
“Ach,” answered the brother, “I am seeing my white cats that sit on the roof and want to tell me ‘good-
bye.”  But he always secretly drops the white stones.  The mother says, “Go away, it is not your kitten.  It is 
the morning dew that shines on the rock.”  But the lad still always glanced back and always again dropped 
a stone.  
4	So they went away together and in the end came to the big forest.  There the father made a big fire 
and the mother said, “Sleep, kids, we want to go into the forest and cut wood.  Wait until we come again.”  
The kids sat at the fire, and each ate his piece of bread.  They waited for a long time until it was night, but 
the parents did not come back again.  The sister began to cry, but the brother consoled her and took her 
hand.  The moon shined, and the white stones glowed and showed them the way.  And the bother led the 
sister through the entire night, and they came in the morning to the house again.  The father was happy 
because he did not want to do it.  But the mother was angry.
5.	Soon afterwards they had no bread again, and the brother heard again at night in bed how the 
mother told the father, he should bring the kids out to the big forest.  Here the sister began to cry 
hysterically again, and the brother stood up again and wanted to find stones.  But when he came to the door, 
it was locked by the mother.  Here the brother became worried, and the sister could not console.  
6.	Before it was day, they woke up again; each received a piece of bread again.  Like when they were 
on the bath, the brother often looked back.  The father asked, “My kid, why do you always stay and look 
back at the house?”  “Ach,” answered the brother, “I am seeing my pigeon that sits on the roof and wants to 
say “good-bye” to me.”  But he secretly broke his piece of bread into crumbs and dropped crumbs again.  
The mother said, “Go away, it is not your pigeon, it is the morning dew that shines on the rocks.”  But the 
brother still always looked back and always dropped a crumb.  
7.	When they came into the middle of the forest, the father made a big fire again, the mother said 
again the same words, and went away.  The sister gave the brother half of her bread because the brother had 
thrown his on the path.  They waited until evening, then the brother and sister wanted to go back by 
moonshine.  But the birds have devoured the breadcrumbs, and they could not find the way.  They went for 
a long time and lost their way in the big forest.  ON the third day, they came to a house that was made out 
of bread.  The roof was covered with cake, and the windows were out of sugar.  The kids were happy when 
they saw it, and the brother ate from the roof, and the sister at from the window.  As they stood and left 
tasted the goodness, a faint voice called out, “Crunch, crunch!  Who crunches my house?”  
8.	The kids were very scared.  Soon out came a small old woman; she took the amiably by hands, 
lead them in the house, and gave them good food, and put them in pretty beds.  On the next day, she put the 
brother in a room; he should be a pig, and the sister must bring him water and good food.  Everyday the old 
lady came to the brother.  He must spread out the finger and she felt if he was fat.  But he always spread 
bones out, she thought, he was still not fat enough.  She did not give the sister food because she should not 
be fat.  After four weeks, she said to the sister, “Go and fetch water and make hot tomorrow morning; we 
want your brother killed and sliced, and meanwhile I want to make a dough that we can also bake.  
9.	On the next day, when the water was hot, she called the sister to the oven and tells her, “Sit on the 
bed; I want to push you in the oven: see if the bread is almost finished.”  But she wanted to leave the sister 
in it and baked.  The sister noticed and told her, “I do not understand that, you sit there first, I want to 
follow you.”  The elder sat there, and the sister pushed her inside, closed the door, and the witch burned.  
Then the sister went to the brother and opened the stable.  They found the house full of diamonds and 
precious stones.  Therefore they filled all pockets and brought them to their father, who became a rich man.  
But the mother was dead.