They walked the whole night long, and by break of day came once more to their father's house.

兄妹俩走了一整夜，破晓时分才回到家门口。

They knocked at the door, and when the woman opened it and saw that it was Hansel and Gretel, she said, "you naughty children, why have you slept so long in the forest. We thought you were never coming back at all."

他们敲了门，继母开门后发现是韩赛尔和格蕾特，于是说：“你们这两个调皮鬼，为什么在森林里睡这么久？我们以为你们再也不回来了呢！”

The father, however, rejoiced, for it had cut him to the heart to leave them behind alone.

看到孩子归来，父亲喜出望外，不得已抛弃孩子让他心里十分难过。

Not long afterwards, there was once more great dearth throughout the land, and the children heard their mother saying at night to their father, "everything is eaten again, we have one half loaf left, and that is the end. The children must go, we will take them farther into the wood, so that they will not find their way out again. There is no other means of saving ourselves."

没过多久，又发生了一场大饥荒，而且比上一次更严重。孩子们又偷听到继母夜里跟父亲说：“能吃的东西都吃得差不多了，家里只剩最后的半条面包，接下来又要挨饿了。孩子必须送走，这次我们得带他们到森林更深的地方，这样他们就找不到回来的路了。只有这么做我们才能活下去。”

The man's heart was heavy, and he thought, it would be better for you to share the last mouthful with your children. The woman, however, would listen to nothing that he had to say, but scolded and reproached him.

丈夫听到妻子又想抛弃孩子，心情很是沉重，心想：为人父母同孩子分享最后一口面包岂不是更好？可是妻子一点也不想听到丈夫为孩子辩护，反过来责备起丈夫。

He who says a must say b, likewise, and as he had yielded the first time, he had to do so a second time also.

正所谓“谁套上笼头，谁就得拉车”，正如上次那样，丈夫向妻子妥协了，他只得再度抛弃孩子。

Next Chapter......>>

下一话

（本文翻译：Frank）