And when they came nearer they saw that the house was built of bread and roofed with cakes;  and the window was of transparent sugar.  »We will have some of this,«  said Hänsel,  »and make a fine meal.  I will eat a piece of the roof, Gretel, and you can have some of the window—that will taste sweet.«  So Hänsel reached up and broke off a bit of the roof, just to see how it tasted, and Gretel stood by the window and gnawed at it.  Then they heard a thin voice call out from inside,

        »Nibble, nibble, like a mouse,
        Who is nibbling at my house?«

And the children answered,

        »The wind, the wind,
        The heaven-borne wind.«

And they went on eating, never disturbing themselves.  Hänsel, who found that the roof tasted very nice, took down a great piece of it, and Gretel pulled out a large round windowpane, sat down, and enjoyed herself with it.

 

 

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