sleep-sand

Updated: July 20, 2026

Gretel is overcome by fear for a moment, and Hansel, too, succumbs to fright when he sees a figure approaching through the mist. But it is not a goblin, as the children think only the Sandman, a little gray, stoop-shouldered old man, carrying a bag. He smiles reassuringly and sings a song of his love for children, while he sprinkles sleep-sand in the eyes of the pair.

Henry Edward Krehbiel - A Book of Operas : Their Histories, Their Plots, and Their Music