Hansel and Gretel
Two abandoned children lost in the woods who find their way back — and out of a cannibal witch's house — by their wits.
Origin
Brothers Grimm, 1812. A famine-stricken stepmother convinces the father to abandon his two children deep in the forest. Hansel marks the path with pebbles the first time and gets them home; on the second attempt he uses breadcrumbs, which birds eat. Lost, they find a cottage made of bread and cake, owned by a witch who fattens them up to eat. Gretel shoves the witch into her own oven. The two return home with her treasure.
Modern usage
The breadcrumb trail has become its own metaphor in UX design ('breadcrumb navigation'), investigations, and any context where someone follows clues back to an origin. 'A gingerbread house' is shorthand for a too-attractive offer baited with something nasty inside. The fairy tale itself is a fixture of children's theatre and a Humperdinck opera.
In the wild
The job listing was a gingerbread house — six months in, the whole role was different.— career advice
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