Iba vs Era in context

Question

If you cant tell by my ejemplos below, estoy tratando a leer Hansel y Gretel en espanol y yo necesito ayuda...

I have come across the following usage of the verb ir:

"... Hansel iba haciendo migajas el pan y las iba arrojando por donde pasaba."

I translate this as "...hansel was making bread crumbs and he was throwing them..."

Pero, si yo tenia que traducir esta frasa, yo voy a decir:

...Hansel era haciendo migajas el pan y las era arrojando...

Any comments on this would be wonderful! If this is just another way of saying he was making and he was throwing, could you also give me your LITERAL, although perhaps unintelligible, english translation? I dont understand the usage of ir in this context...

Answer 1

Hansel went making bread crumbs and went throwing them where he passed through.

Lorenzo... I thought about and eliminated this option in my head, but now that you have put it on paper it makes alot of sense in this context as he was entering the forest with his parents... Thank you very much! - wallpaper, Nov 12, 2009