"The Nutcracker" by E.T.A. Hoffman

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:18):
Welcome to Season 3 of Classic Christmas Stories.
We are diving into theenchanting world of the
Nutcracker.
Originally penned by ETAHoffman as the Nutcracker and
the Mouse King, this tale hasbecome a beloved holiday classic
through its adaptation byAlexander Dumas and most

(00:38):
famously through Tchaikovsky'sballet.
Here we meet a young girl namedMarie on Christmas Eve, who
receives a magical nutcrackerfrom her mysterious godfather.
As the night unfolds, sheembarks on an extraordinary
adventure where toys come tolife and she battles the Mouse
King alongside her bravenutcracker.

(00:58):
It's a story of courage, magicand the wonder of Christmas.
So gather the family and enjoythis holiday story.
The Nutcracker by ETA Hoffman,chapter 1.

(01:24):
Christmas Eve On the 24th ofDecember, dr Stallam's children
were not allowed, on any pretextwhatever, at any time that day,
to go into the small drawingroom, much less into the best
drawing room into which itopened.
Fritz and Marie were sittingcowering together in a corner of

(01:44):
the back parlor when theevening twilight fell and they
began to feel terribly eerieSeeing that no candles were
brought, as was generally thecase on Christmas Eve.
Fritz, whispering in amysterious fashion, confided to
his young sister, who was justseven, that he had heard
rattlings and rustlings going onall day since early morning

(02:08):
inside the forbidden rooms, aswell as distant hammering
Further that a short time ago alittle dark-looking man had gone
, slipping and creeping acrossthe floor with a big box under
his arm, although he was wellaware that this little man was
no other than GodpapaDrosselmeyer.
At this news, marie clapped herhands with joy and cried oh, I

(02:32):
do wonder what pretty thingsGodpapa Drosselmeyer has been
making for us this time.
Godpapa Drosselmeyer wasanything but a nice-looking man.
He was small and lean, with agreat many wrinkles on his face,
a big patch of black plasterwhere his right eye ought to
have been, and not a hair on hishead, which was why he wore a

(02:54):
fine white wig made of glass anda very beautiful work of art.
But he was a very, very cleverman who even knew and understood
all about clocks and watchesand could make them himself, so
that when one of the beautifulclocks that were in Dr
Stahlbaum's house was out ofsorts and couldn't sing,
godpapel Trosselmeyer would come, take off his glass periwig and

(03:17):
his little yellow coat, girdhimself with a blue apron and
proceed to stick sharp-pointedinstruments into the inside of
the clock in a way that madelittle Marie quite miserable to
witness.
However, this didn't reallyhurt the poor clock which, on
the contrary, would come to lifeagain and begin to whir and
sing and strike as merrily asever, which caused everyone a

(03:41):
great satisfaction.
Of course, whenever he came, healways brought something
delightful in his pockets forthe children, perhaps a little
man who would roll his eyes andmake bows and scrapes most comic
to behold, or a box out ofwhich a little bird would jump,
or something else of the kind.
But for Christmas he always hadsome specially charming piece

(04:03):
of ingenuity, something whichhad cost him infinite pains and
labor, for which reason it wasalways taken away and put aside
with the greatest care by thechildren's parents.
Oh, what can God-PapaDrosselmeyer have been making
for us this time, marie cried.
As we have said, fritz was ofthe opinion that this time it

(04:25):
could hardly be anything but agreat castle, a fortress where
all sorts of pretty soldierswould be drilling and marching
about, and then that othersoldiers would come and try to
get into the fortress, uponwhich the soldiers inside would
fire away at them as pluckily asyou please with cannon, till
everything banged and thunderedlike anything.

(04:45):
No, no, marie, said.
Godpapa Drosselmeyer once toldme about a beautiful garden with
a great lake in it andbeautiful swans swimming about
with great gold collars singinglovely music.
And then a lovely girl comesdown through the garden to the
lake and calls the swans andfeeds them with shortbread and

(05:06):
cake.
Swans don't eat cake andshortbread.
Fritz cried rather rudely withmasculine superiority and God,
papa Drosselmeyer couldn't makea whole garden.
After all, we have got very fewof his playthings.
Whatever he brings is alwaystaken away from us.
So I like the things Papa andMama give us much better.

(05:28):
We keep them all rightourselves and can do what we
like with them.
The children went on discussingwhat he might have in store for
them.
This time, marie called Fritz'sattention to the fact that Miss
Gertrude, her biggest doll,appeared to be failing a great
deal as time went on, inasmuchas she was more clumsy and

(05:51):
awkward than ever, tumbling onthe floor every two or three
minutes.
This did not occur withoutleaving a very ugly mark on her
face, and of course propercondition of her clothes became
out of the question altogether.
Scolding was of no use.
Mama too had laughed at her forbeing so delighted with Miss
Gertrude's little new parasol.
Fritz again remarked that agood fox was needed for his

(06:11):
small zoological collection andthat his army was quite without
cavalry, as his papa was wellaware.
But the children knew thattheir elders had got all sorts
of charming things ready forthem and that the Christ child,
at Christmas, christmas time,took special care for their
wants.
Marie sat in thoughtful silence, but Fritz murmured quietly to

(06:32):
himself all the same, I shouldlike a fox and some hussars.
It was now quite dark.
Fritz and Marie, sitting closetogether, did not dare to utter
another syllable.
They felt as if there were afluttering of gentle, invisible
wings around them, while a verydistant but unutterably
beautiful strain of music coulddimly be heard.

(06:54):
Then a bright gleam of lightpassed quickly across the wall
and the children knew that theChrist child had sped away on
shining wings to other happychildren.
At this moment a silvery bellsaid Cling, cling, cling, cling.
The doors flew open and such abrilliance of light came
streaming from the drawing roomthat the children stood rooted

(07:17):
where they were with cries of oh, oh.
Papa and Mama came and tooktheir hands, saying Come now,
darlings, and see what theblessed Christ child has brought
for you.

(07:41):
Chapter 2.
The Christmas Presents.
I appeal to you, kind listener,fritz, theodore, ernest or
whatsoever your name may be, andI beg you to bring vividly
before your mind's eye your lastChristmas table, all glorious
with its various delightfulChristmas presents, and then
perhaps you will be able to formsome idea of the manner in

(08:04):
which the two children stoodspeechless, with their eyes
fixed on all the beautifulthings.
How, after a little while,marie, with a sigh, cried oh,
how lovely, how lovely.
And Fritz gave several jumps ofdelight.
The children had certainly beenvery, very good and well behaved
all the foregoing year to bethus rewarded for.

(08:27):
Never before had so manybeautiful and delightful things
been provided for them.
The great Christmas tree on thetable bore many apples of
silver and gold, and all itsbranches were heavy with bud and
blossom, consisting of sugar,almonds, many tinted ribbons and
all sorts of things to eat.
Perhaps the prettiest thingabout this wonder tree, however,

(08:50):
was the fact that in all therecesses of its spreading
branches, hundreds of littletapers glittered like stars,
inviting the children to pluckits flowers and fruit.
Also, all around the tree, onevery side, everything shone and
glittered in the loveliestmanner.
Oh, how many beautiful thingsthere were.
Who, oh who, could describethem all?

(09:12):
Marie gazed there at the mostdelicious dolls and all kinds of
toys and, what was theprettiest thing of all, a little
silk dress with many tintedribbons was hung on a projecting
branch so that she could admireit on all sides, which she
accordingly did, crying outseveral times oh what a lovely,

(09:34):
lovely, darling little dress.
And I suppose I do believe Ishall really be allowed to put
it on.
Fritz, in the meantime, had hadtwo or three trials of how his
new fox, which had been foundtied to the table, could gallop,
and now stated that he seemed awildest short of brute.
But no matter, he felt sure hewould soon get him well in order

(09:57):
.
And he set to work to musterhis new squadron of hussars,
admirably equipped in red andgold uniforms, with real silver
swords and mounted on suchshining white horses that you
would have thought that theywere pure silver too.
When the children had sobereddown a little and were beginning
upon the beautiful picturebooks which were open, so that

(10:19):
you could see all sorts of mostbeautiful flowers and people of
every hue, to say nothing oflovely children playing, all as
naturally represented as if theywere really alive and could
speak, there came anothertinkling of a bell to announce
the display of GodpapaDrosselmeyer's Christmas present
, which was on another table,against the wall, concealed by a

(10:41):
curtain.
When this curtain was drawn,what did the children behold?
On a green lawn, bright withflowers, stood a lordly castle
with great many shining windowsand golden towers.
A chime of bells was going oninside it.
Doors and windows opened andyou saw very small but beautiful

(11:02):
ladies and gentlemen withplumed hats and long robes down
to their heels walking up anddown in the rooms of it.
In the central hall, whichseemed all in a blaze, there
were quantities of littlecandles burning in silver
chandeliers.
Children in little shortdoublets were dancing to the
chimes of the bells.
A gentleman in an emerald greenmantle came to a window, made

(11:26):
signs and then disappearedinside again.
Also, even God-PapaDrosselmeyer himself, but
scarcely taller than Papa'sthumb, came now and then and
stood at the castle door andwent in again.
Fritz had been looking on, withthe rest, at the beautiful
castle and the people walkingabout and dancing in it with his

(11:46):
arms leant on the table.
When he said, god PapaDrosselmeyer, let me go into
your castle for a little while,drosselmeyer answered that this
could not possibly be done, inwhich he was right, for it was
silly of Fritz to want to gointo a castle which was not as
tall as himself, golden towersand all.
And Fritz saw that this was soAfter a short time, as the

(12:11):
ladies and gentlemen keptwalking about just in the same
fashion, the children dancingand the emerald man looking out
the same window and GodpapaDrosselmeyer coming to the door,
fritz cried impatiently GodpapaDrosselmeyer, please come out
at that other door.
That can't be done, dear Fritz,answered Drosselmeyer.
Well, resumed Fritz.

(12:31):
Make that green man that looksout so often walk about with the
others.
And that can't be done either,said his godfather once more.
Make the children come down.
Then, said Fritz, I want to seethem nearer.
Nonsense, nothing of that sortcan be done, cried Drosselmeyer
with impatience.
The machinery must work as it'sdoing now.

(12:52):
It can't be altered, you know?
Oh, said Fritz, can't be done.
Eh, very well then, godpapaDrosselmeyer, I'll tell you what
it is.
If your little creatures in thecastle there can only always do
the same thing, they're notworth much, and I think precious
little of them.
Now give me my hussars.
They've got to maneuverbackwards and forwards just as I

(13:15):
want them and are not fastenedup in a house With which he made
off to the other table and sethis squadron of silver horses
trotting there and there,wheeling and charging and
slashing right and left to hisheart's content.
Marie had slipped away softlytoo, for she was tired of the
promenading and dancing of thepuppets in the castle.

(13:35):
Though kind and gentle as shewas, she did not like to show it
as her brother did.
Drosselmeyer, somewhat annoyed,said to the parents After all,
an ingenious piece of mechanismlike this is not a matter for
children who don't understand it.
I shall put my castle back inits box again.
But mother came to the rescueand made him show her the clever

(13:56):
machinery which moved thefigures, drosselmeyer taking it
all to pieces, putting ittogether again and quite
recovering his temper in theprocess, so that he gave the
children all sorts of delightfulbrown men and women with golden
faces, hands and legs, whichwere made of ginger cake and
with which they were greatlycontent.

(14:28):
Chapter 3.
Marie's Pet and Protégé.
But there was a reason whyMarie found it against the grain
to come away from the tablewhere the Christmas presents
were laid out, and this was thatshe had just noticed something
there which she had not observedat first, fritz's hussars,

(14:50):
having taken ground to the right, at some distance from the tree
in front of which they hadpreviously been paraded there,
became visible a most deliciouslittle man who was standing
there, quiet and unobtrusive, asif waiting patiently till it
should soon be his turn to benoticed.
Objection, considerableobjection, might perhaps have
been taken to him on the scoreof his figure, for his body was

(15:11):
rather too tall and stout forhis legs, which were short and
slight.
Moreover, his head was a gooddeal too large.
But much of this was atoned forby the elegance of his costume,
which showed him to be a personof taste and cultivation.
He had on a very pretty violethussar's jacket, knobs and braid

(15:31):
, all over pantaloons of thesame and the loveliest little
boots ever seen, even on ahussar officer, fitting his
little legs just as if they hadbeen painted on them.
It was funny certainly, that,dressed in this style as he was,
he had a little, rather absurdshort cloak on his shoulders
which looked almost as if itwere made of wood, and on his

(15:53):
head a cap like a miner's.
But Marie remembered thatGodpapa Drosselmeyer often
appeared in a terribly uglymorning jacket and with a
frightful-looking cap on hishead and yet was a very, very
darling godpapa.
As Marie kept looking at thislittle man, whom she had quite
fallen in love with at firstsight, she saw more and more

(16:14):
clearly what a sweet nature anddisposition were legible in his
countenance.
Those green eyes of his, whichstuck perhaps a little more
prominently out of his head thanquite desirable, beamed with
kindness and benevolence.
It was one of his beauties toothat his chin was set off with a
well-kept beard of white cotton, as this drew attention to the

(16:37):
smile which his bright red lipsalways expressed.
Oh, papa, dear, cried Marie.
At last, whose is that mostdarling little man beside the
tree?
Well, was the answer.
That little fellow is going todo plenty of good service for
all of you.
He's going to crack nuts foryou and he is to belong to

(16:58):
Louise just as much as to youand Fritz.
With which Papa took him upfrom the table, and on his
lifting the end of the woodencloak, the little man opened his
mouth wider and wider,displaying two rows of very
white, sharp teeth.
Marie, directed by her father,put a nut into his mouth and
knack.

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He had bitten it in two so thatthe shells fell down and Marie
got the kernel.
So then it was explained to allthat this charming little man
belonged to the Nutcrackerfamily and was practicing the
profession of his ancestors andsaid Papa, as friend Nutcracker
seems to have made such animpression on you, marie, he

(17:41):
shall be given over to yourspecial care and charge, though,
as I said, louise and Fritz areto have the same right to his
services as you.
Marie took him in her arms atonce and made him crack some
more nuts, but she picked outall the smallest, so that he
might not have to open his mouthso terribly wide, because that
was not nice for him.

(18:02):
Then Sister Louise came, and hehad to crack some nuts for her
too, which duty he seemed veryglad to perform, as he kept on
smiling most courteously.
Meanwhile Fritz was a littletired.
So after much drill andmaneuvering, so he joined his
sisters and laughed beyondmeasure at the funny little
fellow who, as Fritz, wanted hisshare of the nuts, was passed

(18:26):
from hand to hand and wascontinually snapping his mouth
open and shut.
Fritz gave him all the biggestand hardest nuts he could find,
but all at once there was acrack, crack and three teeth
fell out of Nutcracker's mouthand his lower jaw became loose
and wobbly.
Ah, my poor darlingNutcracker's mouth and his lower
jaw became loose and wobbly.

(18:46):
Ah, my poor darling Nutcracker.
Marie cried and took him awayfrom Fritz.
A nice sort of chap he is, saidFritz Calls himself a Nutcracker
and can't give a decent bite.
Doesn't seem to know much abouthis business.
Hand him over here, marie.
I'll keep him biting nuts.
If he drops all the rest of histeeth and his jaw into the
bargain, what's the good of achap like him?

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No, no, said Marie in tears.
You shan't have him.
My darling Nutcracker, see howhe's looking at me so mournfully
and showing me his poor, soremouth.
You're a hard-hearted creature.
You beat your horses and you'vehad one of your soldiers shot'.
"'those things must be done',said Fritz, "'and you don't

(19:29):
understand anything about suchmatters.
But Nutcracker's as much mineas yours.
So hand him over'.
Marie began to cry bitterly andquickly wrapped the wounded
Nutcracker up in her littlepocket handkerchief.
Papa and Mama came withDrosselmeyer who took Fritz's
part, to Marie's regret.
But Papa said I have putNutcracker in Marie's special

(19:51):
charge and as he seems to haveneed just now of her care, she
has full power over him andnobody else has anything to say
in the matter, and I'm surprisedthat Fritz should expect
further service from a manwounded in the execution of his
duty.
As a good soldier, he ought toknow better than that.
Fritz was much ashamed and,troubling himself no further as

(20:14):
to nuts or nutcrackers, creptoff to the other side of the
table where his hussars, havingestablished the necessary
outposts, and videttes werebivouacking for the night.
Marie got Nutcracker's lostteeth together, bound a pretty
white ribbon, taken from herdress, about his poor chin and
then wrapped the poor littlefellow, who was looking very

(20:34):
pale and frightened, moretenderly and carefully than
before, in her handkerchief.
Thus she held him, rocking himlike a child in her arms.
As she looked at the picturebooks, she grew quite angry,
which was not usual with her,with God-Papa Drosselmeyer,
because he laughed so and keptasking how she could make such a
fuss about an ugly littlefellow like that.

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That odd and peculiar likenessto Drosselmeyer, which had
struck her when she sawNutcracker at first, occurred to
her mind again now and she saidwith much earnestness who knows
, godpapa, if you were to bedressed in the same way as my
darling Nutcracker and had onthe same shining boots, who
knows whether you mightn't lookas handsome as he does.

(21:19):
Maria didn't understand whyPapa and Mama laughed so
heartily.

Speaker 2 (21:36):
Maria didn't understand why Papa and Mama
laughed so heartily, nor whyGod-Papa Drosselmeyer's nose got
so red, nor why he did not joinso much in the laughter as
before.
Probably there was some specialreason for these things.

Speaker 1 (21:46):
Chapter 4, wonderful Events.
We must now explain that in thesitting room on the left hand
as you go in, there standsagainst the wall a high
glass-fronted cupboard where allthe children's Christmas
presents are yearly put away tobe kept.
Louise the elder sister wasstill quite little when her
father had this cupboard,constructed by a very skillful

(22:09):
workman who had put in it suchtransparent panes of glass and
altogether made the whole affairso splendid that the things
when inside it looked almostmore shining and lovely than
when one had them actually inone's hands.
In the upper shelves, whichwere beyond the reach of Fritz
and Marie, were stowed GodpapaDrosselmeyer's works of art.

(22:31):
Immediately under them was theshelf for the picture books.
Fritz and Marie were allowed todo what they liked with the
lower two shelves, but it alwayscame about that the lowest one
of all was where Marie put herdolls as their place of
residence, while Fritz utilizedthe shelf above as cantonments
for his troops, so that on theevening about which we are

(22:53):
speaking, fritz had quarteredhis hussars in his the upper
shelf of these two, marie hadput Miss Gertrude rather in a
corner, established her new dollin the well-appointed chamber
there with all its appropriatefurniture and invited herself to
tea and cakes with her.
This chamber was splendidlyfurnished, everything on a

(23:14):
first-rate scale and in good andadmirable style.
As I have already said, I don'tknow if you, my observant
listener, have the satisfactionof possessing an equally
well-appointed room for yourdolls a little beautifully
flowered sofa, a number of themost charming little chairs, a
nice little tea table and, aboveall, a beautiful little white

(23:36):
bed where your pretty darlingsof dolls go to sleep.
All this was in a corner on theshelf, the walls of which, in
this part, had beautiful littlepictures hanging on them, and
you might well imagine that, insuch a delightful chamber as
this, the new doll, whose name,as Marie had discovered, was
Miss Clara, thought herselfextremely comfortably settled

(23:59):
and remarkably well off.
Well off, it was getting verylate, not so very far from
midnight indeed.
Before the children could tearthemselves away from all these
yuletide fascinations andGod-Papa Drosselmeyer had been
gone a considerable time, theyremained riveted beside the
glass cupboard, although theirmother several times reminded

(24:20):
them that it was long afterbedtime.
Yes, said Fritz, I know wellenough that these poor fellows,
meaning his hussars, are tiredenough and awfully anxious to
turn in for the night, though aslong as I'm here, not a
man-jack of them dares to nodhis head, with which he went off
.
But Marie earnestly begged forjust a little while longer,

(24:41):
saying she had such a number ofthings to see to and promising
that as soon as she had such anumber of things to see to, and
promising that as soon as shehad them all settled, she would
go to bed at once.
Maria was a very good andreasonable child, and therefore
her mother allowed her to remaina little longer with her toys.
But lest she should be too muchoccupied with her new doll and
the other playthings and wouldforget to put out the candles

(25:03):
which were lighted all around onthe wall sconces, she herself
put all of them out, leavingmerely the lamp which hung from
the ceiling to give a soft andpleasant light.
Come to bed soon, marie, oryou'll never be up in time for
the morning, cried her mother asshe went away into the bedroom.
As soon as Marie was alone, sheset rapidly to work, to do what

(25:26):
she most wanted to do, which,though she scarcely knew why,
she somehow did not like to setabout in her mother's presence.
She had been holding Nutcracker, wrapped in the handkerchief
carefully in her arms all thistime, and now she laid him
softly on the table, gentlyunrolled the handkerchief and
examined his wounds.
Nutcracker was very pale, butat the same time he was smiling

(25:50):
with a melancholy and pathetickindness that went straight to
Marie's heart.
Oh, my darling littleNutcracker, said she very softly
, don't you be vexed becauseBrother Fritz has hurt you?
He didn't mean it, you know.
Vexed because Brother Fritz hashurt you?
He didn't mean it.
You know.
He's only a little bit hardenedwith his soldiering and that.
But he's a good, nice boy.
I assure you, I'll take thegreatest care of you and nurse

(26:13):
you till you're quite, quitebetter and happy again, and your
teeth shall be put in again foryou and your shoulders set
straight.
God Papa Drosselmeyer will seeto that.
He knows how to do things ofthat kind.
Marie could not finish what shewas going to say because at the
mention of Godpapa Drosselmeyer,friend Nutcracker made a most

(26:34):
horrible ugly face.
A sort of sharp green sparkleseemed to dart out of his eyes.
This was only for an instant,however, and just as Marie was
going to be terribly frightened,she found that she was looking
at the very same nice, kindlyface, with the pathetic smile
which she had seen before, andshe saw plainly that it was

(26:54):
nothing but some draft of airmaking the lamp flicker that had
seemed to produce the change.
Well, she said, I certainly ama silly girl to be so easily
frightened and think that awooden doll could make faces at
me.
But I'm too fond really ofnutcracker because he's so funny
and so kind and nice With whichshe took him in her arms again,

(27:23):
approached the cupboard and,kneeling down beside it, said to
her new doll I'm going to ask afavor of you, miss Clara, that
you will give up your bed tothis poor, sick, wounded
nutcracker and make yourself ascomfortable as you can on the
sofa here.
Remember that you're well andstrong yourself or you wouldn't
have such fat red cheeks andthat there are very few dolls

(27:46):
who have as comfortable a sofaas this to lie upon.
Miss Clara, in her Christmasfull dress, looked very grand
and disdainful and said not somuch as boo Very well said,
Marie, why should I make such afuss and stand on any ceremony?
Took the bed and moved itforward, laid Nutcracker
carefully and tenderly upon it,wrapped another pretty ribbon

(28:09):
taken from her own dress abouthis hurt shoulder and drew the
bedclothes up to his nose.
But he shan't stay with thatnasty Clara, she said, and moved
the bed with Nutcracker in itto the upper shelf shelf so that
it was placed near the villagein which Fritz's hussars had
their cantonments.
She closed the cupboard and wasmoving away to go to bed when

(28:32):
listen children.
There began a low, soft rustlingand rattling and a sort of
whispering noise all around, inall directions, from all
quarters of the room, behind thestove, under the chairs, behind
the cupboards.
The clock on the wall warnedlouder and louder but could not
strike.
Marie looked at it and saw thatthe big gilt owl which was on

(28:55):
the top of it had drooped itswings so that they covered the
whole of the clock and hadstretched its cat-like head with
the crooked beak a long wayforward.
And the warning kept growinglouder and louder with distinct
words Clocks, clocks, stopticking.
No sound, but cautious.
Warning.
Mouse King's ears are fine.

(29:16):
Purr, purr, only sing poom poom.
Sing the olden song of doom.
Sing the olden song of doom.
Purr, purr, poom, poom.
Bells go chime.
Soon rings out the faded time.
And then came poom poom, quiteharshly and smothered several

(29:39):
times.
Marie grew terribly frightenedand was going to rush away as
best she could when she noticedthat God-Papa Drosselmeyer was
up on the top of the clockinstead of the owl, with his
yellow coattails hanging down onboth sides like wings.
But she manned herself andcalled out in a loud voice of
anguish God-Papa, god-papa, whatare you up there for?

(30:00):
Come down to me, but don'tfrighten me so terribly, you
naughty, naughty, godpapaDrosselmeyer.
But then there began a sort ofwild kicking and squeaking
everywhere all around, andpresently there was a sound as
of running and trotting, as ofthousands of little feet behind
the walls, and thousands oflittle lights began to glitter

(30:21):
out between the chinks of thewoodwork.
But they were not lights, no,no, little glittering eyes.
And Marie became aware thateverywhere mice were peeping and
squeezing themselves outthrough every chink.
Presently there were trottingand galloping in all directions
over the room, orderly bodies,continually increasing of mice,

(30:45):
forming themselves into regulartroops and squadrons in good
order, just as Fritz's soldiersdid when maneuvers were going on
.
As Marie was not afraid of mice,as many children are, she could
not help being amused by this,and her first alarm had nearly
left her when suddenly therecame such a sharp and terrible

(31:05):
piping noise that the blood rancold in her veins.
Ah, what did she see then?
Well, truly kind reader, I knowthat your heart is in the right
place, just as much as myfriend Field Marshal Fritz's is,
but if you had seen what nowcame before Marie's eyes, you
would have made a clean pair ofheels of it.

(31:25):
Nay, I consider that you wouldhave plumped down into your bed
and drawn the blankets furtherover your head than necessity
demanded.
But poor Marie hadn't in herthe power to do any such thing.
At her feet, as if impelled bysome subterranean power, sand

(31:47):
and lime and broken stone camebursting up, and then seven
mouse heads with seven shiningcrowns upon them rose through
the floor, hissing and piping inthe most horrible way.
Quickly, the body of the mouse,which had these seven crowned
heads, forced its way up throughthe floor.
This enormous creature shoutedwith its seven heads aloud to
the assembled multitude,squeaking to them with all the

(32:11):
seven mouths, in full chorus.
Then the entire army set itselfin motion and went trot, trot,
trot, right up to the cupboardand in fact to Marie who is
standing beside it.
Marie's heart had been beatingso with terror that she had
thought it must jump out of herbreast or she must die.
But now it seemed to her as ifthe blood in her veins stood

(32:34):
still, half fainting.
She leaned backwards and thenthere was a clur-clur-purr and a
pain of the cupboard broken by.
Her elbow fell in shivers tothe floor.
She felt for a moment a sharp,stinging pain in her arm, but
this seemed to make her heartlighter.
She heard no more of thequeeking and piping.

(32:54):
Everything was quiet, andthough she didn't dare to look,
she thought the noise of thebreaking glass had frightened
the mice back to their holes.
But what came to pass then?
Right behind Marie, a movementseemed to commence in the
cupboard and small, faint voicesbegan to be heard saying "'Come
awake, measures, take Out tothe fight, out to the fight.

(33:16):
Shield, the right Shield, theright Arm.
In a way, this is the night'.
And harmonica bells beganringing as prettily as you
please.
Oh there's my little peal ofbells, cried Marie and went
nearer and looked in.
Then she saw that there wasbright light in the cupboard and
everything was busily in motionthere dolls and little figures

(33:39):
of various kinds all runningabout together and struggling
with their little arms.
At this point Nutcracker rosefrom his bed, cast off the
bedclothes and sprang with bothfeet onto the floor of the shelf
, crying out at the top of hisvoice knack, knack, knack,
stupid mousy pack, all theirskulls will crack, mousy pack,

(34:03):
knack, knack, mousy pack, crickand crack.
Cowardly lot of schnack.
And with this he drew hislittle sword, waved it in the
air and cried Ye, my trustyvassals, brethren and friends,
are ye ready to stand by me inthis great battle?
Immediately, three scaramouches, one pantaloon, four chimney

(34:25):
sweeps, two zither players and adrummer cried in eager accents
yes, your highness, we willstand by you in loyal duty.
We will follow you to death.
Victory and the fray.
And they precipitated themselvesafter Nutcracker who, in the
excitement of the moment, haddared that perilous leap to the
bottom shelf.

(34:45):
Now, they might well dare thisperilous leap, for not only had
they got plenty of clothes on,of cloth and silk, but besides
there was not much in theirinsides except cotton and
sawdust, so that they plumpeddown like little wool sacks.
But as for poor Nutcracker, hewould certainly have broken his
arms and legs, for, bethink you,it was nearly two feet from

(35:08):
where he had stood on the shelfbelow, and his body was as
fragile as if he had been madeof elm wood.
Yes, nutcracker would havebroken his arms and legs, had
not Miss Clara started up at themoment of his spring and
received the hero drawn swordand all in her tender arms.
Oh you, good, dear Clara, cried.

(35:30):
Marie, how I did misunderstandyou.
I believe you were quitewilling to let dear Nutcracker
have your bed.
But Miss Clara now cried as shepressed the young hero gently to
her silken breast.
Oh my lord, go not into thisbattle in danger, sick and
wounded as you are.
See how your trusty vassals,clowns and pantaloon chimney

(35:53):
sweeps, zither men and drummerare already arrayed below and
the puzzle figures in my shelfare in motion and preparing for
the fray Dane, oh my lord, torest in these arms of mine and
contemplate your victory from asafe coin of vantage.
Thus spoke Clara.
But Nutcracker behaved soimpatiently and kicked so with

(36:14):
his legs that Clara was obligedto put him down on the shelf in
a hurry.
However, he at once sankgracefully on one knee and
expressed himself as follows Olady, the kind protection and
aid which you have afforded mewill ever be present to my heart
in battle and in victory.
On this, clara bowed herself soas to be able to take hold of

(36:36):
him by his arms, raised himgently up, quickly loosed her
girdle, which was ornamentedwith many spangles, and would
have placed it about hisshoulders.
But the little man swiftly drewhimself two steps back, laid
his hand upon his heart and saidwith much solemnity O lady, do
not bestow this mark of yourfavor upon me.

(36:56):
For he hesitated, gave a deepsigh, took the ribbon with which
Marie had bound him from hisshoulders, pressed it to his
lips, put it on as a token and,waving his glittering sword,
sprang like a bird over theledge of the cupboard down to
the floor.
You will observe, kind listener, that Nutcracker, even before

(37:17):
he really came to life, had feltand understood all Marie's
goodness and regard, and that itwas because of his gratitude
and devotion to her that hewould not take or even wear Miss
Clara's ribbon, although it wasexceedingly pretty and charming
.
This good, true-heartedNutcracker preferred Marie's
much commoner and lesspretentious token.

(37:37):
But what is going to happen now?
At the moment when Nutcrackersprang down, the squeaking and
piping began again, worse thanever.
Alas, under the big table, thehordes of the mouse army had
taken up a position denselymassed under the command of the
terrible mouse with the sevenheads.
So what is to be the result?

(38:19):
Chapter 5.
The Battle, the most splendidstyle, so that the windows of
the glass cupboard rattled andresounded.
Then there began a cracking andclattering inside and Marie saw
all the lids of the boxes inwhich Fritz's army was quartered
bursting open.
The soldiers all came out andjumped down to the bottom shelf
where they formed up in goodorder.

(38:40):
Nutcracker hurried up and downthe ranks, speaking words of
encouragement.
There's not a dog of a trumpetertaking the trouble to sound a
call, he cried in a fury.
Then he turned to the pantaloon, who was looking decidedly pale
and wobbling his long chin.
A good deal, he said in asolemn tone.
I know how brave andexperienced you are, general.

(39:02):
What is essential here is arapid comprehension of the
situation and immediateutilization of the passing
moment.
I entrust you with the commandof the cavalry and artillery.
You can do without a horse.
Your own legs are long and youcan gallop on them as fast as
necessary.
Do your duty Immediately.
Panteloon put his long, leanfingers to his mouth and gave

(39:24):
such a piercing crow that itrang as if a hundred little
trumpets had been soundinglustily.
Then there began a tramping anda neighing in the cupboard, and
Fritz's dragoons, and above allthe new glittering hussars,
marched out and they came to ahalt, drawn up on the floor.
They then marched pastNutcracker, by regiments, with
guidons flying and bands playing.

(39:45):
After this they wheeled intoline and formed up at the right
angles to the line of the march.
Upon this, fritz's artillerycame rattling up and formed
action front in advance of thehalted cavalry.
Then it went, boom, boom, andMarie saw the sugarplums doing
terrible execution among thethickly-masked mouse battalions,

(40:06):
plums doing terrible executionamong the thickly massed mouse
battalions, which were powderedquite white by them and greatly
put to shame.
But a battery of heavy gunswhich had taken up a strong
position on Mama's footstool waswhat did the greatest execution
?
And boom, boom, boom kept upthe murderous fire of
gingerbread nuts into theenemy's ranks with most
destructive effect, mowing themice down in great numbers.

(40:28):
The enemy, however, was notmaterially checked in his
advance and had even possessedhimself of one or two of the
heavy guns when there came apurr, purr, purr, and Marie
could scarcely see what washappening for smoke and dust.
But this much is certain thatevery corps engaged fought with
the most bravery anddetermination possible, and it

(40:50):
was for a long time doubtfulwhich side would gain the day.
The mice kept on developingfresh bodies of their forces as
they were more advanced to thescene of action.
Their little silver balls, likepills in size, which they
delivered with great precision.
Their musketry practice beingespecially fine, took effect
even inside the glass cupboard.

(41:11):
Clara and Gertrude ran up anddown in utter despair, wringing
their hands and loudly lamenting.
Must I, the very loveliest dollin all the world, perish
miserably in the very flower ofmy youth, cried Miss Clara.
Oh, was it for this, weptGertrude, that I have taken such

(41:31):
pains to conserve myself allthese years?
Must I be shot here in my owndrawing-room after all?
On this, they fell into eachother's arms and howled so
terribly that you could hearthem above all the din of the
battle, for you would have noidea of the hurly-burly that
went on.
Now, dear listener.
It went purr, purr, poof, piff,shudder-dang, shudder-dang,

(41:53):
boom, baroom, boom, baroom, boom, all confusedly and
higgledy-piggledy, and the mouseking and the mice squeaked and
screamed, and then againNutcracker's powerful voice was
heard, shouting words of commandand issuing important orders,
and he was seen striding amongsthis battalions in the thick of
the fire.
Panteloon had made several mostbrilliant cavalry charges and

(42:17):
covered himself with glory, butFritz's hussars were subjected
by the mice to a heavy fire ofvery evil-smelling shot which
made horrid spots on their redtunics.
This caused them to hesitateand hang rather back for a time.
Pantelune made them take groundto the left in echelon, and in
the excitement of the moment, hewith his dragoons, executed a

(42:41):
somewhat analogous movement,that is to say they brought up
the right shoulder, wheeled tothe left and marched home to
their quarters.
This had the effect of bringingthe battery of artillery on the
footstool into imminent danger,and it was not long before a
large body of exceedingly uglymice delivered such a vigorous
assault on this position thatthe whole of the footstool with

(43:04):
the guns and gunners fell intothe enemy's hands.
Nutcracker seemed muchdisconcerted and ordered his
right wing to commence aretrograde movement.
A soldier of your experience,my dear Fritz, knows well that
such a movement is almosttantamount to a regular retreat,
and you grieve with me inanticipation for the disaster

(43:26):
which threatens the armies ofMarie's beloved little
nutcracker.
But turn your glance in theother direction and look at this
left wing of nutcrackers, whereall is still going well, and
you will see that there is stillmuch hope for the
commander-in-chief and his cause.
During the hottest part of theengagement, masses of mouse
cavalry have been quietlydebauching from under the chest

(43:49):
of drawers and have subsequentlymade a most determined advance
upon the left wing ofNutcracker's force, uttering
loud and horrible squeakings.
Slowly, as the nature of theterrain necessitated, for the
ledge at the bottom of thecupboard had to be passed, the
regiment of motto figures,commanded by two Chinese

(44:11):
emperors, advanced and formed asquare.
These fine, brilliantlyuniformed troops, consisting of
gardeners, tyrolines, tunguses,hairdressers, harlequins, cupids
, lions, tigers, unicorns andmonkeys.
Hairdressers, harlequins,cupids, lions, tigers, unicorns
and monkeys fought with theutmost courage, coolness and
steady endurance.

(44:31):
This battle would have wrestledthe victory from the enemy had
not one of the mouse cavalrycaptains, pushing forward in a
rash and foolhardy manner, madea charge upon one of the Chinese
emperors and bitten off hishead.
This Chinese emperor, in hisfall, knocked over and smothered
a couple of tongue-gooses and aunicorn, and this created a gap

(44:51):
through which the enemyaffected a rush which resulted
in the whole battalion beingbitten to death.
But the enemy gained littleadvantage by this, for as soon
as one of the mouse cavalrysoldiers bit one of these brave
adversaries to death, he foundthat there was a small piece of
printed paper sticking in histhroat, of which he died in a
moment.
Still, this was of smalladvantage to Nutcracker's army

(45:14):
which, having once commenced aretrograde movement, went on
retreating further and further,suffering greater and greater
loss.
The unfortunate Nutcracker soonfound himself driven back close
to the front of the cupboardwith a very small remnant of his
army.
Bring up the reserves,pantaloons, scaramooch, drummer,
where the devil have you got to?

(45:35):
Shouted the Nutcracker, who wasstill reckoning on
reinforcements.
From the cupboard in factadvanced a small contingent of
brown gingerbread men and womenwith gilt faces, hats and
helmets, but they laid aboutthem so clumsily that they never
hit any of the enemy and soonknocked off the cap of their
commander-in-chief.
Nutcracker himself and theenemy's chasers soon bit their

(45:59):
legs off, so that they tumbledtopsy-turvy and killed several
of Nutcracker'scompanions-in-arms into the
bargain.
Nutcracker was now hard-pressedand closely hemmed in by the
enemy and in a position ofextreme peril he tried to jump
the bottom ledge of the cupboard, but his legs were not long
enough.
Clara and Gertrude had faintedso they could give him no

(46:19):
assistance.
Hussars and heavy dragoons camecharging up at him and he
shouted in wild despair A horse,a horse, my kingdom for a horse
.
At this moment, two of theenemy's riflemen seized him by
his wooden cloak and the king ofthe mice went rushing up to him
, squeaking in triumph out ofall his severed throats.
Marie could contain herself nolonger.

(46:42):
Oh, my poor nutcracker, shesobbed, taking her left shoe off
without very distinctly knowingwhat she was about.
And poor nutcracker, she sobbed, taking her left shoe off
without very distinctly knowingwhat she was about, and threw it
as hard as she could into thethick of the enemy, straight at
their king.
Instantly, everything vanishedand disappeared.
All was silence, nothing was tobe seen.
But Marie felt a more stingingpain than before in her left arm

(47:04):
and fell on the floor,insensible.
Chapter Six, the Invalid.
When Maria woke from adeath-like sleep, she was lying

(47:25):
in her little bed and the sunwas shining brightly in.
At the window, which was allcovered with frost flowers,
there was a strange gentlemansitting next to her, whom she
recognized as Dr Wendelstern.
She's awake, he said softly,and her mother came and looked
at her very scrutinizingly andanxiously.
Oh, mother, whispered Marie,are all those horrid mice gone

(47:47):
away?
And is Nutcracker quite safe?
Don't talk such nonsense.
Marie answered her mother.
What have mice to do withNutcracker?
You're a very naughty girl andhave caused us a great deal of
anxiety.
See what comes to children notdoing as they're told.
You were playing with your toysso late last night that you
fell asleep.

(48:07):
I don't know whether or notsome mouse jumped out and
frightened you though there areno mice here generally but you
broke a pane of the glasscupboard with your elbow and cut
your arm so badly that DrWendelstern, who has just taken
a number of pieces of the glassout of your arm, thinks that if
it had been a little higher upyou might have had a stiff arm

(48:27):
for life or even have bled todeath.
Thank heaven, I woke abouttwelve o'clock and missed you,
and I found you lying insensiblein front of the glass cupboard,
bleeding frightfully, with anumber of Fritz's lead soldiers
scattered round you and othertoys, broken motto figures and
gingerbread men, and Nutcrackerwas lying on your bleeding arm

(48:48):
with your left shoe not far off.
Oh, mother, mother, said Marie.
These were the remains of thetremendous battle between the
toys and the mice, and whatfrightened me so terribly was
that the mice were going to takeNutcracker, who was the
commander-in-chief of the Toryarmy.
They were going to take himprisoner.
Then I threw my shoe in amongthe mice and after that I know

(49:11):
nothing more that happened.
Dr Wendelstern gave asignificant look at the mother
who said very gently to MarieNever mind, dear, keep yourself
quiet.
The mice are all gone away andNutcracker's in the cupboard
quite safe and sound here.
Marie's father came in and had along consultation with Dr
Wendelstern.
Then he felt Marie's pulse andshe heard them talking about

(49:34):
wound fever.
She had to stay in bed and takemedicine for some days,
although she didn't feel at allill, except that her arm was
rather stiff and painful.
She knew Nutcracker had gotsafe out of the battle and she
seemed to remember, as if in adream, that he had said quite
distinctly in a very melancholytone Marie, dearest lady, I am

(49:55):
most deeply indebted to you, butit is in your power to do even
more for me.
She thought and thought whatthis could possibly be, but in
vain and she couldn't make itout.
She wasn't able to play onaccount of her arm, and when she
tried to read or look throughher picture books, everything
wavered before her eyes sostrangely that she was obliged

(50:17):
to stop.
The days seemed very long to herand she could scarcely pass the
time till evening when hermother came and sat at her
bedside telling and reading herall sorts of nice stories.
She had just finished tellingher the story of Prince Farkadin
when the door opened and incame Godpapa Drosselmeyer,
saying I've come to see with myown eyes how Marie's getting on.

(50:39):
When Marie saw GodpapaDrosselmeyer in his little
yellow coat, the scene of thenight when the Nutcracker lost
the battle with the mice came sovividly back to her that she
couldn't help crying out oh God,papa Drosselmeyer, how nasty
you were.
I saw you quite well when youwere sitting on the clock,
covering it all over with yourwings to prevent it from

(51:00):
striking and frightening themice.
I heard you quite well when youcalled the Mouse King.
Why didn't you help Nutcracker?
Why didn't you help me, younasty godpapa?
It's nobody's fault but yoursthat I'm laying here with a bad
arm.
Her mother, in much alarm,asked what she meant.
But Drosselmeyer began makingextraordinary faces and said in

(51:23):
a snarling voice, like a sort ofchant in monotone Pendulums
could only rattle, couldn't tick, never a click.
All the clocks stopped theirticking, no more clicking.
Then they all struck loud clang, clang.
Dolls, don't hang your headdown, clink and hank and honk
and hank dolls.
Girls, don't hang your heads,clink and ring.

(51:46):
The battle's over.
Nutcrack all safe and cloverComes.
The owl on downy wing scaresaway the mouse's king.
Pack and pick and pick and pookclocks, bim, boop, grr, grr.
Pendulums must click again.
Tick and tack, grr and brr,purr and purr.
Marie fixed wide eyes of terrorupon God-Papa Drosselmeyer

(52:10):
because he was looking quitedifferent and far more horrid
than usual and was jerking hisright arm backwards and forwards
as if he were some puppet movedby a handle.
She was beginning to growterribly frightened at him when
her mother came in and Fritz,who had arrived in the meantime,
laughed heartily, saying why,god Papa, you are going on

(52:31):
funnily, you're just like my oldjumping jack that I threw away
last month.
But the mother looked verygrave and said this is a most
extraordinary way of going on,mr Drosselmeyer.
What can you mean by it?
My goodness, said Drosselmeyerlaughing.
Did you ever hear my nicewatchmaker's song?
I always sing it to littleinvalids like Marie.

(52:54):
Then he hastened to sit downbeside Marie's bed and said to
her don't be vexed with me,because I didn't gouge out all
the Mouse King's fourteen eyes.
That couldn't be managedexactly.
But to make up for it, here'ssomething which I know will
please you greatly.
He dived into one of hispockets and what he slowly,
slowly, brought out of it wasNutcracker, whose teeth he had

(53:18):
put in again quite firmly andset his broken draw completely
to right.
Marie shouted for joy and hermother laughed and said Now you
see for yourself how niceGodpapa Drosselmeyer is to
Nutcracker.
But you must admit, marie, saidher Godpapa, that Nutcracker is
far from being what you mightcall a handsome fellow, and you

(53:40):
can't say he has a pretty face.
If you like, I'll tell you howit was that the ugliness came to
his family and has been handeddown in one generation to
another.
Did you ever hear about thePrincess Purpleette, the Witch
Mouse Rink and the CleverClockmaker?
I say, godpapa Drosselmeyer,interrupted Fritz at this

(54:02):
juncture You've put Nutcracker'steeth in again, all right, and
his jaw isn't wobbly as it was.
But what's become of his sword?
Why haven't you given him asword?
Oh, said Drosselmeyer annoyed.
You must always be botheringand finding fault with something
or another boy.
What have I to do withNutcracker's sword.
I've put his mouth to rightsfor him.

(54:23):
He must look out for a swordhimself.
Yes, yes, said Fritz, he must,of course, if he's a right sort
of fellow.
So tell me, marie, continuedDrosselmeyer, if you know the
story of Princess Perlipat.
Oh no, said Marie, tell it tome.
Please, do tell it to me.
I hope it won't be as strangeand terrible as your stories

(54:45):
generally are, said her mother.
Oh, nothing of the kind, saidDrosselmeyer.
On the contrary, it's quite afunny story which I'm going to
have the honor of telling thistime.
Go on, then, do tell it to us,cried the children, and
Drosselmeyer, convinced, asfollows the Story of the Hard
Nut.

(55:05):
Perlipat's mother was a king'swife, so that of course she was
a queen, and Perlipat herselfwas born a princess by birth as
soon as she ever was born.
The king was quite besidehimself with joy over his little
beautiful daughter as she layin her cradle, and he danced
round, round upon one leg,crying again and again Hurrah,

(55:25):
hurrah, hip, hip, hurrah.
Did anybody see something solovely as my little Perlipat?
And all the ministers of stateand the generals and presidents
and the officers of the staffdanced about on one leg as the
king did, and cried as loud asthey could no, no, never.
Indeed, there was no denyingthat a lovelier baby than

(55:48):
Princess Perlipat was never bornsince the world began.
Her little face looked as if itwere woven of the most delicate
white and rose-colored silk.
Her eyes were sparkling azureand her hair in all little curls
like threads of gold.
Moreover, she came into theworld with two rows of little

(56:08):
pearly teeth, with which, twohours after her birth, she bit
the Lord, high Chancellor, inthe fingers when he was making a
careful examination of herfeatures, so that he cried, oh
Gemini.
Quite loudly.
There are persons who assertthat oh Lord was the expression
he employed, and opinions arestill considerably divided on
this point.

(56:29):
At all events, she bit him inthe fingers and the realm
learned with much gratificationthat both intelligence and
discrimination dwelt within herangelical little frame.
All was joy and gladness, as Ihave said, save that the queen
was very anxious and uneasy.
Nobody could tell why.
One remarkable circumstance wasthat she had Perlipat's cradle

(56:52):
most scrupulously guarded.
Not only were there alwaysguards at the doors of the
nursery, but over and above thetwo head nurses close to the
cradle, there always had to besix other nurses all around the
room at night, and what seemedrather a funny thing, which
nobody could understand, wasthat each of these six nurses

(57:12):
always had to have a cat in herlap and to keep on stroking it
all night long, so that it wouldnever stop purring.
It is impossible to tell you,my dear listener, should you
know, the reason of all theseprecautions, but I do and shall
proceed to tell you at once.
Once upon a time, many greatkings and very great princes

(57:34):
were assembled at Perlipat'sfather's court and very great
things were afoot.
Tournaments, theatricals andstate balls were going on at the
grandest scale, and the king,to show that he had no lack of
gold and silver, made up hismind to make a good hole in the
crown revenues for once andlaunch out regardless of expense

(57:54):
.
Wherefore, having previouslyascertained privately from the
state head, master Cook, thatthe court astronomer had
indicated a propitious hour forpork butchering, he resolved to
give a grand pudding and sausagebanquet.
He jumped into a state carriageand personally invited all the
kings and the princes to a basinof soup, merely that he might

(58:17):
enjoy their astonishment at themagnificence of the
entertainment.
Then he said to the queen verygraciously my darling, you know
exactly how I like my puddingsand sausages.
The queen quite understood whatthis meant.
It meant that she shouldundertake the important duty of
making the puddings and thesausages herself, which was a

(58:38):
thing she had done on one or twoprevious occasions.
So one of the chancellors wasordered to issue out of store
the great golden sausage kettleand the silver casseroles.
A great fire of sandalwood waskindled.
The queen put on her damaskkitchen apron and soon the most
delicious aroma of pudding brothrose streaming out of the

(59:00):
kettle.
This sweet smell penetratedinto the very council chamber.
The king could not controlhimself.
Excuse me for a few minutes, mylords and gentlemen.
He cried, rushed into thekitchen, embraced the queen,
stirred in the kettle a littlewith his golden scepter and then
went back, easier in his mind,to the council chamber.

(59:20):
The important moment had nowarrived, when the fat had to be
cut up into little square piecesand browned on silver spits.
The ladies-in-waiting retiredbecause the queen, from motives
of love and duty to her royalconsort, thought it proper to
perform this important task insolitude.
But when the fat began to brown, a delicate little whispering
voice made itself audible,saying Give me some of that

(59:43):
sister.
I want some of it too.
I am a queen as well asyourself.
Give me some.
The queen knew well who wasspeaking.
It was Dame Mausrink, who hadbeen established in the palace
for many years.
She claimed relationship to theroyal family and she was queen
of the realm of Mausolia herselfand lived with a considerable

(01:00:05):
retinue of her own under thekitchen hearth.
The queen was a kind-hearted,benevolent woman and although
she didn't exactly care torecognize Dame Mausrinck as a
sister and a queen, she waswilling at this festive season
to spare her the tidbits she hada mind to.
So she said come out, dameMouserink, of course you shall

(01:00:25):
taste my brown fat.
So Dame Mouserink came runningout as fast as she could, held
up her pretty little paws andtook morsel after morsel of the
brown fat as the queen held themout to her.
But then all Dame Mouserink'suncles and her cousins and her
aunts came jumping out too, andher seven sons, who were
terrible never-do-wells into thebargain, and they all set to at

(01:00:50):
the brown fat and the queen wastoo frightened to keep them at
bay.
Most fortunately, the mistressof the robes came in and drove
these impertinent visitors away,so that a little of the brown
fat was left.
And then, when the courtmathematician, an excensior
wrangler of his university, wascalled, in which he had to be on

(01:01:11):
purpose, it was found possible,by means of skillfully designed
apparatus provided with specialmicrometer screws and so forth,
to apportion and distribute thefat among the whole of the
sausages, etc.
Under construction, the kettle,drums and the trumpets summoned
all the great princes andpotentates to the feast.

(01:01:31):
They assembled in their robesof state, some of them on white
palfreys, some in crystalcoaches.
The king received them withsuch gracious ceremony and took
his seat at the head of thetable with his crown on and his
scepter in his hand.
Even during the serving of thewhite pudding course, it was
observed that he turned pale andraised his eyes to heaven.

(01:01:52):
Sighs heaved his bosom.
Some inward terrible pain wasclearly raging within him.
But when the black puddingswere handed round he fell back
in his seat, loudly sobbing andgroaning.
Everyone rose from the tableand the court physician tried in
vain to feel his pulse.
Ultimately, after theadministration of most powerful

(01:02:13):
remedies, burnt feathers and thelike, his Majesty seemed to
recover his senses to someextent and stammered scarce
audibly the words Too little fat.
The queen cast herself down athis feet in despair and cried in
a voice broken by sobs oh, mypoor, unfortunate royal consort,
Ah, what tortures you aredoomed to endure.

(01:02:36):
But see the culprit here atyour feet.
Punish her severely.
Alas, dame Mouse Rank, heruncles, her seven sons, her
cousins and her aunts came upand ate nearly all the fat, and
here the queen fell backinsensible.
But the king jumped up allanger and cried in a terrible
voice Mistress of the Robes,what is the meaning of this?

(01:02:58):
The Mistress of the Robes toldall she knew and the king
resolved to take revenge on DameMouserink and her family for
eating up the fat which ought tohave been in the sausages.
The council was summoned and itwas resolved that Dame
Mausrinck should be tried forher life and all her property
confiscated.
But as His Majesty was of theopinion that she might go on

(01:03:21):
consuming the fat which was his,the whole matter was referred
to the court clockmaker andarcanist whose name was the same
as mine, christian EliasDrosselmeyer, and he undertook
to expel Dame Mausrinck and allher relations from the palace
precincts forever.
By means of a certainpolitico-diplomatic procedure,

(01:03:42):
he invented certain ingeniouslittle machines into which brown
pieces of fat were inserted andhe placed these machines down.
All about the dwelling of DameMouserink.
Enticed by the fragrant odor ofthe brown fat, all her seven

(01:04:11):
sons and a great many of heruncles, cousins and aunts walked
into Drosselmeyer's littlemachines and were immediately
taken prisoners by the fall of asmall grating, after which they
met with a shameful death inthe kitchen.
Dame Mouserink left this sceneof horror with her small
following.
Rage and despair filled herbreast of horror.
With her small following, rageand despair filled her breast.
The court rejoiced greatly.
The queen was very anxiousbecause she knew Dame

(01:04:31):
Mouserink's character and knewwell that she would never allow
the death of her sons and otherrelatives to go unavenged.
And in fact, one day, when thequeen was cooking a fricassee of
the sheep's lights for the king, a dish to which he was
exceedingly partial, dameMouserink suddenly made her
appearance and said my sons andmy uncles, my cousins and my

(01:04:52):
aunts are now no more.
Have a care, lady, lest thequeen of the mice bites your
little princess in two.
Have a care.
With which she vanished and wasno more seen.
But the queen was so frightenedthat she dropped the fricassee
into the fire.
No more seen, but the queen wasso frightened that she dropped
the fricassee into the fire.
So this was the second timeDane Mouserank spoiled one of
the king's favorite dishes, atwhich he was very irate.

(01:05:18):
But this is enough for tonight,we'll go on with the rest of it
another time, said DrosselmeyerSorely, as Marie, who had ideas
of her own about this story,begged Godpapa Drosselmeyer to
go on with it.
He would not be persuaded butjumped up.
Saying Too much at a timewouldn't be good for you.
The rest tomorrow.
Just as Drosselmeyer was goingout of the door, fritz said I

(01:05:39):
say, Godpapa Drosselmeyer, wasit really you who invented
mousetraps?
How can you ask such sillyquestions, cried his mother.
But Drosselmeyer laughed oddlyand said Well, you know, I'm a
clever clockmaker.
Mousetraps had to be inventedsometime or other.
And now you know children, saidGodpapa Drosselmeyer the next

(01:06:00):
evening why it was.
The queen took such precautionsabout her little perlipat.
Had she not always the fearbefore her eyes of Dame
Mouserink coming back andcarrying out her threat of
biting the princess to death?
Drosselmeyer's ingeniousmachines were of no avail
against the clever crafty DameMouserink.
And nobody save the courtastronomer, who was also state

(01:06:23):
astrologer and reader of thestars, knew that the family of
the cat Purr had the power tokeep her at bay.
This was the reason why each ofthe lady nurses was obliged to
keep one of the sons of thatfamily, each of whom was given
the honorary rank and title ofPrivy Counselor of Legation, in
her lap and render his honorisstudi less irksome by gently

(01:06:45):
scratching his back.
One night, just after midnight,one of the chief nurses
stationed close to the cradlewoke suddenly from a profound
sleep.
Everything lay buried inslumber, not a purr to be heard,
deep, death-like silence, sothat the death-watch tickling in
the wainscot sounded quite loud.

(01:07:06):
So that the death-watchtickling in the wainscot sounded
quite loud.
What were the feelings of thisprincipal nurse when she saw
close beside her a great,hideous mouse standing on its
hind legs, with its horrid headlaid on the princess's face?
She sprang up with a scream ofterror.

(01:07:29):
Everybody awoke, but then DameMouserink for she was the great
big mouse in Perlipat's cradleran quickly away into the corner
of the room.
The privy counselors oflegation dashed after her, but
too late.
She was off and away through achink in the floor.
The noise awoke Perlipat, whocried terribly.
Heaven be thanked she's stillalive, cried all the nurses.
But what was their horror whenthey looked at Perla Pat and saw

(01:07:50):
what the beautiful, delicatelittle thing had turned into An
enormous, bloated head insteadof the pretty little golden
haired one at the top of adiminutive, crumpled up body and
green, wooden looking eyesstaring where the lovely
azure-blue pair had been whilsther mouth had stretched across
from one ear to the other.

(01:08:12):
Of course, the queen nearly diedof weeping and loud lamentation
, and the walls of the king'sstudy had to be hung with padded
arras because he kept onbanging his head against them,
crying oh what a wretched king Iam.
Oh wretched king that I am.
Of course he might have seenthen that it would have been
much better to eat his puddingswith no fat in them at all and

(01:08:34):
let Dame Mouserink and herfamily stay on the hearthstone.
But Perlipat's royal father didnot think of that.
What he did was to lay all theblame on the court clockmaker
and arcanist Christian EliasDrosselmeyer of Nuremberg,
wherefore he promulgated asapient edict to the effect that
said Drosselmeyer should,within the space of four weeks,

(01:08:57):
restore Princess Perlipat to herpristine condition, or at least
indicate an unmistakable andreliable process whereby that
might be accomplished, or elsesuffer a shameful death by the
acts of the common headsman.
Drosselmeyer was not a littlealarmed, but he soon began to
place confidence in his art andin his luck.

(01:09:18):
So he proceeded to execute thefirst operation which seemed to
him to be expedient.
He took Princess Perlipat verycarefully to pieces, screwed off
her hands and feet and examinedher interior structure.
Unfortunately, he found thatthe bigger she got, the more
deformed she would be, so thathe didn't see what was to be

(01:09:39):
done at all.
He put her carefully togetheragain and sank down beside her
cradle, which he wasn't allowedto go away from, in the deepest
dejection.
The fourth week had come, andWednesday of the fourth week,
when the king came in with eyesgleaming with anger, made
threatening gestures with hisscepter and cried Christian

(01:10:00):
Elias Drosselmeyer, restore theprincess or prepare for death.
Drosselmeyer began to weepbitterly.
The little princess kept oncracking nuts, an occupation
which seemed to afford her muchquiet satisfaction.
For the first time, thearcanist was struck by
Perlipat's remarkable appetitefor nuts and the circumstance

(01:10:22):
that she had been born withteeth and the fact had been that
immediately after hertransformation she had begun to
cry and had gone on crying till,by chance, she got hold of a
nut.
She at once cracked it and atethe kernel, after which she was
quite quiet.
From that time, her nurses foundthat nothing would do but to go
on giving her nuts.

(01:10:43):
Oh, holy instinct of natureeternal, go on giving her nuts.
O holy instinct of natureeternal.
Mysterious, inscrutableinterdependence of things, cried
Drosselmeyer.
Thou pointest out to me thedoor of the secret.
I will knock and it shall beopened unto me.
He at once begged for aninterview with the court
astronomer and was conducted tohim closely guarded.
They embraced with many tears,for they were great friends, and

(01:11:06):
then retired into a privatecloset where they referred to
many books, treating ofsympathies, antipathies and
other mysterious subjects.
Night came on.
The court astronomer consultedthe stars and, with the
assistance of Drosselmeyerhimself an adept in astrology,
drew the princess's horoscope.
This was an exceedinglydifficult operation, for the

(01:11:27):
lines kept getting more and moreentangled and confused for ever
so long.
But at last oh, what a joy.
It lay plain before them thatall the princess had to do to be
delivered from the enchantmentwhich made her so hideous and
get back her former beauty, wasto eat the sweet kernel of the
nut crackatook.
Now, this nut crackatook had ashell so hard that you might

(01:11:51):
have fired a 48-pounder at itwithout producing the slightest
effect on it.
Moreover, it was essential thatthis nut should be cracked in
the princess's presence by theteeth of a man whose beard had
never known a razor and who hadnever had on boots.
This man had to hand the kernelto her with his eyes closed,
and he might not open them tillhe had made seven steps

(01:12:14):
backwards without a stumble.
Drosselmeyer and the astronomerhad been at work at this problem
uninterruptedly for three daysand three nights, and on the
Saturday the king was sitting atdinner when Drosselmeyer, who
was to have been beheaded on theSunday morning, burst in
joyfully to announce that he hadfound out what he had to be
done to restore PrincessPerlipat to her pristine beauty.

(01:12:37):
The king embraced him in aburst of rapture and promised
him a diamond sword, fourdecorations and two holiday
suits, set to work immediatelyafter dinner.
The monarch cried fourdecorations and two holiday
suits, set to work immediatelyafter dinner.
The monarch cried, addingkindly take care, dear arcanist,
that the young, unshavengentleman in shoes with the nut
crackatook already in his handis on the spot, and be sure that

(01:12:58):
he touches no liquor beforehandso that he mayn't trip up when
he makes his seven backwardsteps like a crab.
Mayn't trip up.
When he makes his sevenbackward steps like a crab.
He can get as drunk as a lordafterwards if he likes.
Drosselmeyer was dismayed atthis utterance of the king's and
stammered out, not withouttrembling and hesitation, that
though the remedy was discovered, both the nut crackatook and

(01:13:20):
the young gentleman who was tocrack it had still to be
searched for, and that it was amatter of doubt whether they
would ever be found at all.
The king, greatly incensed,whirled his scepter round his
crowned head and shouted in thevoice of a lion Very well then,
you must be beheaded.
It was exceedingly fortunatefor the wretched Drosselmeyer

(01:13:40):
that the king had thoroughlyenjoyed his dinner that day and
was consequently in an admirabletemper and disposed to listen
to the sensible advice which thequeen, who was very sorry for
Drosselmeyer, did not hesitateto give him.
Drosselmeyer took heart andrepresented that he really had
fulfilled the conditions,discovered the necessary

(01:14:00):
measures and gained his life.
Consequently, the king saidthis was all bosh and nonsense,
but at length, after two orthree glasses of liquors,
decreed Drosselmeyer and theastronomer should start off
immediately and not come backwithout the nut crackatook in
their pockets.
The man who was to crack it bythe queen's suggestion might be

(01:14:21):
heard of by means ofadvertisements in the local and
foreign newspapers and gazettes.
Godpapa Drosselmeyerinterrupted his story at this
point and promised to finish iton the following evening.
Next evening, as soon as thelights were brought, Godpapa
Drosselmeyer duly arrived andwent on with his story as
follows.
Drosselmeyer and the courtastronomer had been journeying

(01:14:43):
for 15 long years withoutfinding the slightest trace of
the nut crackatook.
Drosselmeyer and the courtastronomer had been journeying
for fifteen long years withoutfinding the slightest trace of
the nut-krakatoog.
I might go on for more thanfour weeks telling you where all
they had been and whatextraordinary things they had
seen.
I shall not do so, however, butmerely mention that
Drosselmeyer, in his profounddiscouragement, at last began to

(01:15:03):
feel a most powerful longing tosee his dear native town of
Nuremberg once again.
And he was more powerfully movedby this longing than usual one
day when he happened to besmoking a pipe of canister with
his friend in the middle of agreat forest in Asia and cried O
Nuremberg, nuremberg, dearnative town.

(01:15:23):
He who still knows thee not.
Nuremberg, dear native town, hewho still knows thee not place
of renown, though far he hastraveled in great cities seen as
London and Paris, andPeterwardine knoweth not what it
is happy to be, still must hislonging heart languish for thee,
for thee O Nuremberg, exquisitetown where houses have windows

(01:15:45):
both upstairs and down.
As Drosselmeyer lamenteddolefully, the astronomer seized
with compassionate sympathy,began to weep and howl so
terribly that he was heardthroughout the length and
breadth of Asia.
But he collected himself again,wiped his tears from his eyes
and said After all, dearestcolleague, why should we sit and

(01:16:07):
weep and howl here?
Why not go to Nuremberg?
Does it matter a brass farthingafter all, where and how we
search for this horrible nutKrakatoog?
That's true too, answeredDrosselmeyer consoled.
They both got up immediately,knocked the ashes out of their
pipes, started off and traveledstraight on, without stopping

(01:16:28):
from that forest right in thecenter of Asia, till they came
to Nuremberg.
As soon as they got there,drosselmeyer went straight to
his cousin, the toy maker anddoll carver and gilder and
varnisher, whom he had not seenfor a great many long years, had
not seen for a great many longyears.
To him he told all the tale ofPrincess Perlipat, dame

(01:16:54):
Mouserink and the Nut-Krakatoog,so that he clapped his hands
repeatedly and cried inamazement "'Dear me, cousin,
these things are reallywonderful, very wonderful
indeed'.
Drosselmeyer told him furthersome of the adventures he had
met with on his long journey howhe had spent two years at the
court of the King of Dates, howthe Prince of Almonds had
expelled him from his territory,how he had applied in vain to

(01:17:15):
the Natural History Society atSquirreltown, in short, how he
had been everywhere utterlyunsuccessful in discovering the
faintest trace of the nutKrakatoog.
During this narrative,christoph Zacharias had kept
himself frequently tapping hisfingers, twisting himself round
on one foot, smacking with histongue, etc.
Then he cried I, I, oh, thatreally would be the very deuce

(01:17:40):
and all.
At last he threw his hat andwig in the air, warmly embraced
his cousin and cried At last hethrew his hat and wig in the air
, warmly embraced his cousin andcried Cousin, cousin, you're a
made man.
A made man you are, for eitherI am much deceived or I have the
nut crackatook myself.
He immediately produced alittle cardboard box out of

(01:18:05):
which he took a gilded nut ofmedium size.
Look here, he said, showingthis nut to his cousin.
The state of matters as regardsthis nut is this Several years
ago at Christmas time, astranger came here with a sack
of nuts which he offered forsale.
Just in front of my shop.
He got into a quarrel and putthe sack down the better to
defend himself from the nutsellers of the place who
attacked him.
Just then a heavily loadedwagon drove over the sack and

(01:18:28):
all the nuts were smashed butone.
The stranger, with an odd smile, offered to sell me this nut
for a 20-crowser piece of theyear 1796.
This struck me as strange.
I found such a coin in mypocket, so I bought the nut and
I gilt it, though I didn't knowwhy I took the trouble or should

(01:18:49):
have given so much for it.
All question as to it reallybeing the long-sought nut.
Krakatuk was dispelled when thecourt astronomer carefully
scraped away the gilding andfound the word Krakatuk graven
on the shell in Chinesecharacters.
Duke, graven on the shell inChinese characters.
The joy of the exiles was great,as you may imagine, and the
cousin was even happier, forDrosselmeyer assured him that he

(01:19:12):
was a made man too, as he wassure of a good pension and all
the gold leaf he would want forthe rest of his life.
For his gilding free, gratisfor nothing.
The arcanist and the astronomerboth had on their nightcaps and
were going to turn into bedwhen the astronomer said I tell
you what it is, my goodcolleague, one piece of good
fortune never comes alone.

(01:19:33):
I feel convinced that we've notonly found the nut, but the
young gentleman who is to crackit and hand the beauty-restoring
colonel to the princess intothe bargain.
I mean none other than yourcousin's son here, and I don't
intend to close an eye thisnight till I've drawn that
youngster's horoscope With whichhe threw away his nightcap and

(01:19:54):
at once set to work to consultthe stars.
The cousin's son was a nicelooking, well-grown young fellow
, had never been shaved and hadnever worn boots.
True, he had been a jumpingjack for a Christmas or two in
his earlier days, but there wasscarcely any trace of this
discoverable about him.
His appearance had been soaltered by his father's care.

(01:20:14):
He had appeared last Christmasin a beautiful red coat with
gold trimmings, a sword by hisside, his hat under his arm and
a fine wig with a pigtail.
Thus appareled, he stood in hisfather's shop, exceedingly
lovely to behold, and from hisnative gallantry he occupied
himself in cracking nuts for theyoung ladies who called him the

(01:20:35):
handsome Nutcracker.
Next morning, the astronomerfell with much emotion into the
arcanist's arms, crying this isthe very man.
We have him, he is found Only,dearest colleague, two things we
must carefully keep in view.
In the first place, we mustconstruct a most substantial
pigtail for this precious nephewof yours, which shall be

(01:20:56):
connected with his lower jaw insuch sort that it shall be
capable of communicating a verypowerful pull to it.
And next, when we get back tothe residence, we must carefully
conceal the fact that we havebrought the young gentleman who
is to shiver the nut back withus.
He must not make his appearancefor a considerable time after
us.
I read in the horoscope that iftwo or three others bite at the

(01:21:20):
nut unsuccessfully to beginwith, the king will promise the
man who breaks it and, as aconsequence, restores her good
looks to the princess, theprincess will promise the man
who breaks it and, as aconsequence, restores her good
looks to the princess, theprincess's hand and the
succession of the crown.
The dollmaker cousin wasimmensely delighted with the
idea of his sons marryingPrincess Perlipat and being a
prince and king, so he gave himwholly over to the envoys to do

(01:21:43):
what they liked with him.
The pigtail which Drosselmeyerattached to him proved to be a
very powerful and efficientinstrument, as he exemplified by
cracking the hardest of peachstones with utmost ease.
Drosselmeyer and the astronomerhaving at once sent news to the
residents of the discovery ofthe nut-crackatook, the
necessary advertisements were atonce put in the newspapers, and

(01:22:05):
by the time that our travelersgot there, several nice young
gentlemen had arrived, amongwhom there were even princes who
had sufficient confidence intheir teeth to try to disenchant
the princess.
Body with tiny hands and feetwas not big enough to support
the great, shapeless head.
The hideousness of the face wasenhanced by a beard like white

(01:22:33):
cotton which had grown about themouth and chin.
Everything had turned out asthe court astronomer had read it
in the horoscope One milk sopand shoes after another bit his
teeth and his jaws into agoniesover the nut, without doing the
princess the slightest good inthe world.
And then, when he was carriedout on the verge of
insensibility by the dentistswho were in attendance on
purpose, he would sigh Ah dear,that was a hard nut.

(01:22:56):
Now, when the king, in theanguish of his soul, had
promised to him who shoulddisenchant the princess, his
daughter and the kingdom.
The charming young Drosselmeyermade his appearance and begged
to be allowed to make an attempt.
None of the previous ones hadpleased the princess so much.
She pressed her little hands toher heart and sighed Ah, I hope

(01:23:16):
it will be he who crack the nutand be my husband.
When he had politely salutedthe king, the queen and the
princess Perlipat, he receivedthe nut crackatook from the
hands of the clerk of the closet, put it between his teeth, made
a strong effort with his headand crack, crack.
The shell was shattered into anumber of pieces.
He neatly cleared the kernelfrom the pieces of husk which

(01:23:39):
were sticking to it and making aleg, presented it courteously
to the princess, after which heclosed his eyes and began his
backward steps.
The princess swallowed thekernel and, oh marvel, the
monstrosity vanished and in itsplace there stood a wonderfully
beautiful lady with a face whichseemed woven of delicate lily
white and rose-red silk, eyes ofsparkling azure and hair in all

(01:24:04):
little curls like threads ofgold Trumpets and kettle drums.
Mingled in the loud rejoicingsof the populace, the king and
all his court danced about onone leg, as they had done at
Perlipat's birth, and the queenhad to be treated with
au-de-cologne, having falleninto a fainting fit with joy and

(01:24:25):
delight, alone having falleninto a fainting fit with joy and
delight.
All this tremendous tumultinterfered not a little with
young Drosselmeyer'sself-possession, for he still
had to make his seven backwardsteps.
But he collected himself asbest he could and was just
stretching out with his rightfoot to make his seventh step
when up came Dame Mouserink,through the floor, making a

(01:24:45):
horrible weaking and squeakingso that Drosselmeyer, as he was
putting his foot down, trod uponher and stumbled so that he
almost fell.
Oh misery.
All.
In an instant he wastransmogrified, just as the
princess had been before.
His body all shriveled up andcould scarcely support the great

(01:25:06):
, shapeless head with enormousprojecting eyes and the wide,
gaping mouth.
In the place where his pigtailused to be, a scanty wooden
cloak hung down, controlling themovements of his nether jaw.
The clockmaker and theastronomer were wild with terror
and consternation.
But they saw that DameMouserink was wallowing in her

(01:25:26):
gore on the floor.
Her wickedness had not escapedpunishment, for young
Drosselmeyer had squashed her soin the throat with the sharp
point of his shoe that she wasmortally hurt.
But as Dame Mouserink lay in herdeath agony.
She squeaked and cheepedlamentably and cried O Krakatuk,
thou nut so hard.
O fate which none may disregard, hee-hee-pee-pee, woes me.

(01:25:50):
I cry, since I, through thathard nut, must die.
But brave, young Nutcracker, Isee you soon must follow after
me.
My sweet young son withsevenfold crown will soon bring
Master Cracker down His mother'sdeath.
He will repay.
So, nutcracker, beware that day.
O life must sweet.

(01:26:12):
I feebly cry.
I leave you now, for I must dieQueek.
With this cry died DameMouserink, and her body was
carried out by the court stovelighter Meantime nobody had been
troubling himself about youngDrosselmeyer, but the princess
reminded the king of his promiseand he at once directed that

(01:26:33):
the young hero should beconducted to his presence.
But when the poor wretch cameforward in his transmogrified
condition, the princess put bothher hands to her face and cried
oh please, take away thathorrid nutcracker.
The Lord Chamberlain seized himimmediately by his little
shoulders and shied him out ofthe door.
The king, furious at the ideaof a nutcracker being brought

(01:26:56):
before him as a son-in-law, laidall the blame upon the
clockmaker and the astronomerand ordered them both to be
banished forever.
The horoscope which theastronomer had drawn in
Nuremberg had said nothing aboutthis, but that didn't hinder
him from taking some freshobservations, as the stars told
him that young Drosselmeyerwould conduct himself so

(01:27:17):
admirably in his new conditionthat he would still be a prince
and a king in spite of histransmogrification, but also
that his deformity would onlydisappear after the son of Dame
Mouserink, the seven-headed kingof the mice whom she had born
after the death of her originalseven sons, should perish by his
hand and a lady shall fall inlove with him, notwithstanding

(01:27:39):
his deformity.
This is the story of the hardnut children, and now you know
why people so often use theexpression that was a hard nut
to crack and why nutcrackers areso ugly.
Thus did Godpapa Drosselmeyerfinish his tale.
Marie thought the princessPerlipat was a nasty, ungrateful

(01:28:00):
thing.
Fritz, on the other hand, wasof the opinion that if
Nutcracker had been a propersort of fellow, he would have
soon settled the Mouse King'shash and got his good looks back
again.

(01:28:23):
Chapter 7.
Uncle and Nephew, should any ofmy respected listeners ever
have happened to be cut by glass, they will know what an
exceedingly nasty thing it isand how long it takes to heal.
Marie was obliged to stay inbed a whole week because she
felt so terribly giddy whenevershe tried to stand up, but at

(01:28:44):
last she was quite well againand able to jump about.
As of old Things in the glasscupboard looked very fine indeed
, everything new and shiny treesand flowers and houses, toys of
every kind.
Above all, marie found her dearNutcracker again smiling at her
on the second shelf with histeeth all sound and right.

(01:29:05):
As she looked at this pet ofhers with much fondness, it
suddenly struck her that allGodpapa Drosselmeyer's story had
been about Nutcracker and hisfamily feud with Dame Mouserink
and her people.
And now she knew that herNutcrack was none other than the
young Mr Drosselmeyer ofNuremberg, godpapa

(01:29:26):
Drosselmeyer's delightful nephew, unfortunately under the spells
of Dame Mouserink.
For while the story was beingtold, marie couldn't doubt for a
moment that the cleverclockmaker at Perlipat's
father's court was GodpapaDrosselmeyer himself.
But why didn't your uncle helpyou?
Why didn't he help you?

(01:29:46):
Marie cried sorrowfully as shefelt more and more clearly every
moment that in the battle whichshe had witnessed, the question
and dispute had been no less amatter than Nutcracker's crown
and kingdom.
Weren't all the other toys hissubjects?
And wasn't it clear that theastronomer's prophecy that he
was to be rightful king ofToyland had come true.

(01:30:10):
While the clever Marie wasweighing all these things in her
mind, she kept expecting thatNutcracker and his vassals would
give some indications of beingalive and make some movement.
As she looked at them, this,however, was by no means the
case.
As she looked at them, this,however, was by no means the
case.
Everything in the cupboard keptquite motionless, and still.
Marie thought this was theeffect of Dame Mouserink's

(01:30:32):
enchantments and those of herseven-headed son, which still
were keeping up their power.
But she said, though you're notable to move or, to say the
least, little word to me.
Dear Mr Drosselmeyer, I knowyou understand me and see how
very well I wish you.
Always.
Reckon on my assistance whenyou require it.
At all events, I will ask youruncle to aid you with all his

(01:30:56):
great skill and talents wheneverthere may be an opportunity.
Nutcracker still kept quiet andmotionless, but Marie fancied
that a gentle sigh camebreathing through the glass
cupboard, which made its painsring in a wonderful, though all
but imperceptible manner, whilesomething like a little
bell-toned voice seemed to singMarie, fine angel, mine, I will

(01:31:21):
be thine if thou wilt be mine,although a sort of cold shiver
ran through her at this.
Still it caused her the keenestpleasure.
Twilight came on.
Marie's father came in withGodpapa Drosselmeyer and
presently Louise set out the teatable and the family took their
places around it, talking inthe pleasantest and merriest

(01:31:42):
manner about all sorts of things.
Marie had taken her littlestool and sat down at her
godpapa's feet in silence wheneverybody happened to cease
talking.
At the same time, marie lookedat her godpapa full in the face
with her great blue eyes andsaid I know now, godpapa, that
my nutcracker is your nephew,young Mr Drosselmeyer from

(01:32:04):
Nuremberg.
The prophecy has come true.
He is a king and a prince, justas your friend the astronomer
said he would be.
But you know as well as I dothat he is at war with Dame
Mouserink's son, that horridking of the mice.
Why don't you help him?
Marie told the whole story ofthe battle as she had witnessed
it and was frequentlyinterrupted by the loud laughter

(01:32:27):
of her mother and sister.
But Fritz and Drosselmeyerlistened quite gravely.
Where in the name of goodnesshas the child got her head
filled with all that nonsense,cried her father.
She has such a livelyimagination.
You see, said her mother.
She'll dreamt it all when shewas feverish with her arm.
It is all nonsense, cried Fritz.

(01:32:47):
And it isn't true.
My red hustlers are not suchcowards as that.
If they were, do you suppose Iwould command them?
But Godpapa smiled strangelyand took little Marie on his
knee, speaking more gently toher than ever he had been known
to do before.
More is given to you, marie,dear, he said, than to me or the

(01:33:07):
others.
You are a born princess likePerlipat and reign in a bright,
beautiful country, but you stillhave much to suffer if you mean
to befriend poor transformedNutcracker, for the king of the
mice lies in wait for him atevery turn.
But I cannot help him.
You and you alone can do that.
So be faithful and true.

(01:33:29):
Neither Marie nor any of theothers knew what God-Papa
Drosselmeyer meant by thesewords, but they struck Dr
Stahlbaum, marie's father, asbeing so strange that he felt
Drosselmeyer's pulse and saidthere seems to be a good deal of
congestion about the head.
My dear sir, I'll write you alittle prescription.
But Marie's mother shook herhead meditatively and said I

(01:33:53):
have a strong idea what MrDrosselmeyer means, though I
can't exactly put it in words.
Chapter 8.
Victory.
It was not very long beforeMarie was awakened one bright

(01:34:18):
moonlight night by a curiousnoise which came from one of the
corners of her room.
There was a sound as of smallstones being thrown and rolled
here and there, andintermittently there came a
horrid cheeping and squeaking.
Oh dear me, here are thoseabominable mice again, cried
Marie in terror, and she wantedto awaken her mother.

(01:34:38):
But the noise suddenly ceasedand she could not move a muscle,
for she saw the king of themice working himself out through
a hole in the wall.
At last he came into the room,ran about in it and got onto the
little table at the head of thebed with a great jump.
He, he, he, he cried give meyour candy.
Out with your cakes, marzipanand sugar stick, gingerbread

(01:35:01):
cakes.
Don't argue, don't pause.
If yield them you won't, I'llchew up nutcracker, see if I
don't.
As he cried out these terriblewords, he gnashed and chattered
his teeth most frightfully andthen made off again through the
hole in the wall.
This frightened Marie so thatshe was quite pale in the
morning and so upset that shescarcely could utter a word.

(01:35:23):
A hundred times she feltimpelled to tell her mother or
her sister, or at all events herbrother what had happened.
But she thought of course noneof them would believe me, they
would only laugh at me.
But she saw well enough that tosave the nutcracker she would
have to sacrifice all her sweetthings.
So she laid out all she had ofthem at the bottom of the

(01:35:44):
cupboard.
Next evening I can't make outhow the mice have got into the
sitting room said her mother.
This is something quite new.
There never were any therebefore.
See, marie, they've eaten upall your candy.
And so it was the epicure MouseKing hadn't found the marzipan
altogether in his taste, but hadgnawed all around the edges of

(01:36:06):
it, so that what he had left ofit had to be thrown into the ash
pit.
Marie did not mind about hercandy, being delighted to think
that she had saved Nutcracker bymeans of it.
But what were her feelings whennext night there came again a
squeaking close to her ear?
Alas, the king of the mice wasthere again with his eyes

(01:36:27):
glaring worse than the nightbefore.
Give me your sugar toys, hecried.
Give them, you must, or elseI'll chew Nutcracker up into
dust.
Then he was gone again.
Marie was very sorry.
She had as beautiful acollection of sugar toys, as
ever a little girl could boastof.
Not only had she a charminglittle shepherd with his

(01:36:47):
shepherdess looking after aflock of milk-white sheep, with
a nice dog jumping about them,but two postmen with letters in
their hands and four couples ofprettily dressed young gentlemen
and most beautifully dressedyoung ladies swinging in a
Russian swing.
Then there were two or threedancers and behind them Farmer
Feldkummer and the maid ofOrleans.

(01:37:09):
Marie didn't care much aboutthem, but back in the corner
there was a little baby with redcheeks, and this was Marie's
darling.
The tears came to her eyes.
Ah, she cried.
Turning to Nutcracker, I reallywill do all I can to help you,
but it's very hard.
Nutcracker looked at her sopiteously that she determined to

(01:37:29):
sacrifice everything, for sheremembered the Mouse King with
all his seven mouths wide opento swallow the young poor fellow
.
So that night she set down allher sugar figures in front of
the cupboard, as she had thecandy the night before, as she
had the candy the night before.
She kissed the shepherd, theshepherdess and the lambs and at
last she brought her best-lovedof all, the little red-cheeked

(01:37:51):
baby, from its corner, but didput a little further back than
the rest.
The farmer and the maid had tostand in the front rank.
This is really getting too bad,said Marie's mother.
The next morning.
Some nasty mouse or other musthave made a hole in the glass
cupboard, for poor Marie's sugarfigures are all eaten and
gnawed.
Marie really could not restrainher tears, but she was soon

(01:38:15):
able to smile again, for shethought what does it matter?
Nutcracker is safe.
In the evening Marie's motherwas telling her father and
Godpapa Drosselmeyer about themischief which some mouse was

(01:38:37):
doing in the children's cupboard, and her father said it's Fritz
, intervened and remarked I'llgo get hold of him and he'll put
soon a stop to it and bite themouse's head off, even if it's
Dame Mouserink herself or herson, the King of the Mice.
Oh yes, said the motherlaughing, and jump up on the
chairs and tables, knock downthe cups and glasses and do ever

(01:38:58):
so much mischief besides.
No, no, answered Fritz, thebaker's counselor of legations,
a very clever fellow.
I wish I could walk about onthe edge of a roof as he does.
Don't let us have a nasty catin the house that night time,
said Louise, who hated cats.
Fritz is quite right, though,said their mother, unless we set
a trap?

(01:39:18):
Haven't we got such a thing inthe house?
God, papa Drosselmeyer's theman to get us one, said Fritz.
It was he who invented them,you know.
Everybody laughed.
And when their mother said theydid not possess such a thing,
drosselmeyer said he had plenty.
And he actually sent a veryfine one round.
That day, when the cook wasbrowning the fat, marie, with

(01:39:39):
her head full of the marvels ofher godpapa's tale, called out
to her Ah, take care, queen,remember Dame Mous Rink and her
people.
But Fritz drew his sword andsaid let them come if they dare,
I'll give an account of them.
But everything about the hearthremained quiet and undisturbed

(01:39:59):
as Drosselmeyer was fixing thebrown fat on the fine thread and
setting the trap gently down inthe glass cupboard.
Fritz cried Now, god-papaClockmaker, mind that the Mouse
King doesn't play you some trick.
Ah, how did it fare with Mariethat night?
Something as cold as ice wenttripping about on her arm and
something rough and nasty laiditself on her cheek and cheeped

(01:40:19):
and squeaked in her ear.
The horrible Mouse King cameand sat on her shoulder, foamed
a blood-red foam out of all hisseven mouths and, chattering and
grinding his teeth, he hissedinto Marie's ear, hiss, hiss,
keep away, don't go in there.
Beware of that house, don't yoube caught.
Death to the mouse.
Hand out your picture books,none of your scornful looks.

(01:40:41):
Give me your dresses, also yourlaces, or if you don't leave
you, I won't Nutcracker, I'llbite.
Drag him out of your sight.
His last hour is near, sotremble for fear.
Fee, fa, fo fum, his last hourhas come.

(01:41:04):
Hee, hee, pee, pee, squeak,squeak.
Marie was overwhelmed withanguish and sorrow and was
looking quite pale and upsetwhen her mother said to her next
morning this horrid mousehasn't been caught.
But never mind, dear, we'llcatch the nasty thing yet, never
fear.
If the traps don't work, fritzshall fetch the grey counsellor
of legation.
As soon as Marie was alone, shewent up to the glass cupboard
and said to Nutcracker in avoice broken by sobs Ah, my dear

(01:41:28):
good Mr Drosselmeyer, what canI do for you, poor, unfortunate
girl that I am?
Even if I give that horrid kingof the mice all my picture
books and my new dress, whichthe Christ child gave me at
Christmas as well, he's sure togo on asking for more Soon.
I shan't have anything moreleft and he'll want to eat me.
Oh, poor thing that I am.

(01:41:50):
What shall I do?
What shall I do?
As she was thus crying andlamenting, she noticed a great
spot of blood had been leftsince the eventful night of the
battle, upon Nutcracker's neck.
Since she had known that he wasreally young, mr Drosselmeyer,
her godpapa's nephew, she hadgiven up carrying him in her
arms and petting and kissing him.

(01:42:11):
Indeed, she felt a delicacyabout touching him at all.
But now she took him carefullyout of his shelf and began to
wipe off this blood spot withher handkerchief.
What were her feelings when shefound that Nutcracker was
growing warmer and warmer in herhand and beginning to move?
She put him back in the cupboardas fast as she could.

(01:42:32):
Her mouth began to wobblebackwards and forwards and he
began to whisper with muchdifficulty Ah, dearest Miss
Stahlbaum, most precious offriends, how deeply I am
indebted to you for everything,for everything.
But don't, don't sacrifice anyof your picture books or pretty
dresses for me.
Get me a sword.

(01:42:54):
A sword is what I want.
If you get me that, I'll manage.
The rest, though he may.
There, nutcracker's speech diedaway and his eyes, which had
been expressing the mostsympathetic grief, grew staring
and lifeless again.
Marie felt no fear.
She jumped for joy, rather, nowthat she knew how to help

(01:43:14):
Nutcracker without furtherpainful sacrifices.
But where on earth was she toget a sword for him?
She resolved to take counselwith Fritz, and that evening,
when their father and mother hadgone out and they too were
sitting beside the classcupboard, she told him what had
passed between her andNutcracker with the King of Mice
, and what it was that it wasrequired to rescue Nutcracker.

(01:43:37):
The thing which chieflyexercised Fritz's mind was
Marie's statement as to theunexemplary conduct of his red
hussars in the great battle.
He asked her once more, moreseriously, to assure him that it
really was the truth, and whenshe had repeated her statement
on her word of honor, headvanced to the cupboard and
made his hussars a mostaffecting address.

(01:43:59):
As a punishment for theirbehavior, he solemnly took their
plumes, one by one, out oftheir busbies and prohibited
them from sounding the march ofthe hussars of the guard for the
space of a twelve-month.
When he had performed this duty, he turned to Marie and said as
far as the sword is concerned,I have it in my power to assist
Nutcracker.
I placed an old colonel ofCussars on retirement, on a

(01:44:22):
pension yesterday so that he hasno further occasion for his
saber, which is sharp.
This colonel was settled on hispension in the back corner of
the third shelf.
He was fetched out and hissaber still a bright and
handsome silver weapon taken offand girt about Nutcracker.
Next night Marie could not closean eye for anxiety.

(01:44:44):
About midnight she fancied sheheard a strange stirring and
noise in the sitting room, arustling and a clanging, and
suddenly there came a shrillQueek.
The king of the mice, the kingof the mice.
She cried and jumped out of bedall terror.
Everything was silent.
But soon there came a gentletapping at the door of her room

(01:45:05):
and a soft voice made itselfheard saying Please open your
door.
Dearest Miss Stahlbaum, don'tbe in the least degree alarmed.
Good, happy news.
It was Drosselmeyer's voiceYoung Drosselmeyer's, I mean.
She threw on her dressing gownand opened the door as quickly
as possible.
There stood Nutcracker with hissword all covered with blood in

(01:45:26):
his right hand and a little waxtaper on his left.
When he saw Marie, he kneltdown on one knee and said it was
you, and only you, dearest lady, who inspired me with knightly
valor and steeled me withstrength to do battle with the
insolent caitiff who dared toinsult you.
The treacherous king of themice lies vanquished and

(01:45:46):
writhing in his gore.
Dane lady, to accept thesetokens of victory from the hand
of him who is, till death, yourtrue and faithful knight.
With this, nutcracker took fromhis left arm the seven crowns
of the mouse king which he hadranged upon it, and handed them
to Marie, who received them withthe keenest pleasure.

(01:46:08):
Nutcracker rose and continued asfollows oh, my best beloved
Miss Stahlbaum, if you wouldonly take the trouble to follow
me for a few steps, whatglorious and beautiful things I
could show you at this suprememoment when I have overcome my
hereditary foe.
Do do come with me, dearestlady.

(01:46:28):
Chapter 9.
Toyland I feel quite convinced,children, that none of you
would have hesitated for amoment to go with good kind

(01:46:49):
Nutcracker, who had always shownhimself to be such a charming
person.
And Marie was all the moredisposed to do as he asked her
because she knew what her justclaims on his gratitude were and
was sure that he would keep hisword and show her all sorts of
beautiful things.
So she said I will go with you,dear Mr Drosselmeyer, but it

(01:47:11):
mustn't be very far and it won'tdo to be very long, because you
know I haven't had any sleepyet Then we will go by the
shortest route, said Nutcracker,although it is perhaps rather
the most difficult.
He went on in front, followed byMarie, till he stopped before
the big old wardrobe.
Marie was surprised to see that, though it was generally shut,

(01:47:32):
the doors of it were now wideopen so that she could see her
father's traveling cloak, a foxfur, hanging in the front.
Nutcracker clambered deftlyinto this cloak by the edgings
and trimmings of it, so as toget a hold of the big tassel
which was fastened at the backof it by a thick cord.
He gave this tassel a tug and apretty little ladder of cedar

(01:47:54):
wood led itself quickly downthrough one of the armholes of
the cloak.
Now, miss Stalbom, step up thatladder if you will be so kind,
said Nutcracker.
Marie did so, but as soon asshe got up through the armhole
and began to look out at theneck, a dazzling light came
streaming on her and she foundherself standing on a lovely,

(01:48:15):
sweet-scented meadow from whichmillions of sparks were
streaming upward like theglitter of beautiful gems.
This is Candy Mead where we arenow, said Nutcracker, but we'll
get in at the gate there.
Marie looked up and saw abeautiful gateway on the meadow
only a few steps off.
It seemed to be made of white,brown and raisin-colored marble,

(01:48:39):
but when she came close to itshe saw it was all of baked
sugar, almonds and raisins which, as Nutcracker said when they
were going through it was thereason it was called Almond and
Raisin Gate.
There was a gallery runninground the upper part of it,
apparently made of barley sugar,and in this gallery six monkeys
dressed in red were playing onbrass instruments in the most

(01:49:01):
delightful manner ever heard.
It was all that Marie could doto notice that she was walking
upon a beautiful variegatedmarble pavement which, however,
was really a mosaic of lozengesof all colors.
Presently, the sweetest of odorscame breathing round her,
streaming from a beautifullittle wood.
On both sides of the way.

(01:49:22):
There was such a glittering andsparkling among the dark
foliage that one could see allthe gold and silver fruits
hanging on the many tinted stems.
And these stems and brancheswere all ornamented and dressed
up in ribbons and bunches offlowers, like brides and
bridegrooms and festive weddingguests.
And as the orange perfumewafted, as if on the wings of

(01:49:45):
gentle zephyrs, there was asighing among the leaves and
branches and all the gold leafand tinsel rustled and tinkled
like beautiful music to whichthe sparkling lights could not
help dancing.
Oh how charming this is, criedMarie enraptured.
This is Christmas wood, dearestMiss Stalbaum, said Nutcracker.
Ah, said Marie, if only I couldstay here for a little, it is

(01:50:09):
so lovely.
Nutcracker clapped his littlehands and immediately there
appeared a number of littleshepherds and shepherdesses and
hunters and huntresses so whiteand delicate that you would have
thought they were made of puresugar whom Marie had not noticed
before, although they had beenwalking about in the wood.
They brought a beautiful goldreclining chair, laid a white

(01:50:31):
satin cushion in it, andpolitely invited Marie to take
the seat.
As soon as she did so, theshepherds and shepherdesses
danced a pretty ballet, to whichthe hunters and huntresses
played music on their horns, towhich the hunters and huntresses
played music on their horns,and then they all disappeared
among the thickets.
I must really apologize for thepoor style in which this dance

(01:50:52):
was executed.
Dearest Miss Stahlbaum, saidNutcracker, these people all
belong to our wire ballet troupeand can only do the same thing
over and over again.
Had we not better go on alittle further over and over
again.
Had we not better go on alittle further?
Oh, I'm sure it was all mostdelightful and I enjoyed it
immensely, said Marie, as shestood up and followed Nutcracker

(01:51:13):
who was leading the way.
They went by the side of agently rippling brook, which
seemed to be what was giving outall the perfume that filled the
wood.
This is Orange Brook, saidNutcracker, but except for its
sweet scent, it is nowhere nearas fine a water as the River
Lemonade, a beautiful broadstream which falls, as this one

(01:51:33):
also does, into the Almond MilkSea.
And indeed Marie soon heard alouder plashing and rushing and
came in sight of the RiverLemonade, which went rolling
along in swelling waves ofyellowish color between banks
covered with an herbage andunderbrush which shone like
green carbuncles.
A remarkable freshness andcoolness, strengthening heart

(01:51:56):
and breast, exhaled from thisfine river.
Not far from it, a dark yellowstream crept sluggishly along,
giving out a most delicious odor, and on its banks sat numbers
of pretty children angling forlittle fat fishes which they ate
as soon as they caught them.
These fish were very much likefilberts, marie saw when she

(01:52:17):
came closer.
A short distance further, on thebanks of this stream, stood a
nice little village.
The houses of this village andthe church, the parsonage, the
barns and so forth were all darkbrown, with gilt roofs, and
many of the walls looked as ifthey were plastered over with
lemon peel and shelled almonds.
That is Gingerthorpe on theHoney River, said Nutcracker.

(01:52:38):
It is famed for the good looksof its inhabitants, but they are
very short-tempered peoplebecause they suffer so much from
toothache, so we won't go thereat present.
At this moment, marie caughtsight of a little town where the
houses were all sorts of colorsand quite transparent,
exceedingly pretty to look at.
Nutcracker went on towards thistown and Marie heard a noise of

(01:53:00):
bustle and merriment and sawsome thousands of nice little
folks unloading a number ofwagons which were drawn up in
the marketplace.
What they were unloading fromthe wagons looked like packages
of colored paper and tables ofchocolate.
This is Bon Bonville.
Nutcracker said.
An embassy has just arrivedfrom Paperland and the King of
Chocolate.
These poor Bon Bonville peoplehave been vexatiously threatened

(01:53:24):
lately by the fly admiral'sforces.
So they are covering theirhouses over with their presents
from paperland and constructingfortifications with the fine
pieces of workmanship which thechocolate king has sent them.
But oh, dearest Miss Stahlbaum,we are not going to restrict
ourselves to seeing the smalltowns and villages of this
country, let us be off to themetropolis.

(01:53:44):
He stepped quickly onwards andMarie followed him, all
expectation.
Soon, a beautiful rosy vaporbegan to rise, suffusing
everything with a soft splendor.
She saw that this was reflectedfrom rose-red shining water
which went splashing and runningaway in front of them in
wavelets of roseate silver.
On this delightful water, whichkept broadening and broadening

(01:54:08):
out wider and wider, like agreat lake, the loveliest swans
were floating, white as silver,with collars of gold and as if
vying for each other.
They were singing the mostbeautiful songs, at which little
fish glittering like diamondsdanced up and down in the rosy
ripples.
Oh, cried Marie in the greatestdelight.

(01:54:32):
This must be the lake which GodPapa Drosselmeyer was once
going to make for me, and I amthe girl who is to play with the
swans.
Nutcracker gave a sneering sortof laugh such as she had never
seen in him before, and said myuncle could never make a thing
of this kind.
You would be much more likelyto do it yourself.
But don't let us bother aboutthat.
Rather, let us go sailing overthe water, lake Rosa, here to

(01:54:54):
the metropolis, chapter 10, theMetropolis.
Nutcracker clapped his littlehands again and the waves of
Lake Rosa began to sound louderand to splash higher.

(01:55:16):
And Marie became aware of asort of car approaching from the
distance, made wholly ofglittering precious stones of
every color and drawn by twodolphins with scales of gold.
Twelve of the dearest littleboys, with headdresses and
doublets made of hummingbird'sfeathers woven together, jumped
to land and carried first Marieand then Nutcracker, gently

(01:55:38):
gliding above the water, intothe car, which immediately began
to move along over the lake ofits own accord.
Immediately began to move alongover the lake of its own accord.
Ah, how beautiful it was whenMarie went over the waters in
the shell-shaped car, with therose perfume breathing around
her and the rosy waves splashing.
The two golden-scaled dolphinslifted their nostrils and sent

(01:55:59):
streams of crystal high in theair and as these fell down in
glittering, sparkling rainbows,there was a sound as of two
delicate silvery voices singing.
Who comes over the rosy seaFairy?
Is she Bim, bim, fishes, sim,sim, swans, sva, sva, golden
birds, tra, tra, rosy waves.

(01:56:21):
Wake you and sing, sparkle andring, sprinkle and cling.
Wake you and sing, sparkle andring, sprinkle and cling.
This is the fairy we languishto see coming at last to us over
the sea.
Rosy waves dash, brightdolphins play merrily, merrily
on.
But the twelve little boys atthe back of the car seemed to
take some umbrage to this songof the water jets, for they

(01:56:47):
shook the sunshades they wereholding so that the palm leaves
they were made of clattered andrattled together.
And as they shook them theystamped an odd sort of rhythm
with their feet and sang clapand clip, clip and clap, and up
and down.
These are merry, amusingfellows, said the Nutcracker.
A little put out, but they'llset the whole lake into a state
of regular mutiny.
On my hands, and in fact theredid begin a confused and

(01:57:10):
confusing noise of strangevoices which seemed to be
floating both in the water andin the air.
However, marie paid noattention to it but went on
looking into the perfumed rosywaves, from each of which a
pretty girl's face smiled backat her.
Oh, look at Princess Perlipat,she cried, clapping her hands

(01:57:30):
with gladness, smiling at me socharmingly down there.
Do look at her, mr Drosselmeyer.
But Nutcracker sighed almostsorrowfully and said that is not
Princess Perlipat, dearest MissStahlbaum.
It is only yourself, alwaysyour own lovely face smiling up
from the rosy waves.
At this, marie drew her headquickly back, closed her eyes as

(01:57:52):
tightly as she could and wasterribly ashamed.
But just then the twelve boyslifted her out of the car and
set her on shore.
She found herself in a smallthicket or grove, almost more
beautiful even than Christmaswood.
Everything glittered andsparkled so, and the fruit on
the trees was extraordinarilywonderful and beautiful, and not

(01:58:14):
only of very curious colors,but with the most delicious
perfume.
Ah, said Nutcracker, here weare in Comfit Grove, and yonder
lies the metropolis.
How shall I set aboutdescribing all the wonderful and
beautiful sights which Marienow saw, or give any idea of the
splendor and magnificence ofthe city which stretched out

(01:58:36):
before her on a flowery plain.
Not only did the walls andtowers of it shine in the
brightest and most gorgeouscolors, but the shapes and
appearance of the buildings werelike nothing to be seen on
earth.
Instead of roofs, the houseshad on beautiful twining crowns,
and the towers were garlandedwith beautiful leafwork,
sculptured and carved intoexquisite, intricate designs.

(01:59:01):
As they passed in, at thegateway, which looked as if it
were made entirely of macaroonsand sugared fruits, silver
soldiers presented arms and alittle man in a brocade
dressing-ground, threw himselfupon Nutcracker's neck crying
Welcome, dearest Prince, welcometo Sweetmeatburg.
Bruny wondered not a little tosee such a very grand personage,

(01:59:23):
recognize young Mr Drosselmeyeras a prince.
But she heard such a number ofsmall, delicate voices making
such a loud clamoring andtalking and such a laughing and
chattering going on and such asinging and playing that she
couldn't give her attention toanything else but asked
Drosselmeyer what was themeaning of it all.
Oh, it is nothing out of thecommon, dearest Miss Stalbaum,

(01:59:46):
he answered.
Sweetmeatburg is a large,populous city full of mirth and
entertainment.
This is the only usual thingthat is always going on here
every day.
Please come on a little further.
After a few paces more, theywere in the great marketplace
which presented the mostmagnificent appearance.
All the houses which werearound it were of filigreed

(02:00:07):
sugar-work and galleriestowering above galleries, and in
the center stood a lofty cakecovered with sugar by way of
obelisk, with fountains round itspouting orgeat, lemonade and
other delicious beverages intothe air.
The runnels at the sides of thefootways were full of creams
and you might have ladled themup with a spoon if you had

(02:00:28):
chosen.
But prettier than all this werethe delightful little people
who were crowding abouteverywhere by the thousands,
shouting, laughing, playing andsinging, in short, producing all
that jubilant uproar whichMarie had heard from the
distance.
They were beautifully dressed,ladies and gentlemen, greeks and
Armenians, tyrolese and Jews,officers and soldiers, clergymen

(02:00:51):
, shepherds, jack-puddings, inshort, people of every
conceivable kind to be found inthe world.
The tumult grew greater.
Towards one of the corners, thepeople streamed asunder, for
the great mogul happened to bepassing along there in his
palanquin, attended by three andninety grandees of the realm
and seven hundred slaves.

(02:01:11):
But it chanced that thefisherman's guild, about five
hundred strong, were keeping afestival at the opposite corner
of the place.
And it was rather anunfortunate coincidence that the
Grand Turk took it in his head,just at this particular moment,
to go out for a ride andcrossed the square with 3,000
Janissaries.
And as if this weren't enough,the grand procession of the

(02:01:34):
interrupted sacrifice came alongat the same time, marching up
toward the obelisk with a fullorchestra playing and the chorus
singing.
Hail, all hail to the glorioussun.
So there was a thronging and ashoving and a squeaking and a
driving, and soon lamentationsarose and cries of pain, for one
of the fishermen had knocked aBrahmin's head off in the throng

(02:01:55):
and the great mogul had verynearly run down by a jack
pudding, the din grew wilder andwilder.
The people were beginning toshove one another and even had
come to fisticuffs.
When the man in the brocadedressing-ground who had welcomed
Nutcracker as prince at thegate, clambered up to the top of
the obelisk and, after a veryclear tinkling bell had rung

(02:02:16):
thrice, shouted very loudlythree times "'Pastry cook,
pastry cook, pastry cook'.
Instantly the tumult subsided.
Everybody tried to save himselfas quickly as he could, and
after the entangled processionshad been disentangled, the dirt
properly brushed off, the greatmogul and the brahmin's head
stuck on.

(02:02:37):
All right, the merry noise wenton just the same as before.
Pastrycook, mr Drosselmeyer,please, said Marie.
Ah, dearest Miss Stahlbaum saidNutcracker.
In this place, pastrycook meansa certain unknown and very
terrible power which is believedcan do with people just what it

(02:02:57):
chooses.
It represents the fate ordestiny which rules these happy
little people, and they stand insuch awe and terror of it that
the mere mention of its namequells the wildest tumult.
In a moment, as the burgomasterhas just shown, nobody thinks
further of earthly matters,cuffs in the ribs, broken heads
or the like.
Everyone retires within himselfand says what is man and what

(02:03:20):
is his ultimate destiny.
Marie could not forbear a cryof admiration and utmost
astonishment as she now foundherself suddenly before a castle
shining in roseate radiance,with a hundred beautiful towers
here and there.
At intervals upon its wall wererich bouquets of violets,
tulips, carnations whose darkglowing colors heightened the

(02:03:43):
dazzling whiteness, inclining torose color, of the walls.
The great dome of the centralbuilding, as well as the
pyramidal roofs of the towerswere set all over with thousands
of sparkling gold and silverstars.
Aha, said Nutcracker, here weare at Marzipan Castle at last.

(02:04:04):
Marie was sunk and absorbed incontemplation of this magic
palace.
Marie was sunk and absorbed incontemplation of this magic
palace.
But the fact did not escape herthat the roof was wanting to
one of the principal towers andthat little men were upon a
scaffold made of sticks ofcinnamon and busily putting it
up again.
But before she had time to askNutcracker about this, he said
this beautiful castle, a shorttime ago, was threatened with

(02:04:25):
tremendous havoc, if not withtotal destruction.
Sweet Tooth the Giant happenedto be passing by and he bit off
the top of that tower there andwas beginning to gnaw at the
great dome but the Sweetmeatborough.
People brought him a wholequarter of the town by way of
tribute and a considerable sliceof Comfort Grove into the
bargain.
This stopped his mouth and hewent on his way.

(02:04:54):
At this moment, soft, beautifulmusic was heard and out came
twelve little pages with lightedclove-sticks which they held in
their little hands by way oftorches.
Each of their heads was a pearl, their bodies were emeralds and
rubies and their feet werebeautifully worked pure gold.
After them came four ladiesabout the size of Marie's, miss
Clara, but so gloriously andbrilliantly attired that Marie
saw in a moment that they couldbe nothing but princesses of the

(02:05:15):
blood royal.
They embraced Nutcracker mosttenderly and shed tears of
gladness, saying O, dearestprince, beloved brother.
Nutcracker seemed deeplyaffected.
He wiped away his tears, whichflowed thick and fast, and then
he took Marie by the hand andsaid with much pathos and
solemnity this is Miss MarieStahlbaum, the daughter of the

(02:05:38):
most worthy medical man and thepreserver of my life.
Had she not thrown her slipperjust in the nick of time, had
she not procured me thepensioned colonel's sword, I
should have been lying in mycold grave at this moment,
bitten to death by the accursedking of the mice.
I ask you to tell me candidlycan Princess Perlipat, princess
though she is, compare for amoment with Miss Stahlbaum here

(02:06:01):
in beauty and goodness andvirtues of every kind?
My answer is and virtues ofevery kind?
My answer is emphatically no.
All the ladies cried no andthey fell upon Marie's neck with
sobs and tears and cried Ah,noble preserver of our beloved
royal brother, excellent MissStahlbaum.
They now conducted Marie andNutcracker into the castle to a

(02:06:24):
hall whose walls were composedof sparkling crystal.
But what delighted Marie mostof all was the furniture.
There were the most darlinglittle chairs, bureaus, writing
tables and so forth standingabout everywhere, all made of
cedar or Brazil wood coveredwith golden flowers.
The princesses made Marie andNutcracker sit down and said

(02:06:44):
that they would themselvesprepare a banquet.
So they went and broughtquantities of little cups and
dishes of the finest Japaneseporcelain, and spoons and knives
and forks, graters and stewpans and other kitchen utilities
of gold and silver.
Then they fetched the mostdelightful fruits and sugar,
things such as Marie had neverseen the like of, and began to

(02:07:07):
squeeze the fruit in thedaintiest way with their little
hands and to grate the spicesand rub down the sugar almonds.
In short, they set to work soskillfully that Marie could see
very well how accomplished theywere in kitchen matters and what
a magnificent banquet there wasgoing to be.
Knowing her own skill in thisline, she wished in her secret
heart that she might be allowedto go and help the princesses

(02:07:30):
and have a finger in all thesepies herself.
And the prettiest ofNutcracker's sisters, just as if
she had read the wishes ofMarie's heart, handed her a
little gold mortar saying Sweetfriend, dear preserver of my
brother, would you mind poundinga little of this sugar candy?
Now, as Marie went on poundingin the mortar with goodwill and

(02:07:51):
the utmost enjoyment and thesound of it was like a lovely
song Nutcracker began to relatewith much minuteness all that
had happened on the occasion ofthe terrible engagement between
his forces and the army of theKing of the Mice, how he had had
the worst of it on account ofthe bad behavior of his troops.
How the horrible mouse king hadall but bitten him to death so

(02:08:12):
that Marie had had to sacrificea number of his subjects who
were in her service, etc.
Etc.
During all this it seemed toMarie as if what Nutcracker was
saying, and even the sound ofhis own mortar kept growing more
and more indistinct and goingfarther and farther away.
Presently, she saw a silvermistiness rising up, all about

(02:08:33):
like clouds, in which theprincesses, the pages,
nutcracker and she herself werefloating, and a curious singing
and a buzzing and humming beganwhich seemed to die away in the
distance.
And then she seemed to be goingup, up, up, as if on waves
constantly rising and swelling,higher and higher, higher and

(02:08:55):
higher, higher and higher.
Chapter 11.
Conclusion.
And then came a purr-poof andMarie fell down from some

(02:09:16):
inconceivable height.
That was a crash and a tumble.
However, she opened her eyesand, lo and behold, there she
was in her own bed.
It was broad daylight and hermother was standing at her
bedside saying Well, what asleep you have had.
Breakfast has been ready forever so long.
Of course, dear audience, yousee how it was.

(02:09:38):
Marie, confounded and amazed byall the wonderful things she had
seen, had at last fallen asleepin Marzipan Castle, and the
little boys, or the pages, orperhaps the princesses
themselves, had carried her homeand put her to bed.
Oh, mother darling, said Marie,what a number of places young
Mr Drosselmeyer has taken me inthe night and what beautiful

(02:09:59):
things I have seen.
And she gave very much the samefaithful account of it as I
have given to you.
Her mother listened, looking ather with astonishment and when
she had finished, said you havehad a long, beautiful dream,
marie, but now you must put itall out of your head.
Marie firmly maintained thatshe had not been dreaming at all

(02:10:20):
.
So her mother took her to theglass cupboard, lifted out
Nutcracker from his usualposition on the third shelf and
said you silly girl, how can youbelieve that this wooden figure
can have life in motion?
Ah, mother, answered Marie.
I know perfectly well thatNutcracker is young Mr
Drosselmeyer from Nuremberg,godpapa Drosselmeyer's nephew.

(02:10:40):
Her mother and father bothburst out into laughter.
It's all very well, you'relaughing at poor Nutcracker.
Father, cried Marie, almostweeping, but he spoke very
highly of you, for when wearrived at Marzipan Castle and
he was introducing me to hissisters, the princesses, he said
you were a most worthy medicalman.

(02:11:01):
The laughter grew louder andLouise and even Fritz joined in
it.
Marie ran into the next room,took the Mouse King's seven
crowns from her little box andhanded themitz joined in it.
Marie ran into the next room,took the Mouse King's seven
crowns from her little box andhanded them to her mother,
saying Look here then, dearmother, those are the Mouse
King's seven crowns which youngMr Drosselmeyer gave me last
night as proof that he had gotthe victory.
Her mother gazed in amazementat the little crowns, which were

(02:11:25):
made of some very brilliant,holy unknown metal and worked
more beautifully than any humanhands could have worked them.
Dr Stahlbaum could not ceaselooking at them with admiration
and astonishment either, andboth the father and the mother
enjoyed Marie most earnestly totell them where she really had
got them from.
But she could only repeat whatshe had said before, and when

(02:11:47):
her father scolded her andaccused her of untruthfulness,
she began to cry bitterly andsaid oh dear me, what can I tell
you except the truth?
At this moment, the door openedand Godpapa Drosselmeyer came in
crying Hello, hello, what's allthis?
My little Marie crying, what'sall this, what's all this?
Mr Stahlbaum told him all aboutit and showed him the crowns.

(02:12:10):
As soon as he had looked atthem, however, he cried out
stuff and nonsense, stuff andnonsense.
These are the crowns I used towear on my watch chain.
I gave them as a present toMarie on her second birthday.
Do you mean to tell me youdon't remember?
None of them did rememberanything of the kind.
But Marie, seeing that herfather and mother's faces were
clear of clouds, again ran up toher, godpapa crying.

(02:12:34):
You know all about the affair,godpapa Drosselmeyer.
Tell it to them.
Let them know from your ownlips that my nutcracker is your
nephew, young Mr Drosselmeyerfrom Nuremberg, and that it was
he who gave me the crowns.
But Drosselmeyer made a veryangry face and muttered stupid
stuff and nonsense, upon whichMarie's father took her in front

(02:12:57):
of him and said with muchearnestness now look here, marie
.
Let there be an end of all thisfoolish trash and absurd
nonsense once and for all.
I'm not going to allow any moreof it, and if I ever hear you
again say that that idiotic,misshapen nutcracker is your
godpapa's nephew, I shall thrownot only nutcracker but all your

(02:13:18):
other playthings Miss Clara,not accepted out of the window.
Of course.
Poor Marie dared not utteranother word concerning that
which her whole mind was full of, for you may well suppose that
it was impossible for anyone whohad seen all that she had seen
to forget it, and I regret tosay that even Fritz himself at
once turned his back on hissister whenever she wanted to

(02:13:40):
talk to him about the wondrousrealm in which she had been so
happy.
Indeed, he is said to havefrequently murmured stupid goose
between his teeth, though I canscarcely think this compatible
with his proved kindness ofheart.
This much, however, is matterof certainty that as he no
longer believed what his sistersaid, he now, at a public parade

(02:14:00):
, formally recanted what he hadsaid to his red hussars and, in
the place of the plumes he haddeprived them of, gave them much
taller and finer ones of goosequills and allowed them to sound
the march of the hussars of theguard.
As before, marie did not daresay anything more of her
adventures, but the memories ofthat fairy realm haunted her
with a sweet intoxication, andthe music of that delightful,

(02:14:23):
happy country still rang sweetlyin her ears Whenever she
allowed her thoughts to dwell inall those glories, she saw them
again.
And so it came about that,instead of playing as she used
to, she sat quiet and meditative, absorbed within herself.
Everybody found fault with herfor being such a little dreamer.
It chanced one day thatGod-Papa Drosselmeyer was

(02:14:46):
repairing one of the clocks inthe house and Marie was sitting
beside the glass cupboard, sunkin her dreams and gazing at
Nutcracker, all at once she said, as if involuntarily Ah, mr
Drosselmeyer, if you really werealive I shouldn't be like
Princess Perlipat and despiseyou because you had had to give
up for being a nice, handsomegentleman.

(02:15:07):
For my sake.
Stupid stuff and nonsense,cried Godpapa Drosselmeyer.
But as he spoke there came sucha tremendous bang and shock
that Marie fell from her chair,insensible.
When she came back to hersenses, her mother was busied
about her and said how could yougo and tumble off your chair in
that way, a big girl like you?
Here is Godpapa Drosselmeyer'snephew, come from Nuremberg.

(02:15:30):
See how good you can be.
Marie looked up.
Her Godpapa had on his yellowcoat and his glass wig and was
smiling in the highest goodhumor.
By the hand he was holding avery small but a very handsome
young gentleman.
His little face was red andwhite.
He had on a beautiful red coattrimmed with gold, lace, white

(02:15:50):
silk stockings and shoes, with alovely bouquet of followers in
his shirt frill.
He was beautifully frizzled andpowdered and had a magnificent
queue hanging down his back.
The little sword at his sideseemed to be made entirely of
jewels.
It sparkled and shone so, andthe little hat under his arm was
woven of flocks of silk.
He gave proof of the finenessof his manners in that he had

(02:16:14):
brought for Marie a quantity ofthe most delightful toys, above
all the very same figures asthose which the Mouse King had
eaten up, as well as a beautifulsaber for Fritz.
He cracked nuts at table for thewhole party.
The very hardest did notwithstand him.
He placed them in his mouthwith his left hand, tugged at

(02:16:34):
his pigtail with the right, andcrack they fell in pieces.
Marie grew red as a rose at thesight of this charming young
gentleman, and she grew redderstill when, after dinner, young
Drosselmeyer asked her to gowith him to the glass cupboard
in the sitting room.
Play nicely together, children,said Godpapa Drosselmeyer, now
that my clocks are all nicely inorder, I can have no possible

(02:16:58):
objection.
But as soon as youngDrosselmeyer was alone with
Marie, he went down on one kneeand spoke as follows Ah, my most
dearly beloved Miss Stahlbaum,see here at your feet the
fortunate Drosselmeyer whoselife you have saved, here on
this very spot.
You were kind enough to sayplainly and unmistakably in so

(02:17:19):
many words that you would nothave despised me, as Prince
Perlipat did, if I had turnedugly for your sake.
Immediately I ceased to be acontemptible nutcracker and
resumed my former, notaltogether ill-looking person
and form.
Ah, most exquisite lady, blessme with your precious hand,
share with me my crown andkingdom and reign with me in

(02:17:42):
Marzipan Castle.
For there, I am now king.
Marie raised him and saidgently for there, I am now king.
Marie raised him and saidgently Dear Mr Drosselmeyer, you
are a kind, nice gentleman andas you reign over a delightful
country of charming, funny,pretty people, I accept your
hand.
So then they were formallybetrothed and when a year and a
day had come and gone, they say,he came and fetched her away in

(02:18:05):
a golden coach drawn by silverhorses.
At the marriage there dancedtwo and twenty thousand of the
most beautiful dolls and otherfigures, all glittering in
pearls and diamonds.
And Marie is to this day thequeen of a realm where all kinds
of sparkling Christmas woodsand transparent marzipan castles
in short, the most wonderfuland beautiful things of every

(02:18:29):
kind, are to be seen by thosewho have the eyes to see them.
So this is the end of the taleof Nutcracker and the King of
the Mice.
The end, Thank you.

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