The Nutcracker by E.T.A. Hoffmann (illustrated by Sanna Annukka).
Title: The Nutcracker.
Author: E.T.A. Hoffmann.
Artist: Sanna Annukka.
Genre: Literature, fiction, fantasy, children's lit, fairy tales.
Country: Prussia.
Language: German.
Publication Date: 1816.
Summary: On Christmas Eve, Fritz and Marie excitedly await the arrival of Godfather Drosselmeier and the marvelous gifts he brings for them every year. When Marie discovers a rather curious nutcracker doll amongst the presents, she suddenly finds herself caught up in an age-old battle and ultimately transported to a magical world of sugar-frosted castles, chocolate kings, and true love.
My rating: 8.5/10.
My review:
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Just at that moment Marie spotted something that nobody else had yet noticed. At the back of the table was a curious little man standing quietly, as if patiently awaiting his turn. He could not be called a handsome man, for not only was his rather stout body out of all proportion to his spindly legs, but his head was altogether too large for either. But it was clear that he was a man of taste and education, for he wore a hussar's jacket of beautiful bright violet with matching pantaloons and the neatest boots you ever did see. He also had on a somewhat clumsy wooden cloak and a woodman's cap. These last two made him look a little ridiculous if the truth be told, but Marie remembered that Godfather Drosselmeier's cap and cloak were equally shabby, and he was still a dear godfather. In fact, the longer she looked, the more kindness and benevolence she saw in the little man's clear green eyes.
♥
She locked the case and was about to go up to bed, when quite suddenly she heard a strange whispering and rustling all around her. The great clock whirred louder, and when Marie turned toward it, she saw that the large gilt owl perched on the top had dropped down its wings so that they covered the whole clock face. And the clock whirred louder until it seemed to be saying: "Hickory, dickory, dock-whir softly clock-Mouse King has a fine ear-pum pum the old song let him hear-prr-prr-pum-pum-dong ding, little bell ring-sound and send him packing."
Trembling with fear, Marie was on the point of fleeing when she saw that the owl on the clock was none other than Godfather Drosselmeier, who had let the flaps of his coat hang down like wings. Plucking up her courage, she cried, "What are you doing up there, Godfather Drosselmeier? Come down and do not frighten me so, you naughty Godfather Drosselmeier!"
Just then a wild squeaking and scuttling broke out all around her, and Marie could hear a strange pattering noise, as though a thousand little feet were in motion. Then, quite suddenly, a thousand tiny lights appeared through the cracks in the floorboards. But as Marie looked closer she saw that they were not lights-they were eyes. Crawling out of every nook and cranny were hundreds and hundreds of mice. Now Marie was not afraid of mice as most children are, and she was just thinking that they were even a little amusing, when all at once there rose a squeaking so terrible that it sent shivers down her spine.
Close before her feet there burst out of the floorboards seven mouse heads, and each head wad adorned with a glittering crown. Then rose the one mouse body to which these seven heads belonged, and the great Mouse King advanced to meet his army with an almighty squeak.
♥ Clara then took him by the arm, removed her sash, and was about to drape it across Nutcracker's shoulders when he stepped two paces backward, laid his hand upon his breast and said vert earnestly, "Do not lavish your favors upon me, fair lady, for-" He stopped, sighed heavily, tore Marie's ribbon from his shoulders, pressed it to his lips, and let it hang down like a field bandage. Then, with a flourish of his sword, he leaped nimbly from the lower shelf to the floor. For Nutcracker, even before he had come to life, had felt Marie's kindness and love, so that he preferred to wear her simple ribbon that Miss Clara's sparking sash.
♥
The queen was a kind lady, and although she was not willing to acknowledge Lady Mouserings as a true queen and sister, she was ready to allow her a small banquet on this great holiday. So she answered, "You are welcome to a little of the fat, Lady Mouserings."
♥ He decreed that Drosselmeier must restore the Princess Pirlipat to her former condition within four weeks or suffer a shameful death under the axe of the executioner.
Drosselmeier was terrified, but he had great confidence in his skill and good fortune and began immediately to take Princess Pirlipat apart. With great dexterity he unscrewed her little hands and feet and carefully examined her insides; but he found, alas, that the princess would grow uglier as she gre bigger and knew not what to do. He carefully put the princess together again and sank down by her cradle in despair.
The fourth week had commenced when the king looked in with flashing eyes and cried, "Christian Elias Drosselmeier, cure the princess of your must die." Drosselmeier began to weep, but the Princess Pirlipat lay as happy as the day and cracked nuts.
Pirlipat's appetite for nuts now struck the mechanist as uncommon, along with the fact that she had come into the world with teeth.
In truth, immediately after her transformation, she had screamed continually until a nut accidentally came her way, which she immediately put into her mouth, then cracked it, ate the kernel, and became calm. Since then her nurses made sure she was always supplied with nuts.
"Oh, sacred instinct of nature!" cried Christian Elias Drosselmeier. "You point me to the gates of this mystery. I will knock, and they will open." He begged straightaway to speak with the royal astronomer and was led under guard to his apartment. They embraced with tears, for they had been warm friends, then retired to a private room and examined many books on instinct, sympathies, antipathies, and other mysterious things.
Night came on; the astronomer looked at the stars and set up the horoscope of Princess Pirlipat. It was a great deal of trouble, for the lines grew ever more intricate; but at last-what joy!-at last it became clear that the Princess Pirlipat, in order to be freed from the magic that had transformed her, had only to eat the kernel of the nut Crackatuck.
The nut Crackatuck had such a hard shell that an eight-and-forty pounder might be wheeled over it without breaking it. This hard nut must be cracked before the princess with the teeth of a man who had never been shaved and had never worn boots. The young man must then hand the kernel to the princess with closed eyes, and must not open them again until he had marched seven steps backward without stumbling.
♥ The brother's son was in truth a handsome young man who had never shaved nor worn boots. On Christmas days he wore a handsome red coat trimmed with gold, a sword, a hat under his arm, and a curling wig. In this fine dress, he would stand in his father's shop and, out of gallantry, crack nuts for the young girls, for which reason he came to be called the "Nutcracker."
♥ After the king, in the anguish of his heart, had promised his daughter and his kingdom to him who could break the spell, the young Drosselmeier stepped forward and begged for permission to try. No one had yet charmed Princess Pirlipat as much as young Drosselmeier. She laid her little hand upon her heart and sighed, "I hope he's the one to crack the Crackatuck and become my husband!" After young Drosselmeier had gracefully saluted the king and queen and then the Princess Pirlipat, he received the Crackatuck, put it without hesitation between his teeth, pulled his pole very hard, and crack-the shell broke into many pieces. Then, with a low bow, he gave the kernel to the princess, shut his eyes, and began to walk backward. The princess straightaway swallowed the kernel, and behold! Her ugly shape was gone and in its place appeared a most beautiful figure, with a face of roses and lilies, eyes of living, sparkling azure, and locks curling in bright golden ringlets.
Drums and trumpets mingled with the loud rejoicings of the people. The king and his whole court danced upon one leg, as at Pirlipat's birth, and the queen swooned from delight.
Young Drosselmeier was distracted by the tumult but kept firm, and was just about to take the seventh step, when Lady Mouserings rose squealing out of the floor. Down came his foot upon her head, and then he stumbled and nearly fell.
Alas! What a hard fate! As quick as thought, his body shriveled up and was hardly able to support his great misshapen head, his eyes turned green and staring, and his mouth was stretched from eat to ear. Instead of his pole, a narrow wooden cloak hung down upon his back, with which he moved his lower jaw.
The watchmaker and astronomer were benumbed with terror, while Lady Mouserings rolled bleeding and kicking on the floor.
Her malice did not go unpunished, for young Drosselmeier had trodden upon her neck so heavily with the heel of his shoe that she could not survive.
♥
With this cry, Lady Mouserings died, and the royal oven-heater carried out her body.
♥ He immediately took another observation and declared that he could read in the stars that young Drosselmeier would yet become a prince and a king, and that his former beauty would return as soon as the son of Lady Mouserings, who had been born with seven heads after the death of her seven sons, had fallen by his hand and a maiden had loved him, notwithstanding his ugly shape. And while it is true that they say young Drosselmeier had been seen in his father's shop in Nuremberg as a nutcracker around Christmastime, at the same time he has been seen as a prince.
This, children, is the story of the Hard Nut, and you know now why people say so often, "That was a hard nut to crack!" and whence it comes that nutcrackers are so ugly.
♥ "But even if you are not able to move or to talk to me, dear Master Drosselmeier," she said aloud to the Nutcracker, "I know you understand me and know what a good friend I am to you. You may depend upon my help, and I will beg of your uncle to bring his skill to your assistance whenever you have need of it."
Nutcracker remained still and motionless, but it seemed to Marie as if a gentle sigh was breathed in the glass case, so that the panes trembled and a voice rang out like a little bell: "Marie mine-I'll be thine-and thou mine-Marie mine!" Marie felt, in the cold shuddering that crept over her, a singular pleasure.
♥ "I know, dear Godfather Drosselmeier, that my Nutcracker is your nephew, and he has become a prince, or king rather, as the astronomer foretold. You know now that he is at war with the hateful Mouse King. Why do you not help him?" Marie then related the whole course of the battle, just as she had seen it, and was often interrupted by the loud laughter of her mother and father. Only Fritz and Drosselmeier remained serious.
..But Godfather Drosselmeier, with a strange smile, took little Marie onto his lap and said in a softer tone than he was ever heard to speak in before: "Ah, dear Marie, more power is given to you than to me or to the rest of us. You, like Pirlipat, were born a princess, for you reign in a bright and beautiful kingdom. But you will suffer if you take the part of the poor misshapen Nutcracker, for the Mouse King watches for him at every hole and corner. I cannot-you alone can rescue him. Be firm and true."
♥ But scarcely had she gone up the sleeve and seen her way out at the collar, when a dazzling light broke forth, and all at once, she stood upon a sweet-smelling meadow surrounded by millions of sparks that darted up like flashing jewels. "We are now in Candy Meadow," said Nutcracker, "but we will directly pass through yonder gate." When Marie looked up, she saw the beautiful gate, which stood a few steps before them. It seemed built of marble. But when Marie came nearer, she saw that it was made of sugar, almonds, and raisins, kneaded and baked together. On a gallery built over the gate were six apes in red jackets, who struck up the finest Turkish music that was ever heard. Soon around them streamed the sweetest smells, which wafted from a small wood that opened on each side before them. Among the dark leaves, the golden and silvery fruit shone and sparkled, while the trunks and branches were ornamented with ribbons and flowers. And when the sweet perfume stirred and moved like a soft breeze, it rustled among the boughs and leaves like music, to which the dancing sparkles kept time!
"Ah, how delightful it is here!" cried Marie, entranced in happiness. "We are in Christmas Wood," said Nutcracker. "Oh, if I could but linger here a while," cried Marie. "It is too, too charming!" Nutcracker clapped his hands and some little shepherd and shepherdesses and hunters and huntresses approached, all of them so delicate and white that they seemed made of pure sugar. They brought a dainty armchair, all of gold, and invited Marie to sit down. She did so, and immediately the shepherds and shepherdesses danced a very pretty ballet, while the hunters blew their horns, and then all disappeared again into the bushes. They now walked along by a soft, rustling brook, out of which the scent of oranges seemed to arise and fill the whole wood.
"This is the Orange Brook," said Nutcracker, "but it cannot compare either in size or beauty with Lemonade River." Marie soon heard a louder rustling and splashing and then saw the broad Lemonade River, which rolled in proud cream-colored billows between banks covered with bright green bushes. A refreshing coolness arose from its waves. Nearby, a dark yellow stream dragged itself lazily along and smelled very sweet, and many little children sat on the shore angling for tiny fish, which were shaped like peanuts.
At a distance there was a neat little village by the stream; houses, churches, parsonages, and barns were all dark brown, with gilded roofs and sugarplums stuck on the walls. "That is Gingerbreadville," said Nutcracker. "The inhabitants are lovely looking but rather grumpy because they suffer from toothaches, and so we will not visit it."
Then Marie saw a beautiful little town in which the houses were of bright translucent colors. Nutcracker went straight toward it, and now Marie heard a busy, merry clatter and saw a thousand tiny figures collected around some heavily laden wagons that had stopped in the market. From these they unloaded sheets of colored paper and chocolate cakes. "We are now in Bonbon Town," said Nutcracker. "The inhabitants are often terribly threatened by the armies of General Gnat, so they fortify their houses with stout materials from Paper Land, and throw up fortifications using the strong bulwarks that King Choclate sends to them. But, worthiest Miss Stahlbaum, we will not visit all of the little towns and villages of this land. To the capital!
Nutcracker hastened on, and Marie followed, full of curiosity. It was not long before the smell of roses enveloped them, and everything around was touched with a soft, rosy glow. Marie realized this was the reflection of a pink lake that rippled before them in little waves. Beautiful silver-white swans with golden collars swam and sang sweet tunes, while small diamond fish dipped up and down, as if dancing.
..
Nutcracker clapped his hands again and the waves on Rose Lake rolled higher. Marie saw in the distance a carriage made of shells, covered with sparkling jewels, and drawn by two golden dolphins. Twelve little Moors, with caps and aprons of braided hummingbird feathers, leaped upon the shore and with a gliding step, carried first Marie and then Nutcracker over the waves and placed them in the carriage, which began to move across the lake.
Ah, how delightful it was as Marie sailed along, with the rosy air and rosy waves breathing and dashing around her! The two dolphins raised up their heads and spouted clean crystal streams from their nostrils high, high into the air, which fell down again in a thousand quivering, flashing rainbows. Then it seemed as if two small silver voices sang out: "Who sails upon the rosy lake? The little fairy-awake, awake! Music and song-bim-bim, fishes-sim-sim, swans-tweet-tweet, birds-whiz-whiz, breezes!-rustling, ringing, singing, blowing!-a fairy o'er the waves is going! Rosy billows, murmuring, playing, dashing, cooling the air!-roll along, along."
..There they found themselves in a small thicket, more bright and sparkling even than Christmas Wood, with multicolored fruits hanging from the trees. "We are not in Sweetmeat Grove," said Nutcracker, "but yonder is the capital.
And what a sight! The beauty and splendor of the city before Marie's eyes was indescribable. The walls and towers glittered, the roofs of the houses were intricately braided crowns, and the towers were hung with the most beautiful garlands that ever were seen. As they passed through the gate, silver soldiers presented arms, and a little man in a brocade dressing gown threw himself upon Nutcracker with the words, "Welcome, best prince! Welcome to Confectionville!"
♥
Marie could not help crying out in wonder because they suddenly stood before a castle glimmering with rosy light and crowned with a hundred airy towers. Beautiful bouquets of violets, narcissus, tulips and dahlias were hung about, and their deep, glowing colors only heightened the dazzling, rose-white walls upon which they were fastened. The large cupola of the central building and the sloping roofs of the towered were spangled with a thousand gold and silver stars. "We are now in front of Marchpane Castle," said Nutcracker. Marie was lost in admiration, yet it did not escape her that one of the towers was without a roof, while little men were busied in repairing it on a scaffolding of cinnamon. "Not long ago, thus beautiful castle was threatened with serious injury, if not with entire destruction," Nutcracker continued. "The Giant Sweet Tooth came this way, bit off the roof of yonder tower, and was gnawing on it when the people of Confectionville gave to him a full quarter of the city and a considerable portion of Sweetmeat Grove, with which he contented himself before going away."
♥ Scarcely were they alone when young Drosselmeier fell on one knee and said: "Oh, lovely Miss Stahlbaum, you see here at your feet the happy Drosselmeier, whose life you saved on this very spot. You said that you would not slight me as the unkind Pirlipat did, and from that moment I ceased to be a miserable Nutcracker and resumed again my former figure. Miss Stahlbaum, please do me the honor of giving me your hand in marriage. Please share with me crown and kingdom and rule with me in Marchpane Castle, for there I am still King!"
Marie accepted at once, and after one year and a day, he arrived to carry her away in a golden chariot drawn by silver horses. The wedding, they say, was quite a magnificent spectacle, with twenty-two thousand dancers dressed up with pearls and diamonds. Marie still reigns there, queen of sparkling Christmas Wood and the wonderful Marchpane Castle. Like Marie, you can find all manner of wonderful things there, if you only take the time to look.