Nutcracker and Mouse King - Conclusion of the Story of the Hard Nut 9

"Nutcracker and Mouse King" is a classic German Christmas story written by E. T. A. Hoffmann, first published in 1816. The tale is known for its adaptation into the popular ballet "The Nutcracker" by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.The story revolves around a young girl named Marie Stahlbaum, who receives a special wooden nutcracker doll as a Christmas gift from her godfather, Drosselmeyer. Marie's family is hosting a Christmas Eve party, and during the festivities, the nutcracker is broken by her brother Fritz. Later that night, Marie returns to the living room to check on her beloved nutcracker, and she finds herself drawn into a magical world of adventure.Marie discovers that her nutcracker has come to life, and he leads her into a fantastical realm inhabited by toys, where they must confront the nefarious Mouse King and his army of mice. With the help of the Nutcracker and other enchanting characters, including the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Snow Queen, Marie embarks on a journey to defeat the Mouse King and restore peace to the Land of Sweets.The story combines elements of fantasy, fairy tale, and Christmas magic, and it explores themes of bravery, transformation, and the power of imagination. E. T. A. Hoffmann's "Nutcracker and Mouse King" has been adapted and retold numerous times over the years, becoming a beloved holiday tradition for many, particularly through the ballet version choreographed by Marius Petipa and set to Tchaikovsky's iconic music.

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Episode Transcript

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Chapter nine of Nutcracker and Mouse Kingby E. T. A. Hoffmann.
This LibriVox recording is in the publicdomain. Conclusion of the story of
the hard Nut. The next evening, as soon as the candles were alighted,
Godfather Drossmiah appeared and continued his storyas follows. Drossmiah and the astronomer

(00:27):
had been fifteen years on their journeywithout seeing the least signs of the nut
krack attack. It would take mea month children to tell where they went
and what strange things happened to them. I must pass them over and commence
where Drossmiah sank at last into despondencyand felt a great desire to see his

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dear native city, Nuremberg. Thisdesire came upon him all at once,
as he was smoking a pipe oftobacco with his friend in the middle of
a great wood in Asia. Oh, sweet city, He cried, sweet
native city, Sweet Nuremberg. Hewho has never seen thee, though he

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may have traveled to London, Paris, Rome, if his heart is not
dead to emotion, must continually desireto visit THEE. Thee O Nuremberg,
sweet city, where there are somany beautiful houses with windows as Josselmya grieved
in such a sorrowful manner, theastronomer was moved with sympathy and began to

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cry and howl so pitifully that itwas heard far and wide through Asia.
He soon composed himself again, wipedthe tears out of his eyes, and
said, but why, my respectedcolleague, Why here and how? Why
should we not go to Nuremberg?Is it not all the same wherever we

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seek after this miserable nut crack attuck? That is true, replied Dossilmia.
Greatly consoled, both arose, knockedout their pipes, and went straight forward
out of the wood in the middleof Asia, right to Nuremberg. They
had scarcely arrived there when Drosselmeiah ranto his brother Christopher Zacharias Drosselmeiah puppet maker,

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Varnisher and Gilda, whom he hadnot seen for these many years.
The watchmaker told him the whole storyof the Princess Purlipat, Lady mouse Rings,
and the nut Crackertuck, so thathe struck his hands together over and
over again with astonishment, and exclaimed, ay, ay, brother, brother,

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what strange things are thee ease Josselmiahthen related the history of his travels,
how he had passed two years withKing Date, how coldly he had
been received by Prince Almond, andhow he had sought information to no purpose
of the natural society in Squirrelberg.In short, how his search everywhere had

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been in vain to find even theleast signs of the nut krakatuck. During
this account, Christopher Zacharias had oftensnapped his fingers, turned about on one
foot, winked, laughed, cluckedwith his tongue, and then called out,
high hum, I oh, ifit should at last, he tossed

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his hat and wig up in theair, clasped his brother round the neck,
and cried, brother, brother,you are safe. Safe, I
say, for I must be wonderfullymistaken if I have not that nut crack
attack at this very moment in mypossession. He then drew a little box
from his pocket and took out ofit a gilded nut of moderate size.

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See, he said, this nutfell into my hands in this way.
Many years ago a stranger came hereat Christmas time with a sack full of
nuts, which he offered for salecheap. Just as he passed my shop
he got into a quarrel with anut seller of this city, who did
not like to see a stranger comehither to undersell him, and for this

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reason attacked him. The man putdown his sack upon the ground, the
better to defend himself, and atthe same moment a heavily laden wagon passed
directly over it. All the nutswere cracked in pieces, except this one,
which the stranger, with a singularsmile, offered me for a bright

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dollar of the year seventeen twenty.I thought that strange, But as I
found in my pocket just such adollar as the man wanted, I bought
the nut and gilded it over.Without exactly knowing why I bought the nut
so dear, or why I setso much store by it, all doubt

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whether this nut was actually the longsought nut. Crackerttuck was instantly removed when
the astronomer was called, who carefullyscraped off the gold and found upon the
rind the word crack attuck engraved inChinese characters. The joy of the travelers

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was beyond bounds, and the brother, the happiest man under the sun,
for Drosselmeaia assured him that his fortunewas made, since he would have a
considerable pension for the rest of hisdays. And then there was the gold
which had been scraped off. Hemight keep that forgeting building. The mechanist
and the astronomer had both put ontheir nightcaps and were getting into bed as

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the latter commenced, my worthy colleague, good fortune never comes. Single.
Take my word for it. Wehave found not only the nut crack attack,
but also the young man who isto crack it and hand the colonel
to the princess. I mean nobodyelse than your brother's son. I cannot

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sleep no this very night. Imust cast the youth's horoscope. With these
words. He threw the nightcap offhis head and began straightway to take an
observation. The brother's son was,in truth a handsome, well grown young
man who had never been shaved,and who had never worn boots. In

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his early youth, he had,on Christmas nights, gone around as a
merry andrew, but this could notbe seen in his behavior in the least
so well had his manners been formedby his father's care. On Christmas days,
he wore a handsome red coat trimmedwith gold, a sword, a

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hat, under his arm, anda curling wig. In this fine dress,
he would stand in his father's shopand out of gallantry, crack nuts
for the young girls, for whichreason he was called the handsome nutcracker.
On the following morning, the astronomerwas in raptures. He fell upon the

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mechanist's neck and cried, it ishe. We have him. He is
found. But there are two things, worthy, colleague, which we must
see to. In the first place, we must braid for your excellent nephew
a stout wooden cue, which shallbe joined in such a way to his

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lower jaw that it can move itwith great force. In the next place,
when we arrive at the King's palace, we must let no one know
that we have brought the young manwith us who is to crack the nut.
Crack atuck. It is best thathe should not be found for a
long time. I read in hishoroscope that after many young men have broken

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their teeth to no purpose, theKing will promise to him who cracks the
nut and restores to the Princess herlost beauty, the princess herself and the
succession to the throne as a reward. His brother, the puppet maker was
highly delighted to think that his sonmight marry the princess Purlpat and become a

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prince and king, and he gavehim up entirely into the hands of the
two travelers. The cue which Drosselmayafastened upon his young and hopeful nephew answered
admirably, so that he made aseries of the most successful experiments, even
upon the hardest peach stones. AsDrosselmeia and the Astronomer had sent immediate information

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to the Palace of the discovery ofthe nut crack attack, suitable notices had
been published, and when the travelersarrived, many handsome young men, and
among them some handsome princes, hadappeared, who, trusting to their sound
teeth, were ready to undertake thedisenchantment of the princess. The travelers were

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not a little terrified when they beheldthe princess again. Her little body,
with its tiny hands and feet,was hardly able to carry her great,
misshapen head, and the ugliness ofher face was increased by a white cotton
beard which had spread itself around hermouth and over her chin. All happened,

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as the astronomer had read in thehoroscope one youth in shoes after another
bit upon the nut crack tuck untilhis teeth and jaws were sore, and
as he was led away, halfswooning by the physician in attendance, sighed
out that was a hard nut.When the king, in the anguish of

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his heart, had promised his daughterand his kingdom to him, who should
effect the disenchantment, the handsome youngDrossalmiah stepped forward and begged for permission to
begin the experiment. And no onehad pleased the fancy of Princess Purlipat as
well as young Drossalmiah. She laidher little hand upon her heart and sighed

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deeply, Ah, if this mightbe the one who is to crack the
nut crack attuck and become my husband. After young Drosselmeier had gracefully saluted the
King and Queen and then the Princesspearl Pat, he received the nut crackerttuck

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from the hands of the Master ofCeremonies, put it without hesitation between his
teeth, pulled his cue very hardand crack crack the shell broke into many
pieces. He then nicely removed thelittle threads and broken bits of shell that

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hung to the colonel and reached itwith a low bow to the princess,
after which he shut his eyes andbegan to walk backwards. The princess straightway
swallowed the colonel, and behold,her ugly shape was gone, and in
its place appeared a most beautiful figure, with a face of roses and lilies,

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delicate white and red, eyes ofliving sparkling azure, and locks curling
in bright golden ringlets. Drums andtrumpets mingled their sounds with the loud rejoicings
of the people. The King andhis whole court danced as at pearly Pat's

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berth upon one leg, and theQueen had to be carefully tended with cologne
water because she had fallen into aswoon from delight and rapture. Young Drossemeia,
who had still his seven steps toperform, was a good deal discomposed
by the tumult, but he keptfirm and was just stretching back his right

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foot for the seventh step when LadyMouserings rose, squeaking and squealing out of
the floor. Down came his footupon her head, and he stumbled so
that he hardly kept himself from fallingalas, what a hard fate. As

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quick as thought, the youth waschanged to the former figure of the princess.
His body became shriveled up and washardly able to support his great,
misshapen head. His eyes turned greenand staring, and his mouth were stretched
from ear to ear. Instead ofhis cue, a narrow wooden cloak hung

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down upon his back, with whichhe moved his lower jaw. The watchmaker
and astronomer were benumbed with terror andaffright, while Lady mouse Rings roared,
bleeding and kicking upon the floor.Her malice did not go unpunished, for

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Young Drosselmire had trodden upon her neckso heavily with the sharp heel of his
shoe that she could not survive.When Lady mouse Rings lay in her last
agonies, she squeaked and whimpered ina piteous tone. Oh crack attack hard

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nut high high of thee. Inow must die k k son with seven
crowns will bite nutcracker at night highhigh kay kay and revenge his mother's death.
Short breath, must I high highdie die so young ka kay oh

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agony queak. With this cry,Lady mouse Errings died, and the royal
oven heater carried out her body.As for young Josselmiah, no one troubled
himself any further about him. Butthe princess put the king in mind of
his promise, and he commanded thatthey should bring the young hero before him.

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But when the unfortunate youth approached,the princess held both hands before her
face and cried away with the uglynutcracker. The court martial immediately took him
by the shoulders and pushed him outof doors. The king was full of

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anger because they had wished to givehim a nutcracker for a son in law,
and he put all the blame uponthe mechanist and astronomer and banished them
forever from the kingdom. This didnot stand in the horoscope which the astronomer
had set up at Nuremberg, buthe did not allow himself to be discouraged.

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He straightway took another observation and declaredthat he could read in the stars
that young Josselmiah would conduct himself sowell in his new station, that in
spite of his deformity, he wouldyet become a prince and a king,
and that his former beauty would returnas soon as the son of Lady Mouserings,

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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 they saythat young Josselmia has actually been seen about
Christmas time in his father's shop atNuremberg as a nutcracker, it is true,

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but at the same time as aprince. This children is the story
of the hard nut. And youknow now why people say so often that
was a hard nut? And whenceit comes that nutcrackers are so ugly?
The counselor thus concluded his narration.Maria thought that the Princess Purlpat was an

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ill natured, ungrateful thing. AndFred declared that if Nutcracker were anything of
a man, he would not belong in settling matters with the mouse king,
and would get his old shape againvery soon. End of chapter nine.