November 20, 2023 • 12 mins
"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.
This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI
This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Chapter fourteen of Nutcracker and Mouse Kingby E. T. A. Hoffmann.
This libovox recording is in the publicdomain. The conclusion per puff it
went, Maria fell down from animmeasurable height. That was a fall,
(00:22):
but she opened her eyes, andthere she lay upon her little bed.
It was bright day, and hermother stood by her, saying, how
can you sleep so long? Breakfasthas been ready this great while you now
perceive, kind readers and listeners.That Maria, completely confused by the wonderful
(00:43):
things which she had seen, hadat last fallen asleep in the room at
march Payne Castle, and that themoors, or the pages, or perhaps
even the princesses themselves, must havecarried her home and laid her softly in
bed. Oh mother, dear mother, you cannot think where young Master dross
(01:03):
Ormya led me last night, andwhat beautiful things I have seen? And
then she began and told the wholealmost as accurately as I have related it,
while her mother listened in astonishment.When she had finished, her mother
said, you have had a longand very beautiful dream, but now drive
(01:27):
it all out of your head.Maria insisted upon it that she had not
dreamed, but had actually seen whatshe had related when her mother led her
into the sitting room to the glasscase, took Nutcracker out, who was
standing as usual upon the second shelf, and said, silly child, how
(01:49):
can you believe that this wooden Nurembergpuppet can have life or motion? But
dear mother replied Maria, I know, little nut Cracker is young Master Josselmiah
of Nuremberg, Godfather Dosslmiah's nephew.Then her father and mother both laughed very
heartily. Ah, dear father saidMaria, almost crying, you should not
(02:15):
laugh so at my Nutcracker. Hehas spoken very well of you, for
when we entered march Pane Castle andhe presented me to his sisters, the
Princesses, he said that you werea much respected and very worthy physician.
At this the laughter was still louder, and Louise and even Fred joined in.
(02:38):
Maria then ran into the other chamber, took the seven crowns of the
mouse King out of her little box, brought them in and handed them to
her mother's saying, see here,dear mother, here are the seven crowns
of the mouse King, which youngMaster Dossmiah gave me last night as a
token of his victory. Her motherexamined the little crowns in great astonishment.
(03:05):
They were made of a strange butvery shining metal, and were so delicately
worked that it seemed impossible that mortalhands could have formed them. Her father,
likewise, could not gaze enough atthem, and he insisted very seriously
that Maria should confess how she obtainedthem. But she could give no other
(03:29):
account of them, and kept firmto what she had said. And as
her father spoke very harshly to herand even called her a little story teller,
she began to cry bitterly and said, oh, what, what then
shall I say? At this momentthe door opened, the counselor entered and
(03:51):
exclaimed, what's this? What's this? The doctor told him of all that
had happened, and she owed himthe little crowns. As soon as the
counselor cast his eyes on them,he laughed and cried, stupid pack,
stupid pack. These are the verycrowns which I used to wear. Are
(04:12):
my watch chain years ago, andwhich I gave to little Maria on her
birthday when she was two years old. Don't you remember them? Neither father
nor mother could remember them. Butwhen Maria saw that her parents had forgotten
their anger, she ran to GodfatherJosselmiah and said, ah, you know
(04:34):
all about it, Godfather Josselmiah.Tell them yourself that my nutcracker is your
nephew, young Master Josselmia of Nuremberg, and that it was he who gave
me the crowns. The counselor's faceturned very dark and grave, and he
muttered, stupid pack, stupid pack. Upon this, the doctor took little
(04:58):
Maria upon his knee and said,very seriously, listen to me, Maria,
once for all, drive your foolishdreams and nonsense out of your head.
If I ever hear you say againthat the silly, ugly nutcracker is
the nephew of your godfather Josselmiah,I will throw him out of the window
(05:21):
and all the rest of your puppets. Miss Clara not excepted poor Maria Durst
not now speak of all these wonders. But she thought so much the more
her whole soul was full of them. For you may imagine that things so
fine and beautiful as those which shehad seen are not easily forgotten. Even
(05:46):
Fred turned his back upon his sisterwhenever she spoke of the wonderful kingdom in
which she had been so happy,And it is said that he sometimes would
mutter between his teeth, silly goose, But that I can hardly believe of
so amiable and good natured a fellow, this is certain. However, he
(06:10):
no longer believed a word of whatMaria had told him. He made a
formal apology to his huzzars on publicparade for the injustice which he had done
them, stuck in their CAP's feathersof goose quill much finer and taller than
those of which they had been deprived, and permitted them again to blow the
(06:32):
Huszar's grand march. Aha. Weknow best how it stood with their courage
when those hateful balls spotted their redcoats. Maria was not allowed then to
speak of any more of her adventures, But the images of that wonderful fairy
kingdom played about her in sweet,rustling tones. She could bring them all
(06:58):
back again whenever she fixed her thoughtssteadfastly upon them. And hence it came
that, instead of playing as sheformerly did, she would sit silent and
thoughtful, musing within herself, forwhich reason the rest would often scold her
and call her a little dreamer.Some time after this, it happened that
(07:20):
the counselor was busy repairing a clockin Dr Staalbum's house. Maria sat close
by the glass case and lost inher dreams, was gazing at nutcracker when
the words broke from her lips involuntarily. Ah, dear Master Josselmia, if
you actually were living, I wouldnot behave like princess. Purly pattern slight
(07:45):
you, because for my sake youhad ceased to be a handsome young man.
At this, the counselor screamed,hey, hey, stupid pack.
Then there was a clap and aknock so loud that Maria sank from her
chair in a swoon. When shecame to herself, her mother was busied
about her and said, how camesuch a great girl to fall from her
(08:11):
chair? Here is Godfather Josselmiah's nephewjust arrived from Nuremberg. Come behave like
a little woman. She looked up. The counselor had put on his glass
wig again and his brown coat.He was smiling very pleasantly, and he
held by the hand a little butvery well shaped young man his face was
(08:39):
as white as milk and as redas blood. He wore a handsome red
coat trimmed with gold, and shoesand white silk stockings. In his button
hole was stuck a nosegay. Hishair was nicely powdered and curled, and
down his back there hung a magnificentcue. The sword by his side seemed
(09:03):
to be made of nothing but jewels. It flashed and sparkled so brightly,
and the little hat which he carriedunder his arm looked as if it were
overlaid with soft silken flakes. Itvery soon appeared how polite and well bred
the young man was. For hehad brought Maria a great many handsome playthings,
(09:26):
the nicest gingerbread, and the samesugar figures which the mouse king had
bitten to pieces. And for Fredhe had brought a splendid saber at table.
The little fellow cracked nuts for thewhole company. The hardest could not
(09:46):
resist him. With the right hand, he put them in his mouth.
With the left he pulled hard uponhis cue, and crack the nut fell
in pieces. Maria had turned andvery red when she first saw the handsome
young man, and she became stillredder when after dinner, young Josselmiah invited
(10:09):
her to go with him into thesitting room to the glass case, play
prettily together. Children. I havenothing against it, since all my clocks
are going, cried the counselor.Scarcely was Maria alone with young Josselmiah when
he stooped upon one knee and said, oh, my very best, Miss
(10:31):
Staalbaum, you see here at yourfeet the happy Josselmiah, whose life you
saved. On this very spot.You said most amiably that you would not
slight me like the hateful princess purlpat if I had become ugly for your
sake. From that moment I ceasedto be a miserable nutcracker and resumed again
(10:54):
my old and I hope not disagreeablefigure. Oh, excellent miss Staubar,
make me happy with your dear hand. Share with me, crown and kingdom.
Rule with me in march Pane Castle, for there I am still king.
Maria raised the youth and said,softly, dear Master Dosslmiah, you
(11:20):
are a kind, good natured youngman, and since you rule in such
a charming land among such pretty merrypeople, I will be your bride.
With this, Maria immediately became Jossalmiah'sbetrothed bride. After a year and a
day he came, as I haveheard, and carried her away in a
(11:43):
golden chariot drawn by silver horses.There danced at the wedding two and twenty
thousand of the most splendid figures adornedwith pearls and diamonds, and Maria,
it is said, is at thishour queen of a land where sparkling Christmas
woods, transparent march pane castles.In short, where the most beautiful,
(12:09):
the most wonderful things can be seenby those who will only have eyes for
them. End of Nutcracker and MouseKing by E. T. A. Hoffmann
Chapter fourteen of Nutcracker and Mouse Kingby E. T. A. Hoffmann.
This libovox recording is in the publicdomain. The conclusion per puff it
went, Maria fell down from animmeasurable height. That was a fall,
(00:22):
but she opened her eyes, andthere she lay upon her little bed.
It was bright day, and hermother stood by her, saying, how
can you sleep so long? Breakfasthas been ready this great while you now
perceive, kind readers and listeners.That Maria, completely confused by the wonderful
(00:43):
things which she had seen, hadat last fallen asleep in the room at
march Payne Castle, and that themoors, or the pages, or perhaps
even the princesses themselves, must havecarried her home and laid her softly in
bed. Oh mother, dear mother, you cannot think where young Master dross
(01:03):
Ormya led me last night, andwhat beautiful things I have seen? And
then she began and told the wholealmost as accurately as I have related it,
while her mother listened in astonishment.When she had finished, her mother
said, you have had a longand very beautiful dream, but now drive
(01:27):
it all out of your head.Maria insisted upon it that she had not
dreamed, but had actually seen whatshe had related when her mother led her
into the sitting room to the glasscase, took Nutcracker out, who was
standing as usual upon the second shelf, and said, silly child, how
(01:49):
can you believe that this wooden Nurembergpuppet can have life or motion? But
dear mother replied Maria, I know, little nut Cracker is young Master Josselmiah
of Nuremberg, Godfather Dosslmiah's nephew.Then her father and mother both laughed very
heartily. Ah, dear father saidMaria, almost crying, you should not
(02:15):
laugh so at my Nutcracker. Hehas spoken very well of you, for
when we entered march Pane Castle andhe presented me to his sisters, the
Princesses, he said that you werea much respected and very worthy physician.
At this the laughter was still louder, and Louise and even Fred joined in.
(02:38):
Maria then ran into the other chamber, took the seven crowns of the
mouse King out of her little box, brought them in and handed them to
her mother's saying, see here,dear mother, here are the seven crowns
of the mouse King, which youngMaster Dossmiah gave me last night as a
token of his victory. Her motherexamined the little crowns in great astonishment.
(03:05):
They were made of a strange butvery shining metal, and were so delicately
worked that it seemed impossible that mortalhands could have formed them. Her father,
likewise, could not gaze enough atthem, and he insisted very seriously
that Maria should confess how she obtainedthem. But she could give no other
(03:29):
account of them, and kept firmto what she had said. And as
her father spoke very harshly to herand even called her a little story teller,
she began to cry bitterly and said, oh, what, what then
shall I say? At this momentthe door opened, the counselor entered and
(03:51):
exclaimed, what's this? What's this? The doctor told him of all that
had happened, and she owed himthe little crowns. As soon as the
counselor cast his eyes on them,he laughed and cried, stupid pack,
stupid pack. These are the verycrowns which I used to wear. Are
(04:12):
my watch chain years ago, andwhich I gave to little Maria on her
birthday when she was two years old. Don't you remember them? Neither father
nor mother could remember them. Butwhen Maria saw that her parents had forgotten
their anger, she ran to GodfatherJosselmiah and said, ah, you know
(04:34):
all about it, Godfather Josselmiah.Tell them yourself that my nutcracker is your
nephew, young Master Josselmia of Nuremberg, and that it was he who gave
me the crowns. The counselor's faceturned very dark and grave, and he
muttered, stupid pack, stupid pack. Upon this, the doctor took little
(04:58):
Maria upon his knee and said,very seriously, listen to me, Maria,
once for all, drive your foolishdreams and nonsense out of your head.
If I ever hear you say againthat the silly, ugly nutcracker is
the nephew of your godfather Josselmiah,I will throw him out of the window
(05:21):
and all the rest of your puppets. Miss Clara not excepted poor Maria Durst
not now speak of all these wonders. But she thought so much the more
her whole soul was full of them. For you may imagine that things so
fine and beautiful as those which shehad seen are not easily forgotten. Even
(05:46):
Fred turned his back upon his sisterwhenever she spoke of the wonderful kingdom in
which she had been so happy,And it is said that he sometimes would
mutter between his teeth, silly goose, But that I can hardly believe of
so amiable and good natured a fellow, this is certain. However, he
(06:10):
no longer believed a word of whatMaria had told him. He made a
formal apology to his huzzars on publicparade for the injustice which he had done
them, stuck in their CAP's feathersof goose quill much finer and taller than
those of which they had been deprived, and permitted them again to blow the
(06:32):
Huszar's grand march. Aha. Weknow best how it stood with their courage
when those hateful balls spotted their redcoats. Maria was not allowed then to
speak of any more of her adventures, But the images of that wonderful fairy
kingdom played about her in sweet,rustling tones. She could bring them all
(06:58):
back again whenever she fixed her thoughtssteadfastly upon them. And hence it came
that, instead of playing as sheformerly did, she would sit silent and
thoughtful, musing within herself, forwhich reason the rest would often scold her
and call her a little dreamer.Some time after this, it happened that
(07:20):
the counselor was busy repairing a clockin Dr Staalbum's house. Maria sat close
by the glass case and lost inher dreams, was gazing at nutcracker when
the words broke from her lips involuntarily. Ah, dear Master Josselmia, if
you actually were living, I wouldnot behave like princess. Purly pattern slight
(07:45):
you, because for my sake youhad ceased to be a handsome young man.
At this, the counselor screamed,hey, hey, stupid pack.
Then there was a clap and aknock so loud that Maria sank from her
chair in a swoon. When shecame to herself, her mother was busied
about her and said, how camesuch a great girl to fall from her
(08:11):
chair? Here is Godfather Josselmiah's nephewjust arrived from Nuremberg. Come behave like
a little woman. She looked up. The counselor had put on his glass
wig again and his brown coat.He was smiling very pleasantly, and he
held by the hand a little butvery well shaped young man his face was
(08:39):
as white as milk and as redas blood. He wore a handsome red
coat trimmed with gold, and shoesand white silk stockings. In his button
hole was stuck a nosegay. Hishair was nicely powdered and curled, and
down his back there hung a magnificentcue. The sword by his side seemed
(09:03):
to be made of nothing but jewels. It flashed and sparkled so brightly,
and the little hat which he carriedunder his arm looked as if it were
overlaid with soft silken flakes. Itvery soon appeared how polite and well bred
the young man was. For hehad brought Maria a great many handsome playthings,
(09:26):
the nicest gingerbread, and the samesugar figures which the mouse king had
bitten to pieces. And for Fredhe had brought a splendid saber at table.
The little fellow cracked nuts for thewhole company. The hardest could not
(09:46):
resist him. With the right hand, he put them in his mouth.
With the left he pulled hard uponhis cue, and crack the nut fell
in pieces. Maria had turned andvery red when she first saw the handsome
young man, and she became stillredder when after dinner, young Josselmiah invited
(10:09):
her to go with him into thesitting room to the glass case, play
prettily together. Children. I havenothing against it, since all my clocks
are going, cried the counselor.Scarcely was Maria alone with young Josselmiah when
he stooped upon one knee and said, oh, my very best, Miss
(10:31):
Staalbaum, you see here at yourfeet the happy Josselmiah, whose life you
saved. On this very spot.You said most amiably that you would not
slight me like the hateful princess purlpat if I had become ugly for your
sake. From that moment I ceasedto be a miserable nutcracker and resumed again
(10:54):
my old and I hope not disagreeablefigure. Oh, excellent miss Staubar,
make me happy with your dear hand. Share with me, crown and kingdom.
Rule with me in march Pane Castle, for there I am still king.
Maria raised the youth and said,softly, dear Master Dosslmiah, you
(11:20):
are a kind, good natured youngman, and since you rule in such
a charming land among such pretty merrypeople, I will be your bride.
With this, Maria immediately became Jossalmiah'sbetrothed bride. After a year and a
day he came, as I haveheard, and carried her away in a
(11:43):
golden chariot drawn by silver horses.There danced at the wedding two and twenty
thousand of the most splendid figures adornedwith pearls and diamonds, and Maria,
it is said, is at thishour queen of a land where sparkling Christmas
woods, transparent march pane castles.In short, where the most beautiful,
(12:09):
the most wonderful things can be seenby those who will only have eyes for
them. End of Nutcracker and MouseKing by E. T. A. Hoffmann
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