November 20, 2023 • 16 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 thirteen of Nutcracker and mouse Kingby E. T. A. Hoffmann.
This LibriVox recording is in the publicdomain. The capital Nutcracker clapped his
little hands together again when the roselake began to dash louder. The waves
(00:20):
rolled higher, and Maria perceived acar of shells covered with bright, sparkling,
gay colored jewels moving toward them inthe distance, drawn by two golden
scale dolphins. Twelve the loveliest littlemoors with caps and aprons braided of humming
(00:41):
birds feathers leaped upon the shore andcarried first Maria and then Nutcracker with a
soft gliding step over the waves,and placed them in the car, which
straightway began to move across the lake. Ah, how delightful it was.
As Maria sailed along with the rosyair and the rosy waves, breathing and
(01:03):
dashing around her. The two goldenscale dolphins raised up their heads and spouted
clear crystal streams out of their nostrils, high high in the air, which
fell down again in a thousand quivering, flashing rainbows. And it seemed as
if two small silver voices sang outwhose sails upon the rosy lake? The
(01:27):
little fairy awake, awake, musicand song, bim bim fishes, sim
sim swans, tweet tweet birds,whiz whiz breezes, rustling, ringing,
(01:48):
singing, blowing, a fairy o'erthe waves is going, rosy billows,
murmuring, playing, dashing, coolingthe air roll along along. But the
singing of the falling fountains did notseem to please the twelve little Moors who
(02:08):
were seated up behind the car,for they shook their parasol so hard that
the palm leaves of which they weremade rattled and clattered. And they stamped
with their feet in very strange time, and sang clap and clip, then
clip and clap, backward and forward, up and down. Moors are a
(02:31):
merry folk, said Nutcracker, somewhatdisturbed. But they will make the whole
lake rebellious. And very soon therearose a confused din of strange voices which
seemed to float in the sea andin the air. But Maria did not
heed them, for she was gazingin the sweet scented rosy waves, out
(02:54):
of which the face of a charminglittle maiden smiled up upon her. Ah.
She cried joyfully and struck her handstogether. Look, look, dear
Master Josselmia, there is the princesspeurly pat down in the water. Oh,
how sweetly she smiles upon me.Nutcracker sighed quite sorrowfully and said,
(03:22):
O, kindest Miss Staubam, thatis not the princess Purlpat, It is
you you. It is your ownlovely face that smiles so sweetly out of
the rose lake. Upon this,Maria drew her head back very quickly,
put her hands before her face,and blushed very much. At this moment
(03:47):
she was lifted out of the carby the twelve Moors and carried to the
shore. They now found themselves ina little thicket which was perhaps more beautiful
even than the Christmas would. Itwas so bright and sparkling. What was
most wonderful in it were the strangefruits that hung upon the trees, which
(04:09):
were not only curiously colored, butgave out also every kind of sweet odor.
We are in sweetmeat grove, saidNutcracker. But Yonder is the capital,
and what a sight. How canI venture children to describe the beauty
and splendor of the city which nowdisplayed itself to Maria's eyes upon the broad
(04:32):
flowery meadow before them. Not onlydid the walls and towers glitter with the
gayest colors, but the style ofthe buildings was like nothing else that is
to be found in the world.Instead of roofs, the houses had diadems
set upon them, braided and twistedin the daintiest manner, and the towers
(04:55):
were crowned with variegated trellis work andhung with festoons. The most beautiful that
ever was seen as they passed throughthe gate, which looked as if it
were built of macaroons and candied fruits. Silver soldiers presented arms, and a
little man in a broquet dressing gownthrew himself upon Nutcracker's neck with the words
(05:20):
welcome, best prince, Welcome toconfection Ville. Maria was not a little
astonished to hear young Drosselmeyah called aprince by such a distinguished man. But
she now heard such a hubbub oflittle voices, such a hassaying and laughter,
such a singing and playing, thatshe could think of nothing else,
(05:43):
and turned to Nutcracker to ask himwhat it all meant, Oh, worthiest
miss Staalbaum, it is nothing uncommonConfectionville is a populous and merry city.
Thus it goes here every day.Let us talk, father, if you
please. They had only gone afew steps when they came to the great
(06:06):
market place, which presented a wonderfulsight. All the houses around were of
sugared filigree work. Gallery was builtover gallery, and in the middle stood
a tall obelisk of white and redsugared cream, while four curious sweet fountains
played in the air of audiate lemonade, mead, and soda water. And
(06:30):
in the great basin were soft bruisedfruits mixed with sugar and cream and touched
a little by the frost. Butprettier than all this were the charming little
people, who by thousands pushed andsqueezed, knocked their heads together, hazard
laughed, jested, and sang,who had raised indeed that merry din which
(06:53):
Maria had heard at a distance.Here were beautifully dressed men and women,
Armenians and Greeks, Jews and Tyrelles, officers and soldiers, preachers, shepherds
and harlequins. In short, allthe people that can possibly be found in
the world. On one corner,the tumult increased, the people rocked and
(07:17):
reeled to clear the way, forjust at that moment the Grand Mogul was
carried by in a palanquin, attendedby ninety three grandees of the Kingdom and
seven hundred slaves. Now on theopposite corner, the fishermen, five hundred
strong were marching in procession, andit happened very unfortunately that the Grand Turk
(07:44):
took it into his head just thento ride over the market place with three
thousand janissaries. Besides which a longtrain came from the Festival of Sacrifices with
sounding music, singing up and thankthe Mighty Sun, and pushed straight on
for the obelisk. Then what issqueezing and a pushing, and a rattling
(08:09):
and a clattering, by and bya screaming was heard, for a fisherman
had knocked off a brahmin's head inthe crowd, and the Great Mogul was
almost run over by a harlequin.The tumult grew wilder and wilder, and
they had commenced to beat and strikeeach other, when the man in the
broquete dressing gown, who had calledNutcracker a prince at the gate, clambered
(08:35):
up by the obelisk and having thricepulled a little bell, called out three
times, Confissur, Confissur, Confissur. The Chumult was immediately appeased. Each
one tried to help himself as wellas he could, And after the confused
trains and processions were set in order, and the dirt upon the great Mogul's
(08:58):
clothes was brushed off and the brahmin'shead put on again, the former hubbub
began anew what do they mean byconfessor? Good Master Josselmeier asked Maria ah
Best, Miss Staubaum replied, Nutcracker. By Confessur is meant an unknown but
(09:20):
very fearful power, which they believecan do with them as he pleases.
It is the fate that rules overthis merry little people, and they fear
it so much that the mere mentionof the name is able to still the
great Tumult. Each one then thinksno longer of anything earthly, of cuffs
(09:41):
and kicks and broken heads, butretires within himself and says, what are
we and what is our destiny?Maria could not refrain from a loud exclamation
of surprise and wonder as all atonce they stood before a castle glimmering rosy
light, and crowned with a hundredairy towers. Beautiful nosegays of violets,
(10:09):
narcissuses, tulips, and dahlias werehung about the walls, and their dark
glowing colors only heightened the dazzling rosetinted white ground upon which they were fastened.
The large cupola of the center buildingand the sloping roofs of the towers
were spangled with a thousand gold andsilver stars. We are now in front
(10:33):
of march Pane Castle, said Nutcracker. Maria was completely lost in admiration of
this magic palace. Yet it didnot escape her that one of the large
towers was without a roof, whilelittle men were moving around it upon a
scaffolding of cinnamon, as if busiedin repairing it. But before she had
(10:56):
time to inquire about it, Crackercontinued, not long ago, this beautiful
castle was threatened with serious injury,if not with entire destruction. The giant's
sweet tooth came this way and bitoff the roof of yonder tower, and
(11:16):
was gnawing upon the great cupola,when the people of Confectionville gave up to
him a full quarter of the city, and a considerable portion of sweetmeat grove
as tribute, with which he contentedhimself and went his way. At this
moment, soft music was heard.The doors of the palace opened, and
(11:39):
twelve little pages marched out, withlighted clothes, which they carried in their
hands like torches. Each of theirheads was a pearl. Their bodies were
made of rubies and emeralds, andthey walked upon feet cast out of pure
gold. Four ladies followed them,almost as tall as Maria's Clara, but
(12:05):
so richly and splendidly dressed, thatshe saw in a moment that they were
princesses born. They embraced Nutcracker inthe tenderest manner and cried with joyful sobs,
Oh my prince, my best prince, oh my brother. Nutcracker seemed
(12:26):
very much moved. He wiped thetears out of his eyes, then took
Maria by the hand and said,with great emotion, this is miss Maria
Stalbaund, the daughter of a muchrespected and very worthy physician, and she
is the preserver of my life.Had she not thrown her shoe at the
(12:48):
right time, had she not suppliedme with the sword of a pensioned Colonel,
I should now be lying in mygrave, torn and bitten to pieces
by the terrible mouse King. Viewher, gaze upon her, and tell
me if Pearl pat although a princessby birth, can compare with her in
(13:09):
beauty, goodness and virtue. No, I say no. And all the
ladies cried out no, and thenfell upon Maria's neck, exclaiming, Ah,
dear preserver of the Prince, ourbeloved brother charming, Miss Maria Staubaund.
(13:35):
She now accompanied these ladies a nutcrackerinto the castle and entered a room,
the walls of which were of brightcolored crystal. But of all the
beautiful things which Maria saw here,what pleased her most with the nice little
chairs, sofas, secretaries, andbureaus with which the room was furnished,
(13:56):
and which were all made of cedaror brazil wood and ornamented with golden flowers.
The princesses made Maria a nutcracker sitdown, and said that they would
immediately prepare something for them to eat. They then brought out a great many
little cups and saucers, and platesand dishes, all of the finest porcelain,
(14:22):
and spoons, knives and forks,graters, kettles, pans, and
other kitchen furniture, all of goldand silver. Then they brought the finest
fruits and sugar, things such asMaria had never seen before, and began
in the nicest manner to squeeze thefruits with their little snow white hands,
(14:46):
and to pound the spice and gratethe sugar almonds. In short, so
to turn and handle everything that Mariacould see how well the princesses had been
brought up, and what a deliciousmeal they were. As she desired very
much to learn such things, shecould not help wishing to herself that she
(15:07):
might assist the princesses in their labor. The most beautiful of Nutcracker's sisters,
as if she had guessed Maria's secretthoughts, reached her a little golden mortar,
saying, O, sweet friend,dear preserver of my brother, will
you not pound a little of thissugar candy. While Maria pounded in the
(15:28):
mortar, Nutcracker began to give afull account of his adventures, of the
dreadful battle between his army and thatof the mouse King, and how he
had lost it by the cowardice ofhis troops, how the terrible mouse king
lay in wait to bite him inpieces, and how Maria, to preserve
(15:48):
him, gave up many of hissubjects who had entered her service, and
all, just as it had happened. During this narration, it seemed to
Maria as if his words became lessand less audible, and the pounding of
her mortar also sounded more and moredistant, until she could scarcely hear it.
(16:11):
Presently she saw a silver gauze beforeher, in which the princesses,
the pages, Nutcracker, and herselftoo were all enveloped. A singular humming
and rustling and singing was heard,which seemed to die away in the distance.
And now Maria was raised up,as if upon mounting waves, higher
(16:34):
and higher, higher and higher,higher and higher. End of Chapter thirteen.
Chapter thirteen of Nutcracker and mouse Kingby E. T. A. Hoffmann.
This LibriVox recording is in the publicdomain. The capital Nutcracker clapped his
little hands together again when the roselake began to dash louder. The waves
(00:20):
rolled higher, and Maria perceived acar of shells covered with bright, sparkling,
gay colored jewels moving toward them inthe distance, drawn by two golden
scale dolphins. Twelve the loveliest littlemoors with caps and aprons braided of humming
(00:41):
birds feathers leaped upon the shore andcarried first Maria and then Nutcracker with a
soft gliding step over the waves,and placed them in the car, which
straightway began to move across the lake. Ah, how delightful it was.
As Maria sailed along with the rosyair and the rosy waves, breathing and
(01:03):
dashing around her. The two goldenscale dolphins raised up their heads and spouted
clear crystal streams out of their nostrils, high high in the air, which
fell down again in a thousand quivering, flashing rainbows. And it seemed as
if two small silver voices sang outwhose sails upon the rosy lake? The
(01:27):
little fairy awake, awake, musicand song, bim bim fishes, sim
sim swans, tweet tweet birds,whiz whiz breezes, rustling, ringing,
(01:48):
singing, blowing, a fairy o'erthe waves is going, rosy billows,
murmuring, playing, dashing, coolingthe air roll along along. But the
singing of the falling fountains did notseem to please the twelve little Moors who
(02:08):
were seated up behind the car,for they shook their parasol so hard that
the palm leaves of which they weremade rattled and clattered. And they stamped
with their feet in very strange time, and sang clap and clip, then
clip and clap, backward and forward, up and down. Moors are a
(02:31):
merry folk, said Nutcracker, somewhatdisturbed. But they will make the whole
lake rebellious. And very soon therearose a confused din of strange voices which
seemed to float in the sea andin the air. But Maria did not
heed them, for she was gazingin the sweet scented rosy waves, out
(02:54):
of which the face of a charminglittle maiden smiled up upon her. Ah.
She cried joyfully and struck her handstogether. Look, look, dear
Master Josselmia, there is the princesspeurly pat down in the water. Oh,
how sweetly she smiles upon me.Nutcracker sighed quite sorrowfully and said,
(03:22):
O, kindest Miss Staubam, thatis not the princess Purlpat, It is
you you. It is your ownlovely face that smiles so sweetly out of
the rose lake. Upon this,Maria drew her head back very quickly,
put her hands before her face,and blushed very much. At this moment
(03:47):
she was lifted out of the carby the twelve Moors and carried to the
shore. They now found themselves ina little thicket which was perhaps more beautiful
even than the Christmas would. Itwas so bright and sparkling. What was
most wonderful in it were the strangefruits that hung upon the trees, which
(04:09):
were not only curiously colored, butgave out also every kind of sweet odor.
We are in sweetmeat grove, saidNutcracker. But Yonder is the capital,
and what a sight. How canI venture children to describe the beauty
and splendor of the city which nowdisplayed itself to Maria's eyes upon the broad
(04:32):
flowery meadow before them. Not onlydid the walls and towers glitter with the
gayest colors, but the style ofthe buildings was like nothing else that is
to be found in the world.Instead of roofs, the houses had diadems
set upon them, braided and twistedin the daintiest manner, and the towers
(04:55):
were crowned with variegated trellis work andhung with festoons. The most beautiful that
ever was seen as they passed throughthe gate, which looked as if it
were built of macaroons and candied fruits. Silver soldiers presented arms, and a
little man in a broquet dressing gownthrew himself upon Nutcracker's neck with the words
(05:20):
welcome, best prince, Welcome toconfection Ville. Maria was not a little
astonished to hear young Drosselmeyah called aprince by such a distinguished man. But
she now heard such a hubbub oflittle voices, such a hassaying and laughter,
such a singing and playing, thatshe could think of nothing else,
(05:43):
and turned to Nutcracker to ask himwhat it all meant, Oh, worthiest
miss Staalbaum, it is nothing uncommonConfectionville is a populous and merry city.
Thus it goes here every day.Let us talk, father, if you
please. They had only gone afew steps when they came to the great
(06:06):
market place, which presented a wonderfulsight. All the houses around were of
sugared filigree work. Gallery was builtover gallery, and in the middle stood
a tall obelisk of white and redsugared cream, while four curious sweet fountains
played in the air of audiate lemonade, mead, and soda water. And
(06:30):
in the great basin were soft bruisedfruits mixed with sugar and cream and touched
a little by the frost. Butprettier than all this were the charming little
people, who by thousands pushed andsqueezed, knocked their heads together, hazard
laughed, jested, and sang,who had raised indeed that merry din which
(06:53):
Maria had heard at a distance.Here were beautifully dressed men and women,
Armenians and Greeks, Jews and Tyrelles, officers and soldiers, preachers, shepherds
and harlequins. In short, allthe people that can possibly be found in
the world. On one corner,the tumult increased, the people rocked and
(07:17):
reeled to clear the way, forjust at that moment the Grand Mogul was
carried by in a palanquin, attendedby ninety three grandees of the Kingdom and
seven hundred slaves. Now on theopposite corner, the fishermen, five hundred
strong were marching in procession, andit happened very unfortunately that the Grand Turk
(07:44):
took it into his head just thento ride over the market place with three
thousand janissaries. Besides which a longtrain came from the Festival of Sacrifices with
sounding music, singing up and thankthe Mighty Sun, and pushed straight on
for the obelisk. Then what issqueezing and a pushing, and a rattling
(08:09):
and a clattering, by and bya screaming was heard, for a fisherman
had knocked off a brahmin's head inthe crowd, and the Great Mogul was
almost run over by a harlequin.The tumult grew wilder and wilder, and
they had commenced to beat and strikeeach other, when the man in the
broquete dressing gown, who had calledNutcracker a prince at the gate, clambered
(08:35):
up by the obelisk and having thricepulled a little bell, called out three
times, Confissur, Confissur, Confissur. The Chumult was immediately appeased. Each
one tried to help himself as wellas he could, And after the confused
trains and processions were set in order, and the dirt upon the great Mogul's
(08:58):
clothes was brushed off and the brahmin'shead put on again, the former hubbub
began anew what do they mean byconfessor? Good Master Josselmeier asked Maria ah
Best, Miss Staubaum replied, Nutcracker. By Confessur is meant an unknown but
(09:20):
very fearful power, which they believecan do with them as he pleases.
It is the fate that rules overthis merry little people, and they fear
it so much that the mere mentionof the name is able to still the
great Tumult. Each one then thinksno longer of anything earthly, of cuffs
(09:41):
and kicks and broken heads, butretires within himself and says, what are
we and what is our destiny?Maria could not refrain from a loud exclamation
of surprise and wonder as all atonce they stood before a castle glimmering rosy
light, and crowned with a hundredairy towers. Beautiful nosegays of violets,
(10:09):
narcissuses, tulips, and dahlias werehung about the walls, and their dark
glowing colors only heightened the dazzling rosetinted white ground upon which they were fastened.
The large cupola of the center buildingand the sloping roofs of the towers
were spangled with a thousand gold andsilver stars. We are now in front
(10:33):
of march Pane Castle, said Nutcracker. Maria was completely lost in admiration of
this magic palace. Yet it didnot escape her that one of the large
towers was without a roof, whilelittle men were moving around it upon a
scaffolding of cinnamon, as if busiedin repairing it. But before she had
(10:56):
time to inquire about it, Crackercontinued, not long ago, this beautiful
castle was threatened with serious injury,if not with entire destruction. The giant's
sweet tooth came this way and bitoff the roof of yonder tower, and
(11:16):
was gnawing upon the great cupola,when the people of Confectionville gave up to
him a full quarter of the city, and a considerable portion of sweetmeat grove
as tribute, with which he contentedhimself and went his way. At this
moment, soft music was heard.The doors of the palace opened, and
(11:39):
twelve little pages marched out, withlighted clothes, which they carried in their
hands like torches. Each of theirheads was a pearl. Their bodies were
made of rubies and emeralds, andthey walked upon feet cast out of pure
gold. Four ladies followed them,almost as tall as Maria's Clara, but
(12:05):
so richly and splendidly dressed, thatshe saw in a moment that they were
princesses born. They embraced Nutcracker inthe tenderest manner and cried with joyful sobs,
Oh my prince, my best prince, oh my brother. Nutcracker seemed
(12:26):
very much moved. He wiped thetears out of his eyes, then took
Maria by the hand and said,with great emotion, this is miss Maria
Stalbaund, the daughter of a muchrespected and very worthy physician, and she
is the preserver of my life.Had she not thrown her shoe at the
(12:48):
right time, had she not suppliedme with the sword of a pensioned Colonel,
I should now be lying in mygrave, torn and bitten to pieces
by the terrible mouse King. Viewher, gaze upon her, and tell
me if Pearl pat although a princessby birth, can compare with her in
(13:09):
beauty, goodness and virtue. No, I say no. And all the
ladies cried out no, and thenfell upon Maria's neck, exclaiming, Ah,
dear preserver of the Prince, ourbeloved brother charming, Miss Maria Staubaund.
(13:35):
She now accompanied these ladies a nutcrackerinto the castle and entered a room,
the walls of which were of brightcolored crystal. But of all the
beautiful things which Maria saw here,what pleased her most with the nice little
chairs, sofas, secretaries, andbureaus with which the room was furnished,
(13:56):
and which were all made of cedaror brazil wood and ornamented with golden flowers.
The princesses made Maria a nutcracker sitdown, and said that they would
immediately prepare something for them to eat. They then brought out a great many
little cups and saucers, and platesand dishes, all of the finest porcelain,
(14:22):
and spoons, knives and forks,graters, kettles, pans, and
other kitchen furniture, all of goldand silver. Then they brought the finest
fruits and sugar, things such asMaria had never seen before, and began
in the nicest manner to squeeze thefruits with their little snow white hands,
(14:46):
and to pound the spice and gratethe sugar almonds. In short, so
to turn and handle everything that Mariacould see how well the princesses had been
brought up, and what a deliciousmeal they were. As she desired very
much to learn such things, shecould not help wishing to herself that she
(15:07):
might assist the princesses in their labor. The most beautiful of Nutcracker's sisters,
as if she had guessed Maria's secretthoughts, reached her a little golden mortar,
saying, O, sweet friend,dear preserver of my brother, will
you not pound a little of thissugar candy. While Maria pounded in the
(15:28):
mortar, Nutcracker began to give afull account of his adventures, of the
dreadful battle between his army and thatof the mouse King, and how he
had lost it by the cowardice ofhis troops, how the terrible mouse king
lay in wait to bite him inpieces, and how Maria, to preserve
(15:48):
him, gave up many of hissubjects who had entered her service, and
all, just as it had happened. During this narration, it seemed to
Maria as if his words became lessand less audible, and the pounding of
her mortar also sounded more and moredistant, until she could scarcely hear it.
(16:11):
Presently she saw a silver gauze beforeher, in which the princesses,
the pages, Nutcracker, and herselftoo were all enveloped. A singular humming
and rustling and singing was heard,which seemed to die away in the distance.
And now Maria was raised up,as if upon mounting waves, higher
(16:34):
and higher, higher and higher,higher and higher. End of Chapter thirteen.
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