Hoffmann - The Nutcracker and the Mouse King: A Fairy Tale. The Nutcracker and the Mouse King - Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann What is the tale of the Mouse King about?

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CHRISTMAS EVE

For the whole day on the twenty-fourth of December, the children of Medical Advisor Stahlbaum were forbidden to enter the living room, as well as the room next to it. As dusk fell, the children, Marie and Fritz, sat in a dark corner of the nursery and, to tell the truth, were a little afraid of the darkness that surrounded them, since on that day no lamps were brought into the room, as was customary on Christmas Eve. Fritz, in the greatest confidence, told his little seven-year-old sister that already in the morning he had heard running, noise and quiet conversations in the locked rooms. He also saw how, with the onset of dusk, a small, muffled man slowly crept there with a box in his hands, but he, however, probably knew that it was their godfather Drosselmeyer. Hearing this, little Marie happily clapped her little hands and exclaimed:

“Ah, I think my godfather will give us something very interesting.”

A friend of the house, Councilor Drosselmeyer, was very ugly; he was a small, lean old man, with many wrinkles on his face; instead of his right eye he had a large black plaster stuck on him; The godfather had no hair, and he wore a small white wig, surprisingly well made. But, despite this, everyone loved their godfather very much because he was a great craftsman, and not only knew how to repair watches, but even made them himself. When one of the beautiful clocks in Stahlbaum's house broke down and did not want to go, the godfather came, took off his wig and yellow frock coat, put on a blue apron and began to dig into the clock with some sharp sticks, so that little Marie even felt sorry for them. But the godfather knew that he would not harm the clock, but on the contrary, and after a while the clock came to life and began to walk happily again, beating and tapping, so that everyone around, looking at it, only rejoiced. Every time the godfather came to visit, he would certainly bring some gift for the children in his pocket: either a doll that bowed and blinked its eyes, or a box from which a bird jumped out, in a word, something like that. But for Christmas he always prepared some large, especially intricate toy, which he worked on for a very long time, so that the parents, after showing it to their children, then always carefully hid it in the closet.

“Oh, how can we find out what our godfather will make for us this time?” – repeated little Marie.

Fritz assured that his godfather would probably give this time a large fortress with excellent soldiers who would march, train, and then enemy soldiers would come and want to take it, but the soldiers in the fortress would bravely defend themselves and start firing loudly from cannons.

“No, no,” said Masha, “my godfather promised me to make a big garden with a pond on which white swans with gold ribbons on their necks would swim and sing songs, and then a little girl would come to the pond and start feeding the swans candy.”

“Swans don’t eat candy,” Fritz interrupted, “and how can a godfather make a whole garden?” And what good are his toys to us if they are taken away from us right away; It’s a matter of toys that mom and dad give! They stay with us and we can do with them what we want.

Then the children began to reason and come up with what they could give them today. Marie said that her favorite doll, Mamselle Trudchen, had become completely clumsy for some time, constantly falling on the floor, so that her whole face was now covered in nasty marks, and there was nothing to say about the cleanliness of her dress; No matter how much Marie reprimanded her, nothing helped. But Marie cheerfully recalled that her mother smiled very slyly when Marie liked her friend Gretchen’s little umbrella. Fritz complained that he didn’t have a good bay horse in his stable, and in general he didn’t have much cavalry left, which dad knew very well.

The children understood perfectly well that their parents were at that time arranging the toys they had bought for them; They also knew that the baby Christ himself was cheerfully looking at that moment from the clouds at their Christmas tree and that there is no holiday that would bring children as much joy as Christmas. Then their older sister Louise entered the room and reminded the children, who were still whispering about the expected gifts, that the hand of their parents, when they give them something, is guided by Christ himself and that He knows best what can give them true joy and pleasure , and therefore smart children should not loudly express their desires, but, on the contrary, patiently wait for the gifts they have prepared. Little Marie thought about her sister’s words, but Fritz still could not resist muttering: “I would really like to get a bay trotter and hussars!”

Meanwhile it became completely dark. Marie and Fritz sat huddled close to each other and were afraid to utter a word; it seemed to them as if quiet wings were blowing over them and beautiful music was coming from afar. A bright streak of light slid across the wall; the children knew that it was the baby Christ who flew off on bright clouds to other happy children. Suddenly a silver bell rang: “Ding-ding-ding-ding!” The doors swung open noisily, and a wide stream of light rushed from the living room into the room where Marie and Fritz were. Gasping with delight, they stopped on the threshold, but then their parents grabbed them by the hands and led them forward with the words:

- Well, children, let's go see what the baby Christ has given you!

PRESENT

I turn to you, my little reader or listener - Fritz, Theodor, Ernst, no matter what your name is - and ask you to remember with what pleasure you stopped in front of the Christmas table, piled with wonderful gifts - and then you will understand well the joy of Marie and Fritz when they saw the gifts and the brightly shining Christmas tree! Marie just exclaimed:

- Oh, how good! How wonderful!

And Fritz began to jump and gallop like a kid. The children must have behaved very well all this year, because never before have they been given so many wonderful toys.

Gold and silver apples, sweets, sugared almonds, and a great variety of different delicacies lined the branches of the tree that stood in the middle. But the best and most beautiful thing was that small candles burned between the branches, like multi-colored stars, and seemed to invite the children to quickly feast on the flowers and fruits hanging on it. And what wonderful gifts were laid out under the tree - it’s hard to describe! For Marie, elegant dolls and boxes with full doll accessories were prepared, but what pleased her most was a silk dress with bows made of multi-colored ribbons, hanging on one of the branches, so that Marie could admire it from all sides.

- Oh, my cute dress! – Masha exclaimed in delight. – It’s definitely mine, isn’t it? Am I going to wear it?

Fritz, meanwhile, had already managed to gallop around the tree three times on his new horse, which he found tied to the table by the reins. Getting off, he patted her on the withers and said that the horse is a fierce beast, but that’s okay: he’ll train him! Then he took up a squadron of new hussars in bright red and gold uniforms, who waved silver sabers and sat on such wonderful snow-white horses that one would think that the horses were made of pure silver.

Having calmed down a little, the children wanted to start looking at the picture books that were lying right there, and where brightly colored people and beautiful flowers were drawn, as well as cute children playing, so naturally depicted that it seemed that they were alive and really playing and ran. But as soon as the children began to draw pictures, the bell suddenly rang again. They knew that this meant that it was the turn of godfather Drosselmeyer’s gifts, and they curiously ran up to the table standing near the wall. The screens that covered the table moved apart - and what did the children see! In a fresh, green meadow strewn with many flowers, there stood a small castle with mirrored windows and golden turrets. Suddenly music was heard, the doors and windows of the castle opened, and through them one could see many little gentlemen with feathers on their hats and ladies in dresses with trains walking through the halls. In the central hall, brightly lit by many small candles in silver candelabras, children in short camisoles and dresses danced. Some little gentleman, very similar to Godfather Drosselmeyer, in an emerald green cloak, constantly looked out of the castle window and disappeared again, walked out of the door and hid again. Only this godfather was no taller than his father’s little finger. Fritz, leaning his elbows on the table, looked at the wonderful castle with dancing figures for a long time, and then said:

- Godfather, godfather! Let me enter this castle!

His godfather explained to him that this was absolutely impossible, and he was right, because stupid Fritz did not think how he could enter the castle, which, with all its golden turrets, was much shorter than him. Fritz understood this and fell silent.

After watching for some time how the dolls walked and danced in the castle, how the little green man kept looking out the window and leaning out of the doors, Fritz said impatiently:

- Godfather, make this little green man look out from the other doors!

“That’s also impossible, my dear Fritz,” objected the godfather.

“Well, tell him,” Fritz continued, “to walk and dance with others, and not stick his head out.”

“And this is impossible,” was the answer.

- Well, let the children who are dancing come down; I want to take a closer look at them.

“None of this is possible,” answered the slightly offended godfather, “in the mechanism everything is done once and for all.”

“Wow,” said Fritz drawlingly. - Well, if your figures in the castle can only do the same thing, then I don’t need them! My hussars are better! They can drive back and forth as I want, and are not locked in the house.

With these words, Fritz found himself in two leaps near his table with gifts and instantly made his squadron on silver horses gallop, shoot, march, in a word, do everything that came into his head. Marie also slowly moved away from her godfather’s gift, because, to tell the truth, she, too, was a little bored of watching the dolls do the same thing; she just didn’t want to show it as clearly as Fritz, so as not to upset her godfather. The adviser, seeing this, could not resist saying to his parents in a dissatisfied tone:

– Such an intricate toy is not for foolish children. I'll take my castle!

But the mother stopped her godfather and asked him to show her the skillful mechanism with which the dolls moved. The adviser took the toy apart, showed everything with pleasure and put it back together again, after which he became cheerful again and gave the children several more men with golden heads, arms and legs made from delicious, fragrant gingerbread dough. Fritz and Marie were very happy with them. The elder sister Louise, at her mother’s request, put on the new dress given to her and became so elegant and pretty in it that Marie, looking at her, certainly wanted to wear hers, in which, it seemed to her, she would look even better. She was willingly allowed to do this.

PET

Marie could not part with her table, finding new things on it all the time. And when Fritz took his hussars and began to make a parade under the tree, Masha saw that a little doll man was modestly standing behind the hussars, as if waiting for his turn to come. True, he was not very foldable: short, with a large belly, small thin legs and a huge head. But the little man was very nicely and tastefully dressed, which proved that he was an intelligent and well-mannered young man. He was wearing a purple hussar jacket with many buttons and laces, the same leggings and high patent leather boots, exactly the same as those worn by students and officers. They sat so deftly on his legs that they seemed to have been chiseled along with them. Only the wooden cloak attached to the back and the miner’s cap placed on the head looked a little ridiculous with such a costume. But Marie knew that godfather Drosselmeir wore the same cloak and the same funny hat, which did not at all prevent him from being a sweet and kind godfather. Marie also noted to herself that in all his other clothes, his godfather had never been dressed as cleanly and neatly as this wooden man. Having examined him more closely, Marie immediately saw the kindness that shone on his face, and could not help but fall in love with him at first sight. His light green eyes shone with affability and friendliness. The little man's chin was bordered by a white curly beard made of paper darning, which made the smile of his large red lips even sweeter.

“Ah,” Marie exclaimed, “to whom, dear dad, did you give this pretty little man who is standing there behind the tree?”

“This is for all of you, dear children,” answered dad, “for you, and Louise, and Fritz; he will crack nuts for all of you.

With these words, dad took the little man from the table, lifted his wooden cloak, and the children suddenly saw that the little man opened his mouth wide, showing two rows of sharp, white teeth. Marie put a nut in his mouth; the little man suddenly made a click! - and the shells fell to the floor, and a white, tasty kernel rolled into Masha’s hand. Dad explained to the children that this doll is called the Nutcracker. Marie was delighted.

“Well, Marie,” said dad, “since you liked the Nutcracker very much, I’m giving it to you; take care of him and protect him; although, however, his duty is to crack nuts for Fritz and Louise.

Marie immediately took the Nutcracker in her arms and made him crack the nuts, choosing the smallest ones so that the Nutcracker’s teeth would not get damaged.

Louise sat down next to her, and the good Nutcracker began to crack nuts for both of them, which, it seems, gave him great pleasure, judging by the smile that never left his lips.

Meanwhile, Fritz, quite tired from riding and training his hussars, and also hearing how merrily the nuts were cracking, ran up to the sisters and laughed heartily when he saw the small ugly figure of the Nutcracker, who passed from hand to hand and managed to crack the nuts decisively for everyone. Fritz began to choose the largest nuts and so carelessly pushed them into the Nutcracker's mouth that suddenly there was a sound - crack-crack! - and the Nutcracker’s three white teeth fell to the floor, and his jaw, breaking, hung to one side.

- Oh, my poor Nutcracker! – Marie cried, taking it away from Fritz.

- Eh, how stupid he is! - Fritz shouted. “He wants to crack nuts, but he doesn’t have strong teeth!” What is he good for? Give it to me, I'll make him click until his last teeth fall out and his chin completely falls off!

“No, no, leave it,” Marie said with tears, “I won’t give you my dear Nutcracker, look how he looks at me pitifully and shows his sick little mouth!” You are an evil boy: you beat your horses and shoot your soldiers.

“Because it’s necessary,” Fritz objected, “and you don’t understand anything about it; But still give me the Nutcracker; it was given to both of us!

At this point Marie began to cry quite bitterly and quickly wrapped the Nutcracker in her scarf. At this time, their parents and godfather came up. The godfather, to Marie’s great grief, stood up for Fritz, but dad said:

“I entrusted the Nutcracker to take care of Marie, and since he is now sick and most of all needs her care, no one has the right to take him away. Don’t you know, Fritz, that wounded soldiers are never left in the ranks? You, as a good military man, must understand this!

Fritz was very embarrassed and slowly, forgetting both the Nutcracker and the nuts, went to the other end of the room, where he began arranging an overnight stay for his hussars, who had finished their service for the day. Marie, meanwhile, collected the Nutcracker's fallen teeth, tied his chin with a clean white handkerchief taken from her pocket, and even more carefully than before, wrapped the pale, frightened little man in a warm blanket. Then taking him in her arms, like a small sick child, she began looking at the pictures in the new book, which lay right there, among other gifts. Marie really didn’t like it when her godfather began to laugh at the fact that she was coddling her freak like that. Remembering that when she first looked at the Nutcracker, it seemed to her that he was very similar to his godfather Drosselmeyer himself, Marie could not resist answering his ridicule:

“Who knows, godfather, you would be as beautiful as the Nutcracker, even if you had to be dressed exactly like him, in a clean dress and smart boots.”

The parents laughed loudly, but the godfather, on the contrary, fell silent. Marie could not understand why her godfather’s nose suddenly turned so red, but there must have been some reason for it.

MIRACLES

In one of the rooms of the medical adviser’s apartment, just from the entrance and to the left, against the wide wall, there was a large closet with glass doors in which toys given to children were hidden. Louise was still a very little girl when her dad ordered this cabinet to a skilled carpenter, who inserted such clean glass into it and generally arranged everything so well that the things in the cabinet seemed even better than when they were held in his hands. On the top shelf, which Fritz and Marie could not reach, stood the most expensive and beautiful toys made by godfather Drosselmeyer. On the shelf below it were all sorts of picture books, and on the bottom two, Marie and Fritz could put whatever they wanted. On the lowest one Marie usually arranged rooms for her dolls, and on the upper one Fritz quartered his soldiers. So today, Fritz put his hussars upstairs, and Marie, putting aside the old Trudchen doll, set up a nice little room for the new doll that was given to her and came to her housewarming party. The room was so nicely furnished that I don’t even know if you, my little reader Marie (after all, you know that little Stahlbaum was also called Marie) - so, I don’t know if you even had such a beautiful sofa, such lovely chairs, such a tea table, and most importantly, such a soft, clean bed on which Marie’s doll went to sleep. All this stood in the corner of the closet, the walls of which were hung with beautiful pictures, and one could imagine with what pleasure the new doll, named Marie Clerchen, settled here.

Meanwhile it was late evening; the clock hand showed twelve o'clock; Godfather Drosselmeyer had long gone home, and the children still could not part with the glass cabinet, so their mother had to remind them that it was time to go to bed.

“It’s true, it’s true,” said Fritz, “I need to give my hussars rest, otherwise not one of these poor fellows will dare to lie down while I’m here, I know that well.”

With these words he left. Marie begged her mother to let her stay at least one more minute, saying that she still had time to finish her business, and then she would go to bed right away. Marie was a very intelligent and obedient girl, and therefore her mother could, without any fear, leave her alone with her toys. But so that, while busy with new dolls and toys, she would not forget to turn off the light, mother herself blew out all the candles, leaving one lamp burning, which hung in the room and illuminated it with a pale, flickering half-light.

“Come quickly, Marie,” said my mother, going into her room, “if you go to bed late, it will be difficult for you to get up tomorrow.”

Left alone, Marie hurried to take care of the matter that worried her very much, and for which exactly she asked to be allowed to stay. The sick Nutcracker was still in her arms, wrapped in her handkerchief. Laying the poor thing carefully on the table and carefully unfolding the handkerchief, Marie began to examine his wounds. The Nutcracker was very pale, but at the same time he seemed to smile at Marie so tenderly that he touched her to the depths of her soul.

- Oh, my dear Nutcracker! - she said. “Don’t be angry with Brother Fritz for wounding you; Fritz has become a little rough from the rigors of soldiering, and yet he is a very kind boy, I assure you. Now I will look after you until you recover completely. Godfather Drosselmeyer will give you your teeth and fix your shoulder; he is a master at such things...

But how surprised and frightened Marie was when she saw that at the name of Drosselmeir the Nutcracker suddenly contorted his face and prickly green lights flashed in his eyes. Before Marie had time to fully recover, she saw that the Nutcracker’s face had already regained its kind, affectionate expression.

- Oh, what a stupid girl I am to be so scared! Can a wooden doll make grimaces? But I still love the Nutcracker because he is so kind, although funny, and I will take good care of him.

Then Marie took the poor thing in her arms, walked with him to the closet and said to her new doll:

- Be smart, Clerchen, give up your bed to the poor sick Nutcracker, and I’ll put you on the sofa; because you are healthy; look how red your cheeks are, and not every doll has such a beautiful sofa.

Clerchen, sitting in her magnificent dress, seemed to Marie to pout a little at her proposal.

- Why am I standing on ceremony! - said Marie and, taking the crib, laid her sick friend on it, bandaged his wounded shoulder with a ribbon taken from her own dress, and covered him with a blanket up to his nose.

“There is no need for him to stay with the unkind Clerchen,” Marie thought, and she moved the bed, along with the Nutcracker lying on it, to the top shelf, just near the beautiful village where Fritz’s hussars were quartered. Having done this, she locked the closet and wanted to go to bed, but then - listen carefully, children! - here behind the stove, behind the chairs, behind the cabinets - in a word, everywhere, suddenly a quiet, quiet rustling, running and scratching was heard. The wall clock wheezed, but could not strike. Marie noticed that the large golden owl sitting on them spread its wings, covered the clock with them and, stretching forward its ugly, cat-like head with a hooked nose, muttered in a hoarse voice:

- Hrrrr...r! Clock go! - be quiet, don’t make any noise! - the mouse king is coming to you! - he leads his army! – hrr...r – hrr-r! boom-bom! - strike, clock, bang - bang!

And then, steadily and evenly, the clock struck twelve. Marie suddenly became so scared that all she could think of was how to run away, but suddenly, looking at her watch again, she saw that it was no longer an owl sitting on it, but godfather Drosselmeyer himself, and, opening the skirts of his yellow caftan with his hands, he was waving them like an owl with wings. Here Marie could not stand it and screamed in tears:

- Godfather! Godfather! What are you doing over there? Do not scare me! Come down, you ugly godfather!

But then rustling and running arose from all sides, as if thousands of little paws were running across the floor, and from the cracks, under the eaves, many shiny, small lights looked out. But these were not lights, but, on the contrary, tiny sparkling eyes, and Marie saw that mice were pouring into the room from all sides. Trot-trot! Clap clap! - it was heard throughout the room.

The mice jostled, fussed, ran in whole crowds, and finally, to Marie’s great amazement, they began to form into regular rows in the same order in which Fritz arranged his soldiers when they were preparing for battle. Marie found this very funny, because she was not at all afraid of mice, as other children are, and her previous fear was already beginning to disappear completely, when suddenly there was a sharp and loud squeak, from which a chill ran through Masha’s veins. Oh! What did she see! No, dear reader Fritz! Although I am sure that you, like the brave Fritz Stahlbaum, have a courageous heart, yet, if you had seen what Marie saw, you would probably have run away as fast as you could, jumped into your bed and buried your head in into the blanket. But poor Marie couldn't even do that! Just listen, children! Just next to her, several pieces of lime, sand and pebbles suddenly flew out of a large gap in the floor, as if from an earthquake, and then as many as seven mouse heads with golden crowns looked out, and - imagine - all these seven heads were sitting on one body! A large seven-headed mouse with golden crowns finally got out of the crack and immediately galloped around the lined-up mouse army, which greeted it with a loud, solemn squeak, after which the entire army moved towards the closet, right where Marie stood. Marie was already very frightened - her heart was almost ready to jump out of her chest, and every minute she thought that she was about to die, but then Marie was completely confused and felt that the blood was freezing in her veins. She involuntarily backed away towards the closet, but suddenly there was a sound: click-clack-hrr!... - and the glass in the closet, which she accidentally pushed with her elbow, shattered. Marie felt a strong pain in her left hand, but at the same time her heart was immediately relieved: she no longer heard the terrible squeal, so Marie, although she could not see what was happening on the floor, assumed that the mice were frightened by the noise of breaking glass and hid in their holes.

But what is this again? In the closet, behind Marie, a new fuss arose. Many thin voices clearly shouted: “To battle, to battle!” Sound the alarm! Fight at night, fight at night! Sound the alarm!

And at the same time there was a surprisingly pleasant ringing of melodic bells.

“Oh, these are the bells in the godfather’s toy,” Marie exclaimed joyfully and, turning to the closet, saw that its interior was illuminated by some strange light, and the toys were moving and moving as if they were alive. The dolls began to run around randomly, waving their arms, and the Nutcracker suddenly got out of bed, throwing off the blanket, and shouted at the top of his lungs: “Crack, crack! The Mouse King is a fool! Crack, Crack! Fool! Fool!"

At the same time, he waved his sword in the air and continued shouting:

- Hey you, friends, brothers, vassals! Will you stand up for me in a difficult battle?

Then three clowns ran up to him, Polichinelle, a chimney sweep, two Tyroleans with guitars, a drummer, and exclaimed in unison:

- Yes, prince! We swear allegiance to you! Lead us to death or victory!

With these words, they all, together with the Nutcracker, jumped from the top shelf of the closet onto the floor of the room. But they had a good time! They were wearing thick silk dresses, and they themselves were stuffed with cotton wool and sawdust and fell to the floor like bags of wool without being hurt at all, but what was it like for the poor Nutcracker made of wood to jump almost two feet down? The poor fellow would probably have broken his arms and legs if, at the very moment he was jumping, the Clerchen doll, quickly jumping up from her sofa, had not accepted the hero with a drawn sword into her tender embrace.

- Oh, my dear, kind Clerchen! – Marie exclaimed. “How I offended you, thinking that you reluctantly gave up your bed to the Nutcracker.”

Clerchen, pressing the hero to her silken chest, said:

- Oh prince! Do you really want to go into battle so wounded and sick? Stay! Better watch from here how your brave vassals will fight and return with victory! The clown, the polychinelle, the chimney sweep, the Tyrolean and the drummer are already below, and the other troops are arming themselves on the top shelf. I beg you, prince, stay with me!

This is what Clerchen said, but the Nutcracker behaved in a very strange way and floundered and dangled his legs in her arms so much that she was forced to lower him to the floor. At that very moment he deftly fell on one knee in front of her and said:

- Oh madam! Believe that I will not forget for one minute your participation and mercy towards me in the battle!

Clerchen bent down, took his hand, took off her sequined belt and wanted to tie it around the kneeling Nutcracker, but he quickly jumped back, put his hand on his heart and said in a solemn tone:

- No, madam, no, not this! - and, tearing off the ribbon with which Marie had bandaged his wound, he pressed it to his lips, and then, putting the ribbon on his hand like a knight’s baldric, he jumped, like a bird, from the edge of the shelf to the floor, waving his shiny sword.

You, of course, have long noticed, my little readers, that the Nutcracker, even before he truly came to life, extremely deeply appreciated Marie’s attention and love for him, and that’s the only reason he didn’t want to put on Clerchen’s sling, despite the fact that she was very beautiful and sparkled. Marie’s simple ribbon was much more precious to the kind, faithful Nutcracker!

However, something will happen, something will happen!

As soon as the Nutcracker jumped to the floor, the squeaking and scurrying of the mice resumed with renewed vigor. Their entire greedy, dense crowd had gathered under a large round table, and in front of everyone, a nasty mouse with seven heads was running and jumping!

Something will happen! Something will happen!

BATTLE

- Beat the marching march, drummer! - The Nutcracker shouted loudly, and at the same moment the drummer began to beat such a strong beat that the glass in the closet shook.

Then something inside him began to knock and move, and Marie saw that the lids of the boxes in which Fritz’s troops were quartered opened, and the soldiers, hurrying and pushing each other, began to hastily jump from the top shelf to the floor, forming there in regular rows . The Nutcracker ran along the lined ranks, encouraging and inspiring the soldiers.

- So that not a single trumpeter dares to move! - he shouted angrily and then, turning to the pale Polichinelle, whose chin was noticeably trembling, he said solemnly:

- General! I know your courage and experience; you understand that we must not waste a single minute! I entrust you with command of all cavalry and artillery; You don’t need a horse yourself, your legs are so long that you can easily gallop on your own two feet. Do your duty!

Polichinelle immediately put his long fingers to his mouth and whistled so piercingly that a hundred trumpeters could not have blown it louder. Neighing and stomping came from the closet in response to him; cuirassiers, dragoons, and most importantly, Fritz’s new, brilliant hussars, jumped onto their horses, instantly jumped to the floor and lined up in ranks. The banners unfurled, and soon the entire army, led by the Nutcracker, took up the correct fighting position in the middle of the room, accompanied by a loud military march. The guns and artillerymen, thundering heavily, rolled forward. Boom! Boom! - the first salvo rang out, and Marie saw how the pellet pellets flew into the very thick of the mice, covering them white with sugar, which seemed to make them very embarrassed. Especially a lot of harm was caused to them by the heavy battery, placed on my mother’s footstool and firing at them with a hail of hard, round gingerbread, from which they scattered in different directions with a squeak.

However, the bulk of them moved closer and closer, and even some of the guns had already been taken by them, but then such thick dust rose from the smoke of shots and fuss that Masha could not distinguish anything. All that was clear was that both armies fought with extraordinary courage and victory passed first to one side and then to the other. Crowds of mice kept arriving, and their small silver cannonballs, which they shot with unusual skill, had already reached the closet. Trudchen and Klerchen sat huddled together and wrung their hands in despair.

– Oh, do I really have to die like this, in the prime of my life! I! The most beautiful doll! – exclaimed Clerchen.

“Is that why I was kept so carefully and for so long, so that I could die here, within four walls!” – Trudchen interrupted; and, throwing themselves into each other's arms, they began to sob so loudly that they could be heard even through the noise of the battle.

And you, dear reader, could not even imagine what was happening on the battlefield! Prrr...r! Bang-bang, poof! Fuck, ramble! Bang, boom, boom! - this echoed throughout the room, and through this terrible cannonade one could hear the screams and squeals of the mouse king and his mice and the menacing voice of the Nutcracker, giving orders and bravely leading his battalions into battle.

The open man made several brilliant cavalry charges, covering himself with unfading glory, but suddenly Fritz's hussars were bombarded by mouse artillery with disgusting, fetid cannonballs that stained their brand new uniforms, and they refused to fight any further. Polichinelle was forced to order them to retreat and, inspired by the role of the commander, gave the same order to the cuirassiers and dragoons, and finally to himself, so that the entire cavalry, turning their rear to the enemy, rushed home as fast as they could. By doing this they put the battery standing on my mother’s bench in great danger; and indeed, not a minute had passed before a dense crowd of mice, rushing with a cry of victory towards the battery, managed to overturn the bench, so that the cannons, artillerymen, servants - in a word, everything rolled on the floor. The Nutcracker was puzzled and ordered a retreat on the right flank. You, without a doubt, know, my warlike reader Fritz, that such a retreat means almost the same as flight, and I can already see how saddened you are, foreseeing the misfortune that threatens the army of the poor Nutcracker, so beloved by Masha. But wait! Forget this grief for a while and admire the left flank, where everything is still in order, and hope still inspires both the soldiers and the commander. In the midst of the battle, a cavalry detachment of mice managed to make an ambush under the chest of drawers and, suddenly jumping out from there, rushed to the left flank of the Nutcracker with a boom and whistle, but what resistance they met! As quickly as the difficult terrain allowed - it was necessary to climb over the threshold of the closet - a detachment of volunteers led by two Chinese emperors was instantly formed and lined up in a square. This brave, albeit motley squad, consisting of gardeners, Tyroleans, Tungus, hairdressers, harlequins, cupids, lions, tigers, sea cats, monkeys, etc., rushed into battle with truly Spartan courage and almost snatched victory from their hands enemy, when suddenly some wild, unbridled enemy horseman, furiously rushing at one of the Chinese emperors, bit off his head, and he, falling, crushed two Tungus and one sea cat. Thus, a gap was made in the square, through which the enemy quickly burst in and in an instant killed the entire detachment. There were, however, no losses for the mice either; As soon as the bloodthirsty soldier of the mouse cavalry chewed one of his brave opponents in half, a printed piece of paper fell directly into his throat, causing him to die on the spot. But all this did little to help the army of the Nutcracker, who, retreating further and further, lost more and more people and was finally left with a small group of heroes near the closet itself. “Reserves! Hurry up reserves! Polichinelle! Clown! Drummer! Where are you?" – the Nutcracker shouted so desperately, hoping for help from the troops still remaining in the closet. At his call, several gingerbread gentlemen and ladies, with golden faces, hats and helmets, actually jumped out, but they, waving their arms awkwardly, fought so ineptly that they almost did not hit the enemies at all, but, on the contrary, knocked the hat off the Nutcracker himself. The enemy huntsmen soon bit off their legs, and as they fell, they carried away even some of the last defenders of the Nutcracker. Here he was surrounded on all sides, and he found himself in the greatest danger, since he could not jump over the threshold of the closet with his short legs and escape. Klerchen and Trudchen lay unconscious and could not help him. The hussars and dragoons jumped into the closet, not paying any attention to him. The Nutcracker shouted in despair:

- Horse! Horse! Half a kingdom for a horse!

At that moment two enemy archers grabbed his wooden cloak; mouse king, joyfully baring his teeth in his seven mouths, also jumped towards him. Marie, bursting into tears, could only scream:

- Oh my poor Nutcracker! - and, not realizing what she was doing, she took the shoe off her left foot and threw it with all her might into the thick of the mice.

At that very moment everything seemed to crumble into dust; Marie felt severe pain in her left arm and fainted.

DISEASE

Waking up, as if from a heavy sleep, Marie saw that she was lying in her bed, and the sun illuminated the room with bright rays through the icy glass of the windows.

Sitting next to her, as at first it seemed to her, was some unfamiliar gentleman, whom she soon recognized as the surgeon Wendelstern. He said quietly:

- Well, she woke up.

Mom came up to her and looked at her with a frightened, questioning look.

- Oh, dear mother! – Marie babbled. - Please tell me, have the nasty mice been driven away and is my dear Nutcracker saved?

“Enough of this nonsense, Marie,” said my mother, “what do mice care about your Nutcracker?” You already scared us all; you see how bad it is when children do not obey their parents and do everything their own way. Yesterday you played until late at night with your dolls and dozed off. And then it could very well happen that some mouse, which, however, we had not had before, crawled out from under the floor and scared you. You broke the glass in the closet with your elbow and injured your hand, and if Mr. Wendelstern had not removed pieces of glass from your wound, you could have easily cut the vein and bleed, or even lost your hand. Thank God that last night I decided to get up and see what you were doing. I found you on the floor, near the closet, covered in blood, and out of fright I almost fainted myself. Fritz's tin soldiers, gingerbread dolls and banners were scattered around you; You held the Nutcracker in your arms, and your shoe lay in the middle of the room.

- Oh, mom, mom! Here you see! These were traces of a battle between dolls and mice, and I was scared because the mice wanted to capture the Nutcracker, who commanded the doll army. Then I threw my shoe at the mice and I don’t remember what happened next.

Surgeon Wendelstern made a sign with his eyes to my mother, and she said quietly:

- Good good! So be it, just calm down. All the mice have been driven away, and the Nutcracker, cheerful and healthy, is standing in your closet.

Then dad entered the room and talked for a long time about something with the surgeon. They both felt Marie's pulse, and she heard that they were talking about some kind of fever caused by the wound.

She had to lie in bed for several days and take medication, although, apart from the pain in her elbow, she felt almost no discomfort. She was calm, because the Nutcracker saved her, but often in her dreams she heard his voice saying: “Oh my dear, beautiful Marie! How grateful I am to you! But you can still do a lot for me!”

Marie thought for a long time what this could mean, but could not come up with it. She couldn’t play because of a sore hand, and she wasn’t allowed to read or look at pictures because it caused ripples in her eyes. That’s why time dragged on endlessly for her, and she couldn’t wait for dusk, when her mother would sit by her bed and begin to tell or read wonderful fairy tales to her.

One day, when my mother had just finished a fairy tale about Prince Facardin, the door opened and godfather Drosselmeyer entered the room with the words:

- Well, let me look at our poor, sick Marie!

Marie, as soon as she saw her godfather in his yellow frock coat, immediately remembered with all vividness the night when the Nutcracker lost his battle with the mice, and exclaimed loudly:

- Godfather, godfather! How evil and disgusting you were when you sat on the clock and covered it with your floors so that they would not beat loudly and scare the mice! I heard you calling the mouse king! Why didn’t you help the Nutcracker, why didn’t you help me, ugly godfather? Now you alone are to blame that I am lying wounded and sick!

“What’s wrong with you, Marie,” mom asked with a frightened face; but the godfather suddenly made a strange grimace and muttered in a singsong voice:

- Tiri-biri, tiri-biri! Pull the weights tighter! Strike the tick-tock clock! Tick-da-tock, tick-da-tock! Bim-bum, bim-bam! Kling-klang, kling-klang! Strike the clock harder! Drive away all the mice! Hink hunk, hink hunk! Mice, mice, come running! Grab the stupid girls! Kling-klang, kling-klang! Tiri-biri, tiri-biri! Pull the weights tighter! Prr-purr, prr-purr! Schnarr-schnurr, schnarr-schnurr!

Marie stared with wide open eyes at her godfather, who seemed to her even uglier than usual, and who was waving his arms to the beat, like a cardboard dancer when he is being pulled by a string. Marie would have even been a little scared if her mother had not been sitting here and if Fritz, who came into the room, had not laughed out loud when he saw Drosselmeyer:

- Godfather, godfather! - he shouted. - You're fooling around again! You know, now you are very similar to my clown, whom I threw behind the stove.

Mom bit her lip, looking at Drosselmeyer, and said:

– Listen, adviser, what kind of inappropriate jokes are these, really?

“Oh, Lord,” the adviser laughed, “don’t you know my watchmaker’s song?” I always sing it to sick people like Marie.

Then he sat down on Masha’s bed and said:

“Well, well, don’t be angry that I didn’t scratch out all fourteen of the mouse king’s eyes.” For this I will now please you.

With these words, the godfather reached into his pocket, and what did he quietly take out? Nutcracker! The dear Nutcracker, to whom he had already inserted new strong teeth and repaired a broken jaw.

Marie clapped her hands in delight, and mom said:

– You see how much your godfather loves your Nutcracker.

“Well, of course,” the godfather objected, “but you know what, Marie, now your Nutcracker has new teeth, but he has not become more beautiful than before and is still the same ugly person as he was.” Do you want me to tell you why he became so ugly? However, maybe you have already heard the story about Princess Pirlipat, the witch Myshilda and the skilled watchmaker?

“Listen, godfather,” Fritz suddenly interrupted, “you inserted the Nutcracker’s teeth and fixed his jaw, but why doesn’t he have a saber?”

- Well, you restless! – the adviser grumbled. “You need to know everything and stick your nose into everything; What do I care about his saber? I cured him, and let him get the saber wherever he wants!

- Right! - Fritz shouted. “If he is brave, he will get himself a weapon.”

“Well, Marie,” the adviser continued, “do you know the story about Princess Pirlipat or not?”

“Oh, no, no, dear godfather,” answered Marie, “tell me about it, please.”

“I hope, counselor,” said my mother, “that this story will not be very scary, as everything you tell usually happens.”

“Oh, not at all, dear Mrs. Stahlbaum,” the adviser objected, “on the contrary, she will be very funny.”

“Tell me, godfather, tell me,” the children exclaimed, and the adviser began like this.

Title of the work: The Nutcracker and the Mouse King

Year of writing: 1816

Genre of the work: story

Main characters: Nutcracker- enchanted prince, Marie- the girl who was given the Nutcracker by her godfather, Fritz- the girl's brother, Drosselmeyer- godfather of children, mouse king.

Will help you immerse yourself in the magical world of children's imagination summary fairy tales "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" for reader's diary, on the basis of which one of the most famous ballets and many animated films was created.

Plot

Marie and Fritz receive gifts on New Year's Eve. Among them, the girl notices the Nutcracker, an ugly doll. While playing with him, Fritz breaks his jaw. Marie ties the doll's head with a scarf. At night, she sees the toys fighting the mouse king and his army. Drosselmeyer tells the girl a fairy tale about Prince Nutcracker. Marie helps him win the fight with the king of mice. In the morning she realizes that she had a dream. Drosselmeyer's nephew, the Nutcracker, comes to their home and asks for Marie's hand in marriage.

Conclusion (my opinion)

Inner beauty is more important than outer beauty, and kindness makes a person beautiful. Marie noticed an ugly doll among the others and felt sympathy for the enchanted prince because of his kind soul. Love helped her to be brave and decisive and not to be afraid of the mouse king. Marie's nobility, sincerity and courage allowed the Nutcracker to fall in love with her and take her to his kingdom of dolls.

On the twenty-fourth of December, the children of medical adviser Stahlbaum were not allowed to enter the passage room all day, and they were not allowed into the living room adjacent to it at all. In the bedroom, huddled together, Fritz and Marie sat in the corner. It was already completely dark, and they were very scared, because no lamps had been brought into the room, as was supposed to be the case on Christmas Eve. Fritz, in a mysterious whisper, told his sister (she had just turned seven years old) that since the very morning there had been rustling, noise and gentle knocking in the locked rooms. And recently a small dark man with a large box under his arm slipped through the hallway; but Fritz probably knows that this is their godfather Drosselmeyer.

Then Marie clapped her hands for joy and exclaimed:

The senior court adviser, Drosselmeyer, was not distinguished by his beauty: he was a small, dry man with a wrinkled face, with a large black patch instead of his right eye and completely bald, which is why he wore a beautiful white wig; and this wig was made of glass, and extremely skillfully.

The godfather himself was a great craftsman, he knew a lot about watches and even knew how to make them. Therefore, when the Stahlbaums began to act up and stopped singing, godfather Drosselmeyer always came, took off his glass wig, pulled off his yellow frock coat, tied a blue apron and poked the clock with prickly instruments, so that little Marie felt very sorry for them; but he did no harm to the clock, on the contrary, it came to life again and immediately began ticking merrily, ringing and singing, and everyone was very happy about it.

And every time the godfather had something entertaining in his pocket for the children: either a little man rolling his eyes and shuffling his feet so that you couldn’t look at him without laughing, or a box from which a bird jumps out, or some other little thing. And for Christmas he always made a beautiful, intricate toy, which he worked hard on. Therefore, his parents immediately carefully removed his gift.

“Oh, my godfather made us something this time!” - Marie exclaimed.

Fritz decided that this year it would certainly be a fortress, and in it very pretty, smart soldiers would march and learn gun techniques, and then other soldiers would appear and go on an attack, but those soldiers in the fortress would bravely fire cannons at them, so there will be noise and clatter.

“No, no,” Marie interrupted Fritz, “my godfather told me about the beautiful garden.” There is a big lake, wonderfully beautiful swans with golden ribbons on their necks swim on it and sing beautiful songs. Then a girl will come out of the garden, go to the lake, lure the swans and feed them sweet marzipan.

“Swans don’t eat marzipan,” Fritz interrupted her not very politely, “and the godfather can’t make a whole garden.” And what good are his toys to us? They are immediately taken away from us. No, I like my father’s and mother’s gifts much better: they stay with us, we manage them ourselves.

And so the children began to wonder what their parents would give them. Marie said that Mademoiselle Trudchen (her big doll) had completely deteriorated: she had become so clumsy, every now and then she falls to the floor, so that she now has nasty marks all over her face, and there is nothing to think about her in a clean dress.

No matter how much you reprimand her, nothing helps. And then, mom smiled when Marie admired Greta’s umbrella so much. Fritz insisted that he just lacked a bay horse in his court stables, and not enough cavalry in his troops. Dad knows this well.

So, the children knew very well that their parents had bought them all sorts of wonderful gifts and were now placing them on the table.

It got completely dark. Fritz and Marie sat tightly pressed to each other and did not dare utter a word; It seemed to them as if quiet wings were blowing over them and beautiful music was coming from afar. Suddenly a light beam slid along the wall. And at the same moment a thin silver bell sounded: ding-ding, ding-ding! The doors opened and the tree shone with such brilliance that the children loudly shouted “Ah, ah!” froze on the threshold.

Present

I am addressing you directly, dear reader or listener - Fritz, Theodor, Ernst, whatever your name is - and I ask you to imagine as vividly as possible the Christmas table, all laden with the wonderful, colorful gifts that you received this Christmas. , - then it will not be difficult for you to understand that the children, stupefied with delight, froze in place and looked at everything with shining eyes. Only a minute later Marie took a deep breath and exclaimed:

- Oh, how wonderful, oh, how wonderful!

And Fritz jumped high several times, which he was a great master at. The children must have been kind and obedient all year, because never before have they received such wonderful, beautiful gifts as they did today.

A large Christmas tree in the middle of the room was hung with gold and silver apples, and on all the branches, like flowers or buds, grew sugared nuts, colorful candies and all sorts of sweets in general. But most of all, the wonderful tree was decorated with hundreds of small candles that sparkled like stars on the dark branches, and the tree, flooded with lights and illuminating everything around, beckoned to pick the flowers and fruits growing on it. Everything around the tree was colorful and shining. And what was there! I don’t know who can describe this!.. Marie saw elegant dolls, pretty toy dishes, but what made her most happy was her silk dress, skillfully trimmed with colored ribbons and hanging so that Marie could admire it from all sides; she admired him to her heart's content, repeating every now and then:

- Oh, what a beautiful, what a sweet, sweet dress! And they will allow me, they will probably allow me, they will actually allow me to wear it!

Fritz, meanwhile, had already galloped and trotted around the table three or four times on a new bay horse, which, as he had expected, was tied up at the table with gifts. As he dismounted, he said that the horse was a fierce beast, but it was okay: he would train him. Then he inspected the new squadron of hussars; they were dressed in magnificent red uniforms, embroidered with gold, brandished silver sabers and sat on such snow-white horses that one would think that the horses were also made of pure silver.

Just now the children, having calmed down a little, wanted to take up the picture books that lay open on the table so that they could admire the various wonderful flowers, colorfully painted people and pretty children playing, so naturally depicted, as if they were really alive and about to speak. - so, the children were just about to take up the wonderful books when the bell rang again.

The children knew that it was now the turn of godfather Drosselmeyer’s gifts, and they ran up to the table that stood against the wall. The screens behind which the table had been hidden until then were quickly removed. Oh, what the children saw! On a green lawn strewn with flowers stood a wonderful castle with many mirrored windows and golden towers. The music began to play, the doors and windows opened, and everyone saw that tiny, but very elegantly made gentlemen and ladies in hats with feathers and dresses with long trains were walking in the halls. In the central hall, which was all shining (so many candles were burning in the silver chandeliers!), children in short camisoles and skirts danced to the music. A gentleman in an emerald green cloak looked out of the window, bowed and hid again, and below, in the doorway of the castle, Godfather Drosselmeyer appeared and left again, only he was as tall as his father’s little finger, no more.
Fritz put his elbows on the table and spent a long time looking at the wonderful castle with dancing and walking people. Then he asked:

- Godfather, oh godfather! Let me into your castle! The court's senior counsel said there was no way this could happen. And he was right: it was stupid of Fritz to ask to go to the castle, which, together with all its golden towers, was smaller than him. Fritz agreed. Another minute passed, gentlemen and ladies were still walking around the castle, children were dancing, the emerald man was still looking out of the same window, and Godfather Drosselmeyer was still approaching the same door. Fritz exclaimed impatiently:

- Godfather, now get out of that other door!

“This is absolutely impossible, dear Fritzchen,” objected the senior court adviser.

“Well, then,” continued Fritz, “tell the little green man who looks out of the window to walk with the others through the halls.”

“This is also impossible,” the senior court adviser objected again.

- Well, then let the children come downstairs! - exclaimed Fritz. “I want to take a better look at them.”

“None of this is possible,” said the senior court adviser in an irritated tone. — The mechanism is made once and for all, you can’t change it.

- Oh, soooo! - Fritz drawled. - None of this is allowed... Listen, godfather, since the smart little people in the castle only know what to repeat the same thing, so what's the use of them? I do not need them. No, my hussars are much better! They march forward and backward as I please, and are not locked in the house.
And with these words, he ran away to the festive table, and at his command, the squadron on silver horses began to gallop back and forth - in all directions, cutting with sabers and shooting to their heart's content.
Marie also slowly moved away: she, too, was tired of dancing and walking around with dolls in the castle. Only she tried to do it unnoticed, not like brother Fritz, because she was a kind and obedient girl. The senior court adviser said to the parents in a dissatisfied tone:

“Such an intricate toy is not for foolish children.” I'll take my castle.

But then the mother asked to show her the internal structure and the amazing, very skillful mechanism that set the little men in motion. Drosselmeyer disassembled and reassembled the entire toy. Now he became cheerful again and gave the children several beautiful brown men who had golden faces, arms and legs; they all smelled deliciously of gingerbread. Fritz and Marie were very happy with them. The elder sister Louise, at her mother’s request, put on an elegant dress given by her parents, which suited her very well; and Marie asked to be allowed, before putting on the new dress, to admire it a little more, which she was willingly allowed to do.

Artist L. Gladneva

“The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” by Ernst Hoffmann is included in the treasury of the best fairy tales of all times. And almost 200 years after its publication, this fairy tale has not lost its originality and fabulousness. The adventures of the nutcracker doll - the Nutcracker - will be no less interesting to children of the 21st century than to their peers two hundred years ago.

Christmas tree

On December 24, the children of Medical Advisor Stahlbaum were not allowed to enter the passage room all day, and they were not allowed into the living room adjacent to it at all. In the bedroom, Fritz and Marie sat huddled together in a corner. It was already completely dark, and they were very scared, because no lamps had been brought into the room, as was supposed to be the case on Christmas Eve. Fritz, in a mysterious whisper, told his little sister (she had just turned seven years old) that since the very morning there had been rustling, noise and gentle knocking in the locked rooms. And recently a small dark man with a large box under his arm slipped through the hallway; but Fritz probably knows that this is their godfather, Drosselmeyer. Then Marie clapped her hands for joy and exclaimed:

Oh, did the godfather make us something this time?

The senior court adviser, Drosselmeyer, was not distinguished by his beauty: he was a small, dry man with a wrinkled face, with a large black patch instead of his right eye and completely bald, which is why he wore a beautiful white wig; and this wig was made of glass, and extremely skillfully. The godfather himself was a great craftsman, he even knew a lot about watches and even knew how to make them. Therefore, when the Stahlbaums began to act up and some of the clocks stopped singing, godfather Drosselmeyer always came, took off his glass wig, pulled off his yellow frock coat, tied a blue apron and poked the clock with prickly instruments, so that little Marie felt very sorry for them; but he did no harm to the clock, on the contrary, it came to life again and immediately began to tick-tock merrily, ring and sing, and everyone was very happy about it. And every time the godfather had something entertaining in his pocket for the children: either a little man rolling his eyes and shuffling his feet so that you couldn’t look at him without laughing, or a box from which a bird jumps out, or some other little thing. And for Christmas he always made a beautiful, intricate toy, which he worked hard on. Therefore, the parents immediately carefully removed his gift.

Oh, my godfather made us something this time! - Marie exclaimed.

Fritz decided that this year it would certainly be a fortress, and in it very pretty, smart soldiers would march and throw out articles, and then other soldiers would appear and go on an attack, but those soldiers in the fortress would bravely fire cannons at them, and there will be noise and noise.

No, no,” Marie interrupted Fritz, “my godfather told me about the beautiful garden.” There is a big lake, wonderfully beautiful swans with golden ribbons on their necks swim on it and sing beautiful songs. Then a girl will come out of the garden, approach the lake, lure the swans and feed them sweet marzipan...

“Swans don’t eat marzipan,” Fritz interrupted her not very politely, “and a godfather can’t make a whole garden.” And what good are his toys to us? They are immediately taken away from us. No, I like my father’s and mother’s gifts much better: they stay with us, we manage them ourselves.

And so the children began to guess what their parents would give them. Marie said that Mamzel Trudchen (her big doll) has completely deteriorated: she has become so clumsy, she falls on the floor every now and then, so now she has nasty marks all over her face, and there’s no point in even thinking about taking her around in a clean dress. No matter how much you reprimand her, nothing helps. And then, mom smiled when Marie admired Greta’s umbrella so much. Fritz insisted that he just lacked a bay horse in his court stables, and not enough cavalry in his troops. Dad knows this well.

So, the children knew very well that their parents had bought them all sorts of wonderful gifts and were now placing them on the table; but at the same time, they had no doubt that the good baby Christ shone everything with his gentle and gentle eyes and that Christmas gifts, as if touched by his gracious hand, bring more joy than all others. The elder sister Louise reminded the children, who endlessly whispered about the expected gifts, about this, adding that the infant Christ always guides the hand of the parents, and the children are given what gives them true joy and pleasure; and he knows about this much better than the children themselves, who therefore should not think about anything or guess, but calmly and obediently wait for what will be given to them. Sister Marie became thoughtful, and Fritz muttered under his breath: “Still, I would like a bay horse and hussars.”

It got completely dark. Fritz and Marie sat tightly pressed to each other and did not dare utter a word; It seemed to them as if quiet wings were blowing over them and beautiful music was coming from afar. A bright beam slid along the wall, then the children realized that the baby Christ had flown off on shining clouds to other happy children. And at the same moment a thin silver bell sounded: “Ding-ding-ding-ding! "The doors opened, and the tree shone with such brilliance that the children shouted loudly: "Ax, ax! - they froze on the threshold. But dad and mom came to the door, took the children by the hands and said:

Come on, come on, dear children, look at what the baby Christ has given you!

Present

I am addressing you directly, dear reader or listener - Fritz, Theodor, Ernst, no matter what your name is - and I ask you to imagine as vividly as possible the Christmas table, all laden with the wonderful colorful gifts that you received this Christmas. , then it will not be difficult for you to understand that the children, stupefied with delight, froze in place and looked at everything with shining eyes. Only a minute later Marie took a deep breath and exclaimed:

Oh, how wonderful, oh, how wonderful!

And Fritz jumped high several times, which he was a great master at. The children must have been kind and obedient all year, because never before have they received such wonderful, beautiful gifts as they did today.

A large Christmas tree in the middle of the room was hung with gold and silver apples, and on all the branches, like flowers or buds, grew sugared nuts, colorful candies and all sorts of sweets in general. But most of all, the wonderful tree was decorated with hundreds of small candles, which sparkled like stars in the dense greenery, and the tree, flooded with lights and illuminating everything around, beckoned to pick the flowers and fruits growing on it. Everything around the tree was colorful and shining. And what was there! I don’t know who can describe it! .. Marie saw elegant dolls, pretty toy dishes, but what pleased her most was her silk dress, skillfully trimmed with colored ribbons and hanging so that Marie could admire it from all sides; she admired him to her heart's content, repeating every now and then:

Oh, what a beautiful, what a sweet, sweet dress! And they will allow me, they will probably allow me, they will really allow me to wear it!

Fritz, meanwhile, had already galloped and trotted around the table three or four times on a new bay horse, which, as he had expected, was tied up at the table with gifts. As he dismounted, he said that the horse was a fierce beast, but it was okay: he would train him. Then he inspected the new squadron of hussars; they were dressed in magnificent red uniforms, embroidered with gold, brandished silver sabers and sat on such snow-white horses that you would think that the horses were also made of pure silver.

Just now the children, having calmed down a little, wanted to take up the picture books that lay open on the table so that they could admire the various wonderful flowers, colorfully painted people and pretty children playing, so naturally depicted, as if they were really alive and about to speak. - so, the children were just about to take up the wonderful books when the bell rang again. The children knew that now it was the turn of godfather Drosselmsier’s gifts, and they ran up to the table that stood against the wall. The screens behind which the table had been hidden until then were quickly removed. Oh, what the children saw! On a green lawn strewn with flowers stood a wonderful castle with many mirrored windows and golden towers. The music began to play, the doors and windows opened, and everyone saw that tiny, but very elegantly made gentlemen and ladies in hats with feathers and dresses with long trains were walking in the halls. In the central hall, which was so sparkling (so many candles were burning in the silver chandeliers!), children in short camisoles and skirts danced to the music. A gentleman in an emerald green cloak looked out of the window, bowed and hid again, and below, in the doors of the castle, godfather Drosselmeyer appeared and left again, only he was as tall as his father’s little finger, no more.

Fritz put his elbows on the table and spent a long time looking at the wonderful castle with dancing and walking people. Then he asked:

Godfather, oh godfather! Let me into your castle!

The court's senior counsel said there was no way this could happen. And he was right: it was stupid of Fritz to ask to go to the castle, which, together with all its golden towers, was smaller than him. Fritz agreed. Another minute passed, gentlemen and ladies were still walking around the castle, children were dancing, the emerald man was still looking out of the same window, and godfather Drosselmeyer was still approaching the same door.

Fritz exclaimed impatiently:

Godfather, now get out of that other door!

This is absolutely impossible, dear Fritzchen,” objected the senior court adviser.

Well, then,” continued Fritz, “tell the little green man who looks out of the window to walk with others through the halls.

This is also impossible,” the senior court adviser objected again.

Well, then let the children come down! - exclaimed Fritz. - I want to take a better look at them.

None of this is possible,” said the senior court adviser in an irritated tone. - The mechanism is made once and for all, it cannot be remade.

Oh, yes! - Fritz drawled. - None of this is allowed... Listen, godfather, since the smart little people in the castle only know what to repeat the same thing, so what's the use of them? I do not need them. No, my hussars are much better! They march forward and backward as I please, and are not locked in the house.

And with these words, he ran away to the Christmas table, and at his command, the squadron on the silver mines began to gallop back and forth - in all directions, cutting with sabers and shooting to their heart's content. Marie also slowly moved away: she, too, was tired of dancing and hanging out with dolls in the castle. Only she tried to do it quietly, not like brother Fritz, because she was a kind and obedient girl. The senior court adviser said to the parents in a dissatisfied tone:

Such an intricate toy is not for foolish children. I'll take my castle.

But then the mother asked to show her the internal structure and the amazing, very skillful mechanism that set the little men in motion. Drosselmeyer disassembled and reassembled the entire toy. Now he became cheerful again and gave the children several beautiful brown men who had golden faces, arms and legs; they were all from Thorn and smelled deliciously of gingerbread. Fritz and Marie were very happy with them. The elder sister Louise, at her mother’s request, put on an elegant dress given by her parents, which suited her very well; and Marie asked to be allowed, before putting on the new dress, to admire it a little more, which she was willingly allowed to do.

Favorite

But in fact, Marie did not leave the table with gifts because only now she noticed something that she had not seen before: when Fritz’s hussars, who had previously been standing in formation right next to the tree, set out, a wonderful little man came into view. He behaved quietly and modestly, as if calmly waiting for his turn to come. True, he was not very foldable: his body was too long and dense on short and thin legs, and his head also seemed to be too big. But from his smart clothes it was immediately clear that he was a well-bred and tasteful man. He was wearing a very beautiful shiny purple hussar dolman, all covered in buttons and braids, the same leggings and boots so smart that it was unlikely that officers, much less students, would ever wear anything like them; they sat on the slender legs as deftly as if they had been painted on them. Of course, it was absurd that with such a suit, he attached a narrow, clumsy cloak to his back, as if cut out of wood, and pulled a miner’s cap over his head, but Marie thought: “After all, godfather Drosselmeyer also wears a very nasty redingote and a funny cap, but this is not prevents him from being nice, dear godfather.” In addition, Marie came to the conclusion that the godfather, even if he was as dandy as the little man, would still never equal him in cuteness. Peering carefully at the nice little man who fell in love with her at first sight, Marie noticed how good-natured his face shone. The greenish bulging eyes looked welcoming and benevolent. The carefully curled beard made of white darn paper that bordered his chin suited the little man very much, because it made the gentle smile on his scarlet lips stand out more noticeably.

Oh! - Marie finally exclaimed. - Oh, dear daddy, for whom is this pretty little man standing right under the tree?

“He, dear child,” answered the father, “will work hard for all of you: his job is to carefully crack hard nuts, and he was bought for Louise and for you and Fritz.

With these words, the father carefully took him from the table, lifted his wooden cloak, and then the little man opened his mouth wide, wide and bared two rows of very white sharp teeth. Marie put a nut in his mouth, and - click! - the little man chewed it, the shell fell, and Marie found a tasty kernel in her palm. Now everyone - and Marie too - understood that the elegant little man descended from the Nutcrackers and continued the profession of his ancestors. Marie screamed loudly with joy, and her father said:

Since you, dear Marie, liked the Nutcracker, then you yourself should take care of him and take care of him, although, as I already said, Louise and Fritz can also use his services.

Marie immediately took the Nutcracker and gave him nuts to gnaw, but she chose the smallest ones so that the little man would not have to open his mouth too wide, since, to tell the truth, this did not make him look good. Louise joined her, and her dear friend the Nutcracker did his best for her; He seemed to carry out his duties with great pleasure, because he always smiled affably.

Fritz, meanwhile, was tired of riding a horse and marching. When he heard how merrily the nuts were cracking, he also wanted to try them. He jumped up to the sisters and laughed heartily at the sight of the funny little man, who was now passing from hand to hand and tirelessly opening and closing his mouth. Fritz thrust the largest and hardest nuts into his hands, but suddenly there was a cracking sound - crack-crack! - three teeth fell out of the Nutcracker’s mouth and the lower jaw sagged and swayed.

Oh, poor, dear Nutcracker! - Marie screamed and took it away from Fritz.

What a fool! - said Fritz. - He starts cracking nuts, but his teeth are no good. It’s true, he doesn’t even know his business. Give it here, Marie! Let him crack my nuts. It doesn’t matter if he breaks off the rest of his teeth, and his entire jaw to boot. There is no need to stand on ceremony with him, a slacker!

No no! - Marie screamed with tears. - I won’t give you my dear Nutcracker. Look how pitifully he looks at me and shows his sick mouth! You are evil: you beat your horses and even allow soldiers to kill each other.

That's how it's supposed to be, you won't understand it! - Fritz shouted. - And the Nutcracker is not only yours, he is mine too. Give it here!

Marie burst into tears and quickly wrapped the sick Nutcracker in a handkerchief. Then the parents came up with godfather Drosselmeyer. To Marie's chagrin, he took Fritz's side. But the father said:

I deliberately placed the Nutcracker in Marie's care. And he, as I see, right now especially needs her care, so let her alone manage him and no one interferes in this matter. In general, I am very surprised that Fritz demands further services from a victim in the service. As a real soldier, he should know that the wounded are never left in the ranks.

Fritz was very embarrassed and, leaving the nuts and the Nutcracker alone, quietly moved to the other side of the table, where his hussars, having posted sentries as expected, settled down for the night. Marie picked up the teeth that the Nutcracker had lost; She tied up the injured jaw with a beautiful white ribbon, which she broke off from her dress, and then even more carefully wrapped a scarf around the poor little man, who had turned pale and, apparently, frightened. Cradling him like a small child, she began to look at the beautiful pictures in the new book, which lay among other gifts. She was very angry, although it was completely unlike her, when her godfather began to laugh at the fact that she was babysitting such a freak. Here she again thought about the strange resemblance to Drosselmeyer, which she noted already at the first glance at the little man, and said very seriously:

Who knows, dear godfather, who knows, you would be as beautiful as my dear Nutcracker, even if you dressed up no worse than him and put on the same smart, shiny boots.

Marie couldn’t understand why the parents laughed so loudly, and why the senior court adviser’s nose was so red, and why he wasn’t laughing with everyone else now. True, there were reasons for that.

Miracles

As soon as you enter the Stahlbaums’ living room, there, right next to the door to the left, against the wide wall, there is a tall glass cabinet where the children put away the wonderful gifts they receive every year. Louise was still very little when her father ordered a cabinet from a very skilled carpenter, and he inserted such transparent glass into it and generally did everything with such skill that in the cabinet the toys looked, perhaps, even brighter and more beautiful than when they were picked up . On the top shelf, beyond Marie and Fritz's reach, were Mr. Drosselmeyer's intricate designs; the next was reserved for picture books; Marie and Fritz could occupy the two lower shelves with whatever they wanted. And it always turned out that Marie set up a doll’s room on the bottom shelf, and Fritz stationed his troops above it. This happened today too. While Fritz was arranging the hussars upstairs, Marie put Mamzel Trudchen downstairs to the side, placed a new elegant doll in a well-furnished room and asked for a treat. I said the room was excellently furnished, and that's true; I don’t know if you, my attentive listener, have Marie, just like little Stahlbaum - you already know that her name is also Marie - so I say that I don’t know if you have it, just like she has , a colorful sofa, several very pretty chairs, a charming table, and most importantly, an elegant, shiny bed on which the most beautiful dolls in the world sleep - all this stood in a corner of the closet, the walls of which were even covered with colored pictures, and you you can easily understand that the new doll, whose name Marie learned that evening was Clerchen, felt great here.

It was already late evening, midnight was approaching, and godfather Drosselmeyer had long left, but the children still could not tear themselves away from the glass cabinet, no matter how much their mother tried to persuade them to go to bed.

True,” Fritz finally exclaimed, “it’s also time for the poor fellows (he meant his hussars) to retire, and in my presence none of them will dare to nod off, of that I’m sure!”

And with these words he left. But Marie tenderly asked:

Dear mommy, let me stay here for one more minute, just one minute! I have so much to do, I’ll get it done and go to bed now...

Marie was a very obedient, intelligent girl, and therefore her mother could calmly leave her alone with her toys for another half an hour. But so that Marie, having played with a new doll and other entertaining toys, would not forget to extinguish the candles that were burning around the closet, mother blew them all out, so that only a lamp remained in the room, hanging in the middle of the ceiling and spreading a soft, cozy light.

Don't stay too long, dear Marie. “Otherwise you won’t be able to wake up tomorrow,” Mom said, going into the bedroom.

As soon as Marie was left alone, she immediately began what had been on her heart for a long time, although she, without knowing why, did not dare to admit her plan even to her mother. She was still cradling the Nutcracker, wrapped in a handkerchief. Now she carefully placed it on the table, quietly unfolded the handkerchief and examined the wounds. The Nutcracker was very pale, but he smiled so pitifully and affectionately that he touched Marie to the depths of her soul.

“Oh, dear Nutcracker,” she whispered, “please don’t be angry that Fritz hurt you: he didn’t do it on purpose.” He’s just become coarse from the harsh life of a soldier, but he’s a very good boy, believe me! And I will take care of you and nurse you carefully until you are completely better and cheerful. Giving you strong teeth and straightening your shoulders is the job of godfather Drosselmeyer: he is a master at such things...

However, Marie did not have time to finish. When she mentioned Drosselmeyer's name, the Nutcracker suddenly made an angry face, and prickly green lights sparkled in his eyes. But at that moment, when Marie was about to be truly frightened, the pitifully smiling face of the kind Nutcracker looked at her again, and now she realized that his features were distorted by the light of the lamp that flickered from the draft.

Oh, what a stupid girl I am, why was I scared and even thought that a wooden doll could make faces! But still, I love the Nutcracker very much: he is so funny and so kind... So we need to take good care of him.

With these words, Marie took her Nutcracker in her arms, went to the glass cabinet, squatted down and said to the new doll:

I beg you, Mamzel Klerchen, give up your bed to the poor sick Nutcracker, and spend the night on the sofa yourself. Think about it, you are so strong, and then, you are completely healthy - look how round-faced and ruddy you are. And not every doll, even a very beautiful one, has such a soft sofa!

Mamselle Clerchen, dressed up in a festive manner and important, pouted without uttering a word.

Why am I standing on ceremony! - said Marie, took the bed off the shelf, carefully and carefully laid the Nutcracker there, tied a very beautiful ribbon around his injured shoulders, which she wore instead of a sash, and covered him with a blanket right up to his nose.

“Only there is no need for him to stay here with ill-mannered Clara,” she thought and moved the crib along with the Nutcracker to the top shelf, where he found himself near the beautiful village in which Fritz’s hussars were quartered. She locked the closet and was about to go into the bedroom, when suddenly... listen carefully, children! .. when suddenly in all corners - behind the stove, behind the chairs, behind the cabinets - a quiet, quiet whispering, whispering and rustling began. And the clock on the wall hissed, wheezed louder and louder, but could not strike twelve. Marie looked there: a large gilded owl, sitting on the clock, hung its wings, completely obscured the clock with them and stretched forward its disgusting cat's head with a crooked beak. And the clock wheezed louder and louder, and Marie clearly heard:

Tick-and-tock, tick-and-tock! Don't wheeze so loudly! The mouse king hears everything. Trick-and-truck, boom-boom! Well, the clock, the old tune! Trick-and-truck, boom-boom! Well, ring, ring, ring: the king’s time is approaching!

And... “Bim-bom, bim-bom!” “- the clock struck twelve strokes dully and hoarsely. Marie was very scared and almost ran away in fear, but then she saw that godfather Drosselmeyer was sitting on the clock instead of an owl, hanging the tails of his yellow frock coat on both sides like wings. She gathered her courage and shouted loudly in a whiny voice:

Godfather, listen, godfather, why did you climb up there? Get down and don't scare me, you nasty godfather!

But then a strange giggle and squeak was heard from everywhere, and behind the wall there was running and stomping, as if from a thousand tiny paws, and thousands of tiny lights looked through the cracks in the floor. But these were not lights - no, but small shiny eyes, and Marie saw that mice were peeking out from everywhere and crawling out from under the floor. Soon the whole room began to say: stomp, hop, hop! The eyes of the mice shone more and more brightly, their hordes became more and more countless; Finally they lined up in the same order in which Fritz usually lined up his soldiers before battle. Marie was very amused by this; She did not have an innate aversion to mice, like other children, and her fear had completely subsided, but suddenly she heard such a terrible and piercing squeak that goosebumps ran down her spine. Oh, what she saw! No, really, dear reader Fritz, I know very well that you, like the wise, brave commander Fritz Stahlbaum, have a fearless heart, but if you had seen what appeared before Marie’s eyes, really, you would have run away. I even think you would have slipped into bed and unnecessarily pulled the covers up to your ears. Oh, poor Marie couldn’t do this, because - just listen, children! - at her very feet, as if from an earthquake, sand, lime and fragments of brick rained down, and from under the floor with a disgusting hissing and squeaking, seven mouse heads in seven brightly sparkling crowns crawled out. Soon the entire body, on which seven heads were sitting, emerged, and the whole army in unison three times greeted with a loud squeak a huge mouse crowned with seven tiaras. Now the army immediately began to move and - hop-hop, stomp, stomp! - went straight to the closet, straight at Marie, who was still standing, pressed against the glass door.

Marie’s heart had already been pounding so hard from horror that she was afraid that it would immediately jump out of her chest, because then she would die. Now it seemed to her as if the blood had frozen in her veins. She staggered, losing consciousness, but then suddenly there was a sound: click-clack-hrr! .. - and shards of glass began to fall, which Marie broke with her elbow. At that very moment she felt a burning pain in her left hand, but her heart immediately eased: she no longer heard the squealing and squeaking. Everything instantly became quiet. And although she did not dare to open her eyes, she still thought that the sound of glass had frightened the mice and they had hidden in their holes.

But what is this again? Behind Marie, in the closet, a strange noise arose and thin voices began to ring:

Form up, platoon! Form up, platoon! Forward to battle! Midnight strikes! Form up, platoon! Forward to battle!

And the harmonious and pleasant chime of melodic bells began.

Oh, but this is my music box! - Marie was delighted and quickly jumped away from the closet.

Then she saw that the closet was glowing strangely and there was some kind of fuss and fuss going on in it.

The dolls ran back and forth randomly and waved their arms. Suddenly the Nutcracker got up, threw off the blanket and, jumping off the bed in one leap, shouted loudly:

Click-click-click, stupid mouse regiment! That will do some good, mouse regiment! Click-click, a regiment of mice - rushing from the lye - will do good!

And at the same time he pulled out his tiny saber, waved it in the air and shouted:

Hey you, my faithful vassals, friends and brothers! Will you stand up for me in a difficult battle?

And immediately three scaramouches, Pantalone, four chimney sweeps, two wandering musicians and a drummer responded:

Yes, our sovereign, we are faithful to you until the grave! Lead us into battle - to death or victory!

And they rushed after the Nutcracker, who, burning with enthusiasm, dared to make a desperate jump from the top shelf. It was good for them to jump: not only were they dressed in silk and velvet, but their bodies were also stuffed with cotton wool and sawdust; so they flopped down like bags of wool. But poor Nutcracker would probably have broken his arms and legs; just think - from the shelf where it stood to the bottom it was almost two feet, and it itself was fragile, as if carved from linden. Yes, the Nutcracker would probably have broken his arms and legs if, at the very moment he jumped, Mamselle Clerchen had not jumped off the sofa and taken the hero shaking his sword into her tender embrace.

Oh dear, kind Clerchen! - Marie exclaimed in tears, - how wrong I was about you! Of course, you gave up the crib to your friend the Nutcracker with all your heart.

And then Mamzel Clerchen spoke, gently pressing young hero to your silken chest:

Is it possible for you, sir, to go into battle, towards danger, sick and with wounds that have not yet healed? Look, your brave vassals are gathering, they are eager to fight and are confident of victory. Scaramouche, Pantalone, chimney sweeps, musicians and a drummer are already downstairs, and among the dolls with surprises on my shelf, a strong animation and movement is noticeable. Deign, O sir, to rest on my chest, or agree to contemplate your victory from the height of my hat, decorated with feathers. - That's what Clerchen said; but the Nutcracker behaved in a completely inappropriate manner and kicked so much that Clerchen had to quickly put him on the shelf. At the same moment he very politely dropped to one knee and muttered:

O beautiful lady, even on the battlefield I will not forget the mercy and favor you showed me!

Then Clerchen bent down so low that she grabbed him by the handle, carefully lifted him, quickly untied the sequined sash on herself and was about to put it on the little man, but he stepped back two steps, pressed his hand to his heart and said very solemnly:

O beautiful lady, do not be so kind as to lavish your favors on me, for... - he paused, took a deep breath, quickly tore the ribbon from his shoulder that Marie had tied for him, pressed it to his lips, tied it on his hand in the form of a scarf and, enthusiastically waving his sparkling naked sword, jumped quickly and deftly, like a bird, from the edge of the shelf to the floor.

You, of course, immediately understood, my supportive and very attentive listeners, that the Nutcracker, even before he truly came to life, already perfectly felt the love and care with which Marie surrounded him, and that it was only out of sympathy for her that he did not want to accept from Mamzel Klerchen her belt, despite the fact that it was very beautiful and sparkled. The faithful, noble Nutcracker preferred to adorn himself with Marie's modest ribbon. But what will happen next?

As soon as the Nutcracker jumped to the floor, the squealing and squeaking began again. Ah, after all, countless hordes of evil mice have gathered under the large table, and in front of them all stands a disgusting mouse with seven heads!

Will something happen?

Battle

Drummer, my faithful vassal, strike the general advance! - The Nutcracker commanded loudly.

And immediately the drummer began to beat out the roll in the most skillful manner, so that the glass doors of the cabinet began to tremble and rattle. And in the closet something rattled and crackled, and Marie saw how all the boxes in which Fritz’s troops were quartered opened at once, and the soldiers jumped out of them straight onto the bottom shelf and lined up there in shiny rows. The Nutcracker ran along the ranks, inspiring the troops with his speeches.

Where are these scoundrel trumpeters? Why don't they trumpet? - the Nutcracker shouted in his hearts. Then he quickly turned to the slightly pale Pantalone, whose long chin was shaking violently, and solemnly said: General, I know your valor and experience. It's all about quickly assessing the situation and using the moment. I entrust you with command of all cavalry and artillery. You don't need a horse - you have very long legs, so you can gallop just fine on your own. Do your duty!

Pantalone immediately put his long, dry fingers into his mouth and whistled so shrilly, as if a hundred pipes were singing loudly at once. Neighing and stomping were heard in the closet, and - look! - Fritz's cuirassiers and dragoons, and ahead of all the new, brilliant hussars, set out on a campaign and soon found themselves below, on the floor. And so the regiments, one after another, marched in front of the Nutcracker with waving banners and the beating of drums and lined up in wide rows across the entire room. All Fritz's cannons, accompanied by the gunners, rode forward with a roar and began to thump: boom-boom! .. And Marie saw how the Dragee flew into the dense hordes of mice, powdering them white with sugar, which made them very embarrassed. But what caused the most damage to the mice was a heavy battery that drove onto my mother’s footstool and - boom-boom! - continuously fired round gingerbread cookies at the enemy, which killed many mice.

However, the mice kept advancing and even captured several cannons; but then there was a noise and a roar - trrr-trrr! - and because of the smoke and dust, Marie could hardly make out what was happening. One thing was clear: both armies fought with great ferocity, and victory passed to one side or the other. The mice brought more and more strength into the battle, and the silver pills, which they threw very skillfully, reached the very closet. Klerchen and Trudchen rushed around the shelf and broke their handles in despair.

Am I really going to die in my prime, am I really going to die, such a beautiful doll! screamed Clerchen.

That’s not why I was so well preserved to die here, within four walls! - Trudchen lamented.

Then they fell into each other's arms and cried so loudly that even the furious roar of the battle could not drown them out.

You have no idea, my dear listeners, what was going on here. Over and over again the guns boomed: prr-prr! ..Dr-dr! .. Fuck-gobble-fuck-gobble! .. Boom-burum-boom-burum-boom! .. And then the mouse king and mice squeaked and squealed, and then the menacing and powerful voice of the Nutcracker commanding the battle was heard again. And it was clear how he himself walked around his battalions under fire.

Pantalone led several extremely valiant cavalry charges and covered himself with glory. But the mouse artillery bombarded Fritz’s hussars with disgusting, fetid cannonballs, which left terrible stains on their red uniforms, which is why the hussars did not rush forward. Pantalone commanded them to “circle to the left” and, inspired by the role of the commander, he himself turned left, followed by the cuirassiers and dragoons, and the entire cavalry went home. Now the position of the battery, which had taken up a position on the footstool, became threatened; I didn’t have to wait long before hordes of nasty mice swarmed in and rushed to attack so fiercely that they overturned the bench along with the cannons and gunners. The Nutcracker, apparently, was very puzzled and ordered a retreat on the right flank. You know, my highly experienced listener Fritz, that such a maneuver means almost the same thing as fleeing the battlefield, and you, along with me, are already lamenting the failure that was to befall the army of Marie’s little favorite, the Nutcracker. But turn your gaze away from this misfortune and look at the left flank of the Nutcracker army, where everything is quite well and the commander and army are still full of hope. In the heat of battle, detachments of mouse cavalry quietly emerged from under the chest of drawers and, with a disgusting squeak, furiously attacked the left flank of the Nutcracker army; but what resistance they met! Slowly, as far as the uneven terrain allowed, for it was necessary to get over the edge of the closet, the corps of dolls with surprises, led by two Chinese emperors, stepped out and formed a square. These brave, very colorful and elegant, magnificent regiments, composed of gardeners, Tyroleans, Tungus, hairdressers, harlequins, cupids, lions, tigers, monkeys and monkeys, fought with composure, courage and endurance. With courage worthy of the Spartans, this selected battalion would have snatched victory from the hands of the enemy, if a certain brave enemy captain had not broken through with insane courage to one of the Chinese emperors and bit off his head, and when he fell, he had not crushed two Tungus and a monkey. As a result, a gap was formed, into which the enemy rushed; and soon the entire battalion was chewed to pieces. But the enemy gained little benefit from this atrocity. As soon as the bloodthirsty soldier of the mouse cavalry chewed one of his brave opponents in half, a printed piece of paper fell directly into his throat, causing him to die on the spot. But did this help the Nutcracker Army, which, having once begun its retreat, retreated further and further and suffered more and more losses, so that soon only a handful of daredevils with the ill-fated Nutcracker at their head were still holding on to the closet itself? “Reserves, here! Pantalone, Scaramouche, drummer, where are you? cried the Nutcracker, counting on the arrival of fresh forces that were to emerge from the glass cabinet. It is true that from there came several brown men from Thorn, with golden faces and golden helmets and hats; but they fought so ineptly that they never hit the enemy and would probably have knocked the cap of their commander, the Nutcracker, off his head. The enemy huntsmen soon bit off their legs, so that they fell and at the same time crushed many of the Nutcracker's companions. Now the Nutcracker, pressed on all sides by the enemy, was in great danger. He wanted to jump over the edge of the closet, but his legs were too short. Klerchen and Trudchen lay in a faint - they could not help him. Hussars and dragoons galloped briskly past him straight into the closet. Then, in extreme despair, he loudly exclaimed:

Horse, horse! Half a kingdom for a horse!

At that moment, two enemy archers grabbed his wooden cloak, and the mouse king jumped up to the Nutcracker, emitting a victorious squeak from all his seven throats.

Marie no longer controlled herself.

Oh my poor Nutcracker! - she exclaimed, sobbing, and, not realizing what she was doing, she took off the shoe from her left foot and threw it with all her might into the thick of the mice, right at their king.

At that same moment, everything seemed to crumble into dust, and Marie felt pain in her left elbow, even more burning than before, and fell unconscious to the floor.

Disease

When Marie woke up after a deep sleep, she saw that she was lying in her bed, and through the frozen windows a bright, sparkling sun was shining into the room.

Sitting next to her bed was a stranger, whom she, however, soon recognized as the surgeon Wendelstern. He said in a low voice:

She finally woke up...

Then her mother came up and looked at her with a frightened, inquisitive gaze.

“Oh, dear mother,” Marie stammered, “tell me: have the nasty mice finally gone away and the glorious Nutcracker has been saved?”

That's a lot of nonsense to talk about, dear Marichen! - objected the mother. - Well, what do mice need your Nutcracker for? But you, bad girl, scared us to death. This always happens when children are willful and disobey their parents. Yesterday you played with dolls until late at night, then dozed off, and, probably, you were scared by a random mouse: after all, in fact, we don’t have mice. In a word, you broke the glass in the closet with your elbow and injured your hand. It's good that you didn't cut your vein with the glass! Dr. Wendelstern, who was just now removing the fragments stuck there from your wound, says that you would remain crippled for the rest of your life and might even bleed to death. Thank God I woke up at midnight, saw that you were still not in the bedroom, and went to the living room. You were lying unconscious on the floor by the closet, covered in blood. I almost lost consciousness out of fear. You were lying on the floor, and Fritz’s tin soldiers, various toys, broken dolls with surprises and gingerbread men were scattered around. You held the Nutcracker in your left hand, from which blood was oozing, and your shoe was lying nearby...

Oh, mommy, mommy! - Marie interrupted her. - After all, these were traces of the great battle between dolls and mice! That’s why I was so scared, because the mice wanted to take the poor Nutcracker, who commanded the puppet army, captive. Then I threw my shoe at the mice, and I don’t know what happened next.

Doctor Wendelstern winked at his mother, and she very affectionately began to persuade Marie:

All right, all right, my dear baby, calm down! The mice have all run away, and the Nutcracker is standing behind glass in the closet, safe and sound.

Then the medical adviser entered the bedroom and started a long conversation with the surgeon Wendelstern, then he felt Marie’s pulse, and she heard that they were talking about the fever caused by the wound.

For several days she had to lie in bed and swallow medicine, although, apart from the pain in her elbow, she felt almost no discomfort. She knew that the dear Nutcracker had come out of the battle unharmed, and at times it seemed to her, as if in a dream, that he was telling her in a very clear, although extremely sad voice: “Marie, beautiful lady, I owe you a lot, but you can do for me even more."

Marie wondered in vain what it could be, but nothing came to her mind. She couldn’t really play because of her sore hand, and if she started reading or started leafing through picture books, her eyes would ripple, so she had to give up this activity. Therefore, time dragged on endlessly for her, and Marie could hardly wait until dusk, when her mother sat by her crib and read and told all sorts of wonderful stories.

And now the mother had just finished an entertaining tale about Prince Facardin, when suddenly the door opened and godfather Drosselmeyer entered.

“Come on, let me look at our poor wounded Marie,” he said.

As soon as Marie saw her godfather in an ordinary yellow frock coat, the night when the Nutcracker was defeated in the battle with the mice flashed before her eyes with all vividness, and she involuntarily shouted to the senior councilor of the court:

Oh godfather, how disgusting you are! I saw perfectly well how you sat on the clock and hung your wings on it so that the clock would strike more quietly and would not frighten off the mice. I heard perfectly well how you called the mouse king. Why didn’t you rush to help the Nutcracker, why didn’t you rush to help me, ugly godfather? It's all your fault. Because of you, I cut my hand and now I have to lie sick in bed!

The mother asked in fear:

What's the matter with you, dear Marie?

But the godfather made a strange face and spoke in a crackling, monotonous voice:

The pendulum moves with a creak. Less knocking - that's the thing. Trick-and-Track! The pendulum must always creak and sing songs. And when the bell rings: boom-and-bom! - the deadline is approaching. Don't be scared, my friend. The clock strikes on time and by the way, to the death of the mouse army, and then the owl flies off. One-and-two and one-and-two! The clock strikes when they have a deadline. The pendulum moves with a creak. Less knocking - that's the thing. Tick-and-tock and trick-and-trick!

Marie stared at her godfather with wide open eyes, because he seemed completely different and much uglier than usual, and he waved his right hand back and forth, like a clown being pulled by a string.

She would have been very frightened if her mother had not been there and if Fritz, who had slipped into the bedroom, had not interrupted his godfather with a loud laugh.

“Oh, godfather Drosselmeyer,” exclaimed Fritz, “today you are so funny again!” You are acting just like my clown, whom I threw behind the stove long ago.

The mother was still very serious and said:

Dear Mr. Senior Advisor, this is a really strange joke. What do you have in mind?

My God, have you forgotten my favorite watchmaker song? answered Drosselmeyer, laughing. - I always sing it to people who are sick like Marie.

And he quickly sat down by the bed and said:

Don’t be angry that I didn’t scratch out all fourteen of the mouse king’s eyes at once - that couldn’t have been done. But now I will please you.

With these words, the senior court adviser reached into his pocket and carefully pulled out - what do you think, children? - The Nutcracker, to whom he very skillfully inserted lost teeth and set his sore jaw.

Marie screamed with joy, and her mother said, smiling:

You see how much your godfather cares about your Nutcracker...

But admit it, Marie,” Godfather interrupted Mrs. Stahlbaum, because the Nutcracker is not very foldable and unpretty. If you want to listen, I will gladly tell you how such a deformity appeared in his family and became hereditary there. Or maybe you already know the fairy tale about Princess Pirlipat, the witch Myshilda and the skilled watchmaker?

Listen to me, godfather! - Fritz intervened in the conversation. - What is true is true: you perfectly inserted the teeth into the Nutcracker, and the jaw no longer wobbles either. But why doesn't he have a saber? Why didn't you tie a saber for him?

Well, you restless one,” grumbled the senior court adviser, “there’s no way to please you!” The Nutcracker's saber doesn't concern me. I cured him - let him get himself a saber wherever he wants.

Right! - exclaimed Fritz. - If he is a brave fellow, he will get himself a weapon.

So, Marie,” the godfather continued, “tell me, do you know the fairy tale about Princess Pirlipat?”

Oh no! - Marie answered. - Tell me, dear godfather, tell me!

I hope, dear Mr. Drosselmeyer,” said my mother, “that this time you will not tell such a terrible tale as usual.”

“Well, of course, dear Mrs. Stahlbaum,” Drosselmeyer replied. On the contrary, what I will have the honor to tell you is very interesting.

Oh, tell me, tell me, dear godfather! - the children shouted.

And the senior court adviser began like this:

The Tale of the Hard Nut

Pirlipat's mother was the king's wife, and therefore a queen, and Pirlipat, as soon as she was born, immediately became a natural-born princess. The king could not stop looking at his beautiful daughter resting in her cradle. He rejoiced loudly, danced, jumped on one leg and shouted every now and then:

Hayza! Has anyone seen a more beautiful girl than my Pirlipathen?

And all the ministers, generals, advisers and staff officers jumped on one leg, like their father and ruler, and answered loudly in chorus:

No, no one saw it!

Yes, to tell the truth, it could not be denied that since the world stood, no more beautiful baby than Princess Pirlipat had been born. Her face seemed to be woven from lily-white and soft pink silk, her eyes were a living, shining azure, and her hair, which curled in golden ringlets, was especially adorned. At the same time, Pirlipatchen was born with two rows of pearl-white teeth, with which two hours after birth she dug into the finger of the Reich Chancellor when he wanted to take a closer look at the features of her face, so that he screamed: “Oh-oh-oh! “Some, however, claim that he shouted: “Ay-ay-ay! “Even today, opinions differ. In short, Pirlipatchen actually bit the Reich Chancellor’s finger, and then the admiring people became convinced that the charming, angelic body of Princess Pirlipat contained a soul, a mind, and a feeling.

As said, everyone was delighted; one queen, for some unknown reason, was worried and worried. It was especially strange that she ordered vigilant guarding of Pirlipat’s cradle. Not only were there drabants at the door, but an order was given that in the nursery, in addition to the two nannies who constantly sat next to the cradle, six more nannies were on duty every night and - which seemed completely absurd and which no one could understand - each nanny was ordered to keep on the cat's lap and pet him all night so that he never stops purring. You, dear children, will never guess why Princess Pirlipat’s mother took all these measures, but I know why and now I’ll tell you.

Once upon a time, many glorious kings and handsome princes came to the court of the king, the parent of Princess Pirlipat. For this occasion brilliant tournaments, performances and court balls were organized. The king, wanting to show that he had a lot of gold and silver, decided to properly dip his hand into his treasury and organize a festival worthy of him. Therefore, having learned from the chief cook that the court astrologer had announced a time favorable for slaughtering pigs, he decided to have a sausage feast, jumped into the carriage and personally invited all the surrounding kings and princes just to a plate of soup, dreaming of then surprising them with luxury. Then he very affectionately said to his queen wife:

Darling, you know what kind of sausage I like...

The Queen already knew where he was going with his speech: this meant that she should personally engage in a very useful task - making sausages, which she had not disdained before. The chief treasurer was ordered to immediately send a large golden cauldron and silver pans to the kitchen; the stove was lit with sandalwood wood; the queen knitted her damask kitchen apron. And soon a delicious smell of sausage brew wafted out of the cauldron. The pleasant smell even penetrated into the State Council. The king, trembling with delight, could not stand it.

I apologize, gentlemen! - he exclaimed, ran to the kitchen, hugged the queen, stirred the cauldron a little with a golden scepter and, reassured, returned to the state council.

The most important moment had arrived: it was time to cut the lard into slices and fry it in golden pans. The court ladies stepped aside, because the queen, out of devotion, love and respect for her royal husband, was going to personally take care of this matter. But as soon as the lard began to brown, a thin, whispering voice was heard:

Let me taste the salsa too, sister! And I want to feast on it - I’m also a queen. Let me taste the salsa too!

The Queen knew very well that it was Mrs. Myshilda speaking. Myshilda had been living in the royal palace for many years. She claimed that she was related to the royal family and that she herself ruled the kingdom of Myshland, which is why she kept a large court under her kidney. The queen was a kind and generous woman. Although in general she did not consider Myshilda to be a special member of the royal family and her sister, but on such a solemn day she allowed her to the feast with all her heart and shouted:

Get out, Mrs. Myshilda! Eat some salsa for your health.

And Myshilda quickly and cheerfully jumped out from under the stove, jumped onto the stove and began to grab with her graceful paws one after another the pieces of lard that the queen held out to her. But then all of Myshilda’s godmothers and aunties and even her seven sons, desperate tomboys, came rushing in. They attacked the lard, and the queen was frightened and did not know what to do. Fortunately, the Chief Chamberlain arrived in time and drove away the uninvited guests. Thus, a little lard survived, which, according to the instructions of the court mathematician called for this occasion, was very skillfully distributed among all the sausages.

They beat the kettledrums and blew the trumpets. All the kings and princes in magnificent festive attire - some on white horses, others in crystal carriages - were drawn to the sausage feast. The king greeted them with cordial friendliness and honor, and then, wearing a crown and scepter, as befits a sovereign, he sat down at the head of the table. Already when the liverwurst was served, the guests noticed how the king turned more and more pale, how he raised his eyes to the sky. Quiet sighs flowed from his chest; it seemed that his soul was overcome by intense grief. But when the black pudding was served, he leaned back in his chair with loud sobs and groans, covering his face with both hands. Everyone jumped up from the table. The life doctor tried in vain to feel the pulse of the ill-fated king, who seemed to be consumed by a deep, incomprehensible melancholy. Finally, after much persuasion, after using strong remedies, like burnt goose feathers and the like, the king seemed to begin to come to his senses. He stammered barely audibly:

Too little fat!

Then the inconsolable queen fell at his feet and moaned:

O my poor, unfortunate royal husband! Oh, what grief you had to endure! But look: the culprit is at your feet - punish me, punish me severely! Ah, Myshilda with her godmothers, aunts and seven sons ate lard, and...

With these words, the queen fell on her back unconscious. But the king jumped up, burning with anger, and shouted loudly:

Chief Minister, how did this happen?

The Chief Chamberlain told what she knew, and the king decided to take revenge on Myshilda and her family for eating the lard intended for his sausages.

A secret council of state was convened. They decided to initiate proceedings against Myshilda and take away all her possessions for the treasury. But the king believed that for now this would not prevent Myshilda from eating lard whenever she wanted, and therefore entrusted the whole matter to the court watchmaker and wizard. This man, whose name was the same as mine, namely Christian Elias Drosselmeyer, promised, with the help of very special measures, full of state wisdom, to expel Myshilda and her entire family from the palace forever and ever.

And indeed: he invented very skillful machines, in which fried lard was tied on a string, and placed them around the home of the lady salo eater.

Myshilda herself was too wise from experience not to understand Drosselmeyer’s cunning, but neither her warnings nor her admonitions helped: all seven sons and many, many of Myshilda’s godmothers and aunts, attracted by the delicious smell of fried lard, climbed into Drosselmeyer’s cars - and only wanted feast on lard, when they were suddenly slammed by a falling door, and then they were put to shameful execution in the kitchen. Myshilda, with a small group of surviving relatives, left these places of sorrow and crying. Grief, despair, a thirst for revenge bubbled in her chest.

The court rejoiced, but the queen was alarmed: she knew Myshilda’s character and understood very well that she would not leave the death of her sons and loved ones unavenged.

And in fact, Myshilda appeared just when the queen was preparing liver pate for the royal husband, which he very willingly ate, and said this:

My sons, godmothers and aunts were killed. Beware, queen: lest the queen of mice kill the little princess! Beware!

Then she disappeared again and never appeared again. But the queen, out of fright, dropped the pate into the fire, and for the second time Myshilda spoiled the king’s favorite dish, at which he was very angry...

Well, that's enough for tonight. “I’ll tell you the rest next time,” the godfather unexpectedly finished.

No matter how Marie, who was especially impressed by the story, asked to continue, godfather Drosselmeyer was relentless and said: “Too much at once is harmful to health; continued tomorrow,” he jumped up from his chair.

At that moment, when he was about to go out the door, Fritz asked:

Tell me, godfather, is it really true that you invented a mousetrap?

What nonsense are you talking about, Fritz! - exclaimed the mother.

But the senior court adviser smiled very strangely and said quietly:

Why shouldn’t I, a skilled watchmaker, invent a mousetrap?

Continuation of the tale of the hard nut

Well, children, now you know,” Drosselmeyer continued the next evening, “why the queen ordered the beautiful Princess Pirlipat to be guarded so vigilantly. How could she not be afraid that Myshilda would fulfill her threat - she would return and bite the little princess to death! Drosselmeyer's machine did not help at all against the smart and prudent Myshilda, and the court astrologer, who was also the main predictor, said that only the genus of the cat Murra could drive Myshilda away from the cradle. That is why each nanny was ordered to hold on her lap one of the sons of this family, who, by the way, were awarded the chip of a privy councilor of the embassy, ​​and to ease their burden of public service with a polite scratching behind the ear.

One day, already at midnight, one of the two chief nannies, who were sitting right next to the cradle, suddenly woke up, as if from a deep sleep. Everything around was engulfed in sleep. No purring - deep, dead silence, only the ticking of the grinder bug can be heard. But what did the nanny feel when right in front of her she saw a big nasty mouse that rose on its hind legs and laid its ominous head on the princess’s face! The nanny jumped up with a cry of horror, everyone woke up, but at the same moment Myshilda - after all, she was the big mouse at Pirlipat's cradle - quickly darted into the corner of the room. The embassy advisers rushed after her, but that was not the case: she slipped through a crack in the floor. Pirlipatkhen woke up from the commotion and began to cry very pitifully.

Thank God,” the nannies exclaimed, “she’s alive!”

But how frightened they were when they looked at Pirlipatchen and saw what had become of the pretty, gentle baby! On the frail, crouching body, instead of the curly head of a ruddy cherub, sat a huge shapeless head; The azure-blue eyes turned into green, stupidly staring eyes, and the mouth stretched to the ears.

The queen burst into tears and sobs, and the king’s office had to be lined with cotton wool, because the king was banging his head against the wall and wailing in a plaintive voice:

Oh, I'm an unfortunate monarch!

Now the king, it seemed, could understand that it was better to eat the sausage without lard and leave Myshilda alone with all her baked relatives, but Princess Pirlipat’s father did not think about this - he simply blamed all the blame on the court watchmaker and wizard Christian Elias Drosselmeyer from Nuremberg and gave a wise order: “Drosselmeyer must return Princess Pirlipat to her former appearance within a month, or at least indicate the correct means for this - otherwise he will be sold to a shameful death at the hands of the executioner.”

Drosselmeyer was seriously scared. However, he relied on his skill and happiness and immediately began the first operation, which he considered necessary. He very deftly took Princess Pirlipat apart, unscrewed the arms and legs and examined the internal structure, but, unfortunately, he was convinced that with age the princess would become uglier and uglier, and did not know how to help the trouble. He again diligently gathered the princess and fell into despondency near her cradle, from which he did not dare leave.

It was already the fourth week, Wednesday came, and the king, his eyes sparkling with anger and shaking his scepter, looked into Pirlipat’s nursery and exclaimed:

Christian Elias Drosselmeyer, heal the princess, otherwise you will be in trouble!

Drosselmeyer began to cry pitifully, while Princess Pirlipat was cheerfully cracking nuts. For the first time, the watchmaker and wizard was struck by her extraordinary love for nuts and the fact that she was born with teeth. In fact, after the transformation she screamed incessantly until she accidentally came across a nut; she chewed it, ate the kernel and immediately calmed down. Since then, the nannies kept calming her down with nuts.

O holy instinct of nature, inscrutable sympathy of all things! exclaimed Christian Elias Drosselmeyer. - You show me the gates of mystery. I'll knock and they'll open!

He immediately asked permission to speak with the court astrologer and was taken to him under strict guard. Both, bursting into tears, fell into each other's arms, as they were bosom friends, then retired to a secret office and began to rummage through books that talked about instinct, likes and dislikes and other mysterious phenomena.

Night has come. The court astrologer looked at the stars and, with the help of Drosselmeyer, a great expert in this matter, compiled a horoscope for Princess Pirlipat. It was very difficult to do this, because the lines became more and more tangled, but - oh, joy! - finally everything became clear: in order to get rid of the magic that disfigured her and regain her former beauty, Princess Pirlipat had only to eat the kernel of the Krakatuk nut.

The Krakatuk nut had such a hard shell that a forty-eight-pound cannon could run through it without crushing it. This hard nut had to be chewed and, with his eyes closed, presented to the princess by a man who had never shaved or worn boots. Then the young man had to step back seven steps without stumbling, and only then open his eyes.

Drosselmeyer and the astrologer worked tirelessly for three days and three nights, and just on Saturday, when the king was sitting at dinner, the joyful and cheerful Drosselmeyer, whose head was to be blown off on Sunday morning, burst into his room and announced that a means had been found to return Pirlipat to the princess. lost beauty. The king embraced him warmly and favorably and promised him a diamond sword, four orders and two new festive caftans.

After lunch we will begin immediately,” the king added kindly. Make sure, dear wizard, that the unshaven young man in boots is at hand and, as expected, with a Krakatuk nut. And don’t give him wine, otherwise he might stumble when, like a cancer, he takes seven steps back. Then let him drink to his heart's content!

Drosselmeyer was frightened by the king's speech, and, embarrassed and timid, he stammered that the remedy had indeed been found, but that both - the nut and the young man who was supposed to crack it - must first be found, and it was still very doubtful whether it was possible to find nut and nutcracker. In great anger, the king shook the scepter over the crowned head and roared like a lion:

Well, then they'll blow your head off!

Fortunately for Drosselmeyer, who was plunged into fear and grief, just today the king really liked the dinner, and therefore he was disposed to listen to reasonable admonitions, which the magnanimous queen, touched by the fate of the unfortunate watchmaker, did not skimp on. Drosselmeyer perked up and respectfully reported to the king that, in fact, he had solved the problem - he had found a means to cure the princess, and thereby deserved a pardon. The king called this a stupid excuse and empty chatter, but in the end, after drinking a glass of stomach tincture, he decided that both the watchmaker and the astrologer would set off and not return until they had a Krakatuk nut in their pocket. And on the advice of the queen, they decided to get the person needed to crack the nut through repeated advertisements in local and foreign newspapers and bulletins with an invitation to come to the palace...

Godfather Drosselmeyer stopped there and promised to finish the rest the next evening.

The end of the tale of the hard nut

And in fact, the next day in the evening, as soon as the candles were lit, godfather Drosselmeyer appeared and continued his story:

Drosselmeyer and the court astrologer have been traveling for fifteen years and still have not found the trail of the Krakatuk nut. Where they visited, what outlandish adventures they experienced, it’s impossible to tell, children, and for the whole month. I am not going to do this, but I will tell you directly that, immersed in deep despondency, Drosselmeyer greatly missed his homeland, his dear Nuremberg. A particularly strong melancholy attacked him one day in Asia, in a dense forest, where he and his companion sat down to smoke a pipe of knaster.

“Oh my wondrous, wondrous Nuremberg, whoever is not yet acquainted with you, even if he has been to Vienna, Paris and Peterwardein, his soul will yearn for you, O Nuremberg, he will strive - a wonderful town where beautiful houses stand in a row.” .

Drosselmeyer's pitiful lamentations evoked deep sympathy from the astronomer, and he, too, burst into tears so bitterly that he could be heard throughout Asia. But he pulled himself together, wiped away his tears and asked:

Honorable colleague, why are we sitting here and crying? Why don't we go to Nuremberg? Does it matter where and how to look for the ill-fated Krakatuk nut?

And that’s true,” Drosselmeyer answered, immediately consoled.

Both immediately got up, knocked out their pipes and went straight from the forest in the depths of Asia to Nuremberg.

As soon as they arrived, Drosselmeyer immediately ran to his cousin - the toy maker, wood turner, varnisher and gilder Christoph Zacharius Drosselmeyer, whom he had not seen for many, many years. It was to him that the watchmaker told the whole story about Princess Pirlipat, Mrs. Myshilda and the Krakatuk nut, and he kept throwing up his hands and exclaiming several times in surprise:

Oh, brother, brother, what miracles!

Drosselmeyer told about the adventures on his long journey, told how he spent two years with the Date King, how the Almond Prince offended and kicked him out, how in vain he asked the society of naturalists in the city of Belok - in short, how he never managed to find a trace of the nut anywhere Krakatuk. During the story, Christoph Zacharius repeatedly snapped his fingers, spun on one leg, smacked his lips and said:

Hm, hm! Hey! That's the thing!

Finally, he threw the cap and wig to the ceiling, warmly hugged his cousin and exclaimed:

Brother, brother, you are saved, saved, I say! Listen: either I’m cruelly mistaken, or I have the Krakatuk nut!

He immediately brought a box, from which he pulled out a medium-sized gilded nut.

Look,” he said, showing the nut to his cousin, “look at this nut.” His story is like this. Many years ago, on Christmas Eve, an unknown man came here with a full bag of nuts that he had brought to sell. At the very door of my toy shop, he put the bag on the ground so that it would be easier to act, since he had a clash with the local nut seller, who could not tolerate someone else’s seller. At that moment the bag was run over by a heavily loaded truck. All the nuts were crushed, with the exception of one, which was a stranger, smiling strangely, and offered to give it to me for the zwanziger of one thousand seven hundred and twenty. It seemed mysterious to me, but I found in my pocket exactly the kind of zwanziger he asked for, bought a nut and gilded it. I don’t really know why I paid so much for the nut, and then took such care of it.

Any doubt that the cousin's nut was really the Krakatuk nut that they had been looking for for so long was immediately dispelled when the court astrologer, who arrived in time for the call, carefully scraped off the gilding from the nut and found the word “Krakatuk” carved in Chinese characters on the shell.

The joy of the travelers was enormous, and cousin Drosselmeyer considered himself the happiest man in the world when Drosselmeyer assured him that happiness was guaranteed for him, because from now on, in addition to a significant pension, he would receive gold for gilding for free.

Both the wizard and the astrologer had already put on their nightcaps and were about to go to bed, when suddenly the latter, that is, the astrologer, made the following speech:

Dearest colleague, happiness never comes alone. Believe me, we found not only the Krakatuk nut, but also a young man who will crack it and present the princess with the kernel - a guarantee of beauty. I mean none other than your cousin's son. No, I won’t go to bed, he exclaimed with inspiration. - I’ll draw up the young man’s horoscope tonight! - With these words, he tore the cap off his head and immediately began to watch the stars.

Drosselmeyer's nephew was indeed a handsome, well-built young man who had never shaved or put on boots. IN early youth True, he portrayed a clown for two Christmases in a row; but this was not the least noticeable: he was so skillfully raised through the efforts of his father. On Christmastide he wore a beautiful red caftan embroidered with gold, a sword, a hat under his arm and an excellent wig with a pigtail. In such a brilliant appearance, he stood in his father’s shop and, with his characteristic gallantry, cracked nuts for the young ladies, for which they nicknamed him the Handsome Nutcracker.

The next morning, the delighted star fell into Drosselmeyer’s arms and exclaimed:

It is he! We got it, it's found! Only, dear colleague, you should not lose sight of two circumstances: firstly, you need to weave a solid wooden braid for your excellent nephew, which would be connected to the lower jaw in such a way that it could be pulled back strongly with the braid; then, upon arrival in the capital, we must remain silent about the fact that we brought with us a young man who will crack the Krakatuk nut, it is better that he appears much later. I read in the horoscope that after many people break their teeth on a nut to no avail, the king will give the princess, and after death, the kingdom as a reward to the one who cracks the nut and returns Pirlipat’s lost beauty.

The toy maker was very flattered that his son was to marry a princess and become a prince himself, and then a king, and therefore he willingly entrusted him to the astrologer and watchmaker. The braid that Drosselmeyer gave to his promising young nephew was a great success, so that he passed the test brilliantly, biting through the hardest peach pits.

Drosselmeyer and the astrologer immediately let the capital know that the Krakatuk nut had been found, and there they immediately published a proclamation, and when our travelers arrived with a talisman that restored beauty, many beautiful young men and even princes had already appeared at the court, relying on their healthy jaws , wanted to try to remove the evil spell from the princess.

Our travelers were very frightened when they saw the princess. A small body with skinny arms and legs could barely hold up a shapeless head. The face seemed even uglier because of the white thread beard that covered his mouth and chin.

Everything happened as the court astrologer read in the horoscope. One after another, the booted milksuckers broke their teeth and tore their jaws, but the princess did not feel any better; when they were then carried away in a semi-fainting state by the dentists invited for this occasion, they moaned:

Go ahead and crack this nut!

Finally, the king, in contrition of heart, promised a daughter and a kingdom to the one who would disenchant the princess. It was then that our polite and modest young Drosselmeyer volunteered and asked permission to try his luck too.

Princess Pirlipat liked no one as much as young Drosselmeyer, she pressed her hands to her heart and sighed from the depths of her soul: “Oh, if only he could crack the Krakatuk nut and become my husband! »

Having politely bowed to the king and queen, and then to Princess Pirlipat, young Drosselmeyer accepted the Krakatuk nut from the hands of the master of ceremonies, put it in his mouth without much conversation, tugged hard on his braid and Click-click! - Cracked the shell into pieces. He deftly cleared the kernel from the stuck-on peel and, closing his eyes, brought it to the princess, shuffling his foot respectfully, and then began to back away. The princess immediately swallowed the kernel, and oh, miracle! - the freak disappeared, and in his place stood a girl as beautiful as an angel, with a face as if woven from lily-white and pink silk, with eyes shining like azure, with curly ringlets of golden hair.

Trumpets and timpani joined in the loud rejoicing of the people. The king and the entire court danced on one leg, as at the birth of Princess Pirlipat, and the queen had to be sprayed with cologne, as she fainted from joy and delight.

The resulting commotion rather confused young Drosselmeyer, who still had to take the required seven steps back. Still, he held on perfectly and had already raised his right leg for the seventh step, but then Myshilda crawled out of the underground with a disgusting squeak and squeal. Young Drosselmeyer, who had lowered his foot, stepped on it and stumbled so much that he almost fell.

Oh, evil fate! In an instant, the young man became as ugly as Princess Pirlipat had been before. The body shrank and could barely support the huge shapeless head with large, bulging eyes and a wide, ugly gaping mouth. Instead of a scythe, a narrow wooden cloak hung from behind, with the help of which one could control the lower jaw.

The watchmaker and astrologer were beside themselves with horror, but they noticed that Mouseilda was squirming on the floor covered in blood. Her crime did not go unpunished: young Drosselmeyer hit her hard on the neck with a sharp heel, and that was the end of her.

But Myshilda, seized by her death throes, squealed and squealed pitifully:

O hard, hard Krakatuk, I cannot escape the pains of death! .. Hee-hee... Pee-wee... But, the cunning Nutcracker, you too will come to an end: my son, the mouse king, will not forgive my death - the army of the mouse will take revenge on you for your mother. O life, you were bright - and death came for me... Quick!

Squeaking for the last time, Myshilda died, and the royal stoker carried her away.

Nobody paid attention to young Drosselmeyer. However, the princess reminded her father of his promise, and the king immediately ordered the young hero to be brought to Pirlipat. But when the poor fellow appeared before her in all his ugliness, the princess covered her face with both hands and shouted:

Get out of here, you nasty Nutcracker!

And immediately the marshal grabbed him by the narrow shoulders and pushed him out.

The king was inflamed with anger, deciding that they wanted to force the Nutcracker to be his son-in-law, blamed the unlucky watchmaker and astrologer for everything, and expelled both of them from the capital for eternity. This was not provided for by the horoscope compiled by the astrologer in Nuremberg, but he did not fail to start observing the stars again and read that young Drosselmeyer would behave excellently in his new rank and, despite all his ugliness, would become a prince and king. But his ugliness will disappear only if the seven-headed son of Myshilda, born after the death of his seven older brothers and becoming the mouse king, falls at the hands of the Nutcracker and if, despite his ugly appearance, a beautiful lady falls in love with young Drosselmeyer. They say that, in fact, at Christmas time they saw young Drosselmeyer in Nuremberg in his father’s shop, although in the form of the Nutcracker, but still in the rank of a prince.

Here, children, is a fairy tale about a hard nut. Now you understand why they say: “Go ahead and crack this nut!” "And why are nutcrackers so ugly...

This is how the senior court adviser ended his story.

Marie decided that Pirlipat was a very nasty and ungrateful princess, and Fritz assured that if the Nutcracker was really brave, he would not stand on ceremony with the mouse king and would regain his former beauty.

Uncle and nephew

Which of my highly respected readers or listeners has ever been cut by glass knows how painful it is and what a nasty thing it is, since the wound heals very slowly. Marie had to spend almost a whole week in bed, because every time she tried to get up she felt dizzy. Nevertheless, in the end she completely recovered and could again jump merrily around the room.

Everything in the glass cabinet shone with newness - trees, flowers, houses, festively dressed dolls, and most importantly, Marie found her cute Nutcracker there, smiling at her from the second shelf, baring two rows of intact teeth. When she, rejoicing with all her heart, looked at her pet, her heart suddenly ached: what if everything that the godfather told was the story about the Nutcracker and his feud with Myshilda and her son - what if all this was true? Now she knew that her Nutcracker was young Drosselmeyer from Nuremberg, handsome, but, unfortunately, the nephew of Drosselmeyer’s godfather, bewitched by Myshilda.

During the story, Marie did not doubt for a minute that the skilled watchmaker at the court of Princess Pirlipat’s father was none other than the senior court adviser Drosselmeyer. “But why didn’t your uncle help you, why didn’t he help you?” - Marie lamented, and the conviction grew stronger in her that the battle in which she was present was for the Nutcracker kingdom and the crown. “After all, all the dolls obeyed him, because it is absolutely clear that the prediction of the court astrologer came true and young Drosselmeyer became the king in the doll kingdom.”

Reasoning this way, clever Marie, who endowed the Nutcracker and his vassals with life and the ability to move, was convinced that they were really about to come to life and move. But that was not the case: everything in the closet stood motionless in its place. However, Marie did not even think of giving up her inner conviction - she simply decided that the reason for everything was the witchcraft of Myshilda and her seven-headed son.

Although you are not able to move or say a word, dear Mr. Drosselmeyer, she said to the Nutcracker, I am still sure that you hear me and know how well I treat you. Count on my help when you need it. In any case, I will ask my uncle to help you, if necessary, with his art!

The Nutcracker stood calmly and did not move, but Marie felt as if a light sigh swept through the glass cabinet, causing the glass to ring slightly, but surprisingly melodiously, and a thin, ringing voice, like a bell, sang: “Mary, my friend, my keeper! There is no need for torment - I will be yours.”

Marie had chills running down her spine from fear, but, oddly enough, for some reason she felt very pleased.

It was dusk. The parents and godfather Drosselmeyer entered the room. A little later Louise served tea, and the whole family sat down at the table, chatting merrily. Marie quietly brought her armchair and sat down at her godfather’s feet. Taking a moment when everyone was silent, Marie looked with her big blue eyes straight into the face of the senior court adviser and said:

Now, dear godfather, I know that the Nutcracker is your nephew, young Drosselmeyer from Nuremberg. He became a prince, or rather a king: everything happened as your companion, the astrologer, predicted. But you know that he declared war on the son of Lady Mouseilda, the ugly mouse king. Why don't you help him?

And Marie again told the whole course of the battle at which she was present, and was often interrupted by the loud laughter of her mother and Louise. Only Fritz and Drosselmeyer remained serious.

Where did the girl get such nonsense from? - asked the medical adviser.

Well, she just has a rich imagination,” the mother answered. - In essence, this is delirium generated by a strong fever. “None of this is true,” said Fritz. - My hussars are not such cowards, otherwise I would have shown them!

But the godfather, smiling strangely, sat little Marie on his lap and spoke more affectionately than usual:

Ah, dear Marie, you have been given more than me and all of us. You, like Pirlipat, are a born princess: you rule a beautiful, bright kingdom. But you will have to endure a lot if you take the poor freak Nutcracker under your protection! After all, the mouse king guards him on all paths and roads. Know: not me, but you, you alone can save the Nutcracker. Be persistent and dedicated.

No one - neither Marie nor the others understood what Drosselmeyer meant; and the medical adviser found the godfather’s words so strange that he felt his pulse and said:

You, dear friend, have a strong rush of blood to your head: I will prescribe medicine for you.

Only the medical adviser’s wife shook her head thoughtfully and remarked:

I can guess what Mr. Drosselmeyer means, but I can’t express it in words.

Victory

A little time passed, and one moonlit night Marie was awakened by a strange knocking sound that seemed to be coming from the corner, as if pebbles were being thrown and rolled there, and from time to time a disgusting squealing and squeaking sound was heard.

Ay, mice, mice, there are mice again! - Marie screamed in fright and wanted to wake up her mother, but the words got stuck in her throat.

She could not even move, because she saw how the mouse king struggled out of a hole in the wall and, sparkling with his eyes and crowns, began to scurry around the whole room; suddenly, in one leap, he jumped onto the table that stood right next to Marie’s crib.

Hee hee hee! Give me all the jelly beans, all the marzipan, silly, or I’ll bite your Nutcracker, I’ll bite the Nutcracker! - the mouse king squealed and at the same time disgustedly creaked and gnashed his teeth, and then quickly disappeared into a hole in the wall.

Marie was so frightened by the appearance of the terrible mouse king that the next morning she was completely haggard and could not utter a word from excitement. A hundred times she was going to tell her mother, Louise, or at least Fritz about what happened to her, but she thought: “Will anyone believe me? They'll just make me laugh."

However, it was absolutely clear to her that in order to save the Nutcracker she would have to give up the jelly beans and marzipan. So that evening she placed all her candy on the bottom ledge of the cabinet. The next morning the mother said:

I don't know where the mice in our living room came from. Look, Marie, they, poor things, have eaten all your candies.

And so it was. The voracious mouse king did not like the marzipan with the filling, but he gnawed it with his sharp teeth so much that he had to throw away the remains. Marie did not regret the sweets at all: in the depths of her soul she was happy, because she thought that she had saved the Nutcracker. But what did she feel when the next night a squeak and squeal was heard right next to her ear! Ah, the mouse king was right there, and his eyes sparkled even more disgustingly than last night, and he squeaked even more disgustingly through his teeth:

Give me your sugar dolls, silly, or I will gnaw your Nutcracker, gnaw the Nutcracker!

And with these words the terrible mouse king disappeared.

Marie was very upset. The next morning she went to the closet and looked sadly at the sugar and adraganth dolls. And her grief was understandable, because you won’t believe, my attentive listener Marie, what wonderful sugar figurines Marie Stahlbaum had: a cute shepherdess and shepherdess tended a flock of snow-white lambs, and their dog frolicked nearby; right there stood two postmen with letters in their hands and four very pretty couples - dapper young men and girls dressed to the nines, swinging on a Russian swing. Then came the dancers, behind them stood Pachter Feldkümmel with the Virgin of Orleans, whom Marie did not really appreciate, and just in the corner stood a red-cheeked baby - Marie’s favorite... Tears flowed from her eyes.

“Ah, dear Mr. Drosselmeyer,” she exclaimed, turning to the Nutcracker, “what I won’t do to save your life, but, oh, how hard it is!

However, the Nutcracker had such a pitiful look that Marie, who already imagined that the mouse king had opened all his seven mouths and wanted to swallow the unfortunate young man, decided to sacrifice everything for him.

So, that evening she placed all the sugar dolls on the bottom ledge of the cupboard, where she had previously placed the sweets. She kissed the shepherd, the shepherdess, the sheep; She was the last to take out her favorite from the corner - the red-cheeked baby - and put him behind all the other dolls. Feldkümmel and the Virgin of Orleans were in the front row.

No, this is too much! - Mrs. Stahlbaum exclaimed the next morning. - Apparently, a large, voracious mouse is in charge of the glass cabinet: poor Marie has all her pretty sugar dolls chewed and gnawed off!

Marie, however, could not help but cry, but soon smiled through her tears, because she thought: “What can I do, but the Nutcracker is safe! »

In the evening, when the mother was telling Mr. Drosselmeyer about what the mouse had done in the children’s closet, the father exclaimed:

What a disgusting thing! They just can’t get rid of the nasty mouse that runs the glass cabinet and eats all of poor Marie’s sweets.

Here’s what,” Fritz said cheerfully, “downstairs, at the baker’s, there is a wonderful gray embassy adviser.” I’ll take him upstairs to us: he’ll quickly finish this matter and bite off the mouse’s head, be it Myshilda herself or her son, the mouse king.

And at the same time he will jump on tables and chairs and break glasses and cups, and in general there will be no trouble with him! - the mother finished laughing.

No! - Fritz objected. - This embassy adviser is a clever fellow. I wish I could walk on the roof like he does!

“No, please, we don’t need a cat for the night,” asked Louise, who couldn’t stand cats.

As a matter of fact, Fritz is right,” said the father. - In the meantime, you can set a mousetrap. Do we have mousetraps?

Godfather will make us an excellent mousetrap: after all, he invented them! Fritz shouted.

Everyone laughed, and when Mrs. Stahlbaum said that there was not a single mousetrap in the house, Drosselmeyer said that he had several, and, indeed, immediately ordered an excellent mousetrap to be brought from the house.

The godfather's tale about the hard nut came to life for Fritz and Marie. When the cook fried the lard, Marie turned pale and trembled. Still absorbed in the fairy tale with its wonders, she once even said to the cook Dora, her old friend:

Ah, Your Majesty the Queen, beware of Myshilda and her relatives!

And Fritz drew his saber and said:

Just let them come and I’ll give them a hard time!

But both under the stove and on the stove everything was calm. When the senior court adviser tied a piece of bacon to a thin thread and carefully placed the mousetrap on the glass cabinet, Fritz exclaimed:

Beware, watchmaker godfather, lest the mouse king play a cruel joke on you!

Oh, what it was like for poor Marie the next night! Icy paws ran over her hand, and something rough and nasty touched her cheek and squealed and squealed right in her ear. A nasty mouse king sat on her shoulder; Blood-red drool flowed from his seven gaping mouths, and, gnashing his teeth, he hissed in the ear of Marie, who was numb with horror:

I'll slip away - I'll slip into the crack, I'll duck under the floor, I won't touch the fat, you know that. Come on, give me the pictures, bring the dress here, otherwise there will be trouble, I’m warning you: I’ll catch the Nutcracker and bite you... Hee hee! .. Pee-pee! ... Kwik-kwik!

Marie was very sad, and when the next morning her mother said: “But the ugly mouse still hasn’t been caught! “- Marie turned pale and worried, and her mother thought that the girl was sad about sweets and afraid of the mouse.

“Come on, calm down, baby,” she said, “we’ll drive away the nasty mouse!” Mousetraps won't help - then let Fritz bring his gray embassy adviser.

As soon as Marie was left alone in the living room, she went to the glass cabinet and, sobbing, spoke to the Nutcracker:

Ah, dear, kind Mr. Drosselmeyer! What can I, poor, unhappy girl, do for you? Well, I’ll give all my picture books to the nasty mouse king to be devoured, I’ll even give away the beautiful new dress that the baby Christ gave me, but he will demand more and more from me, so that in the end I will have nothing left, and he , perhaps, he will want to bite me to death instead of you. Oh, I'm a poor, poor girl! Well, what should I do, what should I do?!

While Marie was grieving and crying so much, she noticed that the Nutcracker had a large bloody stain on his neck from the previous night. Since Marie learned that the Nutcracker was actually young Drosselmeyer, the nephew of the court adviser, she stopped carrying him and rocking him, stopped caressing and kissing him, and she even felt somehow embarrassed to touch him too often, but this time she She carefully took the Nutcracker from the shelf and began to carefully wipe away the bloody stain on her neck with a handkerchief. But how dumbfounded she was when she suddenly felt that her friend the Nutcracker in her hands had warmed up and moved! She quickly put it back on the shelf. Here his lips parted, and the Nutcracker stammered with difficulty:

O priceless Mademoiselle Stahlbaum, my faithful friend, how much I owe to you! No, don’t sacrifice picture books or a festive dress for me - get me a saber... A saber! I'll take care of the rest myself, even if he...

Here the Nutcracker’s speech was interrupted, and his eyes, which had just shone with deep sadness, darkened and dimmed again. Marie was not the least bit afraid; on the contrary, she jumped for joy. Now she knew how to save the Nutcracker without making further heavy sacrifices. But where can I get a saber for the little man?

Marie decided to consult with Fritz, and in the evening, when her parents went to visit and the two of them were sitting in the living room by the glass cabinet, she told her brother everything that had happened to her because of the Nutcracker and the Mouse King and on what the salvation of the Nutcracker now depended.

What upset Fritz most was that his hussars behaved badly during the battle, as it turned out according to Marie’s story. He very seriously asked her if it really was so, and when Marie gave him her word of honor, Fritz quickly went to the glass cabinet, addressed the hussars with a menacing speech, and then, as punishment for selfishness and cowardice, cut off all of them. cockades from their hats and forbade them to play the Life Hussar March for a year. Having finished punishing the hussars, he turned to Marie:

I will help the Nutcracker get a saber: just yesterday I retired with a pension the old cuirassier colonel, and that means he no longer needs his beautiful, sharp saber.

The mentioned colonel lived on the pension Fritz gave him in the far corner, on the third regiment. Fritz took it out from there, untied the truly dandy silver saber and put it on the Nutcracker.

The next night, Marie could not close her eyes from anxiety and fear. At midnight she heard some strange commotion in the living room - clinking and rustling. Suddenly there was a sound: “Quick! »

Mouse King! Mouse King! - Marie shouted and jumped out of bed in horror.

Everything was quiet, but soon someone carefully knocked on the door and a thin voice was heard:

Priceless Mademoiselle Stahlbaum, open the door and don’t be afraid of anything! Good, joyful news.

Marie recognized the voice of young Drosselmeyer, threw on her skirt and quickly opened the door. The Nutcracker stood on the threshold with a bloody saber in his right hand and a lit wax candle in his left. Seeing Marie, he immediately dropped to one knee and spoke like this:

O beautiful lady! You alone breathed into me knightly courage and gave strength to my hand so that I could defeat the daring one who dared to insult you. The treacherous mouse king is defeated and bathes in his own blood! Deign to graciously accept trophies from the hands of a knight devoted to you to the grave.

With these words, the cute Nutcracker very deftly shook off the seven golden crowns of the mouse king, which he had strung on his left hand, and handed them to Marie, who accepted them with joy.

The Nutcracker stood up and continued:

Ah, my most priceless Mademoiselle Stahlbaum! What wonders could I show you now that the enemy is defeated, if you would deign to follow me even a few steps! Oh, do it, do it, dear mademoiselle!

Puppet kingdom

I think, children, each of you, without a moment’s hesitation, would follow the honest, kind Nutcracker, who could not have anything bad on his mind. And even more so for Marie, because she knew that she had the right to count on the greatest gratitude from the Nutcracker, and was convinced that he would keep his word and show her many wonders. That's why she said:

I’ll go with you, Mr. Drosselmeyer, but only not far and not for long, since I haven’t gotten enough sleep yet.

Then,” replied the Nutcracker, “I will choose the shortest, although not entirely convenient, road.”

He walked forward. Marie follows him. They stopped in the hallway, near an old huge wardrobe. Marie was surprised to notice that the doors, usually locked, were wide open; she could clearly see her father’s traveling fox fur coat, which hung right next to the door. The Nutcracker very deftly climbed up the ledge of the cabinet and the carvings and grabbed a large brush that was hanging on a thick cord at the back of his fur coat. He pulled his brush with all his might, and immediately a graceful ladder of cedar wood descended from the sleeve of his fur coat.

Would you like to rise, dearest Mademoiselle Marie? asked the Nutcracker.

Marie did just that. And before she had time to rise through her sleeve, before she had time to look out from behind her collar, a dazzling light shone towards her, and she found herself in a beautiful fragrant meadow, which sparkled all over, as if with shining precious stones.

“We are in Candy Meadow,” said the Nutcracker. - Now let’s go through those gates.

Only now, looking up, did Marie notice a beautiful gate rising a few steps away from her in the middle of the meadow; it seemed that they were made of white and brown marble, speckled with specks. When Marie came closer, she saw that it was not marble, but almonds in sugar and raisins, which is why the gate under which they passed was called, according to the Nutcracker, the Almond-Raisin Gate. The common people very discourteously called them the gates of gluttonous students. On the side gallery of this gate, apparently made of barley sugar, six monkeys in red jackets formed a wonderful military band, which played so well that Marie, without noticing it, walked further and further along the marble slabs, beautifully made of sugar. , cooked with spices.

Soon she was filled with sweet aromas that flowed from the wonderful grove that stretched on both sides. The dark foliage glittered and sparkled so brightly that gold and silver fruits hanging on multi-colored stems, and bows and bouquets of flowers adorning the trunks and branches were clearly visible, like a cheerful bride and groom and wedding guests. With every whiff of marshmallows, infused with the scent of oranges, there was a rustling in the branches and foliage, and the golden tinsel crunched and crackled, like jubilant music, which carried away the sparkling lights, and they danced and jumped.

Oh, how wonderful it is here! - exclaimed the delighted Marie.

“We are in the Christmas forest, dear mademoiselle,” said the Nutcracker.

Oh, how I wish I could be here! It's so wonderful here! - Marie exclaimed again.

The Nutcracker clapped his hands, and immediately tiny shepherds and shepherdesses appeared, hunters and huntresses, so tender and white that one might think they were made of pure sugar. Although they were walking through the forest, for some reason Marie had not noticed them before. They brought a wonderfully beautiful golden chair, put a white marshmallow pillow on it and very kindly invited Marie to sit down. And now the shepherds and shepherdesses performed a lovely ballet, and meanwhile the hunters blew their horns very skillfully. Then everyone disappeared into the bushes.

Sorry, dear Mademoiselle Stahlbaum, said the Nutcracker, forgive me for such pitiful dancing. But these are dancers from our puppet ballet - all they know is to repeat the same thing, and the fact that the hunters blew their trumpets so sleepily and lazily also has its reasons. Although the bonbonnieres on the Christmas trees hang right in front of their noses, they are too high. Now would you like to welcome me further?

What are you talking about, the ballet was simply lovely and I really liked it! Marie said as she stood up and followed the Nutcracker.

They walked along a stream that ran with a gentle murmur and babble and filled the entire forest with its wonderful fragrance.

This is Orange Creek, - the Nutcracker answered Marie's questions, - but, except for its wonderful aroma, it cannot compare in size or beauty with the Lemonade River, which, like it, flows into the Lake of Almond Milk.

And in fact, soon Marie heard a louder splash and gurgle and saw a wide stream of lemonade, which rolled its proud light yellow waves among the bushes sparkling like emeralds. An unusually invigorating coolness, delighting the chest and heart, wafted from the beautiful waters. Not far away, a dark yellow river flowed slowly, spreading an unusually sweet fragrance, and beautiful children sat on the bank, fishing for small fat fish and immediately eating them. As Marie came closer, she noticed that the fish looked like Lombard nuts. A little further on the shore lies a charming village. The houses, the church, the parsonage, and the barns were dark brown with golden roofs; and many of the walls were painted so colorfully, as if almonds and candied lemon peel had been stuck on them.

This is the village of Gingerbread, said the Nutcracker, located on the banks of the Honey River. The people living there are beautiful, but very angry, since everyone there suffers from toothache. We better not go there.

At the same moment, Marie noticed a beautiful town, in which all the houses were colorful and transparent. The Nutcracker headed straight there, and then Marie heard a disorderly, cheerful hubbub and saw a thousand pretty little people who were dismantling and unloading the loaded carts crowded into the market. And what they took out resembled colorful pieces of paper and chocolate bars.

“We are in Confetenhausen,” said the Nutcracker, “just now the messengers from the Paper Kingdom and the Chocolate King have arrived. Not long ago, the poor people of Confettienhausen were threatened by the army of the mosquito admiral; so they cover their houses with gifts from the Paper State and build fortifications from strong slabs sent by the chocolate king. But, priceless Mademoiselle Stahlbaum, we cannot visit all the towns and villages of the country - to the capital, to the capital!

The Nutcracker hurried on, and Marie, burning with impatience, did not lag behind him. Soon a wonderful scent of roses wafted in, and everything seemed to be illuminated with a gently shimmering pink glow. Marie noticed that it was a reflection of pink-scarlet waters, splashing and gurgling at her feet with a sweetly melodious sound. The waves kept coming and coming and finally turned into a large beautiful lake, on which wonderful silver-white swans with golden ribbons on their necks swam and sang beautiful songs, and diamond fish, as if in a merry dance, dived and tumbled in the pink waves.

“Oh,” Marie exclaimed in delight, “but this is the same lake that my godfather once promised me to make!” And I am the same girl who was supposed to play with the cute swans.

The Nutcracker smiled as mockingly as he had never smiled before, and then said:

Uncle would never make anything like this. Rather, you, dear Mademoiselle Stahlbaum... But is it worth thinking about it! It’s better to cross the Pink Lake to the other side, to the capital.

Capital

The Nutcracker clapped his hands again. The pink lake began to rustle more loudly, the waves rose higher, and Marie saw in the distance two golden-scaled dolphins harnessed to a shell that shone with precious stones as bright as the sun. Twelve charming little black apes in hats and aprons woven from rainbow hummingbird feathers jumped onto the shore and, easily gliding along the waves, carried first Marie and then the Nutcracker into the shell, which immediately rushed across the lake.

Oh, how wonderful it was to float in a shell, wafted with the scent of roses and washed by pink waves! The golden-scaled dolphins raised their muzzles and began to throw crystal streams high into the air, and when these streams fell from above in sparkling and sparkling arcs, it seemed as if two lovely, delicate silver voices were singing:

“Who swims in the lake? Fairy of waters! Mosquitoes, doo-doo-doo! Fishes, splash-splash! Swans, shine, shine! Miracle bird, tra-la-la! Waves, sing, blowing, melting, - a fairy is floating towards us through the roses; a frisky stream, soar up - towards the sun, up! »

But the twelve blackrabs who jumped into the shell from behind apparently did not like the singing of the water jets at all. They shook their umbrellas so much that the leaves of the date palms, from which they were woven, crumpled and bent, and the arapets beat some unknown rhythm with their feet and sang:

“Top-and-tip and tip-and-tap, clap-clap-clap! We dance across the waters! Birds, fish - for a walk, following the shell with a boom! Top-and-tip and tip-and-top, clap-clap-clap! »

The Arabs are very cheerful people,” said the somewhat embarrassed Nutcracker, “but I hope they don’t stir up the whole lake for me!”

Indeed, soon a loud roar was heard: amazing voices seemed to float over the lake. But Marie did not pay attention to them - she looked into the fragrant waves, from where lovely girlish faces smiled at her.

“Oh,” she cried joyfully, clapping her hands, “look, dear Mr. Drosselmeyer: Princess Pirlipat is there!” She smiles at me so tenderly... Look, dear Mr. Drosselmeyer!

But the Nutcracker sighed sadly and said:

O priceless Mademoiselle Stahlbaum, it is not Princess Pirlipat, it is you. Only you, only your own charming face smiles tenderly from every wave.

Then Marie quickly turned away, closed her eyes tightly and became completely embarrassed. At the same moment, twelve blackrabs picked her up and carried her from the shell to the shore. She found herself in a small forest, which was, perhaps, even more beautiful than the Christmas forest, everything here shone and sparkled; Particularly remarkable were the rare fruits hanging on the trees, rare not only in color, but also in their wonderful fragrance.

“We are in the Candied Grove,” said the Nutcracker, “and over there is the capital.”

Oh, what Marie saw! How can I describe to you, children, the beauty and splendor of the city that appeared before Marie’s eyes, which spreads widely across a luxurious meadow strewn with flowers? It shone not only with the rainbow colors of the walls and towers, but also with the bizarre shape of the buildings, completely different from ordinary houses. Instead of roofs, they were overshadowed by skillfully woven wreaths, and the towers were entwined with such lovely colorful garlands that it is impossible to imagine.

When Marie and the Nutcracker passed through the gate, which seemed to be made of macaroons and candied fruits, silver soldiers stood guard, and a little man in a brocade dressing gown hugged the Nutcracker and said:

Welcome, dear prince! Welcome to Confetenburg!

Marie was very surprised that such a noble nobleman called Mr. Drosselmeyer a prince. But then they heard a hubbub of thin voices noisily interrupting each other, the sounds of rejoicing and laughter, singing and music reached them, and Marie, having forgotten about everything, immediately asked the Nutcracker what it was.

“Oh, dear Mademoiselle Stahlbaum,” answered the Nutcracker, “there is nothing to marvel at here: Confetenburg is a crowded, cheerful city, there is fun and noise here every day. Please, let's move on.

After a few steps they found themselves in a large, amazingly beautiful market square. All houses were decorated with openwork sugar galleries. In the middle, like an obelisk, stood a glazed sweet pie, sprinkled with sugar, and around four skillfully made fountains flowed upward streams of lemonade, orchad and other delicious soft drinks. The pool was full of whipped cream that you just wanted to scoop up with a spoon. But most charming of all were the charming little people who crowded here in large numbers. They had fun, laughed, joked and sang; Marie heard their cheerful hubbub from afar.

There were smartly dressed gentlemen and ladies, Armenians and Greeks, Jews and Tyroleans, officers and soldiers, monks, shepherds, and clowns - in a word, every kind of people you can meet in this world. In one place on the corner a terrible uproar arose: the people rushed in all directions, because just at that time the Great Mogul was being carried in a palanquin, accompanied by ninety-three nobles and seven hundred slaves. But it had to happen that on another corner a guild of fishermen, numbering five hundred people, staged a solemn procession, and, unfortunately, the Turkish Sultan just took it into his head to ride, accompanied by three thousand Janissaries, through the bazaar; Moreover, it was approaching the sweet pie directly with ringing music and singing: “Glory to the mighty sun, glory! " - the procession of the "interrupted solemn sacrifice." Well, there was confusion, jostling and screaming! Soon groans were heard, because in the confusion some fisherman knocked off the head of a Brahmin, and the Great Mogul was almost run over by a clown. The noise became more and more furious, a jostling and a fight had already begun, but then a man in a brocade dressing gown, the same one who at the gate welcomed the Nutcracker as a prince, climbed onto the cake and, tugging the ringing bell three times, shouted three times loudly: “Confectioner! Confectioner! Confectioner! “The commotion instantly subsided; everyone saved himself as best he could, and after the tangled processions had been untangled, when the soiled Great Mogul had been cleaned and the Brahmin’s head had been put back on, the interrupted noisy fun began again.

What's the matter with the pastry chef, dear Mr. Drosselmeyer? Marie asked.

“Ah, priceless Mademoiselle Stahlbaum, the confectioner here refers to an unknown, but very terrible force, which, according to local belief, can do whatever it wants to a person,” answered the Nutcracker, “this is the fate that rules over these cheerful people, and the inhabitants They are so afraid of him that just the mention of his name can calm down the biggest commotion, as the burgomaster has just proven. Then no one thinks about earthly things, about blows and bumps on the forehead, everyone plunges into himself and says: “What is a person and what can he turn into?”

A loud cry of surprise - no, a cry of delight escaped Marie when she suddenly found herself in front of a castle with a hundred aerial towers, glowing with a pink-scarlet glow. Here and there on the walls were scattered luxurious bouquets of violets, daffodils, tulips, and left-handed flowers, which set off the dazzling whiteness of the background, shimmering with scarlet light. The large dome of the central building and the pointed roofs of the towers were studded with thousands of stars sparkling with gold and silver.

“Here we are in the Marzipan Castle,” said the Nutcracker.

Marie did not take her eyes off the magical palace, but she still noticed that one large tower was missing a roof, the restoration of which, apparently, was being done by the little men standing on the cinnamon platform. Before she had time to ask the Nutcracker a question, he said:

More recently, the castle was threatened with great trouble, and perhaps complete ruin. The giant Sweet Tooth passed by. He quickly bit off the roof of that tower over there and set to work on the large dome, but the residents of Confetenburg appeased him by offering a quarter of the city and a significant part of the Candied Grove as ransom. He ate them and moved on.

Suddenly very pleasant, gentle music began to sound quietly. The castle gates swung open, and twelve little pages came out with lighted torches made from clove stems in their hands. Their heads were made of pearls, their bodies were made of rubies and emeralds, and they walked on skillfully crafted golden legs. They were followed by four ladies almost the same height as Clerchen, in unusually luxurious and brilliant outfits; Marie instantly recognized them as natural-born princesses. They hugged the Nutcracker tenderly and exclaimed with sincere joy:

O prince, dear prince! Dear brother!

The Nutcracker was completely moved: he wiped away the tears that often came to his eyes, then he took Marie by the hand and solemnly announced:

Here is Mademoiselle Marie Stahlbaum, daughter of a very worthy medical adviser and my savior. If she hadn’t thrown the shoe at the right moment, if she hadn’t gotten me the retired colonel’s saber, I would have been chewed up by the nasty mouse king, and I would have already been lying in the grave. O Mademoiselle Stahlbaum! Can Pirlipat compare with her in beauty, dignity and virtue, despite the fact that she is a born princess? No, I say, no!

All the ladies exclaimed: “No! - and, sobbing, they began to hug Marie.

O noble savior of our beloved royal brother! O incomparable Mademoiselle Stahlbaum!

Then the ladies took Marie and the Nutcracker to the chambers of the castle, to a hall whose walls were entirely made of crystal shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow. But what Marie liked most were the pretty little chairs, chests of drawers, and secretaries placed there, made of cedar and Brazilian wood with inlaid gold flowers.

The princesses persuaded Marie and the Nutcracker to sit down and said that they would immediately prepare a treat for them with their own hands. They immediately took out various pots and bowls made of the finest Japanese porcelain, spoons, knives, forks, graters, saucepans and other gold and silver kitchen utensils. Then they brought such wonderful fruits and sweets, which Marie had never seen, and very gracefully began squeezing fruit juice with their lovely snow-white hands, crushing spices, grating sweet almonds - in a word, they began to host so nicely that Marie realized what experts they were in the culinary business and what a luxurious treat awaits her. Knowing full well that she also understood something about this, Marie secretly wanted to take part in the princesses’ lesson herself. The most beautiful of the Nutcracker's sisters, as if guessing Marie's secret desire, handed her a small golden mortar and said:

My dear friend, my brother’s priceless savior, the ceilings are a little like caramels.

While Marie merrily knocked with the pestle, so that the mortar rang melodiously and pleasantly, no worse than a charming song, the Nutcracker began to talk in detail about the terrible battle with the hordes of the mouse king, about how he was defeated due to the cowardice of his troops, and how the nasty mouse king later wanted to kill him at all costs, just as Marie had to sacrifice many of his subjects who were in her service...

During Marie’s story, it seemed as if the words of the Nutcracker and even her own blows with the pestle were sounding more and more muffled, more and more indistinct, and soon a silver veil covered her eyes - as if light clouds of fog had risen, into which the princesses... the pages... The Nutcracker... herself... had immersed themselves... then something rustled, gurgled and sang; strange sounds dissolved in the distance. The rising waves carried Marie higher and higher... higher and higher... higher and higher...

Conclusion

Ta-ra-ra-boom! - and Marie fell from an incredible height. What a push! But Marie immediately opened her eyes. She was lying in her bed. It was quite light, and my mother stood nearby and said:

Well, is it possible to sleep for so long! Breakfast has been on the table for a long time.

My dear listeners, you, of course, already understood that Marie, stunned by all the miracles she had seen, eventually fell asleep in the hall of the Marzipan Castle and that the arapets or pages, and perhaps the princesses themselves, carried her home and put her to bed.

Oh, mommy, my dear mommy, where did I go that night with young Mr. Drosselmeyer! I have seen so many miracles!

And she told everything in almost the same detail as I had just told, and my mother listened and was surprised.

When Marie finished, her mother said:

You, dear Marie, had a long, beautiful dream. But put it all out of your head.

Marie stubbornly insisted that she saw everything not in a dream, but in reality. Then her mother led her to a glass cabinet, took out the Nutcracker, which, as always, stood on the second shelf, and said:

Oh, you silly thing, where did you get the idea that a wooden Nuremberg doll could talk and move?

But, mommy,” Marie interrupted her, “I know that little Nutcracker is young Mr. Drosselmeyer from Nuremberg, his godfather’s nephew!”

Here both dad and mom laughed loudly.

Oh, now you, daddy, are laughing at my Nutcracker,” Marie continued, almost crying, “and he spoke so well of you!” When we arrived at Marzipan Castle, he introduced me to the princesses - his sisters - and said that you are a very worthy medical adviser!

The laughter only intensified, and now Louise and even Fritz joined the parents. Then Marie ran to the Other Room, quickly took out the seven crowns of the mouse king from her box and gave them to her mother with the words:

Here, mommy, look: here are the seven crowns of the mouse king, which young Mr. Drosselmeyer presented to me last night as a sign of his victory!

Mom looked in surprise at the tiny crowns made of some unfamiliar, very shiny metal and such fine workmanship that it could hardly have been the work of human hands. Mr. Stahlbaum also couldn’t get enough of the crowns. Then both father and mother strictly demanded that Marie confess where she got the crowns, but she stood her ground.

When her father began to scold her and even called her a liar, she burst into tears and began to say plaintively:

Oh, poor, poor me! So what should I do?

But then the door suddenly opened and the godfather entered.

What's happened? What's happened? - he asked. - Is my goddaughter Marichen crying and sobbing? What's happened? What's happened?

Dad told him what happened and showed him the tiny crowns. The senior court adviser, as soon as he saw them, laughed and exclaimed:

Stupid inventions, stupid inventions! But these are the crowns that I once wore on a watch chain, and then gave to Marichen on her birthday, when she was two years old! Have you forgotten?

Neither father nor mother could remember this.

When Marie was convinced that her parents’ faces had again become affectionate, she jumped up to her godfather and exclaimed:

Godfather, you know everything! Say that my Nutcracker is your nephew, young Mr. Drosselmeyer from Nuremberg, and that he gave me these tiny crowns.

The godfather frowned and muttered:

Stupid ideas!

Then the father took little Marie aside and said very sternly:

Listen, Marie, stop making up stories and stupid jokes once and for all! And if you say again that the freak Nutcracker is your godfather’s nephew, I will throw out the window not only the Nutcracker, but also all the other dolls, not excluding Mamselle Clerchen.

Now poor Marie, of course, did not dare to even mention what was filling her heart; After all, you understand that it was not so easy for Marie to forget all the wonderful miracles that happened to her. Even, dear reader or listener, Fritz, even your comrade Fritz Stahlbaum immediately turned his back on his sister as soon as she was about to talk about the wonderful country where she felt so good. They say that sometimes he even muttered through his teeth: “Stupid girl! “But, having known his good character for a long time, I just can’t believe it; in any case, it is known for certain that, no longer believing a word in Marie’s stories, at a public parade he formally apologized to his hussars for the offense caused, pinned on them even taller and more magnificent plumes made of goose feathers instead of the lost insignia, and again allowed the lifeblood to sound -hussar march. Well, we know what the courage of the hussars was when disgusting bullets put spots on their red uniforms.

Marie no longer dared to talk about her adventure, but the magical images of the fairyland did not leave her. She heard a gentle rustling, gentle, enchanting sounds; she saw everything again as soon as she began to think about it, and, instead of playing, as she used to do, she could sit quietly and calmly for hours, withdrawing into herself - that’s why everyone now called her a little dreamer.

Once it happened that the godfather was repairing a watch at the Stahlbaums. Marie sat near the glass cabinet and, daydreaming, looked at the Nutcracker. And suddenly she burst out:

Ah, dear Mr. Drosselmeyer, if you really lived, I would not reject you, like Princess Pirlipat, because because of me you have lost your beauty!

The court advisor immediately shouted:

Well, well, stupid inventions!

But at the same moment there was such a roar and crash that Marie fell unconscious from her chair. When she woke up, her mother was fussing around her and saying:

Well, is it possible to fall out of a chair? Such a big girl! The nephew of Mr. Senior Court Counsel has just arrived from Nuremberg, be smart.

She raised her eyes: the godfather had put on his glass wig again, put on a yellow frock coat and was smiling contentedly, and by the hand he was holding, however, a small but very well-built young man, white and ruddy as blood and milk, in a magnificent red caftan embroidered with gold, in shoes and white silk stockings. A very pretty bouquet was pinned to his frill, his hair was carefully curled and powdered, and a beautiful braid ran down his back. The tiny sword at his side sparkled as if it were all studded with precious stones, and he held a silk hat under his arm.

The young man showed his pleasant disposition and good manners by giving Marie a whole bunch of wonderful toys and, above all, delicious marzipan and dolls to replace those that the mouse king had chewed, and Fritz a wonderful saber. At the table, an amiable young man was cracking nuts for the whole company. The toughest ones didn’t matter to him; With his right hand he put them in his mouth, with his left he pulled his braid, and - click! - the shell shattered into small pieces.

Marie blushed all over when she saw the polite young man, and when after dinner young Drosselmeyer invited her to go into the living room, to the glass cabinet, she turned crimson.

Go, go, play, children, just make sure you don’t quarrel. Now that I have all my watches in order, I don't mind! - the senior court adviser admonished them.

As soon as young Drosselmeyer found himself alone with Marie, he dropped to one knee and made the following speech:

O priceless Mademoiselle Stahlbaum, look: at your feet is the happy Drosselmeyer, whose life you saved in this very place. You deigned to say that you would not have rejected me, like the ugly princess Pirlipat, if because of you I had become a freak. Immediately I ceased to be a pitiful Nutcracker and regained my former, not devoid of pleasant appearance. O excellent Mademoiselle Stahlbaum, make me happy with your worthy hand! Share the crown and throne with me, we will reign together in the Marzipan Castle.

Marie raised the young man from her knees and said quietly:

Dear Mr. Drosselmeyer! You are a meek, kind-hearted person, and besides, you reign in a beautiful country inhabited by lovely, cheerful people - how can I not agree that you be my groom!

And Marie immediately became Drosselmeyer’s bride. They say that a year later he took her away in a golden carriage drawn by silver horses, that at their wedding twenty-two thousand elegant dolls sparkling with diamonds and pearls danced, and Marie, as they say, is still the queen in a country where, if only you have eyes, you will see sparkling candied fruit groves, transparent marzipan castles everywhere - in a word, all sorts of miracles and wonders.

Here's a fairy tale about the Nutcracker and the Mouse King.

The Nutcracker and the Mouse King - famous fairy tale Hoffmann. The story is about the girl Marie and the Nutcracker Prince - the enchanted young nephew of her godfather. He is turned into an ugly doll man by Queen Myshilda. Real miracles begin to happen at Christmas: the Nutcracker shows his amazing country; the soldiers with other toys come to life and fight the army of the Mouse King. Will Marie's love for a tiny freak with a kind and noble heart break the spell?

CHRISTMAS TREE

On December 24, the children of Medical Advisor Stahlbaum were not allowed to enter the passage room all day, and they were not allowed into the living room adjacent to it at all. In the bedroom, Fritz and Marie sat huddled together in a corner. It was already completely dark, and they were very scared, because no lamps had been brought into the room, as was supposed to be the case on Christmas Eve. Fritz, in a mysterious whisper, told his sister (she had just turned seven years old) that since the very morning there had been rustling, noise and gentle knocking in the locked rooms. And recently a small dark man with a large box under his arm slipped through the hallway; but Fritz probably knows that this is their godfather, Drosselmeyer. Then Marie clapped her hands for joy and exclaimed:

“Oh, did godfather make us something this time?”

The senior court adviser, Drosselmeyer, was not distinguished by his beauty: he was a small, dry man with a wrinkled face, with a large black patch instead of his right eye and completely bald, which is why he wore a beautiful white wig; and this wig was made of glass, and extremely skillfully. The godfather himself was a great craftsman, he even knew a lot about watches and even knew how to make them. Therefore, when the Stahlbaums began to act up and stopped singing, godfather Drosselmeyer always came, took off his glass wig, pulled off his yellow frock coat, tied a blue apron and poked the clock with prickly instruments, so that little Marie felt very sorry for them; but he did not harm the clock; on the contrary, it came to life again and immediately began ticking merrily, ringing and singing, and everyone was very happy about it. And every time the godfather had something entertaining in his pocket for the children: either a little man rolling his eyes and shuffling his feet so that you couldn’t look at him without laughing, or a box from which a bird jumps out, or some other little thing. And for Christmas he always made a beautiful, intricate toy, which he worked hard on. Therefore, the parents immediately carefully removed his gift.

“Oh, my godfather has made something for us this time!” exclaimed Marie.

Fritz decided that this year it would certainly be a fortress, and in it very pretty, smart soldiers would march and throw out articles, and then other soldiers would appear and go on an attack, but those soldiers in the fortress would bravely fire cannons at them, and there will be noise and noise.

“No, no,” Marie interrupted Fritz, “my godfather told me about the beautiful garden.” There is a big lake, wonderfully beautiful swans with golden ribbons on their necks swim on it and sing beautiful songs. Then a girl will come out of the garden, go to the lake, lure the swans and feed them sweet marzipan...

“Swans don’t eat marzipan,” Fritz interrupted her not very politely, “and the godfather can’t make a whole garden.” And what good are his toys to us? They are immediately taken away from us. No, I like my father’s and mother’s gifts much better: they stay with us, we manage them ourselves.

And so the children began to guess what their parents would give them. Marie said that Mamzel Trudchen (her big doll) had completely deteriorated: she had become so clumsy, she kept falling on the floor, so now she had nasty marks all over her face, and there was no point in even thinking about taking her around in a clean dress. No matter how much you reprimand her, nothing helps. And then, mom smiled when Marie admired Greta’s umbrella so much. Fritz insisted that he just lacked a bay horse in his court stables, and not enough cavalry in his troops. Dad knows this well.

So, the children knew very well that their parents had bought them all sorts of wonderful gifts and were now placing them on the table, but at the same time they had no doubt that the good baby Christ illuminated everything with his gentle and gentle eyes and that the Christmas gifts, as if touched by his gracious hand , bring more joy than all others. The elder sister Louise reminded the children, who endlessly whispered about the expected gifts, about this, adding that the infant Christ always guides the hand of the parents, and the children are given what gives them true joy and pleasure; and he knows about this much better than the children themselves, who therefore should not think about anything or guess, but calmly and obediently wait for what will be given to them. Sister Marie became thoughtful, and Fritz muttered under his breath: “Still, I would like a bay horse and hussars.”

It got completely dark. Fritz and Marie sat tightly pressed to each other and did not dare utter a word; It seemed to them as if quiet wings were blowing over them and beautiful music was coming from afar. A bright beam slid along the wall, then the children realized that the baby Christ had flown off on shining clouds to other happy children. And at the same moment a thin silver bell sounded: “Ding-ding-ding-ding!” The doors opened, and the tree shone with such brilliance that the children froze on the threshold with a loud cry: “Ax, ax!” But dad and mom came to the door, took the children by the hands and said:

“Come on, come on, dear children, look what the baby Christ has given you!”

PRESENT

I am addressing you directly, dear reader or listener - Fritz, Theodor, Ernst, no matter what your name is - and I ask you to imagine as vividly as possible the Christmas table, all filled with the wonderful colorful gifts that you received this Christmas , then it will not be difficult for you to understand that the children, stupefied with delight, froze in place and looked at everything with shining eyes. Only a minute later Marie took a deep breath and exclaimed:

-Oh, how wonderful, oh, how wonderful!

And Fritz jumped high several times, which he was a great master at. The children must have been kind and obedient all year, because never before have they received such wonderful, beautiful gifts as they did today.

A large Christmas tree in the middle of the room was hung with gold and silver apples, and on all the branches, like flowers or buds, grew sugared nuts, colorful candies and all sorts of sweets in general. But most of all, the wonderful tree was decorated with hundreds of small candles, which sparkled like stars in the dense greenery, and the tree, flooded with lights and illuminating everything around, beckoned to pick the flowers and fruits growing on it. Everything around the tree was colorful and shining. And what was there! I don’t know who can describe it! Marie saw elegant dolls, pretty toy dishes, but most of all she delighted in this silk dress, skillfully trimmed with colored ribbons and hanging so that Marie could admire it from all sides; she admired him to her heart's content, repeating every now and then:

-Oh, what a beautiful, what a sweet, sweet dress! And they will allow me, they will probably allow me, in fact, they will allow me to wear it!

Fritz, meanwhile, had already galloped and trotted around the table three or four times on a new bay horse, which, as he had expected, was tied up at the table with gifts. Getting off, he said that the horse is a fierce beast, but it’s okay: he’ll train him. Then he inspected the new squadron of hussars; they were dressed in magnificent red uniforms, embroidered with gold, brandished silver sabers and sat on such snow-white horses that you would think that the horses were also made of pure silver.

Just now the children, having calmed down a little, wanted to take up the picture books that lay open on the table so that they could admire the various wonderful flowers, colorfully painted people and pretty children playing, so naturally depicted, as if they were really alive and about to speak. - so, the children were just about to take up the wonderful books when the bell rang again. The children knew that it was now the turn of godfather Drosselmeyer’s gifts, and they ran up to the table that stood against the wall. The screens behind which the table had been hidden until then were quickly removed. Oh, what the children saw! On a green lawn strewn with flowers stood a wonderful castle with many mirrored windows and golden towers. The music began to play, the doors and windows opened, and everyone saw that tiny, but very elegantly made gentlemen and ladies in hats with feathers and dresses with long trains were walking in the halls. In the central hall, which was so sparkling (so many candles were burning in the silver chandeliers!), children in short camisoles and skirts danced to the music. A gentleman in an emerald green cloak looked out of the window, bowed and hid again, and below, in the doorway of the castle, Godfather Drosselmeyer appeared and left again, only he was as tall as his father’s little finger, no more.

Fritz put his elbows on the table and spent a long time looking at the wonderful castle with dancing and walking people. Then he asked:

- Godfather, oh godfather! Let me into your castle!

The court's senior counsel said there was no way this could happen. And he was right: it was stupid of Fritz to ask to go to the castle, which, together with all its golden towers, was smaller than him. Fritz agreed. Another minute passed, gentlemen and ladies were still walking around the castle, children were dancing, the emerald man was still looking out of the same window, and Godfather Drosselmeyer was still approaching the same door.

Fritz exclaimed impatiently:

-Godfather, now get out of that other door!

“This is absolutely impossible, dear Fritzchen,” objected the senior court adviser.

“Well, then,” continued Fritz, “tell the little green man who looks out of the window to walk with the others through the halls.”

“This is also impossible,” the senior court adviser objected again.

“Well, then let the children come down!” exclaimed Fritz. “I want to take a better look at them.”

“None of this is possible,” said the senior court adviser in an irritated tone. “The mechanism is made once and for all, you can’t change it.”

“Oh, so!” drawled Fritz. “You can’t do any of this... Listen, godfather, since the smart little people in the castle only know how to repeat the same thing, what’s the use of them?” I do not need them. No, my hussars are much better! They march forward and backward as I please, and are not locked in the house.

And with these words, he ran away to the Christmas table, and at his command, the squadron on silver mines began to gallop back and forth - in all directions, cutting with sabers and shooting to their heart's content. Marie also slowly moved away: she, too, was tired of dancing and hanging out with dolls in the castle. Only she tried to do it quietly, not like brother Fritz, because she was a kind and obedient girl. The senior court adviser said to the parents in a dissatisfied tone:

—Such an intricate toy is not for foolish children. I'll take my castle.

But then the mother asked to show her the internal structure and the amazing, very skillful mechanism that set the little men in motion. Drosselmeyer disassembled and reassembled the entire toy. Now he became cheerful again and gave the children several beautiful brown men who had golden faces, arms and legs; they were all from Thorn and smelled deliciously of gingerbread. Fritz and Marie were very happy with them. The elder sister Louise, at her mother’s request, put on an elegant dress given by her parents, which suited her very well; and Marie asked to be allowed, before putting on the new dress, to admire it a little more, which she was willingly allowed to do.

PET

But in fact, Marie did not leave the table with gifts because only now she noticed something that she had not seen before: when Fritz’s hussars, who had previously been standing in formation right next to the tree, came out, a wonderful little man came into view. He behaved quietly and modestly, as if calmly waiting for his turn to come. True, he was not very foldable: his body was too long and dense on short and thin legs, and his head also seemed to be too big. But from his smart clothes it was immediately clear that he was a well-bred and tasteful man. He was wearing a very beautiful shiny purple hussar dolman, all covered in buttons and braids, the same leggings and boots so smart that it was unlikely that officers, much less students, would ever wear anything like them; they sat on the slender legs as deftly as if they had been painted on them. Of course, it was absurd that with such a suit, he attached a narrow, clumsy cloak to his back, as if cut out of wood, and pulled a miner’s cap over his head, but Marie thought: “After all, Godfather Drosselmeyer also wears a very nasty redingote and a funny cap, but this is not prevents him from being a sweet, dear godfather.” In addition, Marie came to the conclusion that the godfather, even if he was as dandy as the little man, would still never equal him in good looks. Peering carefully at the nice little man who fell in love with her at first sight, Marie noticed how good-natured his face shone. The greenish bulging eyes looked welcoming and benevolent. The carefully curled beard made of white darn paper that bordered his chin suited the little man very much, because it made the gentle smile on his scarlet lips stand out more noticeably.

“Ah!” Marie finally exclaimed. “Ah, dear daddy, for whom is this pretty little man standing right under the tree?”

“He, dear child,” answered the father, “will work hard for all of you: his job is to carefully crack hard nuts, and he was bought for Louise and for you and Fritz.”

With these words, the father carefully took him from the table, lifted his wooden cloak, and then the little man opened his mouth wide and showed two rows of very white sharp teeth. Marie put a nut in his mouth, and - click! - the little man chewed it, the shell fell, and Marie found a tasty kernel in her palm. Now everyone - and Marie too - understood that the elegant little man descended from the Nutcrackers and continued the profession of his ancestors. Marie screamed loudly with joy, and her father said:

“Since you, dear Marie, liked the Nutcracker, then you yourself should take care of him and take care of him, although, as I already said, Louise and Fritz can also use his services.”

Marie immediately took the Nutcracker and gave him nuts to gnaw, but she chose the smallest ones so that the little man would not have to open his mouth too wide, since, to tell the truth, this did not make him look good. Louise joined her, and her dear friend the Nutcracker did his best for her; He seemed to carry out his duties with great pleasure, because he always smiled affably.

Fritz, meanwhile, was tired of riding a horse and marching. When he heard how merrily the nuts were cracking, he also wanted to try them. He jumped up to the sisters and laughed heartily at the sight of the funny little man, who was now passing from hand to hand and tirelessly opening and closing his mouth. Fritz was thrusting the largest and hardest nuts at him, but suddenly there was a cracking sound - crack-crack! - three teeth fell out of the Nutcracker's mouth and the lower jaw sagged and swayed.

“Oh, poor, dear Nutcracker!” Marie cried and took him away from Fritz.

“What a fool!” said Fritz. “He starts cracking nuts, but his teeth are no good.” It’s true, he doesn’t even know his business. Give it here, Marie! Let him crack my nuts. It doesn’t matter if he breaks off the rest of his teeth, and his entire jaw to boot. There is no need to stand on ceremony with him, a slacker!

“No, no!” Marie cried, crying. “I won’t give you my dear Nutcracker.” Look how pitifully he looks at me and shows his sick mouth! You are evil: you beat your horses and even allow soldiers to kill each other.

“That’s how it’s supposed to be, you won’t understand this!” Fritz shouted. “And the Nutcracker is not only yours, he’s mine too.” Give it here!

Marie burst into tears and quickly wrapped the sick Nutcracker in a handkerchief. Then the parents came up with godfather Drosselmeyer. To Marie's chagrin, he took Fritz's side. But the father said:

“I deliberately gave the Nutcracker to Marie’s care. And he, as I see, right now especially needs her care, so let her alone manage him and no one interferes in this matter. In general, I am very surprised that Fritz demands further services from a victim in the service. As a real soldier, he should know that the wounded are never left in the ranks.

Fritz was very embarrassed and, leaving the nuts and the Nutcracker alone, quietly moved to the other side of the table, where his hussars, having posted sentries as expected, settled down for the night. Marie picked up the teeth that the Nutcracker had lost; She tied up the injured jaw with a beautiful white ribbon, which she broke off from her dress, and then even more carefully wrapped a scarf around the poor little man, who had turned pale and, apparently, frightened. Cradling him like a small child, she began to look at the beautiful pictures in the new book, which lay among other gifts. She was very angry, although it was completely unlike her, when her godfather began to laugh at the fact that she was babysitting such a freak. Here she again thought about the strange resemblance to Drosselmeyer, which she noted already at the first glance at the little man, and said very seriously:

“Who knows, dear godfather, who knows, you would be as beautiful as my dear Nutcracker, even if you dressed up no worse than him and put on the same smart, shiny boots.”

Marie couldn’t understand why the parents laughed so loudly, and why the senior court adviser’s nose was so red, and why he wasn’t laughing with everyone else now. True, there were reasons for that.

MIRACLES

As soon as you enter the Stahlbaums’ living room, there, right next to the door to the left, against the wide wall, there is a tall glass cabinet where the children put away the wonderful gifts they receive every year. Louise was still very little when her father ordered a cabinet from a very skilled carpenter, and he inserted such transparent glass into it and generally did everything with such skill that in the cabinet the toys looked, perhaps, even brighter and more beautiful than when they were picked up . On the top shelf, beyond Marie and Fritz's reach, were Mr. Drosselmeyer's intricate designs; the next was reserved for picture books; Marie and Fritz could occupy the two lower shelves with whatever they wanted. And it always turned out that Marie set up a doll’s room on the bottom shelf, and Fritz stationed his troops above it. This happened today too. While Fritz was arranging the hussars upstairs, Marie put Mamzel Trudchen downstairs to the side, placed a new elegant doll in a well-furnished room and asked for a treat. I said the room was excellently furnished, and that's true; I don’t know if you, my attentive listener, have Marie, just like little Stahlbaum - you already know that her name is also Marie - so I say that I don’t know if you have it, just like she has , a colorful sofa, several very pretty chairs, a charming table, and most importantly, an elegant, shiny bed on which the most beautiful dolls in the world sleep - all this stood in a corner of the closet, the walls of which were even covered with colored pictures, and you you can easily understand that the new doll, whose name Marie learned that evening was Clerchen, felt great here.

It was already late evening, midnight was approaching, and godfather Drosselmeyer had long left, but the children still could not tear themselves away from the glass cabinet, no matter how much their mother tried to persuade them to go to bed.

“It’s true,” Fritz finally exclaimed, “it’s time for the poor fellows (he meant his hussars) to retire, too, and in my presence none of them will dare to nod off, I’m sure of that!”

And with these words he left. But Marie tenderly asked:

“Dear mommy, let me stay here for another minute, just one minute!” I have so much to do, I’ll get it done and go to bed now...

Marie was a very obedient, intelligent girl, and therefore her mother could easily leave her alone with her toys for another half an hour. But so that Marie, having played with a new doll and other entertaining toys, would not forget to extinguish the candles that were burning around the closet, mother blew them all out, so that only a lamp remained in the room, hanging in the middle of the ceiling and spreading a soft, cozy light.

-Don’t stay too long, dear Marie. “Otherwise you won’t be able to wake up tomorrow,” Mom said, going into the bedroom.

As soon as Marie was left alone, she immediately began what had been on her heart for a long time, although she, without knowing why, did not dare to admit her plan even to her mother. She was still cradling the Nutcracker, wrapped in a handkerchief. Now she carefully placed it on the table, quietly unfolded the handkerchief and examined the wounds. The Nutcracker was very pale, but he smiled so pitifully and affectionately that he touched Marie to the depths of her soul.

“Oh, Nutcracker, dear,” she whispered, “please don’t be angry that Fritz hurt you: he didn’t do it on purpose.” He’s just become coarse from the harsh life of a soldier, but he’s a very good boy, believe me! And I will take care of you and nurse you carefully until you are completely better and cheerful. Giving you strong teeth and straightening your shoulders—that’s Godfather Drosselmeyer’s job: he’s a master at such things...

However, Marie did not have time to finish. When she mentioned Drosselmeyer's name, the Nutcracker suddenly made an angry face, and prickly green lights sparkled in his eyes. But at that moment, when Marie was about to be truly frightened, the pitifully smiling face of the kind Nutcracker looked at her again, and now she realized that his features were distorted by the light of the lamp that had flickered from the draft.

“Oh, what a stupid girl I am, why was I scared and even thought that a wooden doll could make grimaces!” But still, I love the Nutcracker very much: he is so funny and so kind... So we need to take good care of him.

With these words, Marie took her Nutcracker in her arms, went to the glass cabinet, squatted down and said to the new doll:

“I beg you, Mamzel Klerchen, give up your bed to the poor sick Nutcracker, and spend the night on the sofa yourself.” Think about it, you are so strong, and then, you are completely healthy - look how round-faced and ruddy you are. And not every doll, even a very beautiful one, has such a soft sofa!

Mamselle Clerchen, dressed up in a festive manner and important, pouted without uttering a word.

“Why am I standing on ceremony!” said Marie, took the bed off the shelf, carefully and carefully laid the Nutcracker there, tied a very beautiful ribbon around his injured shoulders, which she wore instead of a sash, and covered him with a blanket right up to his nose.

“Only there is no need for him to stay here with the ill-mannered Clara,” she thought and moved the crib along with the Nutcracker to the top shelf, where he found himself near the beautiful village in which Fritz’s hussars were quartered. She locked the closet and was about to go into the bedroom, when suddenly... listen carefully, children! .. when suddenly in all corners - behind the stove, behind the chairs, behind the cabinets - a quiet, quiet whispering, whispering and rustling began. And the clock on the wall hissed, wheezed louder and louder, but could not strike twelve. Marie looked there: a large gilded owl, sitting on the clock, hung its wings, completely obscured the clock with them and stretched forward its disgusting cat's head with a crooked beak. And the clock wheezed louder and louder, and Marie clearly heard:

-Tick-and-tock, tick-and-tock! Don't wheeze so loudly! The mouse king hears everything. Trick-and-truck, boom-boom! Well, the clock, the old tune! Trick-and-truck, boom-boom! Well, ring, ring, ring: the king’s time is approaching!

And... “Bim-bom, bim-bom!” - the clock struck twelve strokes dully and hoarsely. Marie was very scared and almost ran away in fear, but then she saw that godfather Drosselmeyer was sitting on the clock instead of an owl, hanging the tails of his yellow frock coat on both sides like wings. She gathered her courage and shouted loudly in a whiny voice:

-Godfather, listen, godfather, why did you climb up there? Get down and don't scare me, you nasty godfather!

But then a strange giggle and squeak was heard from everywhere, and behind the wall there was running and stomping, as if from a thousand tiny paws, and thousands of tiny lights looked through the cracks in the floor. But these were not lights - no, but small shiny eyes, and Marie saw that mice were peeking out from everywhere and crawling out from under the floor. Soon the whole room began to say: stomp, hop, hop! The eyes of the mice shone more and more brightly, their hordes became more and more countless; Finally they lined up in the same order in which Fritz usually lined up his soldiers before battle. Marie was very amused by this; She did not have an innate aversion to mice, like other children, and her fear had completely subsided, but suddenly she heard such a terrible and piercing squeak that goosebumps ran down her spine. Oh, what she saw! No, really, dear reader Fritz, I know very well that you, like the wise, brave commander Fritz Stahlbaum, have a fearless heart, but if you had seen what appeared before Marie’s eyes, really, you would have run away. I even think you would have slipped into bed and unnecessarily pulled the covers up to your ears. Ah, poor Marie could not do this, because - just listen, children! - sand, lime and fragments of bricks rained down to her very feet, as if from an earthquake, and seven mouse heads in seven brightly sparkling crowns. Soon the whole body, on which seven heads were sitting, emerged, and the whole army in unison three times greeted with a loud squeak the huge mouse crowned with seven tiaras. Now the army immediately began to move and - hop-hop, stomp, stomp! - headed straight for the closet, straight for Marie, who was still standing, pressed against the glass door.

Marie’s heart had already been pounding so hard from horror that she was afraid that it would immediately jump out of her chest, because then she would die. Now it seemed to her as if the blood had frozen in her veins. She staggered, losing consciousness, but then suddenly there was a sound: click-clack-hrr!.. - and fragments of glass began to fall, which Marie broke with her elbow. At that very moment she felt a burning pain in her left hand, but her heart immediately eased: she no longer heard the squealing and squeaking. Everything instantly became quiet. And although she did not dare to open her eyes, she still thought that the sound of glass had frightened the mice and they had hidden in their holes.

But what is this again? Behind Marie, in the closet, a strange noise arose and thin voices began to ring:

- Form up, platoon! Form up, platoon! Forward to battle! Midnight strikes! Form up, platoon! Forward to battle!

And the harmonious and pleasant chime of melodic bells began.

“Oh, but this is my music box!” Marie was delighted and quickly jumped away from the cabinet.

Then she saw that the closet was glowing strangely and there was some kind of fuss and bustle going on in it.

The dolls ran back and forth randomly and waved their arms. Suddenly the Nutcracker got up, threw off the blanket and, jumping off the bed in one leap, shouted loudly:

- Click-click-click, stupid mouse regiment! That will do some good, mouse regiment! Click-click, a regiment of mice - rushing from the cracks - good things will come out!

And at the same time he pulled out his tiny saber, waved it in the air and shouted:

-Hey you, my faithful vassals, friends and brothers! Will you stand up for me in a difficult battle?

And immediately three scaramouches, Pantalone, four chimney sweeps, two wandering musicians and a drummer responded:

- Yes, our sovereign, we are faithful to you until the grave! Lead us into battle - to death or victory!

And they rushed after the Nutcracker, who, burning with enthusiasm, dared to make a desperate jump from the top shelf. It was good for them to jump: not only were they dressed in silk and velvet, but their bodies were also stuffed with cotton wool and sawdust; so they flopped down like bags of wool. But poor Nutcracker would probably have broken his arms and legs; just think - from the shelf where it stood to the bottom it was almost two feet, and it itself was fragile, as if carved from linden. Yes, the Nutcracker would probably have broken his arms and legs if, at the very moment he jumped, Mamselle Clerchen had not jumped off the sofa and taken the hero shaking his sword into her tender embrace.

“Oh, dear, kind Clerchen!” Marie exclaimed in tears, “how I was mistaken about you!” Of course, you gave up the crib to your friend the Nutcracker with all your heart.

And then Mamzel Clerchen spoke, gently pressing the young hero to her silken chest:

“Is it possible for you, sir, to go into battle, towards danger, sick and with wounds that have not yet healed?” Look, your brave vassals are gathering, they are eager to fight and are confident of victory. Scaramouche, Pantalone, chimney sweeps, musicians and a drummer are already downstairs, and among the dolls with surprises on my shelf, a strong animation and movement is noticeable. Deign, oh, sir, to rest on my chest, or agree to contemplate your victory from the height of my hat, decorated with feathers. - So said Clerchen; but the Nutcracker behaved in a completely inappropriate manner and kicked so much that Clerchen had to quickly put him on the shelf. At the same moment he very politely dropped to one knee and muttered:

“Oh, beautiful lady, even on the battlefield I will not forget the mercy and favor you showed me!”

Then Clerchen bent down so low that she grabbed him by the handle, carefully lifted him, quickly untied the sequined sash on herself and was about to put it on the little man, but he stepped back two steps, pressed his hand to his heart and said very solemnly:

“Oh, beautiful lady, don’t be so kind as to lavish your favors on me, for...” he paused, took a deep breath, quickly tore from his shoulder the ribbon that Marie had tied for him, pressed it to his lips, tied it on his hand in the form of a scarf and, waving it with enthusiasm with a sparkling naked sword, he jumped quickly and deftly, like a bird, from the edge of the shelf to the floor.

You, of course, immediately understood, my supportive and very attentive listeners, that the Nutcracker, even before he truly came to life, already perfectly felt the love and care with which Marie surrounded him, and that it was only out of sympathy for her that he did not want to accept from Mamzel Klerchen her belt, despite the fact that it was very beautiful and sparkled all over. The faithful, noble Nutcracker preferred to adorn himself with Marie's modest ribbon. But what will happen next?

As soon as the Nutcracker jumped to the floor, the squealing and squeaking began again. Ah, after all, countless hordes of evil mice have gathered under the large table, and in front of them all stands a disgusting mouse with seven heads! Will something happen?

BATTLE

“Drummer, my faithful vassal, launch a general offensive!” the Nutcracker commanded loudly.

And immediately the drummer began to beat out the roll in the most skillful manner, so that the glass doors of the cabinet began to tremble and rattle. And in the closet something rattled and crackled, and Marie saw how all the boxes in which Fritz’s troops were quartered opened at once, and the soldiers jumped out of them straight onto the bottom shelf and lined up there in shiny rows. The Nutcracker ran along the ranks, inspiring the troops with his speeches.

-Where are these scoundrel trumpeters? Why don’t they blow the trumpet? - the Nutcracker cried in his hearts. Then he quickly turned to the slightly pale Pantaloon, whose long chin was shaking violently, and solemnly said: General, I know your valor and experience. It's all about quickly assessing the position and taking advantage of the moment. I entrust you with command of all cavalry and artillery. You don’t need a horse - you have very long legs, so you can gallop just fine on your own two feet. Do your duty!

Pantalone immediately put his long, dry fingers into his mouth and whistled so shrilly, as if a hundred pipes were singing loudly at once. Neighing and stomping were heard in the closet, and - look! - Fritz's cuirassiers and dragoons, and ahead of all the new, brilliant hussars, set out on a march and soon found themselves below, on the floor. And so the regiments, one after another, marched in front of the Nutcracker with flying banners and the beating of drums and lined up in wide rows across the entire room. All of Fritz's cannons, accompanied by the gunners, rode forward with a roar and began to thump: boom-boom!.. And Marie saw how the Dragee flew into the dense hordes of mice, powdering them white with sugar, making them very embarrassed. But what did the most harm to the mice was the heavy battery, which drove onto my mother’s footstool and - boom-boom! - continuously fired round gingerbread cookies at the enemy, which killed many mice.

However, the mice kept advancing and even captured several cannons; but then there was a noise and a roar - trrr-trrr! - and because of the smoke and dust, Marie could hardly make out what was happening. One thing was clear: both armies fought with great ferocity, and victory passed to one side or the other. The mice brought more and more strength into the battle, and the silver pills, which they threw very skillfully, reached the very closet. Klerchen and Trudchen rushed around the shelf and broke their handles in despair.

- Am I really going to die in my prime, am I really going to die, such a beautiful doll! screamed Clerchen.

“It’s not for this reason that I was so well preserved to die here, within four walls!” Trudchen lamented.

Then they fell into each other's arms and cried so loudly that even the furious roar of the battle could not drown them out.

You have no idea, my dear listeners, what was going on here. Over and over again the cannons boomed: prr-prr! , and then the menacing and powerful voice of the Nutcracker commanding the battle was heard again. And it was clear how he himself walked around his battalions under fire.

Pantalone led several extremely valiant cavalry charges and covered himself with glory. But the mouse artillery bombarded Fritz’s hussars with disgusting, fetid cannonballs, which left terrible stains on their red uniforms, which is why the hussars did not rush forward. Pantalone commanded them to “fairly circle” and, inspired by the role of the commander, he himself turned left, followed by the cuirassiers and dragoons, and the entire cavalry went home. Now the position of the battery, which had taken up a position on the footstool, became threatened; I didn’t have to wait long before hordes of nasty mice swarmed in and rushed to attack so fiercely that they overturned the bench along with the cannons and gunners. The Nutcracker, apparently, was very puzzled and ordered a retreat on the right flank. You know, my highly experienced listener Fritz, that such a maneuver means almost the same thing as fleeing the battlefield, and you, along with me, are already lamenting the failure that was to befall the army of Marie’s little favorite, the Nutcracker. But turn your gaze away from this misfortune and look at the left flank of the Nutcracker army, where everything is quite well and the commander and army are still full of hope. In the heat of battle, detachments of mouse cavalry quietly emerged from under the chest of drawers and, with a disgusting squeak, furiously attacked the left flank of the Nutcracker army; but what resistance they met! Slowly, as far as the uneven terrain allowed, for it was necessary to get over the edge of the closet, the corps of dolls with surprises, led by two Chinese emperors, stepped out and formed a square. These brave, very colorful and elegant, magnificent regiments, composed of gardeners, Tyroleans, Tungus, hairdressers, harlequins, cupids, lions, tigers, monkeys and monkeys, fought with composure, courage and endurance. With courage worthy of the Spartans, this selected battalion would have snatched victory from the hands of the enemy, if a certain brave enemy captain had not broken through with insane courage to one of the Chinese emperors and bit off his head, and when he fell, he had not crushed two Tungus and a monkey. As a result, a gap was formed, into which the enemy rushed; and soon the entire battalion was chewed to pieces. But the enemy gained little from this atrocity. As soon as the bloodthirsty soldier of the mouse cavalry chewed one of his brave opponents in half, a printed piece of paper fell directly into his throat, causing him to die on the spot. But did this help the Nutcracker army, which, having once begun its retreat, retreated further and further and suffered more and more losses, so that soon only a handful of daredevils with the ill-fated Nutcracker at their head still held on to the closet itself? “Reserves, here! Pantalone, Scaramouche, drummer, where are you? cried the Nutcracker, counting on the arrival of fresh forces that were to emerge from the glass cabinet. It is true that from there came several brown men from Thorn, with golden faces and golden helmets and hats; but they fought so ineptly that they never hit the enemy and would probably have knocked the cap of their commander, the Nutcracker, off his head. The enemy huntsmen soon bit off their legs, so that they fell and at the same time crushed many of the Nutcracker's companions. Now the Nutcracker, pressed on all sides by the enemy, was in great danger. He wanted to jump over the edge of the closet, but his legs were too short. Klerchen and Trudchen were lying in a faint - they could not help him. Hussars and dragoons galloped briskly past him straight into the closet. Then, in extreme despair, he loudly exclaimed:

-Horse, horse! Half a kingdom for a horse!

At that moment, two enemy archers grabbed his wooden cloak, and the mouse king jumped up to the Nutcracker, emitting a victorious squeak from all his seven throats.

Marie no longer controlled herself.

“Oh, my poor Nutcracker!” she exclaimed, sobbing, and, not realizing what she was doing, she took the slipper off her left foot and threw it with all her might into the midst of the mice, right at their king.

At that same moment, everything seemed to crumble into dust, and Marie felt pain in her left elbow, even more burning than before, and fell unconscious to the floor.

DISEASE

When Marie woke up after a deep sleep, she saw that she was lying in her bed, and through the frozen windows a bright, sparkling sun was shining into the room.

Sitting next to her bed was a stranger, whom she, however, soon recognized as the surgeon Wendelstern. He said in a low voice:

- She finally woke up...

Then her mother came up and looked at her with a frightened, inquisitive gaze.

“Oh, dear mother,” Marie stammered, “tell me: have the nasty mice finally gone away and the glorious Nutcracker has been saved?”

“That’s enough nonsense to talk about, dear Marichen!” the mother objected. “Well, what do mice need your Nutcracker for?” But you, bad girl, scared us to death. This always happens when children are willful and disobey their parents. Yesterday you played with dolls until late at night, then dozed off, and, probably, you were scared by a random mouse: after all, in fact, we don’t have mice. In a word, you broke the glass in the closet with your elbow and injured your hand. It's good that you didn't cut your vein with the glass! Dr. Wendelstern, who was just now removing the fragments stuck there from your wound, says that you would remain crippled for the rest of your life and might even bleed to death. Thank God I woke up at midnight, saw that you were still not in the bedroom, and went to the living room. You were lying unconscious on the floor by the closet, covered in blood. I almost lost consciousness out of fear. You were lying on the floor, and Fritz’s tin soldiers, various toys, broken dolls with surprises and gingerbread men were scattered around. You held the Nutcracker in your left hand, from which blood was oozing, and your shoe was lying nearby...

“Oh, mommy, mommy!” Marie interrupted her. “After all, these were traces of the great battle between dolls and mice!” That’s why I was so scared, because the mice wanted to take the poor Nutcracker, who commanded the puppet army, captive. Then I threw my shoe at the mice, and I don’t know what happened next.

Doctor Wendelstern winked at his mother, and she very affectionately began to persuade Marie:

- That's enough, that's enough, my dear baby, calm down! The mice have all run away, and the Nutcracker is standing behind glass in the closet, safe and sound.

Then the medical adviser entered the bedroom and started a long conversation with the surgeon Wendelstern, then he felt Marie’s pulse, and she heard that they were talking about the fever caused by the wound.

For several days she had to lie in bed and swallow medicine, although, apart from the pain in her elbow, she felt almost no discomfort. She knew that the dear Nutcracker had come out of the battle unharmed, and at times it seemed to her, as if in a dream, that he was telling her in a very clear, although extremely sad voice: “Marie, beautiful lady, I owe you a lot, but you can do for me even more."

Marie wondered in vain what it could be, but nothing came to her mind. She couldn’t really play because of her sore hand, and if she started reading or leafing through picture books, her eyes would blur, so she had to give up this activity. Therefore, time dragged on endlessly for her, and Marie could hardly wait until dusk, when her mother sat by her crib and read and told all sorts of wonderful stories.

And now the mother had just finished an entertaining tale about Prince Facardin, when suddenly the door opened and godfather Drosselmeyer entered.

“Come on, let me look at our poor wounded Marie,” he said.

As soon as Marie saw her godfather in an ordinary yellow frock coat, the night when the Nutcracker was defeated in the battle with the mice flashed before her eyes with all vividness, and she involuntarily shouted to the senior councilor of the court:

-Oh godfather, how disgusting you are! I saw perfectly well how you sat on the clock and hung your wings on it so that the clock would strike more quietly and would not frighten off the mice. I heard perfectly well how you called the mouse king. Why didn’t you rush to help the Nutcracker, why didn’t you rush to help me, ugly godfather? You alone are to blame for everything. Because of you, I cut my hand and now I have to lie sick in bed!

The mother asked in fear:

-What's wrong with you, dear Marie?

But the godfather made a strange face and spoke in a crackling, monotonous voice:

—The pendulum moves with a creaking sound. Less knocking is the thing. Trick-and-Track! The pendulum must always creak and sing songs. And when the bell rings: boom-and-bom! - the time is approaching. Don't be scared, my friend. The clock strikes on time and by the way, to the death of the mouse army, and then the owl flies off. One-and-two and one-and-two! The clock strikes when they have a deadline. The pendulum moves with a creak. Less knocking is the thing. Tick-and-tock and trick-and-trick!

Marie stared wide-eyed at her godfather, because he seemed completely different and much uglier than usual, and he waved his right hand back and forth, like a clown being pulled by a string.

She would have been very frightened if her mother had not been there and if Fritz, who had slipped into the bedroom, had not interrupted his godfather with a loud laugh.

“Oh, godfather Drosselmeyer,” exclaimed Fritz, “today you are so funny again!” You are acting just like my clown, whom I threw behind the stove long ago.

The mother was still very serious and said:

—Dear Mr. Senior Advisor, this is a really strange joke. What do you have in mind?

-Lord, my God, have you forgotten my favorite watchmaker song? answered Drosselmeyer, laughing. “I always sing it to people as sick as Marie.”

And he quickly sat down by the bed and said:

“Don’t be angry that I didn’t scratch out all fourteen of the mouse king’s eyes at once—that couldn’t have been done.” But now I will please you.

With these words, the senior court adviser reached into his pocket and carefully pulled out - what do you think, children? - a Nutcracker, to which he very skillfully inserted the fallen teeth and set the sore jaw.

Marie screamed with joy, and her mother said, smiling:

-You see how much your godfather cares about your Nutcracker...

“Still, admit it, Marie,” the godfather interrupted Mrs. Stahlbaum, because the Nutcracker is not very well-built and unattractive. If you want to listen, I will gladly tell you how such a deformity appeared in his family and became hereditary there. Or maybe you already know the fairy tale about Princess Pirlipat, the witch Myshilda and the skilled watchmaker?

“Listen, godfather!” Fritz intervened in the conversation. “What’s true is true: you put the Nutcracker’s teeth in perfectly, and the jaw doesn’t wobble anymore either.” But why doesn't he have a saber? Why didn't you tie a saber for him?

“Well, you restless one,” grumbled the senior court adviser, “there’s no way to please you!” The Nutcracker's saber doesn't concern me. I cured him - let him get himself a saber wherever he wants.

“That’s right!” exclaimed Fritz. “If he’s a brave fellow, he’ll get himself a weapon.”

“So, Marie,” continued the godfather, “tell me, do you know the fairy tale about Princess Pirlipat?”

“Oh, no!” answered Marie. “Tell me, dear godfather, tell me!”

“I hope, dear Mr. Drosselmeyer,” said my mother, “that this time you will not tell such a terrible tale as usual.”

“Well, of course, dear Mrs. Stahlbaum,” answered Drosselmeyer. On the contrary, what I will have the honor to tell you is very interesting.

“Oh, tell me, tell me, dear godfather!” the children shouted.

And the senior court adviser began like this:

THE TALE OF THE HARD NUT

Pirlipat's mother was the king's wife, and therefore a queen, and Pirlipat, as soon as she was born, immediately became a born princess. The king could not stop looking at his beautiful daughter resting in her cradle. He rejoiced loudly, danced, jumped on one leg and shouted every now and then:

-Heyza! Has anyone seen a more beautiful girl than my Pirlipathen?

And all the ministers, generals, advisers and staff officers jumped on one leg, like their father and ruler, and answered loudly in chorus:

-No, no one saw it!

Yes, to tell the truth, it could not be denied that since the world stood, no more beautiful child has been born than Princess Pirlipat. Her face seemed to be woven from lily-white and soft pink silk, her eyes were a living, shining azure, and her hair, which curled in golden ringlets, was especially adorned. At the same time, Pirlipatchen was born with two rows of pearl-white teeth, with which two hours after birth she dug into the finger of the Reich Chancellor when he wanted to examine her facial features more closely, so that he screamed: “Oh-oh-oh!” Some, however, they claim that he shouted: “Ay-ay-ay!” Opinions still differ today. In short, Pirlipatchen actually bit the Reich Chancellor’s finger, and then the admiring people became convinced that the charming, angelic body of Princess Pirlipat contained a soul, a mind, and a feeling.

As said, everyone was delighted; one queen, for some unknown reason, was worried and worried. It was especially strange that she ordered vigilant guarding of Pirlipat’s cradle. Not only were there drabants at the door, but orders were given that in the nursery, in addition to the two nannies who constantly sat next to the cradle, six more nannies were on duty every night and - which seemed completely absurd and which no one could understand - each nanny was ordered hold a cat on your lap and stroke it all night so that it never stops purring. You, dear children, will never guess why Princess Pirlipat’s mother took all these measures, but I know why and now I’ll tell you.

Once upon a time, many glorious kings and handsome princes came to the court of the king, the parent of Princess Pirlipat. For this occasion brilliant tournaments, performances and court balls were organized. The king, wanting to show that he had a lot of gold and silver, decided to properly dip his hand into his treasury and organize a festival worthy of him. Therefore, having learned from the chief cook that the court astrologer had announced a time favorable for slaughtering pigs, he decided to have a sausage feast, jumped into the carriage and personally invited all the surrounding kings and princes just to a plate of soup, dreaming of then surprising them with luxury. Then he very affectionately said to his queen wife:

- Darling, you know what kind of sausage I like...

The Queen already knew where he was going with his speech: this meant that she should personally engage in a very useful task - making sausages, which she had not disdained before. The chief treasurer was ordered to immediately send a large golden cauldron and silver pans to the kitchen; the stove was lit with sandalwood wood; the queen knitted her damask kitchen apron. And soon a delicious smell of sausage brew wafted out of the cauldron. The pleasant smell even penetrated into the State Council. The king, trembling with delight, could not stand it.

“I beg your pardon, gentlemen!” he exclaimed, ran to the kitchen, hugged the queen, stirred the cauldron a little with a golden scepter and, reassured, returned to the Council of State.

The most important moment had arrived: it was time to cut the lard into slices and fry it in golden pans. The court ladies stepped aside, because the queen, out of devotion, love and respect for her royal husband, was going to personally take care of this matter. But as soon as the lard began to brown, a thin, whispering voice was heard:

-Give me a taste of the salsa too, sister! And I want to feast on it - I’m also a queen. Let me taste the salsa too!

The Queen knew very well that it was Mrs. Myshilda speaking. Myshilda had been living in the royal palace for many years. She claimed that she was related to the royal family and that she herself ruled the kingdom of Myshland, which is why she kept a large court under her kidney. The queen was a kind and generous woman. Although in general she did not consider Myshilda to be a special member of the royal family and her sister, but on such a solemn day she allowed her to the feast with all her heart and shouted:

-Get out, Mrs. Myshilda! Eat some salsa for your health.

And Myshilda quickly and cheerfully jumped out from under the stove, jumped onto the stove and began to grab with her graceful paws one after another the pieces of lard that the queen held out to her. But then all Myshilda’s godmothers and aunties and even her seven sons, desperate tomboys, came rushing in. They attacked the lard, and the queen was frightened and did not know what to do. Fortunately, the Chief Chamberlain arrived in time and drove away the uninvited guests. Thus, a little lard survived, which, according to the instructions of the court mathematician called for this occasion, was very skillfully distributed among all the sausages.

They beat the kettledrums and blew the trumpets. All the kings and princes in magnificent festive attire - some on white horses, others in crystal carriages - were drawn to the sausage feast. The king greeted them with cordial friendliness and honor, and then, wearing a crown and scepter, as befits a sovereign, he sat down at the head of the table. Already when the liverwurst was served, the guests noticed how the king turned more and more pale, how he raised his eyes to the sky. Quiet sighs flowed from his chest; it seemed that his soul was overcome by intense grief. But when the black pudding was served, he leaned back in his chair with loud sobs and groans, covering his face with both hands. Everyone jumped up from the table. The life doctor tried in vain to feel the pulse of the ill-fated king, who seemed to be consumed by a deep, incomprehensible melancholy. Finally, after much persuasion, after using strong remedies, like burnt goose feathers and the like, the king seemed to begin to come to his senses. He stammered barely audibly:

-Too little fat!

Then the inconsolable queen fell at his feet and moaned:

-Oh, my poor, unfortunate royal husband! Oh, what grief you had to endure! But look: the culprit is at your feet - punish me, punish me severely! Ah, Myshilda with her godmothers, aunts and seven sons ate lard, and...

With these words, the queen fell on her back unconscious. But the king jumped up, burning with anger, and shouted loudly:

-Chief Chamberlain, how did this happen?

The Chief Chamberlain told what she knew, and the king decided to take revenge on Myshilda and her family for eating the lard intended for his sausages.

A secret council of state was convened. They decided to initiate proceedings against Myshilda and take away all her possessions for the treasury. But the king believed that for now this would not prevent Myshilda from eating lard whenever she wanted, and therefore entrusted the whole matter to the court watchmaker and wizard. This man, whose name was the same as mine, namely Christian Elias Drosselmeyer, promised, with the help of very special measures, full of state wisdom, to expel Myshilda and her entire family from the palace forever and ever.

And indeed: he invented very skillful machines, in which fried lard was tied on a string, and placed them around the home of the lady salo eater.

Myshilda herself was too wise from experience not to understand Drosselmeyer’s cunning, but neither her warnings nor her admonitions helped: all seven sons and many, many of Myshilda’s godfathers and aunts, attracted by the delicious smell of fried lard, climbed into Drosselmeyer’s cars - and only wanted feast on lard, when they were suddenly slammed by a falling door, and then they were put to shameful execution in the kitchen. Myshilda, with a small group of surviving relatives, left these places of sorrow and crying. Grief, despair, a thirst for revenge bubbled in her chest.

The court rejoiced, but the queen was alarmed: she knew Myshilda’s character and understood very well that she would not leave the death of her sons and loved ones unavenged.

And in fact, Myshilda appeared just when the queen was preparing liver pate for the royal husband, which he very willingly ate, and said this:

-My sons, godmothers and aunts were killed. Beware, queen: lest the queen of mice kill the little princess! Beware!

Then she disappeared again and never appeared again. But the queen, out of fright, dropped the pate into the fire, and for the second time Myshilda spoiled the king’s favorite dish, at which he was very angry...

-Well, that's enough for tonight. “I’ll tell you the rest next time,” the godfather unexpectedly finished.

No matter how much Marie, who was particularly impressed by the story, asked to continue, godfather Drosselmeyer was relentless and said: “Too much at once is harmful to health; continued tomorrow,” he jumped out of his chair.

At that moment, when he was about to go out the door, Fritz asked:

-Tell me, godfather, is it really true that you invented a mousetrap?

“What nonsense are you talking about, Fritz!” exclaimed the mother.

But the senior court adviser smiled very strangely and said quietly:

-Why don’t I, a skilled watchmaker, invent a mousetrap?

CONTINUATION OF THE TALE OF THE HARD NUT

“Well, children, now you know,” Drosselmeyer continued the next evening, “why the queen ordered the beautiful Princess Pirlipat to be guarded so vigilantly.” How could she not be afraid that Myshilda would fulfill her threat - she would return and bite the little princess to death! Drosselmeyer's machine did not help at all against the smart and prudent Myshilda, and the court astrologer, who was also the main predictor, said that only the genus of the cat Murra could drive Myshilda away from the cradle. That is why each nanny was ordered to hold on her lap one of the sons of this family, who, by the way, were awarded the chip of a privy councilor of the embassy, ​​and to ease the burden of public service with a polite scratching behind the ear.

One day, already at midnight, one of the two chief nannies, who were sitting right next to the cradle, suddenly woke up, as if from a deep sleep. Everything around was engulfed in sleep. No purring - deep, dead silence, only the ticking of the grinder bug can be heard. But what did the nanny feel when right in front of her she saw a big nasty mouse that rose on its hind legs and laid its ominous head on the princess’s face! The nanny jumped up with a cry of horror, everyone woke up, but at the same moment Myshilda - after all, she was the big mouse at Pirlipat's cradle - quickly darted into the corner of the room. The embassy advisers rushed after her, but that was not the case: she slipped through a crack in the floor. Pirlipatkhen woke up from the commotion and began to cry very pitifully.

“Thank God,” the nannies exclaimed, “she’s alive!”

But how frightened they were when they looked at Pirlipatchen and saw what had become of the pretty, gentle baby! On the frail, crouching body, instead of the curly head of a ruddy cherub, sat a huge shapeless head; The azure-blue eyes turned into green, stupidly staring eyes, and the mouth stretched to the ears.

The queen burst into tears and sobs, and the king’s office had to be lined with cotton wool, because the king was banging his head against the wall and wailing in a plaintive voice:

-Oh, I’m an unfortunate monarch!

Now the king, it seemed, could understand that it was better to eat the sausage without lard and leave Myshilda alone with all her baked relatives, but the princess’s father Pirlipat did not think about this - he simply blamed all the blame on the court watchmaker and wizard Christian Elias Drosselmeyer from Nuremberg and gave a wise order: “Drosselmeyer must return Princess Pirlipat to her former appearance within a month, or at least indicate the correct means for this - otherwise he will be sold to a shameful death at the hands of the executioner.”

Drosselmeyer was seriously scared. However, he relied on his skill and happiness and immediately began the first operation, which he considered necessary. He very deftly took Princess Pirlipat apart, unscrewed the arms and legs and examined the internal structure, but, unfortunately, he was convinced that with age the princess would become uglier and uglier, and did not know how to help the trouble. He again diligently gathered the princess and fell into despondency near her cradle, from which he did not dare leave.

It was already the fourth week, Wednesday came, and the king, his eyes sparkling with anger and shaking his scepter, looked into Pirlipat’s nursery and exclaimed:

-Christian Elias Drosselmeyer, heal the princess, otherwise you will be in trouble!

Drosselmeyer began to cry pitifully, while Princess Pirlipat cheerfully cracked nuts. For the first time, the watchmaker and wizard was struck by her extraordinary love for nuts and the fact that she was born with teeth. In fact, after the transformation she screamed incessantly until she accidentally came across a nut; she chewed it, ate the kernel and immediately calmed down. Since then, the nannies kept calming her down with nuts.

—Oh, the holy instinct of nature, the inscrutable sympathy of all things! exclaimed Christian Elias Drosselmeyer. “You show me the gates of mystery.” I'll knock and they'll open!

He immediately asked permission to speak with the court astrologer and was taken to him under strict guard. Both, bursting into tears, fell into each other's arms, as they were bosom friends, then retired to a secret office and began to rummage through books that talked about instinct, likes and dislikes and other mysterious phenomena.

Night has come. The court astrologer looked at the stars and, with the help of Drosselmeyer, a great expert in this matter, compiled a horoscope for Princess Pirlipat. It was very difficult to do this, because the lines became more and more tangled, but - oh, joy! - finally everything became clear: in order to get rid of the magic that disfigured her and regain her former beauty, Princess Pirlipat had only to eat the kernel of the Krakatuk nut.

The Krakatuk nut had such a hard shell that a forty-eight-pound cannon could run through it without crushing it. This hard nut had to be chewed and, with his eyes closed, presented to the princess by a man who had never shaved or worn boots. Then the young man had to step back seven steps without stumbling, and only then open his eyes.

For three days and three nights Drosselmeyer and the astrologer worked tirelessly, and just on Saturday, when the king was sitting at dinner, a joyful and cheerful Drosselmeyer, whose head was to be blown off on Sunday morning, burst into his room and announced that a means had been found to return Pirlipat to the princess. lost beauty. The king embraced him warmly and favorably and promised him a diamond sword, four orders and two new festive caftans.

“After lunch we’ll start right away,” the king added kindly. Make sure, dear wizard, that the unshaven young man in boots is at hand and, as expected, with a Krakatuk nut. And don’t give him wine, otherwise he might stumble when, like a cancer, he takes seven steps back. Then let him drink to his heart's content!

Drosselmeyer was frightened by the king's speech, and, embarrassed and timid, he babbled that the remedy had indeed been found, but that both - the nut and the young man who was supposed to crack it - must first be found, and it was still very doubtful whether it was possible to find nut and nutcracker. In great anger, the king shook the scepter over the crowned head and roared like a lion:

- Well, then they’ll blow your head off!

Fortunately for Drosselmeyer, who was plunged into fear and grief, just today the king really liked the dinner, and therefore he was disposed to listen to reasonable admonitions, which the magnanimous queen, touched by the fate of the unfortunate watchmaker, did not skimp on. Drosselmeyer perked up and respectfully reported to the king that, in fact, he had solved the problem - he had found a means to cure the princess, and thereby deserved a pardon. The king called this a stupid excuse and empty chatter, but in the end, after drinking a glass of stomach tincture, he decided that both the watchmaker and the astrologer would set off and not return until they had a Krakatuk nut in their pocket. And on the advice of the queen, they decided to get the person needed to crack the nut through repeated advertisements in local and foreign newspapers and bulletins with an invitation to come to the palace...

Godfather Drosselmeyer stopped there and promised to tell the rest the next evening.

THE END OF THE TALE OF THE HARD NUT

And in fact, the next day in the evening, as soon as the candles were lit, godfather Drosselmeyer appeared and continued his story:

—Drosselmeyer and the court astrologer have been traveling for fifteen years and still have not found the trail of the Krakatuk nut. Where they visited, what outlandish adventures they experienced, it’s impossible to tell, children, and for the whole month. I am not going to do this, but I will tell you directly that, immersed in deep despondency, Drosselmeyer greatly missed his homeland, his dear Nuremberg. A particularly strong melancholy attacked him one day in Asia, in a dense forest, where he and his companion sat down to smoke a pipe of knaster.

“Oh my wondrous, wondrous Nuremberg, whoever is not yet acquainted with you, even if he has been to Vienna, Paris and Peterwardein, his soul will yearn for you, O Nuremberg, he will strive - a wonderful town where beautiful houses stand in a row.” .

Drosselmeyer's pitiful lamentations evoked deep sympathy from the astrologer, and he, too, burst into tears so bitterly that he could be heard throughout Asia. But he pulled himself together, wiped away his tears and asked:

- Honorable colleague, why are we sitting here and roaring? Why don't we go to Nuremberg? Does it matter where and how to look for the ill-fated Krakatuk nut?

“And that’s true,” Drosselmeyer answered, immediately consoled.

Both immediately stood up, knocked out their pipes and went straight from the forest in the depths of Asia to Nuremberg.

As soon as they arrived, Drosselmeyer immediately ran to his cousin - the toy maker, wood turner, varnisher and gilder Christoph Zacharius Drosselmeyer, whom he had not seen for many, many years. It was to him that the watchmaker told the whole story about Princess Pirlipat, Mrs. Myshilda and the Krakatuk nut, and he kept throwing up his hands and exclaimed several times in surprise:

- Oh, brother, brother, what miracles!

Drosselmeyer told about the adventures on his long journey, told how he spent two years with the Date King, how the Almond Prince offended and kicked him out, how in vain he asked for a society of naturalists in the city of Belok - in short, how he never managed to find a trace of the nut anywhere Krakatuk. During the story, Christoph Zacharius repeatedly snapped his fingers, spun on one leg, smacked his lips and said:

- Hm, hm! Hey! That's the thing!

Finally, he threw the cap and wig to the ceiling, warmly hugged his cousin and exclaimed:

“Brother, brother, you are saved, saved, I say!” Listen: either I’m cruelly mistaken, or I have the Krakatuk nut!

He immediately brought a box, from which he pulled out a medium-sized gilded nut.

“Look,” he said, showing the nut to his cousin, “look at this nut.” His story is like this. Many years ago, on Christmas Eve, an unknown man came here with a full sack of nuts that he had brought to sell. At the very door of my toy shop, he put the bag on the ground so that it would be easier to act, since he had a clash with the local nut seller, who could not tolerate someone else’s seller. At that moment the bag was run over by a heavily loaded truck. All the nuts were crushed, with the exception of one, which was a stranger, smiling strangely, and offered to give it to me for the zwanziger of one thousand seven hundred and twenty. It seemed mysterious to me, but I found in my pocket exactly the kind of zwanziger he asked for, bought a nut and gilded it. I don’t really know why I paid so much for the nut, and then took such care of it.

Any doubt that the cousin's nut was really the Krakatuk nut that they had been looking for for so long was immediately dispelled when the court astrologer, who arrived in time for the call, carefully scraped off the gilding from the nut and found the word “Krakatuk” carved in Chinese characters on the shell.

The joy of the travelers was enormous, and cousin Drosselmeyer considered himself the happiest man in the world when Drosselmeyer assured him that happiness was guaranteed for him, because from now on, in addition to a significant pension, he would receive gold for gilding for free.

Both the wizard and the astrologer had already put on their nightcaps and were about to go to bed, when suddenly the latter, that is, the astrologer, made the following speech:

—Dearest colleague, happiness never comes alone. Believe me, we found not only the Krakatuk nut, but also a young man who will crack it and present the princess with the kernel - a guarantee of beauty. I mean none other than your cousin's son. No, I won’t go to bed, he exclaimed with inspiration. “I’ll draw up the young man’s horoscope tonight!” With these words, he tore the cap off his head and immediately began to watch the stars.

Drosselmeyer's nephew was indeed a handsome, well-built young man who had never shaved or put on a boot. In his early youth, it is true, he portrayed a clown for two Christmases in a row; but this was not the least noticeable: he was so skillfully raised through the efforts of his father. On Christmastide he wore a beautiful red caftan embroidered with gold, a sword, a hat under his arm and an excellent wig with a pigtail. In such a brilliant appearance, he stood in his father’s shop and, with his characteristic gallantry, cracked nuts for the young ladies, for which they nicknamed him the Handsome Nutcracker.

The next morning, the delighted astrologer fell into Drosselmeyer’s arms and exclaimed:

-It is he! We got it, it's found! Only, my dear colleague, you should not lose sight of two circumstances: firstly, you need to weave a solid wooden braid for your excellent nephew, which would be connected to the lower jaw in such a way that it could be pulled back strongly with the braid; then, upon arrival in the capital, we must remain silent about the fact that we brought with us a young man who will crack the Krakatuk nut, it is better that he appears much later. I read in the horoscope that after many people break their teeth on a nut to no avail, the king will give the princess, and after death, the kingdom as a reward to the one who cracks the nut and returns Pirlipat’s lost beauty.

The toy maker was very flattered that his son was to marry the princess and become a prince himself, and then a king, and therefore he willingly entrusted him to the astrologer and watchmaker. The braid that Drosselmeyer gave to his promising young nephew was a great success, so that he passed the test brilliantly, biting through the hardest peach pits.

Drosselmeyer and the astrologer immediately let the capital know that the Krakatuk nut had been found, and there they immediately published a proclamation, and when our travelers arrived with a talisman that restored beauty, many beautiful young men and even princes had already appeared at the court, relying on their healthy jaws , wanted to try to remove the evil spell from the princess.

Our travelers were very frightened when they saw the princess. A small body with skinny arms and legs could barely hold up a shapeless head. The face seemed even uglier because of the white thread beard that covered his mouth and chin.

Everything happened as the court astrologer read in the horoscope. One after another, the booted milksuckers broke their teeth and tore their jaws, but the princess did not feel any better; when they were then carried away in a semi-fainting state by the dentists invited for this occasion, they moaned:

- Go ahead and crack this nut!

Finally, the king, in contrition of heart, promised a daughter and a kingdom to the one who would disenchant the princess. It was then that our polite and modest young Drosselmeyer volunteered and asked permission to try his luck too.

Princess Pirlipat liked no one as much as young Drosselmeyer, she pressed her hands to her heart and sighed from the depths of her soul: “Oh, if only he could crack the Krakatuk nut and become my husband!”

Having politely bowed to the king and queen, and then to Princess Pirlipat, young Drosselmeyer accepted the Krakatuk nut from the hands of the master of ceremonies, put it into his mouth without much conversation, tugged hard on his braid and snap-click! - cracked the shell into pieces. He deftly cleared the kernel from the stuck-on peel and, closing his eyes, brought it to the princess, shuffling his foot respectfully, and then began to back away. The princess immediately swallowed the kernel, and oh, miracle! - the freak disappeared, and in his place stood a girl as beautiful as an angel, with a face as if woven from lily-white and pink silk, with eyes shining like azure, with curly ringlets of golden hair.

Trumpets and timpani joined in the loud rejoicing of the people. The king and the entire court danced on one leg, as at the birth of Princess Pirlipat, and the queen had to be sprayed with cologne, as she fainted from joy and delight.

The resulting commotion rather confused young Drosselmeyer, who still had to take the required seven steps back. Still, he held on perfectly and had already raised his right leg for the seventh step, but then Myshilda crawled out of the underground with a disgusting squeak and squeal. Young Drosselmeyer, who had lowered his foot, stepped on it and stumbled so much that he almost fell.

Oh, evil fate! In an instant, the young man became as ugly as Princess Pirlipat had been before. The body shrank and could barely support the huge shapeless head with large, bulging eyes and a wide, ugly gaping mouth. Instead of a scythe, a narrow wooden cloak hung from behind, with the help of which one could control the lower jaw.

The watchmaker and astrologer were beside themselves with horror, but they noticed that Mouseilda was squirming on the floor covered in blood. Her villainy did not go unpunished: young Drosselmeyer hit her hard on the neck with a sharp heel, and that was the end of her.

But Myshilda, seized by her death throes, squealed and squealed pitifully:

“Oh, firm, firm Krakatuk, I cannot escape from the torments of death!.. Hee-hee... Pee-wee... But, the cunning Nutcracker, you too will come to an end: my son, the king of the mouse, will not forgive my death - he will avenge your mother army of mice. O life, you were bright - and death came for me... Quick!

Squeaking for the last time, Myshilda died, and the royal stoker carried her away.

Nobody paid attention to young Drosselmeyer. However, the princess reminded her father of his promise, and the king immediately ordered the young hero to be brought to Pirlipat. But when the poor fellow appeared before her in all his ugliness, the princess covered her face with both hands and shouted:

-Get out of here, you nasty Nutcracker!

And immediately the marshal grabbed him by the narrow shoulders and pushed him out.

The king was inflamed with anger, deciding that they wanted to force the Nutcracker to be his son-in-law, blamed the unlucky watchmaker and astrologer for everything, and expelled both of them from the capital forever. This was not provided for by the horoscope compiled by the astrologer in Nuremberg, but he did not fail to start observing the stars again and read that young Drosselmeyer would behave excellently in his new rank and, despite all his ugliness, would become a prince and king. But his ugliness will disappear only if the seven-headed son of Myshilda, who was born after the death of his seven older brothers and became the mouse king, falls at the hands of the Nutcracker and if, despite his ugly appearance, a beautiful lady falls in love with young Drosselmeyer. They say that, in fact, at Christmas time they saw young Drosselmeyer in Nuremberg in his father’s shop, although in the form of the Nutcracker, but still in the rank of prince.

Here, children, is a fairy tale about a hard nut. Now you understand why they say: “Go ahead and crack that nut!” and why nutcrackers are so ugly...

This is how the senior court adviser ended his story.

Marie decided that Pirlipat was a very nasty and ungrateful princess, and Fritz assured that if the Nutcracker was really brave, he would not stand on ceremony with the mouse king and would regain his former beauty.

UNCLE AND NEPHEW

Which of my highly respected readers or listeners has ever been cut by glass knows how painful it is and what a nasty thing it is, since the wound heals very slowly. Marie had to spend almost a whole week in bed, because every time she tried to get up she became dizzy. Nevertheless, in the end she completely recovered and could again jump merrily around the room.

Everything in the glass cabinet shone with newness - trees, flowers, houses, and festively dressed dolls, and most importantly, Marie found her cute Nutcracker there, smiling at her from the second shelf, baring two rows of intact teeth. When she, rejoicing with all her heart, looked at her pet, her heart suddenly ached: what if everything that the godfather told was the story about the Nutcracker and his feud with Myshilda and her son - what if all this was true? Now she knew that her Nutcracker was young Drosselmeyer from Nuremberg, handsome, but, unfortunately, the nephew of Drosselmeyer’s godfather, bewitched by Myshilda.

During the story, Marie did not doubt for a minute that the skilled watchmaker at the court of Princess Pirlipat’s father was none other than the senior court adviser Drosselmeyer. “But why didn’t your uncle help you, why didn’t he help you?” - Marie lamented, and the conviction grew stronger in her that the battle in which she was present was for the Nutcracker kingdom and the crown. “After all, all the dolls obeyed him, because it is absolutely clear that the prediction of the court astrologer came true and young Drosselmeyer became the king in the doll kingdom.”

Reasoning this way, clever Marie, who endowed the Nutcracker and his vassals with life and the ability to move, was convinced that they were really about to come to life and move. But that was not the case: everything in the closet stood motionless in its place. However, Marie did not even think of giving up her inner conviction - she simply decided that the reason for everything was the witchcraft of Myshilda and her seven-headed son.

“Although you are not able to move or say a word, dear Mr. Drosselmeyer,” she said to the Nutcracker, “I am still sure that you hear me and know how well I treat you.” Count on my help when you need it. In any case, I will ask my uncle to help you, if necessary, with his art!

The Nutcracker stood calmly and did not move, but Marie felt as if a light sigh passed through the glass cabinet, causing the glass to ring slightly, but surprisingly melodiously, and a thin, ringing voice, like a bell, sang: “Mary, my friend, my keeper! There is no need for torment - I will be yours."

Marie had chills running down her spine from fear, but, oddly enough, for some reason she felt very pleased.

It was dusk. The parents entered the room with godfather Drosselmeyer. A little later Louise served tea, and the whole family sat down at the table, chatting merrily. Marie quietly brought her armchair and sat down at her godfather’s feet. Taking a moment when everyone was silent, Marie looked with her big blue eyes straight into the face of the senior court adviser and said:

-Now, dear godfather, I know that the Nutcracker is your nephew, young Drosselmeyer from Nuremberg. He became a prince, or rather a king: everything happened as your companion, the astrologer, predicted. But you know that he declared war on the son of Lady Mouseilda, the ugly mouse king. Why don't you help him?

And Marie again told the whole course of the battle at which she was present, and was often interrupted by the loud laughter of her mother and Louise. Only Fritz and Drosselmeyer remained serious.

“Where did the girl get such nonsense from?” asked the medical adviser.

“Well, she just has a rich imagination,” answered the mother. “In essence, this is delirium generated by a strong fever.” “All this is not true,” said Fritz. “My hussars are not such cowards, otherwise I would have shown them!”

But the godfather, smiling strangely, sat little Marie on his lap and spoke more affectionately than usual:

“Ah, dear Marie, you have been given more than me and all of us.” You, like Pirlipat, are a born princess: you rule a beautiful, bright kingdom. But you will have to endure a lot if you take the poor freak Nutcracker under your protection! After all, the mouse king guards him on all paths and roads. Know: not me, but you, you alone can save the Nutcracker. Be persistent and dedicated.

No one, neither Marie nor the others, understood what Drosselmeyer meant; and the medical adviser found the godfather’s words so strange that he felt his pulse and said:

-You, dear friend, have a strong rush of blood to your head: I will prescribe medicine for you.

Only the medical adviser’s wife shook her head thoughtfully and remarked:

“I guess what Mr. Drosselmeyer means, but I can’t express it in words.

VICTORY

A little time passed, and one moonlit night Marie was awakened by a strange knocking sound that seemed to be coming from the corner, as if pebbles were being thrown and rolled there, and from time to time a disgusting squealing and squeaking sound was heard.

“Ay, mice, mice, there are mice again!” Marie screamed in fright and wanted to wake up her mother, but the words got stuck in her throat.

She could not even move, because she saw how the mouse king with difficulty crawled out of a hole in the wall and, sparkling with his eyes and crowns, began to scurry around the whole room; suddenly, in one jump, he jumped onto the table that stood right next to Marie’s crib.

-Hee-hee-hee! Give me all the drops, all the marzipan, silly, or I’ll bite your Nutcracker, I’ll bite the Nutcracker!” squeaked the mouse king and at the same time disgustedly creaked and gnashed his teeth, and then quickly disappeared into a hole in the wall.

Marie was so frightened by the appearance of the terrible mouse king that the next morning she was completely haggard and could not utter a word from excitement. A hundred times she was going to tell her mother, Louise, or at least Fritz about what happened to her, but she thought: “Will anyone believe me? They'll just make me laugh."

However, it was absolutely clear to her that in order to save the Nutcracker she would have to give up the jelly beans and marzipan. So that evening she placed all her candy on the bottom ledge of the cabinet. The next morning the mother said:

“I don’t know where the mice in our living room came from.” Look, Marie, they, poor things, have eaten all your candies.

And so it was. The voracious mouse king did not like the marzipan with the filling, but he gnawed it with his sharp teeth so much that he had to throw away the remains. Marie did not regret the sweets at all: in the depths of her soul she rejoiced, as she thought that she had saved the Nutcracker. But what did she feel when the next night a squeak and squeal was heard right next to her ear! Ah, the mouse king was right there, and his eyes sparkled even more disgustingly than the previous night, and he squeaked even more disgustingly through his teeth:

“Give me your sugar dolls, silly, or I’ll gnaw your Nutcracker, I’ll gnaw the Nutcracker!”

And with these words the terrible mouse king disappeared.

Marie was very upset. The next morning she went to the closet and looked sadly at the sugar and adraganth dolls. And her grief was understandable, because you wouldn’t believe, my attentive listener Marie, what wonderful sugar figurines Marie Stahlbaum had: a cute shepherdess and shepherdess tended a flock of snow-white lambs, and their dog frolicked nearby; right there stood two postmen with letters in their hands and four very pretty couples - dapper young men and girls dressed to the nines, swinging on a Russian swing. Then came the dancers, behind them stood Pachter Feldkümmel with the Virgin of Orleans, whom Marie did not really appreciate, and just in the corner stood a red-cheeked baby - Marie’s favorite... Tears flowed from her eyes.

“Ah, dear Mr. Drosselmeyer,” she exclaimed, turning to the Nutcracker, “what I won’t do to save your life, but, oh, how hard it is!”

However, the Nutcracker had such a pitiful look that Marie, who already imagined that the mouse king had opened all his seven mouths and wanted to swallow the unfortunate young man, decided to sacrifice everything for him.

So, that evening she placed all the sugar dolls on the bottom ledge of the cupboard, where she had previously placed the sweets. She kissed the shepherd, the shepherdess, the sheep; She was the last to take her favorite from the corner - the red-cheeked baby - and put him behind all the other dolls. Feldkümmel and the Virgin of Orleans were in the front row.

“No, this is too much!” Mrs. Stahlbaum exclaimed the next morning. “Apparently, a large, voracious mouse is in charge of the glass cabinet: poor Marie has all her pretty sugar dolls chewed and gnawed!”

Marie, however, could not help but cry, but soon smiled through her tears, because she thought: “What can I do, but the Nutcracker is safe!”

In the evening, when the mother was telling Mr. Drosselmeyer about what the mouse had done in the children’s closet, the father exclaimed:

-What a disgusting thing! We just can’t get rid of the nasty mouse that runs the glass cabinet and eats all of poor Marie’s sweets.

“Tell you what,” said Fritz cheerfully, “downstairs, at the baker’s, there is a wonderful gray embassy adviser.” I’ll take him upstairs to us: he’ll quickly finish this matter and bite off the mouse’s head, be it Myshilda herself or her son, the mouse king.

“And at the same time he will jump on tables and chairs and break glasses and cups, and in general there will be no trouble with him!” the mother finished laughing.

“No, no!” objected Fritz. “This embassy adviser is a clever fellow.” I wish I could walk on the roof like he does!

“No, please, we don’t need a cat for the night,” asked Louise, who couldn’t stand cats.

“As a matter of fact, Fritz is right,” said the father. “In the meantime, you can set a mousetrap.” Do we have mousetraps?

- My godfather will make us an excellent mousetrap: after all, he invented them! Fritz shouted.

Everyone laughed, and when Mrs. Stahlbaum said that there was not a single mousetrap in the house, Drosselmeyer said that he had several, and, indeed, immediately ordered an excellent mousetrap to be brought from the house.

The godfather's tale about the hard nut came to life for Fritz and Marie. When the cook fried the lard, Marie turned pale and trembled. Still absorbed in the fairy tale with its wonders, she once even said to the cook Dora, her old friend:

-Ah, Your Majesty the Queen, beware of Myshilda and her relatives!

And Fritz drew his saber and said:

- Just let them come, I’ll give them a hard time!

But both under the stove and on the stove everything was calm. When the senior court adviser tied a piece of bacon to a thin thread and carefully placed the mousetrap on the glass cabinet, Fritz exclaimed:

- Be careful, godfather-watchmaker, lest the mouse king play a cruel joke on you!

Oh, what it was like for poor Marie the next night! Icy paws ran over her hand, and something rough and nasty touched her cheek and squealed and squealed right in her ear. On her shoulder sat the nasty mouse king; Blood-red drool flowed from his seven gaping mouths, and, gnashing his teeth, he hissed in the ear of Marie, who was numb with horror:

“I’ll slip away, I’ll slip into the crack, I’ll duck under the floor, I won’t touch the fat, you know that.” Come on, give me the pictures, bring the dress here, otherwise there will be trouble, I’m warning you: I’ll catch the Nutcracker and bite you... Hee-hee!.. Pee-pee! ... Kwik-kwik!

Marie was very sad, and when the next morning her mother said: “But the nasty mouse still hasn’t been caught!” Marie turned pale and worried, and her mother thought that the girl was sad about sweets and was afraid of the mouse.

“Come on, calm down, baby,” she said, “we’ll drive away the nasty mouse!” Mousetraps won't help - then let Fritz bring his gray embassy adviser.

As soon as Marie was left alone in the living room, she went to the glass cabinet and, sobbing, spoke to the Nutcracker:

-Ah, dear, kind Mr. Drosselmeyer! What can I, poor, unhappy girl, do for you? Well, I’ll give all my picture books to the nasty mouse king to be devoured, I’ll even give away the beautiful new dress that the baby Christ gave me, but he will demand more and more from me, so that in the end I will have nothing left, and he , perhaps, he will want to bite me to death instead of you. Oh, I'm a poor, poor girl! Well, what should I do, what should I do?!

While Marie was grieving and crying so much, she noticed that the Nutcracker had a large bloody stain on his neck from the previous night. Since Marie learned that the Nutcracker was actually young Drosselmeyer, the nephew of the court adviser, she stopped carrying him and rocking him, stopped caressing and kissing him, and she even felt somehow embarrassed to touch him too often, but this time she She carefully took the Nutcracker from the shelf and began to carefully wipe away the bloody stain on her neck with a handkerchief. But how dumbfounded she was when she suddenly felt that her friend the Nutcracker in her hands had warmed up and moved! She quickly put it back on the shelf. Here his lips parted, and the Nutcracker stammered with difficulty:

-Oh priceless Mademoiselle Stahlbaum, my faithful friend, how much I owe you! No, don’t sacrifice picture books or a festive dress for me - get me a saber... A saber! I'll take care of the rest myself, even if he...

Here the Nutcracker’s speech was interrupted, and his eyes, which had just shone with deep sadness, darkened and dimmed again. Marie was not the least bit afraid; on the contrary, she jumped for joy. Now she knew how to save the Nutcracker without making further heavy sacrifices. But where can I get a saber for the little man?

Marie decided to consult with Fritz, and in the evening, when her parents went to visit and the two of them were sitting in the living room by the glass cabinet, she told her brother everything that had happened to her because of the Nutcracker and the Mouse King and on what the Nutcracker’s salvation now depended.

What upset Fritz most was that his hussars behaved badly during the battle, as it turned out according to Marie’s story. He asked her very seriously whether it really was so, and when Marie gave him her word of honor, Fritz quickly went to the glass cabinet, addressed the hussars with a menacing speech, and then, as punishment for selfishness and cowardice, cut off all of them. cockades from their hats and forbade them to play the Life Hussar March for a year. Having finished punishing the hussars, he turned to Marie:

“I will help the Nutcracker get a saber: just yesterday I retired with a pension the old cuirassier colonel, and that means he no longer needs his beautiful, sharp saber.

The mentioned colonel lived on the pension Fritz gave him in the far corner, on the third regiment. Fritz took it out from there, untied the truly dandy silver saber and put it on the Nutcracker.

The next night, Marie could not close her eyes from anxiety and fear. At midnight she heard some strange commotion in the living room - clinking and rustling. Suddenly there was a sound: “Quick!”

- Mouse King! “Mouse King!” Marie shouted and jumped out of bed in horror.

Everything was quiet, but soon someone carefully knocked on the door and a thin voice was heard:

- Priceless Mademoiselle Stahlbaum, open the door and don’t be afraid of anything! Good, joyful news.

Marie recognized the voice of young Drosselmeyer, threw on her skirt and quickly opened the door. The Nutcracker stood on the threshold with a bloody saber in his right hand and a lit wax candle in his left. Seeing Marie, he immediately dropped to one knee and spoke like this:

-Oh beautiful lady! You alone breathed into me knightly courage and gave strength to my hand so that I could defeat the daring one who dared to insult you. The treacherous mouse king is defeated and bathes in his own blood! Deign to graciously accept trophies from the hands of a knight devoted to you to the grave.

With these words, the cute Nutcracker very deftly shook off the seven golden crowns of the mouse king, which he had strung on his left hand, and handed them to Marie, who accepted them with joy.

The Nutcracker stood up and continued:

-Ah, my most priceless Mademoiselle Stahlbaum! What wonders could I show you now that the enemy is defeated, if you would deign to follow me even a few steps! Oh, do it, do it, dear mademoiselle!

DOLL KINGDOM

I think, children, each of you, without a moment’s hesitation, would follow the honest, kind Nutcracker, who could not have anything bad on his mind. And even more so for Marie, because she knew that she had the right to count on the greatest gratitude from the Nutcracker, and was convinced that he would keep his word and show her many wonders. That's why she said:

“I’ll go with you, Mr. Drosselmeyer, but only not far and not for long, since I haven’t gotten enough sleep yet.”

“Then,” answered the Nutcracker, “I will choose the shortest, although not entirely convenient, road.”

He walked forward. Marie follows him. They stopped in the hallway, near an old huge wardrobe. Marie was surprised to notice that the doors, usually locked, were wide open; she could clearly see her father’s traveling fox fur coat, which hung right next to the door. The Nutcracker very deftly climbed up the ledge of the cabinet and the carvings and grabbed a large brush that was hanging on a thick cord at the back of his fur coat. He pulled his brush with all his might, and immediately a graceful cedar-wood elk came down from the sleeve of his fur coat.

“Would you like to rise, most precious Mademoiselle Marie?” asked the Nutcracker.

Marie did just that. And before she had time to rise through her sleeve, before she had time to peek out from behind her collar, a dazzling light shone towards her, and she found herself in a beautiful fragrant meadow, which sparkled all over, as if with shining precious stones.

“We are in Candy Meadow,” said the Nutcracker. “And now let’s go through those gates.”

Only now, looking up, did Marie notice a beautiful gate rising a few steps away from her in the middle of the meadow; they seemed to be made of white and brown marble, speckled with specks. When Marie came closer, she saw that it was not marble, but almonds in sugar and raisins, which is why the gate under which they passed was called, according to the Nutcracker, the Almond-Raisin Gate. The common people very discourteously called them the gates of gluttonous students. On the side gallery of this gate, apparently made of barley sugar, six monkeys in red jackets formed a wonderful military band, which played so well that Marie, without noticing it, walked further and further along the marble slabs, beautifully made of sugar. , cooked with spices.

Soon she was filled with sweet aromas that streamed from the wonderful grove that stretched on both sides. The dark foliage glittered and sparkled so brightly that gold and silver fruits hanging on multi-colored stems, and bows and bouquets of flowers adorning the trunks and branches were clearly visible, like a cheerful bride and groom and wedding guests. With every whiff of the marshmallows, infused with the scent of oranges, there was a rustling in the branches and foliage, and the golden tinsel crunched and crackled, like jubilant music, which carried away the sparkling lights, and they danced and jumped.

“Oh, how wonderful it is here!” exclaimed the delighted Marie.

“We are in the Christmas forest, dear mademoiselle,” said the Nutcracker.

-Oh, how I would like to be here! It’s so wonderful here!” Marie exclaimed again.

The Nutcracker clapped his hands, and immediately tiny shepherds and shepherdesses appeared, hunters and huntresses, so tender and white that one might think they were made of pure sugar. Although they were walking through the forest, for some reason Marie had not noticed them before. They brought a wonderfully beautiful golden chair, put a white marshmallow pillow on it and very kindly invited Marie to sit down. And now the shepherds and shepherdesses performed a lovely ballet, and meanwhile the hunters blew their horns very skillfully. Then everyone disappeared into the bushes.

“Sorry, dear Mademoiselle Stahlbaum,” said the Nutcracker, forgive me for such pitiful dancing. But these are dancers from our puppet ballet - all they know is to repeat the same thing, and the fact that the hunters blew their trumpets so sleepily and lazily also has its reasons. Although the bonbonnieres on the Christmas trees hang right in front of their noses, they are too high. Now would you like to welcome me further?

—What are you talking about, the ballet was simply lovely, and I really liked it! Marie said as she stood up and followed the Nutcracker.

They walked along a stream that ran with a gentle murmur and babble and filled the entire forest with its wonderful fragrance.

“This is Orange Creek,” the Nutcracker answered Marie’s questions, “but, except for its wonderful aroma, it cannot compare in size or beauty with the Lemonade River, which, like it, flows into the Lake of Almond Milk.”

And in fact, soon Marie heard a louder splash and gurgle and saw a wide stream of lemonade, which rolled its proud light yellow waves among the bushes sparkling like emeralds. An unusually invigorating coolness, delighting the chest and heart, wafted from the beautiful waters. Not far away, a dark yellow river flowed slowly, spreading an unusually sweet fragrance, and beautiful children sat on the bank, fishing for small fat fish and immediately eating them. As Marie came closer, she noticed that the fish looked like Lombard nuts. A little further on the shore lies a charming village. The houses, the church, the parsonage, and the barns were dark brown with golden roofs; and many of the walls were painted so colorfully, as if almonds and candied lemon peel had been stuck on them.

“This is the village of Gingerbread,” said the Nutcracker, “located on the banks of the Honey River.” The people living there are beautiful, but very angry, since everyone there suffers from toothache. We better not go there.

At the same moment, Marie noticed a beautiful town, in which all the houses were colorful and transparent. The Nutcracker headed straight there, and then Marie heard a disorderly, cheerful hubbub and saw a thousand pretty little people who were dismantling and unloading the loaded carts crowded into the market. And what they took out resembled motley multi-colored pieces of paper and chocolate bars.

“We are in Confetenhausen,” said the Nutcracker, “just now messengers from the Paper Kingdom and the Chocolate King have arrived.” Not long ago, the poor people of Confettienhausen were threatened by the army of the mosquito admiral; so they cover their houses with gifts from the Paper State and build fortifications from strong slabs sent by the chocolate king. But, priceless Mademoiselle Stahlbaum, we cannot visit all the towns and villages of the country - to the capital, to the capital!

The Nutcracker hurried on, and Marie, burning with impatience, did not lag behind him. Soon a wonderful scent of roses wafted in, and everything seemed to be illuminated with a gently shimmering pink glow. Marie noticed that it was a reflection of pink-scarlet waters, splashing and gurgling with a sweetly melodious sound at her feet. The waves kept coming and coming and finally turned into a large beautiful lake, on which wonderful silver-white swans with golden ribbons on their necks swam and sang beautiful songs, and diamond fish, as if in a merry dance, dived and tumbled in the pink waves.

“Oh,” Marie exclaimed in delight, “but this is the same lake that my godfather once promised me to make!” And I am the same girl who was supposed to play with the cute swans.

The Nutcracker smiled as mockingly as he had never smiled before, and then said:

“Uncle will never make anything like this.” Rather, you, dear Mademoiselle Stahlbaum... But is it worth thinking about it! It’s better to cross the Pink Lake to the other side, to the capital.

CAPITAL

The Nutcracker clapped his hands again. The pink lake began to rustle more loudly, the waves rose higher, and Marie saw in the distance two golden-scaled dolphins harnessed to a shell that shone with precious stones as bright as the sun. Twelve charming little black apes in hats and aprons woven from rainbow hummingbird feathers jumped onto the shore and, easily gliding along the waves, carried first Marie and then the Nutcracker into the shell, which immediately rushed across the lake.

Oh, how wonderful it was to float in a shell, wafted with the scent of roses and washed by pink waves! The golden-scaled dolphins raised their muzzles and began to throw crystal streams high into the air, and when these streams fell from above in sparkling and sparkling arcs, it seemed as if two lovely, delicate silver voices were singing:

"Who is swimming in the lake? Fairy of the waters! Mosquitoes, doo-doo-doo! Fishes, splash-splash! Swans, shine-glitter! Miracle bird, tra-la-la! Waves, sing, blowing, flowing, - swimming towards us fairy through the roses; a frisky stream, soar - towards the sun, up!"

But the twelve blackrabs who jumped into the shell from behind apparently did not like the singing of the water jets at all. They shook their umbrellas so much that the leaves of the date palms, from which they were woven, crumpled and bent, and the arapets beat some unknown rhythm with their feet and sang:

"Top-and-tip and tip-and-top, clap-clap-clap! We dance in a circle across the waters! Birds and fish - for a walk, following the shell with a boom! Top-and-tip and tip-and-top, clap- clap clap! "

“Arapchat are very cheerful people,” said the somewhat embarrassed Nutcracker, “but I hope they don’t stir up the whole lake for me!”

And, indeed, soon a loud roar was heard: amazing voices seemed to float over the lake. But Marie did not pay attention to them - she looked into the fragrant waves, from where lovely girlish faces smiled at her.

“Oh,” she cried joyfully, clapping her hands, “look, dear Mr. Drosselmeyer: Princess Pirlipat is there!” She smiles at me so tenderly... Look, dear Mr. Drosselmeyer!

But the Nutcracker sighed sadly and said:

-Oh, priceless Mademoiselle Stahlbaum, it’s not Princess Pirlipat, it’s you. Only you, only your own charming face smiles tenderly from every wave.

Then Marie quickly turned away, closed her eyes tightly and became completely embarrassed. At the same moment, twelve blackrabs picked her up and carried her from the shell to the shore. She found herself in a small forest, which was, perhaps, even more beautiful than the Christmas forest, everything here shone and sparkled; Particularly remarkable were the rare fruits hanging on the trees, rare not only in color, but also in their wonderful fragrance.

“We are in the Candied Grove,” said the Nutcracker, “and over there is the capital.”

Oh, what Marie saw! How can I describe to you, children, the beauty and splendor of the city that appeared before Marie’s eyes, which spreads widely across a luxurious meadow strewn with flowers? It shone not only with the rainbow colors of the walls and towers, but also with the bizarre shape of the buildings, completely different from ordinary houses. Instead of roofs, they were covered with skillfully woven wreaths, and the towers were entwined with such lovely colorful garlands that it is impossible to imagine.

When Marie and the Nutcracker passed through the gate, which seemed to be made of macaroons and candied fruits, silver soldiers stood guard, and a little man in a brocade dressing gown hugged the Nutcracker and said:

-Welcome, dear prince! Welcome to Confetenburg!

Marie was very surprised that such a noble nobleman called Mr. Drosselmeyer a prince. But then they heard the hubbub of thin voices, noisily interrupting each other, the sounds of rejoicing and laughter, singing and music reached them, and Marie, having forgotten about everything, immediately asked the Nutcracker what it was.

“Oh, dear Mademoiselle Stahlbaum,” replied the Nutcracker, “there is nothing to marvel at here: Confetenburg is a crowded, cheerful city, there is fun and noise here every day.” Please, let's move on.

After a few steps they found themselves in a large, amazingly beautiful market square. All houses were decorated with openwork sugar galleries. In the middle, like an obelisk, stood a glazed sweet cake, sprinkled with sugar, and around it, jets of lemonade, orchad and other delicious soft drinks were shooting up from four skillfully made fountains. The pool was full of whipped cream that you just wanted to scoop up with a spoon. But most charming of all were the charming little people who crowded here in large numbers. They had fun, laughed, joked and sang; Marie heard their cheerful hubbub from afar.

There were smartly dressed gentlemen and ladies, Armenians and Greeks, Jews and Tyroleans, officers and soldiers, monks, shepherds, and clowns - in a word, every kind of people you can meet in this world. In one place on the corner a terrible uproar arose: the people rushed in all directions, because just at that time the Great Mogul was being carried in a palanquin, accompanied by ninety-three nobles and seven hundred slaves. But it had to happen that on another corner a guild of fishermen, numbering five hundred people, staged a solemn procession, and, unfortunately, the Turkish Sultan just took it into his head to ride, accompanied by three thousand Janissaries, through the bazaar; Moreover, the procession of the “interrupted solemn sacrifice” was approaching the sweet pie with ringing music and singing: “Glory to the mighty sun, glory!” Well, there was confusion, jostling and screaming! Soon groans were heard, because in the confusion some fisherman knocked off the head of a Brahmin, and the Great Mogul was almost run over by a clown. The noise became more and more furious, a jostling and a fight had already begun, but then a man in a brocade dressing gown, the same one who at the gate welcomed the Nutcracker as a prince, climbed onto the cake and, tugging the ringing bell three times, shouted three times loudly: “Confectioner! Confectioner!” ! Confectioner! "The commotion calmed down instantly; everyone saved himself as best he could, and after the tangled processions had been untangled, when the soiled Great Mogul had been cleaned and the Brahmin’s head had been put back on, the interrupted noisy fun began again.

“What’s the matter with the pastry chef, dear Mr. Drosselmeyer?” Marie asked.

“Ah, priceless Mademoiselle Stahlbaum, the confectioner here refers to an unknown, but very terrible force, which, according to local belief, can do whatever it wants to a person,” answered the Nutcracker,

- this is the fate that rules over these cheerful people, and the inhabitants are so afraid of him that just the mention of his name can calm down the biggest commotion, as the burgomaster has just proven. Then no one thinks about earthly things, about blows and bumps on the forehead, everyone plunges into himself and says: “What is a person and what can he turn into?”

A loud cry of surprise - no, a cry of delight escaped Marie when she suddenly found herself in front of a castle with a hundred aerial towers, glowing with a pink-scarlet glow. Here and there on the walls were scattered luxurious bouquets of violets, daffodils, tulips, and left-handed flowers, which set off the dazzling whiteness of the background, shimmering with scarlet light. The large dome of the central building and the pointed roofs of the towers were studded with thousands of stars sparkling with gold and silver.

“Here we are in the Marzipan Castle,” said the Nutcracker.

Marie did not take her eyes off the magical palace, but she still noticed that one large tower was missing a roof, which, apparently, the little men standing on the cinnamon platform were working on restoring. Before she had time to ask the Nutcracker a question, he said:

— Quite recently, the castle was threatened with great trouble, and perhaps complete ruin. The giant Sweet Tooth passed by. He quickly bit off the roof of that tower over there and set to work on the large dome, but the residents of Confetenburg appeased him by offering a quarter of the city and a significant part of the Candied Grove as ransom. He ate them and moved on.

Suddenly very pleasant, gentle music began to sound quietly. The castle gates swung open, and twelve little pages came out with lighted torches made from clove stems in their hands. Their heads were made of pearls, their bodies were made of rubies and emeralds, and they walked on skillfully made golden legs. They were followed by four ladies almost the same height as Clerchen, in unusually luxurious and brilliant outfits; Marie instantly recognized them as natural-born princesses. They hugged the Nutcracker tenderly and exclaimed with sincere joy:

-Oh, prince, dear prince! Dear brother!

The Nutcracker was completely moved: he wiped away the tears that often came to his eyes, then he took Marie by the hand and solemnly announced:

“Here is Mademoiselle Marie Stahlbaum, the daughter of a very worthy medical adviser and my savior. If she hadn’t thrown the shoe at the right moment, if she hadn’t gotten me the retired colonel’s saber, I would have been chewed up by the nasty mouse king, and I would have already been lying in the grave. O Mademoiselle Stahlbaum! Can Pirlipat compare with her in beauty, dignity and virtue, despite the fact that she is a born princess? No, I say, no!

All the ladies exclaimed: “No!” - and, sobbing, began to hug Marie.

-Oh, noble savior of our beloved royal brother! Oh, incomparable Mademoiselle Stahlbaum!

Then the ladies took Marie and the Nutcracker to the chambers of the castle, to a hall whose walls were entirely made of crystal shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow. But what Marie liked most were the pretty little chairs, chests of drawers, and secretaries placed there, made of cedar and Brazilian wood with inlaid gold flowers.

The princesses persuaded Marie and the Nutcracker to sit down and said that they would immediately prepare a treat for them with their own hands. They immediately took out various pots and bowls made of the finest Japanese porcelain, spoons, knives, forks, graters, saucepans and other gold and silver kitchen utensils. Then they brought such wonderful fruits and sweets, which Marie had never seen, and very gracefully began to squeeze fruit juice with their lovely snow-white hands, crush spices, grate sweet almonds - in a word, they began to host so nicely that Marie realized what experts they were in the culinary business and what a luxurious treat awaits her. Knowing full well that she also understood something about this, Marie secretly wanted to take part in the princesses’ lesson herself. The most beautiful of the Nutcracker's sisters, as if guessing Marie's secret desire, handed her a small golden mortar and said:

“My dear friend, my brother’s priceless savior, the ceilings are a little like caramels.”

While Marie merrily knocked with the pestle, so that the mortar rang melodiously and pleasantly, no worse than a charming song, the Nutcracker began to talk in detail about the terrible battle with the hordes of the mouse king, about how he was defeated due to the cowardice of his troops, and how the nasty mouse king later wanted to kill him at all costs, just as Marie had to sacrifice many of his subjects who were in her service...

During Marie’s story, it seemed as if the words of the Nutcracker and even her own blows with the pestle were sounding more and more muffled, more and more indistinct, and soon a silver veil covered her eyes - as if light clouds of fog had risen, into which the princesses... the pages... The Nutcracker... herself... had immersed themselves... then something rustled, gurgled and sang; strange sounds dissolved in the distance. The rising waves carried Marie higher and higher... higher and higher... higher and higher...

CONCLUSION

Ta-ra-ra-boom!—and Marie fell from an incredible height. What a push! But Marie immediately opened her eyes. She was lying in her bed. It was quite light, and her mother stood next to her and said:

- Well, is it possible to sleep for so long! Breakfast has been on the table for a long time.

My dear listeners, you, of course, already understood that Marie, stunned by all the miracles she had seen, eventually fell asleep in the hall of the Marzipan Castle and that the arapets or pages, and perhaps the princesses themselves, carried her home and put her to bed.

- Oh, mommy, my dear mommy, where did I go last night with young Mr. Drosselmeyer! I have seen so many miracles!

And she told everything in almost the same detail as I had just told, and my mother listened and was surprised.

When Marie finished, her mother said:

“You, dear Marie, had a long, beautiful dream. But put it all out of your head.

Marie stubbornly insisted that she saw everything not in a dream, but in reality. Then her mother led her to a glass cabinet, took out the Nutcracker, which, as always, stood on the second shelf, and said:

- Oh, you silly thing, where did you get the idea that a wooden Nuremberg doll can talk and move?

“But, mommy,” Marie interrupted her, “I know that little Nutcracker is young Mr. Drosselmeyer from Nuremberg, his godfather’s nephew!”

Then both dad and mom laughed loudly.

“Oh, now you, daddy, are laughing at my Nutcracker,” Marie continued, almost crying, “and he spoke so well of you!” When we arrived at Marzipan Castle, he introduced me to the princesses - his sisters - and said that you are a very worthy medical adviser!

The laughter only intensified, and now Louise and even Fritz joined the parents. Then Marie ran to the Other Room, quickly took out the seven crowns of the mouse king from her box and gave them to her mother with the words:

“Here, mommy, look: here are the seven crowns of the mouse king, which young Mr. Drosselmeyer presented to me last night as a sign of his victory!”

Mom looked in surprise at the tiny crowns made of some unfamiliar, very shiny metal and such fine workmanship that it could hardly have been the work of human hands. Mr. Stahlbaum also couldn’t get enough of the crowns. Then both father and mother strictly demanded that Marie confess where she got the crowns, but she stood her ground.

When her father began to scold her and even called her a liar, she burst into tears and began to say plaintively:

-Oh, I’m poor, poor! So what should I do?

But then the door suddenly opened and the godfather entered.

-What's happened? “What happened?” he asked. “Is my goddaughter Marichen crying and sobbing?” What's happened? What's happened?

Dad told him what happened and showed him the tiny crowns. The senior court adviser, as soon as he saw them, laughed and exclaimed:

- Stupid inventions, stupid inventions! But these are the crowns that I once wore on a watch chain, and then gave to Marichen on her birthday, when she was two years old! Have you forgotten?

Neither father nor mother could remember this.

When Marie was convinced that her parents’ faces had again become affectionate, she jumped up to her godfather and exclaimed:

- Godfather, you know everything! Tell me that my Nutcracker is your nephew, young Mr. Drosselmeyer from Nuremberg, and that he gave me these tiny crowns.

The godfather frowned and muttered:

- Stupid inventions!

Then the father took little Marie aside and said very sternly:

-Listen, Marie, stop making up inventions and stupid jokes once and for all! And if you say again that the freak Nutcracker is your godfather’s nephew, I will throw out the window not only the Nutcracker, but also all the other dolls, not excluding Mamselle Clerchen.

Now poor Marie, of course, did not dare to even mention what was filling her heart; After all, you understand that it was not so easy for Marie to forget all the wonderful miracles that happened to her. Even, dear reader or listener, Fritz, even your comrade Fritz Stahlbaum immediately turned his back on his sister as soon as she was about to talk about the wonderful country where she felt so good. They say that sometimes he even muttered through his teeth: “Stupid girl!” But, having long known his good disposition, I just can’t believe it; in any case, it is known for certain that, no longer believing a word in Marie’s stories, at a public parade he formally apologized to his hussars for the offense caused, pinned on them even taller and more magnificent plumes of goose feathers instead of the lost insignia, and again allowed the lifeblood to sound -hussar march. Well, we know what the courage of the hussars was when disgusting bullets put spots on their red uniforms.

Marie no longer dared to talk about her adventure, but the magical images of the fairyland did not leave her. She heard a gentle rustling, gentle, enchanting sounds; she saw everything again as soon as she began to think about it, and instead of playing, as she used to do, she could sit quietly and calmly for hours, withdrawing into herself—that’s why everyone now called her a little dreamer.

Once it happened that the godfather was repairing a watch at the Stahlbaums. Marie sat near the glass cabinet and, daydreaming, looked at the Nutcracker. And suddenly she burst out:

“Ah, dear Mr. Drosselmeyer, if you really lived, I would not have rejected you, like Princess Pirlipat, because because of me you have lost your beauty!”

The court advisor immediately shouted:

- Well, well, stupid inventions!

But at the same moment there was such a roar and crash that Marie fell unconscious from her chair. When she woke up, her mother was fussing around her and saying:

-Well, is it possible to fall out of a chair? Such a big girl! The nephew of Mr. Senior Court Counsel has just arrived from Nuremberg, be smart.

She raised her eyes: the godfather had put on his glass wig again, put on a yellow frock coat and was smiling contentedly, and he was holding by the hand, however, a small but very well-built young man, white and ruddy as blood and milk, in a magnificent red caftan embroidered with gold, in shoes and white silk stockings. A very pretty bouquet was pinned to his frill, his hair was carefully curled and powdered, and a beautiful braid ran down his back. The tiny sword at his side sparkled, as if studded with precious stones, and he held a silk hat under his arm.

The young man showed his pleasant disposition and good manners by giving Marie a whole bunch of wonderful toys and, above all, delicious marzipan and dolls to replace those that the mouse king had chewed, and Fritz a wonderful saber. At the table, an amiable young man was cracking nuts for the whole company. The toughest ones were of no use to him; With his right hand he put them in his mouth, with his left he pulled his braid, and - click! - the shells shattered into small pieces.

Marie blushed all over when she saw the polite young man, and when after dinner young Drosselmeyer invited her to go into the living room, to the glass cabinet, she turned crimson.

-Go, go, play, children, just make sure you don’t quarrel. Now that I have all my watches in order, I don't mind! the senior court adviser admonished them.

As soon as young Drosselmeyer found himself alone with Marie, he dropped to one knee and made the following speech:

-Oh, priceless Mademoiselle Stahlbaum, look: at your feet is the happy Drosselmeyer, whose life you saved in this very place. You deigned to say that you would not have rejected me, like the ugly princess Pirlipat, if because of you I had become a freak. Immediately I ceased to be a pitiful Nutcracker and regained my former, not devoid of pleasant appearance. O excellent Mademoiselle Stahlbaum, make me happy with your worthy hand! Share the crown and throne with me, we will reign together in the Marzipan Castle.

Marie raised the young man from her knees and said quietly:

- Dear Mr. Drosselmeyer! You are a meek, kind-hearted person, and besides, you reign in a beautiful country inhabited by lovely, cheerful people - well, how can I not agree that you be my fiancé!

And Marie immediately became Drosselmeyer’s bride. They say that a year later he took her away in a golden carriage drawn by silver horses, that at their wedding twenty-two thousand elegant dolls sparkling with diamonds and pearls danced, and Marie, as they say, is still the queen in a country where, if only you have eyes, you will see sparkling candied fruit groves, transparent marzipan castles everywhere - in a word, all sorts of miracles and wonders.

Here's a fairy tale about the Nutcracker and the Mouse King.