The Nutcracker and the Mouse-King. E. T. A. HoffmannЧитать онлайн книгу.
something attractive in his pocket for the children. Once it was a marionette, who could curtsy and turn his eyes; once a box, out of which a bird would hop; and another time it would be a new kind of toy such as they had never seen. But when Christmas came he always made some beautiful mechanical toy which only a very clever man could make. For this reason their parents would put it away for safekeeping after it had been presented to them.
“Oh! what kind of an ingenious thing can it be that Godfather Drosselmeier has made for us this year?” whispered Marie.
“This time,” replied Fritz, “it can hardly be anything else than a fortress, in which all kinds of handsome soldiers are marching back and forth. Other soldiers must come to storm the fortress, and then all at once, the soldiers inside will fire a cannon which will make a noise like thunder.”
“No, no,” interrupted Marie, “Godfather Drosselmeier told me about a nice garden, in which there is a large lake, on which superb swans with gold neckbands are swimming and singing lovely songs. Then a little girl comes out of the garden to the lake and beckons the swans and feeds them with candy.”
“Swans do not eat candy,” Fritz interrupted harshly, “and an entire garden Godfather cannot make. Then too, we have very little joy from his toys; they are always taken away from us at once. I would rather have what father and mother give us, for those toys we can keep and do with as we like.”
MAMSELL TRUDCHEN.
Again the children took turns in guessing what presents they were to receive this year. Marie thought that Mamsell Trudchen, her large doll, had changed much,—for clumsier than ever, she was always falling to the floor. This showed in bad marks on her face, and her clothing was now anything but clean. All her warnings had not helped. And mother had smiled to herself when she had seen how pleased Marie had been with Gretchen’s little parasol. Fritz assured Marie that he was much in need of a fine chestnut horse to add to his stable, and he also needed to add cavalry to his troops. He declared father was well aware of this. Little Marie became quiet as if in meditation, but Fritz murmured to himself, “A chestnut horse and hussars I should love to have.”
In the meantime, it had become very dark. Fritz and Marie, sitting close together, did not dare to speak. It seemed to them they could hear the rustling of wings and from a far distance superb music. A bright light now appeared upon the wall and the children knew that the Christ-Child had gone on to other happy children.
In that moment they heard a silvery bell ring, ting-a-ling, ting-a-ling, and the doors flew open and such a splendor greeted them from these rooms that both children exclaimed, “Oh! Oh!” and stood entranced on the threshold. Then father and mother came forward, took the children by the hand, and said, “Come, come, dear children and see what the Christ-Child has brought for you.”
THE GIFTS
One can just imagine how the children stood and stared, quite silently, and how after some little time Marie, with a deep sigh, called, “Oh how beautiful,—how beautiful,” and Fritz turned several somersaults successfully. The children must have been very good and obedient throughout the year, for never before had they received such superb presents.
The large Christmas tree in the center was laden with gold and silver apples, and like birds and blossoms, sugar almonds and bright bonbons and other pretty cakes came forth from the branches. The most wonderful thing about the tree, however, was the hundreds of lights that sparkled like stars, and the tree seemed to invite them in a most friendly fashion to come and pluck its buds and fruits. Around the tree everything shone in bright and superb colors.
What beautiful things there were—yes, almost impossible to describe. Marie at once noticed the neatest, daintiest dolls and all kinds of little utensils. A silk dress, trimmed with colorful ribbons, was hanging on a rack so that Marie could look at it from all sides, and this she did, and kept calling, “Oh the beautiful, dear dress! And shall I really be allowed to wear it?”
In the meantime Fritz; had galloped three or four times around the table on his new chestnut horse, which he had really found hitched to the table. Dismounting, he announced that it was a wild horse but he would soon tame him. Then he noticed his new squadron of hussars which were very splendidly dressed in red and gold uniforms, carried silver weapons, and rode on such shimmering white horses that one could almost believe they too were of silver.
Just as the children had quieted down a little, they espied open picture books and were looking at them when the bell rang again. They now knew that Godfather Drosselmeier would present his gifts, and hurried to the table near the wall. The screen behind which he had been hiding such a long time was quickly removed. And what may we suppose they saw?
On a green lawn with many bright flowers stood a large castle that had mirror windows and gold towers. A chime of bells could be heard ringing. Doors and windows flew open and they saw tiny men and women richly adorned with plumed hats and long trained robes promenading in the rooms. The central hall almost seemed to be in flames, because so many little lights were burning in silver candelabra. Little children in short waistcoats and skirts were dancing, keeping time with the chimes. A gentleman in an emerald green cloak beckoned from one of the windows and then disappeared again, and yes, even Godfather Drosselmeier, no higher than father’s thumb, would appear at the door of the castle and then go back into it again.
Fritz, with his arms resting on the table, had been looking at the castle and the dancing and promenading little figures, when he called, “Godfather Drosselmeier, let me go into your castle.”
The judge explained to him that this was impossible. He was right, for it was stupid of Fritz to think he could go into a castle which even with its gold towers was so much smaller than himself. Of course Fritz could understand this, but after a while, when in the same manner the ladies and gentlemen promenaded, the children danced, the green-cloaked man appeared at the window, and Godfather Drosselmeier came to the door over and over again, Fritz; called impatiently, “Godfather Drosselmeier, now you must come out of the other door.”
THE CASTLE.
“That cannot be done,” the Judge replied.
“Well, then make the green man who looks out of the window walk with the others.”
“No, that cannot be brought about either,” replied the judge.
“Well,” cried Fritz, “then let the children come out, so I can examine them better.”
The judge became vexed, and replied impatiently, “As the mechanism is made, so it must remain.”
“Well,” said Fritz; in a subdued tone, “then I prefer my hussars. They can be made to maneuver forward and backward the way I want them to and are not locked up in a house.” Then he ran to the other table and had his squadron on the silver horses march back and forth and perform to his heart’s content.
Marie also had slipped away, for she too, had tired of seeing the dolls in the castle always doing the same thing, but being more polite than Fritz she did not wish any one to notice it. The judge had become cheerful again and gave the children some handsome brown men and women, with gold faces, hands and legs. These smelled sweet and delicious like honey cakes, which was a pleasant surprise.
THE SURPRISE
Marie had not left the Christmas table for she had just discovered something she had not noticed before. When Fritz; had removed his soldiers who had been “on