CHRISTMAS EVE

During the long, long day of the twenty-fourth of December, the children of Doctor Stahlbaum were forbidden from entering the parlour. Fritz and Marie nestled together in the back chamber as dusky twilight came on. In hushed tones Fritz was telling his little sister that he had not long before seen a little dark man glide along the corridor with a large box under his arm, but he knew full well that it was only Godfather Drosselmeier. At this Marie clapped her little hands for joy and exclaimed, ‘Oh what do you imagine Godfather Drosselmeier has made for us this time?’

Counsellor Drosselmeier was in no way a handsome man. He was small and thin with a wrinkled face and a large black patch over his right eye. To cover his bald head he wore a lovely white wig made of glass. It was a rather ingenious artefact. But then, the Godfather was a rather ingenious man himself, for he knew all there was to know about clocks and how to make them. When one of the many beautiful clocks in Doctor Stahlbaum’s house was sick and could not sing, Godfather Drosselmeier would come and pierce it with all manner of sharp instruments. This always made Marie quite anxious, but it did the clock no harm; on the contrary, it would become quite lively again, striking and singing so merrily that it was a pleasure to all who heard it.

henever he visited he had a little something in his pocket for the children, but when he arrived on Christmas Eve he brought a gift of such splendour that their parents would always put it away for safekeeping afterwards.

Fritz thought that this time it would be a castle, patrolled by many fine soldiers, who would defend it with their cannon fire when it was under siege.

‘No, no,’ Marie interrupted him, ‘Godfather Drosselmeier told me about a lovely garden with a great lake and the most beautiful swans which sing sweet songs. Then a little girl comes along and feeds them marzipan.’

‘Swans don’t eat marzipan,’ scoffed Fritz, ‘and even Godfather Drosselmeier can’t make a whole garden. Besides, his toys aren’t much good if they are always taken away from us again. I like our gifts from Papa and Mama much better, for we can keep those and do with them as we please.’

Just at that moment there was the silvery cling, ling of a bell and the doors flew open to reveal a dazzling light from the parlour. The children’s parents appeared at the doorway and, taking them by the hand, said, ‘Come, children, and see what Christmas has brought you this year.’

THE GIFTS

The children must have been very good that past year, for never before had they received so many fine presents. In the centre of the room there stood a magnificent fir tree decked with gold and silver apples, while sugar almonds and lemon drops adorned its branches like buds and blossom. All around the tree were laid the most beautiful gifts of every description. Marie spied the daintiest dolls, a tea set and all sorts of little trinkets. Fritz went straight to his new regiment of hussars, who were most handsomely clad in red and gold and looked very smart indeed on their white horses.

The children had just turned to some exquisitely-drawn picture books, when – cling, ling — the bell sounded again. This was a sign that Godfather Drosselmeier would now reveal his gift and so they ran to the table where their godfather’s present was concealed by a long velvet curtain. Imagine their delight when the curtain was drawn aside!

magnificent castle stood on a lush green lawn covered with flowers. Its golden turrets shone brightly and the light gleamed on its clear glass windows. A bell sounded inside the castle and the doors and windows flew open to reveal scores of little men and women going about the many rooms. The great hall was aglow with the light of a thousand tiny candles and children in white dresses and green jackets could be seen dancing to the music. At intervals a man in an emerald-green cloak appeared at the window, waved and promptly disappeared again. And every so often Godfather Drosselmeier himself – though he was hardly bigger than their father’s thumb – emerged at the door of the castle to wave at the children.

Fritz watched the scene, his chin resting on his hands, before saying, ‘Godfather Drosselmeier, let me go into your castle.’ The Counsellor gave him to understand that this could not be done. And indeed it was most foolish of Fritz to wish to enter a castle barely as tall as he was.

After Fritz had watched the ladies and gentlemen, and the dancing children and the emerald man at the window and Godfather Drosselmeier at the door for some time, he cried out impatiently, ‘Let the green man at the window walk about with the rest.’

‘That cannot be done either,’ said the Counsellor.

‘Then the children must come down so I can see them better.’

‘None of that can be done,’ replied the Counsellor, curtly. ‘As the mechanism is made, so it must remain.’

‘Well then, Godfather Drosselmeier,’ said Fritz, ‘if that’s how it is then I don’t think much of your little figures in the castle. My hussars are far better, for they can go back and forth as I order them.’

And with that he turned his back on Godfather Drosselmeier’s creation. Marie had also slipped away because she too found the scene tedious after a while but, unlike her brother, was too polite to say so.

‘An ingenious work like this was not made for silly children,’ snapped Counsellor Drosselmeier angrily. ‘I shall pack up my castle and take it home.’

But then their mother entreated him to show her the curious mechanism by which it all worked, and so the Counsellor took the whole thing apart and put it back together again. This put him into good spirits once again and he gave the children some little men and women with gilded faces which smelled like sweet gingerbread. Fritz and Marie were very pleased with them indeed.

THE FAVOURITE

Just at that moment Marie spotted something which nobody else had yet noticed. At the back of the table was a curious little man, standing quietly, as if patiently awaiting his turn. He could not be called a handsome man, for not only was his rather stout body out of all proportion to his spindly legs, but his head was altogether too large for either. But it was clear that he was a man of taste and education, for he wore a hussar’s jacket of beautiful bright violet with matching pantaloons and the neatest boots you ever did see. He also had on a somewhat clumsy wooden cloak and a woodman’s cap. These last two made him look a little ridiculous if the truth be told, but Marie remembered that Godfather Drosselmeier’s cap and cloak were equally shabby, and he was still a dear godfather. In fact, the longer she looked, the more kindness and benevolence she saw in the little man’s clear green eyes.

‘Papa,’ exclaimed Marie at last, ‘to whom belongs that charming little man by the tree there?’

‘To both you and Fritz,’ said her father. ‘And he shall work hard for you, for he can crack the hardest nuts with his teeth.’

ery carefully her father took Nutcracker and lifted his wooden cloak, whereupon the little man opened his mouth wide to reveal two rows of sharp white teeth. At her father’s bidding Marie popped a nut into the little man’s mouth, and – crack — the shell fell away, and she caught the sweet kernel in her hand.

‘This little fellow,’ Dr Stahlbaum explained, ‘comes from a long line of Nutcrackers and practises the profession of his forefathers. Since friend Nutcracker is such a favourite with you, Marie, I place him under your care, though Fritz shall have just as much right to his services.’

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