The Nutcracker and the Mouse-King

By E.T.A. Hoffmann

First published in German in 1816, “The Nutcracker and the Mouse-King” is the children’s fairy tale by Prussian composer and romantic author E. T. A. Hoffman that inspired Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet. Popularized by a French retelling by Alexandre Dumas in 1844 and immortalized in 1892 in the ballet that has become a part of the Christmas season tradition, Hoffman’s original tale is a magical story of imagination and love. It begins on Christmas Eve as the young Marie and her brother Fritz receive their Christmas gifts, including a beautiful nutcracker that immediately catches Marie’s interest. She begins to have fantastical dreams of her brave nutcracker leading all of her dolls in battle against the cruel and greedy Mouse-King and his army of mice. Her parents do not believe her dreams are real, but Marie is certain that the nutcracker is indeed her magical hero. She continues to dream of dramatic battles, the nutcracker’s eventual victory over the wicked Mouse-King, and a trip to the beautiful Land of Toys. Hoffman’s fairy tale of magic and devotion continues to captivate audiences and inspire adaptations around the world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Digireads.com Publishing
• Release date: Jan 8, 2020
• ISBN: 9781420971644

Book preview

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The Nutcracker and the Mouse-King

By E. T. A. Hoffmann

Translated by Louise F. Encking

Illustrated by Emma L. Brock

Print ISBN 13: 978-1-4209-7163-7

eBook ISBN 13: 978-1-4209-7164-4

This edition copyright © 2020. Digireads.com Publishing.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Cover Image: a detail of Clara wakes up and finds her nutcracker, by Libico Maraja, c. 20th century / © Fototeca Gilardi/Associazione Maraja / Bridgeman Images.

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CONTENTS

FOREWORD

THE DAY BEFORE

THE GIFTS

THE SURPRISE

MAGIC

THE BATTLE OF THE SUGAR BULLETS

THE PLEASANT SURPRISE

THE FAIRY TALE OF THE HARD NUT

CONTINUATION OF THE FAIRY TALE OF THE HARD NUT

CONCLUSION OF THE FAIRY TALE OF THE HARD NUT

THE VICTORY

THE KINGDOM OF THE DOLLS

THE CANDY CAPITAL

CONCLUSION

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FRITZ AND MARIE SAT HUDDLED TOGETHER ON A SOFA.

THE NUTCRACKER

AND

THE MOUSE-KING

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ONCE IT WAS A MARIONETTE.

FOREWORD

The story of The Nutcracker and the Mouse-King is so full of word pictures that no one in the whole world could draw them all, though each picture is so beautiful and full of color that one can scarcely resist trying to.

Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann wrote this story in Germany more than a hundred years ago—for his own pleasure, we imagine—and he put into it all the beautiful things he could think of, dolls and castles, candies and candles, crimson lakes and sparkling gardens and hundreds and hundreds of fairy people, and comical people too.

The story is most exciting, all about the long battle between the Nutcracker and the Mouse-King with his seven heads and seven golden crowns, the battle that with Marie’s help ended in victory for the Nutcracker. To show his gratitude for her kindness, the Nutcracker takes Marie through her father’s overcoat sleeve to the Land of Dolls.

It is in this part of the book that the author has the greatest fun making word pictures. There is Lemonade River, villages of sugar cookies and transparent candy, gates of almonds and raisins, confetti forests, thousands of little people shouting, laughing and joking; and everywhere a fragrance of oranges and roses.

The gay imaginings in the book, especially those in the Land of Dolls, amused Peter Tchaikovsky, the great Russian musician, and he has written the music of The Nutcracker Suite all about this tale. The Chinese dance, the waltz of the Flowers and the dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy are all drawn from these chapters of Marie’s visit to Toy Land with the Nutcracker. And you can see the gay little people when you hear the music, just as you can when you read the story.

We two who have been translating the story and doing the drawings enjoyed ourselves more than tongue can tell. Now you begin the book and see how happy you are.

EMMA L. BROCK.

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HUNDREDS OF LIGHTS SPARKLED LIKE LITTLE STARS.

THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE-KING

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Godfather Drosselmeier.

THE DAY BEFORE

It was the day before Christmas. Fritz; and Marie Stahlbaum sat huddled together on a sofa in a little back room, for they had been forbidden to go near the living room or the drawing room. Fritz; was whispering very secretly to Marie. Early this morning, he told her, I heard all kinds of noises,—rustling of paper and pounding behind the locked rooms. Also, he confided to her, I saw a small, dark man, with a large box under his arm, glide noiselessly through the hall.

Who could that have been? asked Marie.

Why, Godfather Drosselmeier! who else could it have been?

At this Marie clapped her little hands for joy, and exclaimed, Oh, what kind of a beautiful toy can it be that Godfather has made for us this year?

Judge Drosselmeier was not a handsome man. He was short and thin, and his face was full of wrinkles. Over his right eye he wore a large black patch and as he had lost all his hair, he wore a beautiful white wig. To be sure, the children knew that Godfather was a very skillful man, for he not only understood clocks but he also made some himself.

This was the reason that whenever one of the clocks became ill and could not sing any more, they sent for Godfather Drosselmeier. He would come, remove his wig and his little yellow coat, and tying on an apron, would take out a pointed instrument and run it into the clock. This always made little Marie sad, but

Reviews for The Nutcracker and the Mouse-King

[jenspirko · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

If you only know the story from the ubiquitous ballet, revisit it via this version. Maurice Sendak's distinctive art lends just the right appealingly surreal tone to ETA Hoffman's fairy tale. Like all good fairy tales, there is a thread of darkness and danger along with bright fantasy, and the spare storytelling pairs perfectly with the lush illustrations of this version.

[debnance_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'm so used to seeing the Nutcracker as a ballet that it comes as a big of a shock to see the story in print.(And, honestly, I'm not sure that I don't prefer it that way.)Love the Sendak illustrations. Why not, I suggest, just have them? Skip the words which feel redundant. A wordless book, maybe?

[thetruebookaddict · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The original story is vastly different from the beloved ballet. I love the ballet. I've seen it many times, but I also really loved this story. I can almost imagine that the recent holiday film, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, had some basis in this original story. I've heard some people were in an uproar over the film because it's different from the ballet. Perhaps they have not read this original story? On my end, I'm always open to new interpretations of a story.

I highly recommend this. Wonderful story made even more enchanting by the fantastic illustrations of Maurice Sendak.

[sturlington_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Read aloud to my son for Christmas. This is the basis for the famous ballet, the story of Marie, who receives a Nutcracker doll for Christmas that subsequently comes to life, battles a seven-headed mouse king, and takes Marie on a tour of a fairyland made of sweets. My son pronounced it "weird, but very descriptive, so I could picture it in my head, so I liked it." I thought it was entertaining, but surreal and dreamlike.