28 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

trousers of the same material; and the most charming little
Wellington boots ever seen on the feet of a student or an
officer. But there were two circumstances which seemed
strange in respect to a man who preserved such elegant
taste: the one was an ugly narrow cloak made of wood, and
which hung down like a pig’s tail from the nape of his neck
to the middle of his back; and the other was a wretched cap,
such as peasants sometimes wear in Switzerland, upon his
head. But Mary, when she perceived those two objects
which seemed so unsuitable to the rest of his costume, re-
membered that Godfather Drosselmayer himself wore above
his drab coat a little collar of no better appearance than the
wooden cloak belonging to the little gentleman in the mili-
tary frock; and that the doctor often covered his own bald
head with an ugly—an absolutely frightful cap, unlike all
other ugly caps in the world—although this circumstance
did not prevent the doctor from being an excellent godpapa.
She even thought to herself that were Godpapa Drosselmayer
to imitate altogether the dress of the little gentleman with
the wooden cloak, he could not possibly become so genteel
and interesting as the puppet.

You can very well believe that all these reflections on
the part of Mary were not made without a close inspection
of the little man, whem she liked from the very first moment
that she saw him. Then, the more she looked at him, the
more she was struck by the sweetness and amiability which
were expressed by his countenance. His
clear green eyes, which were certainly
rather goggle, beamed with serenity and
kindness. The frizzled beard of white
cotton, extending beneath his chin, seemed
to become him amazingly, because it set
off the charming smile of, his mouth,
which was rather wide perhaps; but then,
== the lips were as red as vermilion !

c Thus was it that, after examining the