THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 77

king’s only fear was lest the mechanic, skilful though he
were, should perceive insurmountable difficulties in the way
of appeasing the royal anger.
ut Christian Elias Drosselmayer reassured the king,
promising that in eight days there should not be a single
mouse left in the kingdom.
In a word, that very
same day he set to work
. to make several ingenious
little oblong boxes, inside
which he placed a morsel _ {ii
of fat at the end of a piece
of wire. By seizing upon
the fat, the plunderer,
whoever he might be,
caused the door to shut ae
down behind him, and thus became a prisoner. In less than
a week, a hundred of these
boxes were made, and placed,
oO $ = not only beneath the hearth-
=: stone, but in all the garrets,
lofts, and cellars of the palace.
Dame Mousey was far too
28 cunning and sagacious not to
——— discover at the first glance the
stratagem of Master Drosselmayer. She therefore assembled
her seven sons, their nephews, and their cousins, to warn
them of the snare that was laid for them. But, after havin
appeared to listen to her, in consequence of the respect whic
they had for her, and the veneration which her years com-
manded, they withdrew, laughing at her terrors; then,
attracted by the smell of the fried pork-fat, they resolved, in
spite of the representations made to them, to profit by the
charity that came they new not whence.
At the expiration of twenty-four hours, the seven sons
of Dame Mousey, eighteen of her nephews, fifty of her