30 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

and as, in his paternal fondness, he fancied that his son must
certainly possess the strongest jaws in all Germany, he gladly
assented to the arrangement, which was to take from his shop
not only the nut but also the Nut-cracker.

The young man himself was more difficult to persuade.
The wooden counter-balance which it was proposed to fix to
the back of his neck, instead of the pretty little tie which
kept his hair in such neat folds, particularly vexed him.
But his father, his uncle, and the astrologer made him such
splendid promises, that he consented. Christian Elias Dros-
selmayer, therefore, went to work that moment; the wooden

 

balance was soon made; and it was strongly fixed to the nape
of the young man now so full of hope. Let me also state,
to satisfy your curiosity, that the contrivance worked so well
that on the very first the skilful mechanician received brilliant
proofs of his success, for the young man was enabled to crack
the hardest apricot-stones, and the most obstinate peach-
stones.

These trials having been made, the astrologer, the mech-
anician, and young Drosselmayer set out immediately for the
king’s dwelling. Christopher Zecharias was anxious to go