88 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

hues of the rose and the lily: her eyes were of sparkling
azure; and thick tresses, resembling
masses of golden thread, flowed over
her alabaster shoulders.

The trumpets and the cymbals sounded
enough to make one deaf; and the
shouts of the people responded to the
noise of the instruments. The king,
the ministers, the councillors of state,
and the judges began to dance, as they
had done at the birth of Pirlipata; and
eau-de-cologne was obliged to be thrown
in the face of the queen, who had faint-
ed for joy.

This great tumult proved very annoy-
ing to young Nathaniel Drosselmayer,
who, as you must remember, had yet
to step seven paces backwards. He, however, behaved with
a coolness which gave the highest hopes relative to the period
when he should be called upon to reign in his turn; and he
was just stretching out his leg to take the seventh step, when