ih tO
Aum Fa harchart——
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Picture Storp-Book,

WITH

FOUR HUNDRED WLLUSTRATIONS,

BREE RII

London:
GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & CO. FARRINGDON STREET.
SFL
1852.

 

 

 

 

 

 
DAME MITCHELL

HER CAT.
THE

ae) HISTORY OF DAME MITCHELL

ND

HER

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER I.

SHOWING HOW DAME MITCHELL FIRST BECAME ACQUAINTED
WITH HER CAT.

IN the reign of Queen Anne, there lived near London
a venerable countess, named Greenford, who was very
rich, and possessed of large landed estates. She was a
kind, benevolent lady, and delighted in giving alms to the
poor of her own and neighbouring parishes. Her noble
husband, Eustace Geoffry, Earl of Greenford, had fallen
‘ gloriously at the battle of Blenheim, on
5 the 3rd of August, 1704. His afflicted
widow, who, for a long time, had openly
mourned his loss, still wept for him in
secret. As she was without children, and
‘felt very lonely, she indulged in a strange
sort of fancy, but one which, must be
owned, did not at all disparage her
genuine virtues and excellent qualities:
she was passionately fond of animals;
and this passion might well be called a hapless one, since
all her favourites had died in her arms. The most ancient
A

 
4 THE HISTORY OF DAME MITCHELL

among them, a green parrot, having eaten unadvisedly
some parsley, yielded to a dreadful attack of colic. An
indigestion, produced by a dish of fritters, had deprived
Lady Greenford of a most promising little pug; and a
third pet, who was nothing less than a Brazilian‘ monkey,
having broken his chain and strayed into the garden, was
caught in a shower as he was gamboling among the trees,
which brought on a severe cold in the head, that soon after
carried him to his grave.

 

 

Lady Greenford next took a fancy to different kinds of
birds; but in this she was not more fortunate; for some of

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

them flew away, and the rest sickened, and died of the pip.
Borne down by so many sorrows, Lady Greenford was con-
tiually weeping and moaning; and her friends, moved b

her distress, strove to divert her mind. They offered her
squirrels, canary birds, white mice, and large cockatoos ;
but all in vain, she would not listen to them; she even
rejected a lovely black and white spaniel that could play at

dominoes, dance the gavotte, eat salad, and make Greek
verses.
AND HER CAT, 5

 

One day as she was coming out of church, she saw a
crowd of children running about, shouting, and laughing
most lustily. She had no sooner stepped into her carriage,
and was able to see over their heads, but she discovered
that the cause of this uproar was a poor cat, to whose tail
these mischievous urchins had tied a large saucepan. The

Silos ris

©

 

poor cat had been chased about for some time, and seemed

quite exhausted ; and when he slackened his pace, his tor-

mentors made a ring round him, and began pelting him

with stones. The poor creature held his head down; and,
A2

'
LE
6 THE HISTORY OF DAME MITCHELL

conscious that none but enemies stood there, he resigned
himself to his fate with the fortitude of an ancient Roman.
Several stones had already struck him, when Lady Green-
ford, touched with compassion for the poor dumb animal,
stepped out of her carriage, forced her way through the
crowd, and exclaimed: “ Whoever rescues the poor crea-
ture shall have a guinea!”

These words had a magical effect; for they converted
those, who a minute or two previously were the most cruel
tormentors of the poor beast, into so many deliverers: the
cat was now in danger of being smothered by them whilst
they contended for the honour of his preservation. At last,
a youthful Hercules, overturning his rivals, seized hold of
poor puss, and presented him half dead to the anxious
Countess.

 

** Well done!” said she: “here, my brave boy, take the
promised reward.”
AND HER CAT. 7

So she gave him a bright golden guinea, fresh and
plump from the Mint; and then added: “ Relieve the poor
creature of his uneasy burden.”

Whilst the youth was obeying her command, Lady
Greenford examined the poor beast she had saved. It was
the very type and sample of the gutter cat; whose native

_ugliness was still increased by the effects of a long and
wearisome chase: his shaggy hair was soiled with mud,
and it was hard to perceive the colour of his coat through
these motley stains. So very lean was he, that his chine
bones could be seen and reckoned through his spare flesh;
he was so tiny and weak that a mouse might have beaten
him; he had but one thing in his favour, and that was his
expression.

“Bless me! what an ugly cat!” said Lady Greenford,
musingly, after an attentive examination.

f-
——

 
  

  
 

 

   

 

 

 

SS Buoie

Just as she was stepping back to her carriage, the cat
fixed upon her his large sea-green eyes, and aimed at her
a look that there is no describing,—a look of mingled grati-
tude and complaint, yet, withal, so expressive, that it fas-
cinated the good lady at once; for in that one look she
read a whole speech of marvellous eloquence. It seemed
to say: “You yielded to a generous impulse; you saw that
I was weak, distressed, and persecuted, and you pitied me.
8 THE HISTORY OF DAME MITCHELL AND HER CAT.

But now that your compassion has been satisfied, you ex-
amine me, and my ugliness excites your contempt! Alas!
I thought you good, but you are not good; you have only
the instinct of goodness, not goodness itself. Were you
truly charitable, you would feel for me the more on ac-
count of that very ugliness which displeases you; nay, you
would reflect that my troubles spring from my ill looks; and
that this same cause will once more expose me to the same
effects, if you cast me forth again unprotected, at the mercy
of these ruthless boys. Make no boast of such partial be-
nevolence! you have done me no service, for you have only
prolonged my misery: I am lone and unfriended, the whole
world turns away from me; I am condemned to die, let
my fate be fulfilled!”

Lady Greenford was moved to tears by this wonderful
cat. She thought of the doctrine of transmigration of
souls, and fancied that this extraordinary animal must have
been a great orator and moralist before he assumed his
present form. So she turned to her attendant, Dame
Mitchell, who was in the coach, and said :—

“Take the cat and carry it home.”

« What! do you mean to keep him, madame?” replied
Dame Mitchell.

“ Certainly, I do: as long as I live this poor creature
shall have a seat at my table and a place at my hearth;
and if you wish to please me, you will treat him with the
same care and kindness as myself.”

«Madame, you shall be obeyed.”

“Very well, then; let us now drive home.”
   

      

<—_—- ee
OORRTTEY
CHAPTER II.

HOW THE CAT WAS INSTALLED AS AN INMATE AT LADY GREENFORD’S
AND COMMITTED TO THE CARE OF DAME MITCHELL.

LADY GREENFORD resided in a splendid mansion,
on Cheyne Row, Chelsea, facing the river Thames. She
lived there in seclusion, with her two head-servants, Dame
Mitchell, her housekeeper, and Mr. Sharpphiz, who fulfilled
the office of butler and cook. Both of them were some-
what advanced in years; and the countess, who was rather
facetious, and treated them with great familiarity, used to
call them Daddy Sharpphiz, and Dame Mitchell.

Dame Mitchell was favoured with a countenance that
beamed with candour and good-nature; but in the same
proportion as she was frank and open, Daddy Sharpphiz
was close and dissembling. The butler’s wheedling manner
10 THE HISTORY OF DAME MITCHELL

was sufficient to deceive the young and inexperienced;
but, beneath the mask of his pretended good-nature, a keen
observer could detect his perverse disposition: his large,
staring, blue eyes showed duplicity; his wide nostrils bespoke
a violent temper; cunning sat astride on the tip of his long,
thin nose; while his bent for mischief was stamped upon
his mouth. Yet this man, to all appearance, had never

 

 

broken his trust; he had observed the strictest outward
honesty, and studiously concealed the blackness of his heart.
His ill-nature, like to a mine to which the match has not
yet been applied, only wanted an occasion to explode.
Sharpphiz disliked every kind of animal; but, in order
to humour his mistress, he pretended to be fond of them:
AND HER CAT. ll

so when he saw Dame Mitchell bring home the rescued
puss in her arms, he said to himself, “ Here’s another of
them! as if we had not enough before at home.” He
could not forbear sending one glance of aversion towards
the new comer; but the next moment he checked himself,
and, putting on a feigned admiration, he cried out, “ Oh,
what a fine cat! what a pretty cat! I never saw so fine a
cat before!” And then he fondled him with perfidious
kindness.

“Do you really think so?” said Lady Greenford;
“then he is not so ugly after all?”

* Ugly, indeed! see, what fine eyes he has! But
were he ever so frightful, the favours you bestow upon
him would change him altogether.”

* T did not like him at first.”

“ Those who displease us at first are usually our chief
favourites in the end,” replied Daddy Sharpphiz senten-
tiously.

Then they began to dress the cat, and though he had,

 

 
12 THE HISTORY OF DAME MITCHELL

like all other cats, a natural aversion to water, he seemed
to guess that these ablutions improved him, and bore them
with patient resignation. They then laid before him a
dish of broken scraps, which he eagerly devoured. After
this they regulated his mode of lite; that is to say, the
time for his meals, his daily occupation, and his lodging.
They then thought about a name for him. Dame Mitchell
and Daddy Sharpphiz suggested several high-sounding
ones, such as, Ratsbane, Featherpaw, and Grimalkin; but
the countess refused to make choice of any of them: she
wished to give him a name that would recall to mind the
circumstances under which the poor cat had been met
with; she therefore consulted an old bookworm on the fol-
lowing day, and he suggested the name of Mowmouth,
which is composed of two Hebrew words, signifying,
rescued from the saucepans.

A few days after, Mowmouth was no longer the same
cat: his coat had been most carefully polished; a nourish-
ing diet had rounded his shape; his whiskers stood up again
like those of a braggadocio of the seventeenth century ;
his eyes glistened like emeralds; and he had become a living
proof of the influence of ease and good cheer in the im-
provement of the breed. He owed his present good looks
chiefly to Dame Mitchell, to whom he had vowed eternal
gratitude; but he felt, on the contrary, a mortal aversion
for Daddy Sharpphiz; and, as if he had divined him for
an enemy, he rejected whatever food the butler offered
to him.

Mowmouth lived on very happily, and every thing
seemed to smile around him; but sorrow, like the sword of
Damocles, is for ever suspended over the heads of cats as
wellas men. On the 24th of January, 1753, Mowmouth
exhibited a more than usual dejection: he scarcely replied
to the fond caresses of Lady Greenford; he would not eat,
and spent the day squatted by the chimney corner, looking
at the fire with a sad and doleful eye. He foreboded some
AND HER Cart. 13

misfortune, which did really come to pass: that night a cou-
‘2 rier was despatched from
2 the family country-seat,

a in Worcestershire, who
brought a letter to the
countess, from her youn-
ger sister, informing her
that she had broken one
__ of her legs by a fall from
==. her carriage, and that she

wanted to see her sole
surviving relative with-
out any loss of time. La-
» dy Greenford was too
kind and affectionate to
hesitate a single mo-
ment: “I will set out to-morrow,” said she. Hereupon
Mowmouth, whose eyes were watching his benefactress,
uttered a doleful mewing.

« Poor cat!” replied the lady, tenderly; “TI shall be
obliged to leave thee. I cannot carry thee with me, for
my sister bears a dislike to animals of your species—she
believes them to be treacherous. What unmerited obloquy !
Tn her youth it once happened, as she was stroking a young
cat, who was so much affected by her kindness that he
scratched her unintentionally. Was there any treachery
in that ?—no! it was a sign of sensibility rather; and yet,
ever since that day, my sister has sworn an everlasting
hatred to cats.”

Mowmouth looked at his mistress, as much as to say,
* You, at any rate, do us justice—you, a woman of so
superior a mind!”

After a moment's silence, the countess added, “ Dame
Mitchell, I trust this cat to your care.” ‘

“We will take great care of him, my lady,” said Daddy
Sharpphiz.

  
  
14 THE HISTORY OF DAME MITCHELL

“Don’t you meddle with him, I request,” interrupted
Lady Greentord. “ You know he has taken a dislike to you,
and the very sight of you puts him in a rage—for what
reason I cannot tell; but the truth is he cannot bear you.”

“Tis so, indeed,” said Daddy Sharpphiz, with a deep
sigh; “but the cat is unjust, for I like him though he does
not like me.”

* So is my sister unjust; the cats may like her, but
she does not like them: I bear with her prejudice, do you
bear with Mowmouth’s.” Having said this much in a
tone of authority, Lady Greenford turned to her house-
keeper: “It is to you, Dame Mitchell, and to you alone,
that I trust him: mind you restore him to me well and
sound, and I will load you with favours. I am sixty-five,
you are ten years younger, it is therefore probable that
you will close my eyes ”

“ Oh, my lady! why do you allude to such a painful
subject ?”

“Let me conclude. To provide against accidents, I
had already secured you a comfortable livelihood ; but if
you protect Mowmouth, and preserve him against injury,
I will give you a pension of one hundred pounds.”

* Oh, my lady,” said Dame Mitchell, touched to the
quick, “ there is no need of stimulating my duty by re-
wards: I like your cat with all my heart, and will always
be devoted to him.”

“T am convinced of it, and will, therefore, reward your
devotion.”

During this conference, Daddy Sharpphiz did all he
could to conceal his jealousy. “ Every thing for her, and
nothing for me!” said he. “ One hundred pounds a-year!
why it’s a fortune. Shall she have this? No! she never
shall.”

The next day, as early as eight o’clock in the morn-
ing, four mettlesome horses were put to the postchaise,
which was to carry the excellent dowager down to Wor-

 
AND HER CAT. 15

 

cestershire. She took a last leave of her pet, pressed him
to her bosom, and entered her carriage. Up to that mo-
ment, Mowmouth had felt only a vague anxiety, but now
he knew all. He saw his benefactress ready to depart,
and, dreading to lose her, he sprang in after her.
. You must stay here,” said Lady
Greenford, vainly endeavouring
to restrain her tears.
Who would believe it ?—the cat
likewise wept.
In order to shorten this distress-
ing scene, Dame Mitchell seized
the cat by the shoulders, and tore
} him away from the cushion of the
§ carriage, to which he clung with
his claws. The door was then shut,
the horses started and plunged,
and the equipage began to roll off
at the rate of ten miles an hour.
Mowmouth twisted and writhed
about in a last convulsion, and then fainted away.

 
16 THE HISTORY OF DAME MITCHELL AND HER CAT.

Lady Greenford put her head through the door of the
ects shook her handkerchief, and exclaimed, “Dame
itchell, take care of my cat!”
“ Depend upon me, my lady: I promise you to keep
him fat and healthy against your return.”
« And I,” muttered Daddy Sharpphiz, in a sepulchral
voice, “ swear, that he shall die !”

 
CHAPTER III.

DISCLOSING THE GOOD FEELINGS OF DAME MITCHELL AND THE
WICKEDNESS OF DADDY SHARPPHIZ.

DAME MITCHELL,
agreeably to the trust
confided to her, treated
Mowmouth with a
truly motherly kind-
ness: she took so much

SSS care of him, and fed
him so well, that he grew to be one of the finest cats in the
fashionable neighbourhood of Chelsea, which abounded, how-
ever, in cats of high degree. She was always watching
over him: she helped bim to the best dishes, and put him
to sleep on the softest down. Lest he might chance to be
one day taken ill, she resolved to study those complaints to
which cats are subject, and borrowed several books which

 

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ee

Hl ,

i iN Ke

 

   
 
 
  

 

 

 

WARD
PRE

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oy

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18 THE HISTORY OF DAME MITCHELL

treated on that important subject. She even went so far in
the ardour of her zeal as to read the “ History of the Cat
Species,” written by the erudite Francis Augustus Velvet-
paw, a Fellow of the principal Learned Societies, and Pre-
sident of the Feline Institution.

Dame Mitchell's good conduct was not prompted by any
sordid interest. She never thought of herself. Worthy
dame! Frugal and easily satisfied, she was always sure to
have enough: all she desired was a little room, a loaf of
brown bread, and a cup of tea; a stock of fuel during the
winter months, and a spinning-wheel. But she had her
nephews and nieces, and her god-children, whom she wished
to serve; and to these she already distributed in her mind
Lady Greenford’s legacy.

The continued and increasing prosperity of Mowmouth
exasperated Daddy Sharpphiz:
he saw, with a kind of dread, that

“the time was approaching when
the faithful guardian would be
rewarded; and he was always
pondering the means of carrying
\ off her four-footed ward, so as to
i draw down their mistress’s anger
upon her head. By continually
nursing his hatred and envy in
secret, he grew at length familiar
as it were with crime.
« What’s to be done,” said he,
“to purify the house of this hor-
rid cat? By what means shall we
effect it ? By steel, by poison, or
by water? It shall be by water.”
= His resolution once taken, he
thought of nothing else but its execution. It was not easy
to get possession of Mowmouth, whom Dame Mitchell
never let out of her sight, and who, distrustful of the butler,

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
AND HER CAT. 19

always stood on his defence. Sharpphiz watched several
days for a favourable opportunity.

One evening, after an excellent supper, Mowmouth had
ensconced himself by the drawing-room fire, and was peace-

 

RTL EN

ably sleeping at Dame Mitchell’s feet, when Daddy Sharp-
phiz entered the room.

“Good!” said he, “the cat’s asleep. Now to call off
his protectress.”

“How good you are to come and keep me company!”
said the dame, politely. ‘I hope I see you well, this
evening ?”

“Perfectly well; but every body cannot say as much.
Our gate-keeper, for instance, is in a dangerous state ; his

B
20 THE HISTORY OF DAME MITCHELL

rheumatics worry him to death, and he wishes particularly
to see you for a moment. You always have a soothing
word to say to the distressed, and capital receipts to cure
them: so go and pay our poor friend a visit, for I am sure
the sight of you will relieve him.”

Thereupon Dame Mitchell arose and went down to the
porter, who was really labouring under a violent attack of
rheumatism.

“ Now we'll settle the business,” cried Daddy Sharp-

hiz.

: So he went on tiptoe into the anteroom, like a stealthy
wolf, and took up a covered basket which he had hidden
there in a cupboard. Then he came back to the place
where Mowmouth lay sleeping, and seized him abruptly by
the nape of his neck: the poor creature suddenly awoke,
and saw himself suspended in the air, face to face with
Daddy Sharpphiz, his mortal enemy. In this frightful
situation he attempted to cry out, to struggle, to call for
help; but no time was allowed him. The cruel butler
plunged the poor cat into the basket, shut the lid upon

 
AND HER CAT. 21

him, and hastened down stairs, with haggard looks and hair
on end, like a man who knows he is committing a crime.
It was a fine night in February: the sky was calm and
clear, the weather cold and dry; the moon was shining in
all its splendour, but at intervals was overshadowed by a
few thick clouds which completely darkened its light.
Daddy Sharpphiz had to cross the garden and go through
a small door, the key of which he had borrowed: he stole
along from shrub to shrub, taking care to avoid the paths
except when darkness hid him from view. He had partly

   

Yaone

‘opened the door, when he heard on the outside a great noise
of people running and shouting; he shuddered in spite of
himself, stood stockstill, and listened.

“ What a fool I am,” said he, after a short and silent
examination; “I had forgotten this was the night of the
masqueiade: it is nothing but a few maskers !”

B2
22 THE HISTORY OF DAME MITCHELL

 

 

 

And truly it was a troop of masqueraders coming from
Ranelagh. Sharpphiz waited to let them pass, and then
hurried out. As soon as he reached the bank of the river,
he felt so elated at his success that he began to whistle the
gavotte and cut capers: his transports of delight reminded
you of a cannibal dancing round the body of his victim.

He ran along as fast as his legs would carry him, by the
side of the river, until he came to Westminster-bridge,
then stopped in the very middle of it, held out the basket
beyond the parapet, turned it suddenly over, and then
flung the wretched Mowmouth into the dark waters of the
stream. ‘The cat, as he fell through the air, sent forth a
ery which sounded like a human voice. The murderer shud-
dered: but his emotion was only transient ; and, thrusting
his hands into his pockets, he said in a bitter tone of
mockery,—

“Good by, my dear Mowmouth; try to get safe to
AND HER CAT. 23

       
   

Vive
a Ae Ae
pr sn CAT) it
tia
=) UNNI MIN)
SMM Ln”

VS

es

 
   
  
  

          

ff sy ui /

NA eg tS
wy

land. But, now I think of it,” he added, “cats can swim ;
this rascal may yet escape! Psha! psha! it’s a long way
from Lady Greenford’s to Westminster-bridge.”

Quieted by this reflection, the butler hurried along till
he reached the garden door, then ran up to his room, and
lay there in ambush, to see and enjoy Dame Mitchell’s
lamentation. The yood woman had stayed a long time with
the sick porter, but at length she left him to go and give
her cat the cup of sweet milk with which she used to treat
him every night.

She went leisurely up to the drawing-room, feeling
calm and not foreseeing the dreadful catastrophe. Not
finding the cat where she had left him, she merely thought
he had blockaded himself behind the cushions of the sofa;
so she turned them over and over to look for him; she then
24 THE HISTORY OF DAME MITCHELL

searched under the chairs and tables, and finally ran out
upon the landing, crying out, ©

“ Mowmouth! Mowmouth! where are you?”

“He does not answer me,” said she: “but, when I
went down just now, Sharpphiz was with him; perhaps
he can tell me what’s become of him.”

So she went immediately and knocked at the butler’s
door. He pretended to awake from a sound sleep, and in-
quired, in a harsh voice, what they wanted with him.

“Ts not Mowmouth here?”

“You know he never comes to my room; you know he
can’t bear me.”

* Alas! where is he, then? I left him in the drawing-
room, near the fireplace, and now I can’t find him any-
where !”

“Can he be lost?” said Daddy Sharpphiz; affecting
the most eager anxiety.

“Lost! no, that is impossible! He must have hid
himself in some nook or corner. Let us look for him,”
said the hypocrite; “let us look for him directly. Mow-
mouth is a dear creature, and deserves to have the whole
household called out of bed to search for him.”

Every servant in the mansion was called up to assist in

)
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KL IEE
yw’

ape
oo

cA

       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
‘AND HER CAT. 25

the search; each carried a light, and one or other of them

groped into every hole and corner, from the cellar to the

garret, from the yard to the garden; while Sharpphiz led

the van with officious zeal. After a long and fruitless

search, Dame Mitchell, overcome with fatigue and excite-
_ment, flung herself exhausted into an elbow-chair.

   
  
   
  
  

     
   
       

   

Wed
y fe iy

(te

 

aS

i
ee?

y
———— f |

SS

—S

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

« Alas!” said she, “I only left him for a short time,
and it was to perform an act of charity.”

“J begin to think that your cat is really lost,” replied
Sharpphiz, bitterly. “This is a sad misfortune for you.
What will Lady Greenford say when she returns? She
will perhaps turn you away!”

“Turn me away !” exclaimed Dame Mitchell, starting
and standing straight up all at once: but the next moment
she sunk back, she changed colour, her eyes closed, and
she fell into a fit.

Daddy Sharpphiz looked on without pity, without a
single touch of remorse; the ruthless villain even laughed
in his sleeve at her anguish.
26 THE HISTORY OF DAME MITCHELL

CHAPTER IV.

DAME MITCHELL'S CAT DISPLAYS A QUICKNESS OF PARTS ABOVE HIS
CONDITION, AND SHOWS COURAGE IN ADVERSITY.

WE tost sight of Mowmouth the moment after he was
flung from Westminster-bridge, when he remained strug-

 

gling in the water until he was fortunate enough to reach
the principal arch, to the ledge of which he was enabled to
cling. Thence he looked around him: the Thames ap-
peared to him a vast and boundless ocean, which he would
not have strength enough to cross. So, rather than attempt
to make for a bank which it seemed hopeless for him to
reach, he preferred remaining where he was, even at the
risk of starvation, or of being drifted away by the tide.
At first he mewed a signal of distress; but soon after, giv-
ing himself up for lost, he thought it was of no use to
AND HER CAT. Q7

weary his lungs, and therefore waited for the course of
events with that patient resignation which formed a main
point in his character.

 

About five in the morning, two worthy hosiers of the
Strand, who were very fond of angling, came to cast their
fishing-lines from the parapet of the bridge. For in these
quiet days, when steamboats were unknown, and the
bosom of old Father Thames was less encumbered with
every kind of craft than it is now, the disciples of old
Izaak Walton tranquilly pursued their sport from this now
crowded thoroughfare.

“You are out betimes, neighbour Cotton,” said the
28 THE HISTORY OF DAME MITCHELL

last comer of the two; “it seems that we are both here on
the same errand.”

 

 

 

 

«And in good time, too, I trow, friend Shorthose;
there has been a swell of tide last night, the fish are
coming up in shoals, and one must be unhandy indeed not
to catch any.”

‘Suppose we make a match, neighbour Cotton; let us
fish in concert, share the booty between us, and breakfast
together.”

“ Aoreed!” cried Cotton. And then, as their right
AND HER CAT. 29

hands held the fishing-rods, they struck each other on the
left hand to ratify the treaty.

When Mowmouth saw the two lines let down, his
hopes began to revive. As soon as they came within reach
he laid hold of them with his claws, and the anglers,
feeling an unusual weight, exclaimed, in one breath,
“ There’s a bite! there’s a bite!” and hastened to draw
up their lines.

“Tl bet you I’ve caught a barbel!” said
Mr. Cotton; and he would have rubbed his
hands with glee, had they both been disen-
gaged. :

“J must have a fine carp on my hook!”
replied Mr. Shorthose.

He had scarcely finished his sentence before
Mowmouth leaped upon the parapet.

«“ Weare duped !” cried the two fishermen;
and they ran after the unlucky quadruped so
b wonderfully rescued from the stream, but the
cat ran faster than they did and got away easily.
As soon as he found himself alone again, he stopped to take
breath, examined the houses, and not finding any of them
like his own, very naturally concluded his home was not
there. It was necessary, however, to get a birth some-
where, for he was shivering with cold and panting after the
pursuit he had undergone: nor could he stay longer in the
street without exposing himself to an inflammation of the
lungs. Guided by the light of an oven, he made his way
into the underground workshop of a famous baker, squatted
pel behind a pile of bread-baskets, and gradually fell
asleep.

By and by he was roused by his hunger.

Mowmouth was the offspring of poor parents, who had
turned him adrift at a tender age; he had been reared in
the street, obliged to find his own living, and had his cha-
racter formed in the school of adversity. He was there-

 
30 THE HISTORY OF DAME MITCHELL

fore a perfect master of the art and mystery of catching rats
and mice, which cats of noble houses often neglect to prac-
tise. He set himself on the watch, and surprised a mouse
who had left its hole to eat the flour; he sprang upon the
rash adventurer, describing what geometricians call a
parabola, and bit his mouth to prevent his crying. But
this chase, although skilfully managed and occasioning little
noise, attracted the attention of “the young journeyman

baker.

 

* Hold, here’s a cat!” cried the lad, seizing a shovel.

The master baker turned round, and seeing Mowmouth
eating a mouse, said to the young journeyman, “Don’t
hurt him; you see he is doing us a service.”

“But where, I wonder, did he come from?”

** What matter, if he is useful here,” replied the baker,
who was a baker of cultivated mind, and whose learning
had reached the fourth class. “Eat, puss, eat, continued
he,” stooping to caress Mowmouth; “swallow as many
mice as you can, there will still be too many remaining.’

The cat took advantage of this permission. After he
AND HER CAT. 31

had appeased his appetite, he wished to withdraw and go in
search of Lady Greenford’s house; but the baker prevented
his retreat.

“Stop a bit,” said he, “I wanted a good cat; and as
God has sent me one, I should never forgive myself were
I to let him go. Hollo, James! close up every opening,
and if the rogue tries to make off, give him three or four
blows with the broom.”

Thus it happened that Mowmouth’s host became his
tyrant: so true it is that personal interest will deprave and
corrupt the best natures. Our cat, as if he had understood
what was doing, sprang without hesitation upon the shoul-
ders of the journeyman, and thence into the public way.
A new danger, however, presented itself: startled by this
sudden apparition, a huge bull-dog couched before him.

   

 

 

 

Mowmouth would have gladly avoided so disproportioned
a strugele; but the dog’s eyes were riveted upon him: he
watched every move; turned with Mowmouth first to the
right and then to the left, and growled in a threatening
voice. Both stood still upon the watch: the bull-dog with
32 THE HISTORY OF DAME MITCHELL

his paws stretched out, his teeth closed, his body drawn
back: the cat with his mouth open, his back erect, his head
down and projecting. Neither seemed inclined to commence
hostilities. At length the dog rushed upon his adversary ;
but the latter adroitly turned aside, leaped over him, and
fled along the bank of the river. The bull-dog hurried in
pursuit: away they ran, darting through the crowd, and
gliding between the carriages; while all the stray dogs
they encountered instinctively joined in the pursuit, so that
in a minute or two the unhappy Mowmouth had between
twenty and thirty of them at his heels.

 

 

 

 

 

JOUARTLEY

“Tam undone,” said he; “but at least I will sell my
life dearly.”

He stood with his back to the wall and assumed a look
of defiance: gnashing his teeth, his hair on end, he looked
upon his numerous enemies with an eye so menacing that
all drew back with one accord. Taking advantage of their
perplexity, Mowmouth wheeled suddenly about, and sped
AND HER CAT. 83

up a wall, He was now beyond the reach of the dogs, but
was not yet out of danger: if he did but slip, if his strength
forsook him, if the plaster of the wall should give way
beneath his claws, behold there were twenty open mouths
hungering for their prey, and ready to mangle him the
minute he fell.

Meanwhile Dame Mitchell had spent the night in tears
and sobs: she could not be comforted for the loss of Mow-
mouth; she was for ever calling on him in a voice of
lamentation; and (if the old song may be relied on) she
was heard to cry from the window, “ Who will restore him
to me?”

The next day, at the first blush of morning, the trea-
cherous Sharpphiz appeared before Dame Mitchell, and
said to her, “Well, my dear fellow-servant, have you
found him?”

“No, alas!” muttered she: “have you any tidings
respecting him ?”

“Nothing certain,” returned the butler, who only
wanted to tease the poor woman; “but I dreamt about
him the whole night. I saw him in my dream, pale and
wan, like a cat in very bad health.”

“ Where was it you saw him ?”

“T fancied he was in a garden, at the foot of a lilac-
tree.”

On hearing this Dame Mitchell ran out into the garden,
where, as you may guess, she did not find her missing
favourite. The whole of that day Sharpphiz took pleasure
ih deluding her with false expectations, which were of course
only followed by disappointments, which became more and
more bitter every time.

‘Dame Mitchell,” said he to her, “ just now, as I was
passing by the pantry door, I thought I heard the mewing
of a cat.”

Dame Mitchell hastened into the pantry, but saw no-
thing of her favourite.
84 THE HISTORY OF DAME MITCHELL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another time he came up to her out of breath, and ex-
claimed, “At length we have caught him! Iam all but
certain he is groping about in the cellar.”

And then the credulous dame would venture into the
dark vaults of the cellar, where nothing but rats were to be
seen.

As it was growing dusk, Sharpphiz began to hum the
words which have been transmitted to us in the following
verse :-—

* Dame Mitchell make haste,
I have found out your cat:
He is up in the garret,
Giving chase to a rat;
With his sword in his paw,
And his gun made of straw.”

 

There was a cruel mockery in these words. For to
assert that Mowmouth was hunting the rats with a sword
and a gun made of straw, was alleging a thing altogether
AND HER CAT. 85

improbable. But Dame Mitchell’s grief and anxiety had
so greatly disturbed her, that she sought for any thing to
feed her hopes.

“In the garret, is he?” cried the dame, without no-
ticing the rest of the sentence. “Let us go, my dear sir,
let us go there and look for him. Let me lean on your
arm, for I am so perplexed, so disconcerted, and so spent
with fatigue, that I have not strength enough left to go
u ue?

They both bent their way to the garret, and Dame
Mitchell, with a lantern in her hand, went through and
rummaged every attic. But no living creature was to be
seen.

“You have been mistaken once more,” muttered the
dame, despondingly.

* Not so, not so,” answered the wicked butler; “let us
continue the search, and we shall find him at last: I know
we shall. We have not looked in that nook yonder, behind
the wood bundles.”

The credulous dame went up
to the spot pointed out to her,
and, to the utter amazement of
the deceitful Sharpphiz, the
cat, whom he thought he had
drowned, lay there alive and
hearty, and his eyes gleamed
with indignation at his foe.

“Tt is he, it is he, indeed!” cried Dame Mitchell, in
ecstasy, as she caught up Mowmouth in her arms. “Oh!
my dear, dear Mister Sharnphi! my good and trusty
friend, how thankful I am that you brought me here!”

The surly butler was not much gratified with these
praises, which he felt he did not deserve. Pale, shivering,
rooted to the spot where he was standing, he hung down
his head in the presence of his victim, thus unaccountably
restored to life. And yet there was no wonder in it:

c

 
86 THE HISTORY OF DAME MITCHELL AND HER CAT.

Mowmouth, hunted by the dogs, had climbed over a wall,
and leaping along from street to street, from garden to gar-
den, from one house-top to another, had at last made his way

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home; and, fearing the implacable resentment of his deadly
foe, he had dreaded to show himself, but lay skulking in
the garret.

 
 

CHAPTER V.

DAME MITCHELL’S CAT BAFFLES HIS ENEMY.

()VERJOYED at the recovery of her charge, and fearing
she might be again deprived of Mowmouth, and of the
benefits she anticipated to derive from her care of him,
Dame Mitchell became still more attentive and watchful.
Mowmouth, on his part, knowing the man he had to deal
with, determined to shun the butler, or, if needs were, to
fight him with teeth and claws. As for Daddy Sharpphiz,
it was enough for him to know his designs had been fru-
strated to make him persist in them; and he now desired the
ruin of poor, innocent Mowmouth, not out of mere jealousy
to Dame Mitchell, but out of enmity to the cat himself.
“Qh, intolerable vexation!” cried he, in a bitter tone;
“T ought to hide myself in a desert, or bury myself in the
bowels of the earth! What, I! Jeremy Sharpphiz, a ma-
ture man, a man of learning and experience, and, I may ven-
ture to say, a delightful companion, am overcome, baffled,
and duped by a pitiful cat! I left him at the bottom of
the river, and found him afterwards at the top of the house.
I wanted to sever him from his protectress, and have only
strengthened their attachment. I carried Dame Mitchell
to the garret to torment her, instead of which I had to wit-
ness her delight. The cat I believed to be dead has ap-
. c 2
88 THE HISTORY OF DAME MITCHELL

peared again to flout me. But he shall soon cease to brave
me.” And then Daddy Sharpphiz sunk into a fit of deep
and gloomy meditation.

Mowmouth had not yet
dined, and he strove, by
expressive mewings, to sig-
nify that he should be glad
ofsomerefreshment. Dame |);
Mitchell immediately said)
to him(for she used to speak
to him as toa rational crea- |
ture),—

“« Have patience, sir, you
shall be attended to di- |
rectly.” i

She went down to the “
drawing-room, where she
generally sat since Lady
Greenford’s departure: and the cat, who followed her, was
manifestly disappointed on seeing her go towards Sharp-
phiz’s apartment. Nevertheless, he entered it along with
her, being persuaded that, in the presence of so faithful a
friend, the butler durst not attempt any new treason.

When she knocked at the door, Daddy Sharpphiz had
ie up a piece of green paper inscribed with this
label : *

   

 
AND HER CAT. 39

« That’s the thing for me,” said he, putting the paper
in his pocket; “ratsbane must also be catsbane, and our
loving Mowmouth shall prove it.”

«What can I do for you, worthy Dame Mitchell?”

“It is five o’clock, Mr. Sharpphiz, and you are for-
getting my cat.”

«TJ, forget him!” exclaimed the butler, joining his hands,
as if he felt grieved by the remark: “I was this moment
thinking of him. I am going to make him such a nice de-
licious pie that he will long for it every day.”

“ Thank you, Mr. Sharpphiz; I shall not fail to inform
the countess of your attention to her favourite. I have
received a letter from
her this very day: she
: tells me that she will
So Dame Mutchell, shortly return home,

, | that she trusts to find

at Lady Greenford J,| Mowmouth in good

case, and that she

Chelsea. means to give me a

handsome gratuity.

* You will readily con-

ceive my delight, Mr. Sharpphiz. My sister is left a widow

with four children to bring up, to whom I send every year

all my little savings; hitherto this assistance has been very

trifling, but now, thanks to the Countess’s presents, these

poor children may be sent to school and afterwards put to
learn a good trade.”

As she spoke, Dame Mitchell’s eyes glistened with joy
through her tears, for she felt the delight which springs
from the contemplation of good deeds. But the wicked
butler was not moved. He had s0 fully resigned himself
to his evil passions that they completely enslaved him, and
smothered by degrees every good feeling, as the foul tares,
if allowed to grow, stifle the wholesome corn.

One would have thought that Mowmouth understood

 
   
 
 

 
40 THE HISTORY OF DAME MITCHELL

what this man said; for he crawled up to the place where
Dame Mitchell had sat down to chat for a while, and, after
entreating her with his looks, began to pull her by the
gown, as much as to say, “ Let us go away from here.”

“Take care!” said the excellent dame, “you will tear
my gown.”

 

But Mowmouth repeated the action.

* Do you want to go out?” resumed the dame.

Mowmouth capered briskly.

* Positively,” added she, “this cat is never at his ease
out of the drawing-room.” °

So she got up and left the room: Mowmouth leading
the way and jumping for joy.

A quarter of an hour later, the butler had prepared a
most savoury pie, made of poultry, the best white bread,
and other ingredients, deservedly esteemed by gourmands.

After having introduced
a large dose of ratsbane,
he set it down in the ante-
chamber to the drawing-
room, and, throwing open
the door, he cried out,—
“Sir, your dinner is
ready.”
On beholding this deli-
cate fare, Mowmouth
trembled with delight,
= for confess it we must,
he was something of a

 

 

 

 

 

 
AND HER CAT. 41

dainty feeder. He stretched out his nose towards the plate,
but the moment after he drew it away with an erect back;
for a most noxious and villanous smell had penetrated his
nostrils. He walked round the plate, smelt it again, and
then again drew away from it. The sagacious animal had
smelt the poison.

“ How singular this is!” said Dame Mitchell; and, after
vainly offering the plate to her cat, she went to look for
Sharpphiz, to tell him what she had seen. The traitor
heard her with suppressed vexation.

‘“ What!” said he, “did he refuse to eat? In that
case, I suppose, he was not hungry.”

“TI suppose so, too, Mr. Sharpphiz, for your pie looks a
splendid one; I should not disdain it myself; and I am
almost tempted to taste it, to set Mowmouth an example.”
When Daddy Sharp-
phiz heard this obser-
vation, in spite of his
hardness of heart, he
could not help shud-
dering. For a mo-
ment he shrunk with
horror from his crime,
= and he said, eagerly,

to the worthy dame,—
“For Heaven’s sake
donothing of the sort.”

“ And why so, pray? Is there any thing unwholesome
in the pie?” F

“No, of course not,” stammered Daddy Sharpphiz;
“but food for a cat is not food for a Christian. We must all
keep our places, and not debase the dignity of human
nature.” pat

Dame Mitchell yielded to this reasoning, and said with
some impatience,—

“ Well, well, let Mowmouth do as he pleases! I wo’n’t

 
42 THE HISTORY OF DAME MITCHELL

submit to all his whims and fancies; I shall give him
nothing else!”

The next day the pasty was still untouched. The but-
ler had hoped that hunger would have urged the cat to
feast upon the poisoned food, but Mowmouth knew how to
bear misfortune; so he endured abstinence, and lived upon
scraps and dry crusts, and shrunk with dismay every time
his guardian presented to him the fatal dish, which was at
last forgotten and put away in a corner of a cupboard in
the ante-chamber.

Daddy Sharpphiz waxed very wrath when he saw that
his plot had not succeeded. His wish to get rid of Mow-
mouth became quite a mania: he thought of it by day and
by night. Every letter received from Lady Greenford, in
which she inquired about the cat, and renewed her promise
of rewarding Dame Mitchell, only served to goad on the
blind fury of their enemy. He devised the most villanous
schemes to encompass the death of Mowmouth without im-
plicating himself, but none of them appeared to him to be
so sure in their effects as he wished. At length, however,
he resolved on this one :—

In Dame Mitchell’s room stood a marble
bust of the Great Duke of Marlbo-
rough, which represented him in a
Roman cuirass and a wig interwoven
with Jaurels. Behind this bust was an
oval window which gave light to a
staircase, and exactly beneath it, in
Dame Mitchell's room, lay the soft
cushion which was Mowmouth’s bed,
so that the bust would be certain to
smash. him, if the bust could only con-
trive to fall of itself.

So, one evening, Daddy Sharpphiz
stole, without making the least noise,
into Dame Mitchell’s chamber, opened the oval window,

 
AND HER CAT. 43

taking care not to shut it to again, and then as softly with-
drew. At midnight, when the whole of the domestics were
asleep, he took his stand on the staircase, facing the oval
window, and leaned heavily back against the banisters,
_ and with the help of a long broom, pushed the bust over,
which fell down upon the cushion with a terrific crash.

   

fy
i
EN

  
   

 

      

Ia
fe

bial
————

  

y

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The wicked man had foreseen the effect of this manceuvre :
it was the signal of his triumph, and Mowmouth’s death.
Nevertheless, when he heard the bust roll upon the floor,
he was seized with a panic, and fled back in terror to his
own room.

Dame Mitchell had started up in bed, out of her sleep:
she was in utter darkness and could get no light; for in those
days they had not the advantage of our modern lucifers.
At first her: surprise and affright were so great, that she
could not collect her senses; but she soon began to cry out,
“Thieves! thieves!” as loud as she could baw]. The whole
house was roused in a trice, and all the servants came run-
ning in to know what was the matter. Sharpphiz came
44 THE HISTORY OF DAME MITCHELL

last of all, with a long cotton nightcap on his head, and
altogether in a very elegant nightgear.

 

 

  

‘What has been going on?” he asked.
*T see it now,” replied the housekeeper; “it is the
ee of the Great Duke of Marlborough which has fallen
own.”
*‘Psha!” said Daddy Sharpphiz, feigning astonishment;
“but, if so, your cat must have been struck on the head by
itr

But, as he uttered this speech, Mowmouth crept from
under the bed, and sprang up to Dame Mitchell for pro-
tection. The butler was thunderstruck.
AND HER CAT. 45

Every body knows how light is the sleep of a cat: Mow-
mouth, whose custom was to sleep with one eye at a time,
had got up at once on hearing a noise behind the oval; like
most animals he was inquisitive, and tried to find out what-
ever astonished him. He therefore stationed himself in the

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

middle of the room, the better to observe what could be the
reason why a long broom should enter at that late hour,
and by so strange achannel. Frightened by the fall of the
bust, he ran under the bed to a place of refuge.

They gave Dame Mitchell a glass of water, with some-
thing else in it, to restore her spirits; they picked up the
great warrior, who had broken both his nose and chin, and
had lost half his wig in the fray; and then every one went
back to bed again.

“Escaped once more,” said Sharpphiz to himself; “he
will always escape me I suppose! I shall not be able to
send him to sleep with his forefathers before my lady re-
turns. Dame Mitchell will have the pension of one hundred
46 THE HISTORY OF DAME MITCHELL AND HER CAT.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

pounds, whilst I shall continue as poor as Job. That
abominable cat distrusts me; whatever I myself attempt
against him is doomed to miscarry :—positively I must have
an accomplice.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

CHAPTER VI

HOW DADDY SHARPPHIZ IMPARTED HIS VILLANOUS DESIGNS TO
NICHOLAS CRANKEY.

SO then Daddy Sharpphiz began to look about him for
an accomplice. His first thought had been to choose him
among the servants of the household; but he reflected that
they were all of them on the best terms with Dame Mit-
chell, that they might sell him, and have him ignominiously
expelled from a mansion in which he filled so honourable
and lucrative a post; and yet he wanted an accomplice.
From what rank ought he to choose him? what should be

‘ his age? and on what terms
F ought he to agree with him?
Brooding over these thoughts,
the butler went out one morn-
\ ing, about half-past six o'clock,
to saunter along the river-side.
As soon as he had passed the
doorway, he remarked, on the
opposite side of the street, a tall
rawbonéd woman, clad in a dress
“#e=) of showy colours. This good
woman had hollow eyes, a yellow, tawny skin, a nose peaked
like a parrot’s, and a face all covered with wriakles. She was

   
48 THE HISTORY OF DAME MITCHELL

talking to a lad of fourteen, or thereabout, whose clothes were
in tatters, but whose countenance was open and sprightly.
Daddy Sharpphiz thought he remembered this funny old
woman, though he could not tell where he had seen her.
If he had been less moody and thoughtful, he would have
taken more time to recollect, but his wish to do away with
the cat completely occupied his attention ; so he went along,
with heavy brow, his head bent down, his arms crossed over
his breast, and his eyes fixed towards the earth, as if he
expected the wished-for accomplice to rise up before him.
He wandered along in this state for some time, and so much
had his evil passions inflamed him, that the morning breeze
fanned him without cooling his blood; nor could the sight
of the clear blue sky, or the singing of the birds, as they
chased one another along the banks of the stream, awaken
in him those calm and tender feelings, with which all good
people are inspired at the dawn of day.

When he returned, the old woman was gone; but her
juvenile companion was still at the same spot, sitting on a
post, and seemed to be scanning Lady Greenford’s mansion
with steadfast attention. Sharpphiz went up to him, and
addressed him in these terms:—

“What are you doing there, my lad?”

* Nothing at all; I am looking at that house.”

“That I could have told you; but why do you look
at it?”

“ Because I think it very grand, and should like to live
in it; how happy one must be inside of it!”—_-

“Why, yes,” replied the butler, emphatically ; “people
do live there very comfortably. Who was that woman you
_were speaking to just now ?”

“Tt was Mrs. Crustychin.”

“Mrs. Crustychin, the famous fortune-teller, who lives
yonder, at the other end of the street?”

“The very same.”

“Do you know her?”
AND HER CAT. 49

 

*T should think I did! I run on errands for her.”

“Indeed. Pray what did the old woman say to you?”

* She told me, if I could enter the mansion as a servant,
I should lead a pleasant life.”

“Lady Greenford is from home, my man; and her
establishment is quite complete.”

«What a pity!” replied the lad, sighing deeply.

Sharpphiz went on a step or two, as if to go in, put his
hand to the knocker, and then turned round and walked
back to the boy.

“What’s your name?”

“Nicholas; after my father: but Iam more frequently.
called by the nickname of Crankey.”

“ What trade do you follow?”

“As yet I have none: my father works on the river;
as for me, I live how I can, from hand to mouth. I run
on errands; I catch birds and sell them; I pick up rusty
50 THE HISTORY OF DAME MITCHELL

nails out of the gutters and sell them to the storekeepers; I
hold gentlemen’s horses, and open the doors of hackney
coaches; sometimes I play dummy in the booths at a fair;

ON,
yl) Z

   
  

          
   

ei Se
Gey, ND

   

 

 

 

   

Byson ~ ————,
— a

at others, act the character of Jack the lamplighter; and
now and then I sing a sea song to amuse the sailors.
But all these trades, sir, put together, are not worth one
honest calling, and I find it hard to get bread every day.”

“TI feel for you,” replied Daddy Sharpphiz, “and I am
almost inclined to give you an opportunity of doing well.
Tell me, Crankey, have you a taste for cookery ?”

“gad! I am fond of eating and drinking; but my
means are too limited to indulge my taste.”

“T don’t want to know, you booby, if you like good
living; I merely ask you if you have any skill in cookery.”

“JT have never tried my hand at it.”

“ Well, Crankey, I willinstruct you: come, follow me: I
will feed and clothe you at my own expense until the arrival
of Lady Greenford. She is a good-natured woman, and
will most likely keep you; but, if she should not, your
AND HER CAT. 51.

education will have been partly begun, and you may get
another place elsewhere.”

“Do you belong to the establishment of the countess?”

“T am her butler,” said Daddy Sharpphiz, haughtily.

rN The lad’s eyes sparkled with joy;

he bowed very low to the butler,
and said with delight, “Oh, sir,
how grateful do I feel!”
Nicholas was installed the same day,
and heartily welcomed by the other
servants. He was a spruce, lively
: boy, good-humoured, active, and
serviceable ; and, although he felt awkward in his new

 

 

   
   

   
   

Zoo

   

 

 

 

livery and new office, he showed a great deal of willingness.
“ Nicholas,” said the butler, a few days after, to his new
D
52 THE HISTORY OF DAME MITCHELL

friend, “it is well for you to know the house. There is in
this house a powerful favourite who rules like a sovereign,
whose will is law, whose whims must be obeyed—and that
favourite isa cat. If you wish to be in the ‘posi books of
the whole household, you must try to please Mowmouth;
and if the cat, Mowmouth, honours you with his countenance,
you may depend upon winning the favour both of Lady
Greenford and her housekeeper, Dame Mitchell.”

‘The cat shall be my friend, and I will be the cat’s
friend,” returned the young follow, with assurance.

And truly, after this hint, he loaded Mowmouth with so
much attention, caresses, and good offices, that the latter,
though distrustful by nature, conceived a lively attachment
to Nicholas; he would follow him with pleasure, look
kindly upon him, and invite him by his gambols to play.

    
    

 

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il hcaerge ail? eh i iy a4 i
ae? os B32 4

tee C2. £3070 -O™ r di 2)

    
  

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dame Mitchell was almost jealous of the young lad; whilst
Daddy Sharpphiz, who had his end in view, laughed i in his
sleeve, and rubbed his hands with glee.

One evening he called Nicholas into his room, and
carefully shut the door, after looking to see that there
were no eaves-droppers. “ Mowmouth is your friend,” said
he to him; “you have followed my instructions to the
letter.”

“T am likely to stop, am I not?” asked the lad.

* Very likely ; are you happy in your place?”

“ Pertectly so; for I who used to live on dry and black
AND HER CAT. 53

bread, have now got my four meals a day; I used to wear
a dirty smock-frock full of holes, and breeches full of patches,
and now I am dressed like a prince; I don’t suffer from the
cold, and instead of sleeping in the open air, I have an ex-
cellent bed to lie in, in which I dream of gingerbread and
alicompane.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daddy Sharpphiz leant his chin on his right hand, and
looked full in the boy’s face, as he replied; “ And suppose,
now, you were obliged to go back to the vagabond life I took

ou from.”

“T think I should die of grief, if I was.”

«“ And you would do any thing to keep your present
situation ?”

“I would do any thing.”

“ Any thing, without exception?”

“ Without, exception.”

“Well, this is what I command you to do. Mowmouth
follows you every where; to-morrow you shall entice him
into the garden, at nightfall; you shall put him into a bag
which I have made for the purpose, you shall pull up the
strings of the bag

“And then?” said Nicholas, beginning to stare.

D2

 
54 THE HISTORY OF DAME MITCHELL

 

“ We will each take a stick, and beat the bag until we
have killed the beast.”
x “ Never! never!” cried the
WS poor lad, whose hair stood on
SS end with fright.
“Then tie ‘up your things
> and go about your business;
T discharge you.”
“You turn me away!” cried
young Nicholas, lifting his
hands towards heaven.
x) “T will not even allow you
S five minutes’ warning to be
off; you depend upon me in this house, on me alone!”

The unfortunate Nicholas began to cry, and the butler
added in a fierce voice; “Come, make no faces! pull off
your clothes, put on your tatters, and be off.”

After this speech, Sharpphiz took down from a cupboard
the miserable rags that Nicholas had on the day he entered
his place; he held them disdainfully between his finger and
thumb, and threw them on the floor. The lad looked with
a heavy heart at the clothes he then wore, compared them
with his old ones, and as the comparison was not in their
favour, he sobbed aloud. Still he was resolved not to
purchase his finery at the price of a murder, and by a
treacherous act. He took off his coat, and his waistcoat,

   
AND HER CAT. 55

without faltering; but, at the thought of relinquishing his
new shoes, to go barefooted, as formerly, over roads of
gravel and broken glass, the unhappy Nicholas could not
help hesitating a little, and Daddy Sharpphiz, who narrowly
watched him, availed himself like a consummate diplomatist
of the circumstance.

“ Blockhead!” said he, “you reject the opportunity of
being happy, when your happiness can be secured at so easy
arate. IfI spoke to you of killing a man, I could under-
stand I could approve of your scruples; but I simply ask
you to destroy a cat, a pitiful cat! Why should you shrink
from it? Whatisacat? Nothing! less than nothing. Nobody
sets any value on a cat; the piemen cook them, and serve
them up to their customers, the most renowned physicians
try their experiments upon them, and kill them by hun-
dreds. So little are they valued, that when one of them
gives birth to seven or eight kittens only one is kept, and
the rest flung into the river.”

* But Mowmouth is grown up, Mowmouth is reared
and bred,” said Nicholas, sadly; “and, what’s more than
all, I love him.”

«You love him! you dare to love him!” cried the but-
ler, with immoderate rage. “ Well, for my part, I hate
him; and he shall die!”

* But what has he done to you?”

“‘ Never mind; I say he shall die! That’s enough.”

“ Forgive him,” cried Nicholas; falling down upon his
knees before the unrelenting Sharpphiz.

“TJ will not forgive him,” answered the butler, snarl-
ingly. “TI will not forgive either him or you. Come,
go; be off this instant! It rains in torrents: you will be
soaked with wet, and die of cold this night—so much the
better! Ah! you love Mowmouth! Do you?”

A fierce and heavy rain, mingled with hail, was heard
to beat against the window frames of the room, and the
wind began to howl along the galleries of the man-
56 THE HISTORY OF DAME MITCHELL AND HERCAT,.

sion. Poor Nicholas bethought him of the cold he was
about to suffer, the privations which awaited him, the
smallness of his means, the largeness of his appetite, and
how painful it was to lie all the long night under the bleak
arches of a bridge. Evil thoughts seized him, as he mut-
tered to himself the words of Daddy Sharpphiz: “ What
is a cat?”

“ Mr. Sharpphiz,” said he, still weeping, “do not turn
me away; I will do whatever you bid me.”
« To-morrow, at the hour of twi-
light, you must entice Mow-
mouth into the garden.”
«Yes, Mr. Sharpphiz.”
“You must then put him into
this bag.”
«Yes, Mr. Sharpphiz.”
“¢ And strike when I strike.”
The reply to this last injunction
did not come spontaneously.
Nicholas changed colour, his legs sunk beneath him; at
length he bent his head, and letting one of his arms fall
straight by the side of his body, he stammered out, in a low,
sullen voice,—

“Yes, Mr. Sharpphiz.”

 

 
 

CHAPTER VII.

HOW DADDY SHARPPHIZ IS RAISED TO THE HEIGHT OF HUMAN BLISS, AND
DAME MITCHELL’S CAT FALLS INTO THE LOWEST DEPTH OF MISERY.

SHARPPHIZ had fixed upon the morrow to put an end
to the existence of Mowmouth, because he knew it was the
day on which Dame Mitchell would be going to carry her
savings to the coach-office for her sister.

Nicholas had been very dejected during the entire day,
and when the fatal hour had arrived, his misgivings of the
previous day again assailed him. When Dame Mitchell
said to him, before she went out:—* Watch over Mow-
mouth, I leave him to your care, and play with him, to
keep up his spirits whilst I am away ;” the worthy lad felt
his heart sink within him, and his native honesty rebelled.

‘ Come, there is not a moment to be lost,” said Daddy
Sharpphiz, “here’s the bag; go you, and look for the cat.”

Nicholas once more entreated the butler to be merciful:
he was eloquent, there was grief even in his voice, he de-
livered a most moving address, but without gaining his
cause. The monster was implacable, and repeated his
threats; nothing less than the cat’s death would satisfy
him; and Nicholas, subdued by the spirit of evil, was
forced to obey.

Mowmouth was accordingly enticed into the garden;
he followed his perfidious friend with as much reliance as
the lamb follows the butcher, and, when least he expected
58 THE HISTORY OF DAME MITCHELL

the trick, he found himself immured in the bag which
was meant to be his
grave. Sharpphiz,
who had hid himself,
suddenly appeared,
armed with two
enormous clubs, one
of which he offered
his accomplice ; and,
then seizing the bag,
he cried out,““Come!
now to work, and
give no quarter.”

Nicholas did not
hear him—he was
quite bewildered: his haggard eyes rolled in their sockets,
his face was deadly pale, his mouth open, his arm unnerved.
Daddy Sharpphiz, stimulated by the hope of immediate
vengeance, did not notice his companion; but throwing down
the bag on the ground, he raised his stick, and was about
to apply it lustily, when the small garden-door was opened. .

“‘ Cursed interruption!” muttered he. “ Nicholas, hide
yourself in the thicket; I will join you directly;” and
then going up to the person who had just entered the gar-
den, he was petrified to behold Dame Mitchell. At first
he fancied she had been led to return by some fleeting
suspicion, or instinctive presentiment; but her first words
set his mind at rest on that score.

“JT am obliged to put off my walk, for I have just
descried Lady Greenford’s carriage; it is obliged to go a
roundabout way, on account of the mending of the road,
and I have managed to get here before her, by coming in
through the little gate. Come, Mr. Sharpphiz; come, as
fast as you can, to meet our good mistress.”

*T will follow you directly, madam,” said the butler;
then using his hand as a speaking trumpet, he cried out to
Nicholas, “ Strike on yourself! strike till the cat has

 
AND HER CAT. 59

ceased to move!” and thereupon he overtook Dame Mit-
chell in the front-yard, where all the servants had already
“fallen into line, like a well-disciplined battalion.

Dy

Uy!

“4 ss
2

Wil!

 

 

 

 

===]

 

 

 

 

EM 7 ~ a ee my ee

On alighting from her carriage, Lady Greenford ho-
noured her servants with a look of kindness, embraced her
‘Tiousekeeper with touching familiarity, and inquired after
Mowmouth.

‘“‘ Your favourite is quite well,” said Dame Mitchell,
“he grows perceptibly fat and handsome every day; but
one may say, without stretching the truth, that his moral
qualities are even superior to his physical advantages.”

“ Poor thing! if he did not love me, he would be
an ungrateful monster; for since our separation I have
thought of him perpetually. Death has bereaved me of
many creatures whom I cherished, but Mowmouth shall
live to comfort my old age.”

As soon as the Countess had given the orders conse-
quent upon her arrival, she requested Dame Mitchell to
bring Mowmouth to her. The latter replied, “He will be
delighted to see you again, madam; _he is now in the gar-
den, under the care of Nicholas, a young lad whom the
60 THE HISTORY OF DAME-MITCHELL AND HER CAT.

butler thought fit to engage: the rogue and the cat have
become two intimate friends.”

The housekeeper then went to the garden, and found Ni-
cholas by himself, sitting on a bench, and peeling, with a look
of abstraction, a branch of box-tree which he had in his hand.

“ My lad,” said she, “ the Countess desires you to take
Mowmouth to her.”

“ Mowmouth !” stammered out Nicholas, shuddering at
the sound of that name, as if he had been stung by a wasp.

“Yes, Mowmouth; I thought he was with you.”

“ He has just left me; some people who were passing
by made a noise which frightened him, and he ran off and
took shelter in the shrubbery.”

Dame Mitchell spent half an hour and more in running
about the garden, and then returned to Lady Greenford,
and said to her, “ Mowmouth is absent for the moment,
my lady, but don’t be uneasy ; he left us once before, and
we found him again in the garret.”

“ Let him be sought for directly! I will not wait; I
must see him at once.”

Alas! the wish could hardly be gratified, if we might
trust to the words which were exchanged, in the dark,
between Sharpphiz and his accomplice.

* Well, did you strike ?”

“Yes, Mr. Sharp-
phiz, I struck till the cat
left off stirring.”

“ What have you
done with the body ?”

*T threw it into the
Thames.” =

“Was he really
dead ?”

* He no longer moved.”

* Besides, the bag was tightly drawn,” said the butler:
“justice is done!”

  
CHAPTER VIII.

DAME MITCHELL LOOKING FOR HER CAT.

SEVERAL days passed away in painful suspense; but,
like the great General Marlborough, the cat did not return.
The despair of Lady Greenford was deep-seated. She con-

eoKe stantly called to mind her
Mowmouth’s pretty ways, his
good nature, his attachment
to her, his superior intelli-
gence. Generous in her mis-
fortune, she did not reproach
Dame Mitchell; but rather
sought to appease the poor
= woman, who was overwhelmed

SSS with grief. She said to her
one evening, “ How can you help an irresistible misfortune ?
We must submit to the decrees of Providence.”

“‘T am of your opinion,” replied Dame Mitchell ; “if I
believed, like you, that Mowmouth was dead, I would
resign myself without a murmur to his loss; but I think
he is still living: I fancy him wandering about the town,
exposed to all manner of ill-treatment, and to the sauce-
pans of a host of cruel persecutors.”

 

 

“Go, go, you only deceive yourself; Mowmouth is dead,
or he would have come back to us by this time.”
62 THE HISTORY OF DAME MITCHELL

“Something convinces me he is still living; and, if
your ladyship were only to apply—”

“To whom ?”

“To our neighbour, Mrs. Crustychin, the famous for-
tune-teller, who predicts what is to happen in the future,
draws the cards, removes freckles from the face, reads the
book of fate, and cures the toothach.”

“Fie, fie, Dame Mitchell! Can you, who are a woman
of sense, place any reliance on the tricks of an impostor?”

« But, my lady, I am not the only one; the greatest
lords and ladies visit Mrs. Crustychin: she is more learned
and not so dear as other fortune-tellers, and, for the small
sum of ten shillings, will show young girls the faces of their
future husbands.”

« That’s enough, that’s enough,” replied the Countess,
drily. Dame Mitchell held her tongue; but her mind was
made up, and as soon as she had a moment to spare, she ran
off to the house of Mrs. Crustychin, whom she found in a
spacious apartment richly furnished, for she gained a great
deal of money by cheating the public: black velvet hang-
ings, dotted with tinsel stars, covered the walls; and in the
middle of the room stood a square table, on which were
placed several obelisks, made of painted tin; bottles, con-

 
AND HER CAT. 63

taining various reptiles, preserved in spirits; and numerous
chemical instruments ; the very uses of which were unknown
to the sorceress, but which she had placed there to impose
upon the weak people by whom she was consulted. She at
first exhibited some little embarrassment at the sight of
Dame Mitchell; but after shutting a glass-door which led
into another room, she returned to receive her new client,
and said to her with a solemn voice,

** What is it you wish for ?”

‘¢ To inquire into the past, the present, and the future.”

“T can satisfy your wishes,” replied Mrs. Crustychin,
“but you seek after high game, and that will cost you three
crowns.”

“Here they are; and I willingly give them.”

Mrs. Crustychin pocketed the money, not without a
twinge or two of regret that she had not asked a good deal
more, and thus began:

** Tell me the month, and the day of your birth?”

“The 24th of May, 1698.”

Tell me the first letters of your Christian name, sur-
name, and native place.”

“A, R, M,.H, L, 8.”

Dame Mitchell was called Amelia Rachel, and had been
twelve years the widow of Francis Mitchell, a butter-taster
in London; and was born at Houghton-le-Spring.

«Which is your favourite flower ?”

* The marigold.”

After these customary questions, the fortune-teller
examined some coftee-grounds in a saucer, and said, “Phal-
darus, genius of occult science, informs me that you are in
quest of a being that you dearly love.”

Dame Mitchell started in her seat with surprise. Mrs.
Crustychin continued: “ This being is not a man; it is a
quadruped, and either a dog or a cat;—and a spirit reveals
to me that it is a cat.”

Dame Mitchell grew more and more satisfied; and the
64 THE HISTORY OF DAME MITCHELL

fortune-teller, without giving her time to recover herself,
took up a pack of cards, shuffled them, had them cut three
several times, set the table in symmetrical order, and gravely
observed :—

«Your cat is the knave of clubs; let us see what he is
after. One, two, three, four; the ten of spades! He isa
rover, and fond of travelling ; he sets out at night to see
the lions of London. One, two, three, four; the queen of
spades! This is a woman who makes ermine furs out of
catskins! One, two, three, four; the knave of spades!
This is a rag-merchant. One, two, three, four; the king
of spades! This is a pieman. The meeting of these three
persons terrifies me.
One, two, three, four;
clubs! One, two, three,
four ; clubs again! One,
two, three, four; more
clubs! Your cat will
make money for these
three persons: the rag- ,
merchant wants to kill @
him, to sell his skin to =
the furrier, and his body
to the pieman, who will serve him up to his customers
as very nice tender veal. Now let us see whether your
cat will be able to elude his persecutors? One, two, three,
four; seven of spades! Alas, it’s all over, madam, your
poor cat is no more!”

“The cannibals have eaten him!” exclaimed Dame
Mitchell, thunderstruck by this revelation, and she heard
in her fancy a doleful mewing, the last cry of agony uttered
by Mowmouth; but it was no illusion this time: a cat had
really mewed, and was still mewing in the adjoining room. *
A pane in the glass-door was suddenly burst in and shat-
tered to pieces, and Mowmouth in person fell at Dame
Mitchell’s feet. ar

   
AND HER CAT. 65

From the top of a cupboard he had caught sight of his
affectionate guardian, had called upon her several times ;
and, as she did not answer
him, in his delirium he had iy) Hain
sprung against the door, jj,
through which he had just |
forced his way. |

“What! my cat was 22
here all the while!” said | {i
~ Dame Mitchell; “ you |
must have stolen him!
But my mistress is power-
ful; my mistress is Lady
Greenford; and she will |
have you punished as you
deserve.”

As she vented these

   

 

 

 

Ih Hh
ANT

Hg Wicoureet
threats, the housekeeper \
put Mowmouth under her arm, and was leaving the room,
when Mrs. Crustychin stopped her, and said to her: “Do
not ruin me, I implore you; I did not steal the cat.”

* Then how does he happen to be here ?”

“J received him from a young lad named Nicholas; he
gave me this cat, which I had long coveted, and whose
singular shape, and almost supernatural manners, was
likely to make him a most triumphant assistant in cabalis-
tic conjurations. That’s the whole truth; and, now I
beg of you not to injure me, through your mistress.”

“‘ The Countess will act as she pleases,” answered Dame
Mitchell disdainfully, and she vanished with her cat. She
made but one step from Mrs. Crustychin’s to the mansion;
and seemed to heve on the Ogre’s seven league boots. She
went straight to the drawing-room, where she arrived puff-
ing and blowing, and not being able to speak, she held up
Mowmouth to Lady Greenford. The Countess on recog-
nising the cat, uttered a cry of joy so loud, that the whole
66 THE HISTORY OF DAME MITCHELL

 

neighbourhood of Cheyne Walk was quite frightened from
its propriety.

Sharpphiz was present at this touching scene; but on
beholding the cat, he was:so dumfounded, that he lost his
reason for a moment. He fancied that this cat, so often
recovered, must be a fantastic being, capable of speaking
like the beasts in fables, and he cried out with amazement
and terror—

“Tam undone! Mowmouth will denounce me!”

 
 

CHAPTER IX.

CONCLUSION.—SATISFACTORY TO ALL, EXCEPT THE CULPRIT.

AS soon as Lady Greenford had learnt how Mowmouth
was recovered, she summoned young Nicholas to her
presence.

“T will go for him,” said the butler eagerly, for he
wanted to prepare his accomplice, and was ruminating
what pretext to use.

* No, stay here! you let him into the house, you shall
see him discharged, and that may teach you to be more
cautious, for the time to come, whom you set trust in.”

Sharpphiz remained, and, having recovered himself after
his first sense of stupefaction, he resolved boldly to deny
' the charge if Nicholas durst accuse him.

When he was ushered into the drawing-room, Nicholas
did not wait to be questioned. “My lady,” said he, ‘the
presence of your cat explains to me why you have sent for
me here; but I am not so guilty as I appear; allow me to
explain myself.”

“What would be the use?” replied Lady Greenford ;
* you cannot clear yourself.”

The butler now fancied he ought to brave it out, and
observed ironically: “Iam curious to see by what unlikely
story this blackguard will try to impose on you;” and as he
said this slowly and measuredly, he seemed to add with his
eyes: “If you dare to accuse me, beware!”

E
68 THE HISTORY OF DAME MITCHELL

Undismayed by this threat, Nicholas thus began: “I
must own it, my lady, I entered this mansion with the

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

design of stealing your cat; the fortune-teller wanted him
to play the part of the spirit Astorath, and she had bribed
me with the promise of a silver crown-piece and a pair of
strong shoes. But I was so well treated, and Mowmouth
was so nice a cat, that I gave up my guilty design; never,
no never, should I have fulfilled it, had I not seen the
necessity of removing Mowmouth, and screening him from
the malice of an enemy, all the more dangerous because he
was unknown.”

“Whom does he allude to?” inquired Daddy Sharpphiz.

“To yu .! to you, who said to me: ‘Kill Mowmouth, or
I will turn you away.’ ”

“J! what I said so! you impudent liar! Oh, Lady
Greenford, you know me too well not to distinguish between
my solemn denial and the declaration of this ungrateful
villain.”

“ Nicholas,” said the Countess, knitting her brows,
“you have made a very grave charge; have you any proofs
to sustain it?”
AND HER CAT. 2 69
Proofs! no, alas! my lady, I have none; but I am
ready to protest to you
“Enough,” interrupted the Countess; “do not add
calumny to the crime of theft: leave my sight this instant.”
Poor Nicholas wanted to be heard again; but, at a sign
from Lady Greenford, the butler seized him by the collar,
and thrust him from the door without further ceremony,
and gave him, as they went down the staircase, so good a
kicking as made him even with his dupe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However the sins of Daddy Sharpphiz were not to go
unpunished much longer; that very day, Dame Mitchell,
on going toclean out the cupboard in the ante-chamber, was
much astonished to find there three dead rats and mice.
She was wondering how they had died, when her eyes fell
upon the famous pie which her cat had refused to eat, and
which had been left there and forgotten. Two mice lay
dead in the very plate, so subtle and violent was the poison.
This new discovery tore away the veil which concealed the
past transgressions of Daddy Sharpphiz. Dame Mitchell,
guessing thereby that the charges of young Nicholas were
70 ; THE HISTORY OF DAME MITCHELL

well founded, hastened to apprize Lady Greenford, who
advised her to take no notice, but send for the butler.

«* Have you got any ratsbane?” said she.

«Yes, my lady, I must have some left.”

“Put it in the ante-chamber then; you have not yet
thought to do so.”

“No, my lady; I did not know there were rats in that
part of the mansion.” ~

Lady Greenford wrote to a celebrated chymist, who,
having analysed the pie, declared that it contained a pro-
digious quantity of poison. ‘The butler’s crime was now

 

 

 

 

 

 

made manifest; but fresh charges were soon raised against
him. The adventure of the two hosiers of the Strand,
Shorthose and Cotton, had spread abroad; Nicholas heard
it related, and discovered a witness who had seen Sharpphiz
throw the cat over the bridge. The butler, confounded
and overwhelmed, did not wait to be discharged; he fled
AND HER CAT val

from the mansion, and, in order to avoid Lady Greenford’s
vengeance, he embarked as a cook on board a merchant
vessel sailing for Virginia.

Some time after they heard that this vessel had been
wrecked on the coast of Newfoundland, and that the savages
had eaten Mr. Sharpphiz. The story goes on to say that

 

as he was breathing his last, he uttered but one name, that
of Mowmouth. But what brought that name to his guilty
mind? Was it remoizé? or was it merely the last outburst
of a hatred that nothing could appease? The story has left
this point undetermined.

Lady Greenford’s health had been much impaired by
the severe shocks she had formerly experienced at the loss
of her pet animals. The tenderness and docility of Mow-
mouth might possibly have served to reconcile her to life.
But that respectable lady had reached an age when affliction
is the more bitterly felt. Dame Mitchell was grieved to
find her one morning dead in her bed; yet her face was
so placid, and bore so truly the impress of her many good
72 THE HISTORY OF DAME MITCHELL

qualities, that she seemed only to be sleeping. She was
just entering upon her seventy-ninth year.

By her will, which was in the custody of her solicitor,
she had secured to Mowmouth and her housekeeper an
income of one hundred and twenty pounds, to revert to the
survivor in case one of the legatees should die.

Dame Mitchell retired to her sister’s, whose children
she provided for, one and all. She fixed upon a pretty
little cottage at Richmond as her residence ; it was situated
near the river, with a sloping lawn before it.

Nicholas, reinstated in his old situation, had atoned for
his misconduct by a long course of good behaviour. He
might have risen to a high rank as a cook, but he felt
more inclined to serve the state, and enlisted at the age of

 
& AND HER CAT. 73

sixteen in a regiment of foot. He took part in the expe-
dition to Quebec, under the great General Wolfe, and was
made corporal after the capture of that city on the 13th of
September, 1759. As soon as he had obtained his dis-'
charge, he returned to live with Dame Mitchell, for whom
he felt a truly filial attachment. To the stormy periods
of their lives peaceful and happy days now succeeded, the
course of which was enlivened by the growing qualities of
poor Mowmouth.

Our cat had, henceforward, no enemy: but, on the
contrary, won the esteem and affection of all his tribe.
His adventures had brought him into notice. Besides the
song, of which we grieve to say only two verses remain,
the poets of that age wrote in his praise a round number of
odes and epistles which have not reached posterity. The
most distinguished men of that time went to see him, and
on one occasion even His Majesty King George the Second
stopped with him for a few minutes, on his way to
Hampton Court. A great lady at court chose Mowmouth
a mate, who was both gentle and pretty, and whose paw he
gratefully accepted. He soon became a father; and this
event completed both his own happiness and that of Dame
Mitchell, for that excellent woman was delighted with the
growing progeny of her beloved cat.

Reader, you wish, perhaps, to know what afterwards
became of Mowmouth? He died! but not until he had
run a long and happy career. His eyes, as they were
about to close, were blessed with the sight of his afflicted
children and grand-children, who were grouyied around his
bed. His mortal remains were not treatecl like those of
common cats. Dame Mitchell caused a magnificent monu-
ment of white marble to be raised to his memory. This
monument was of a colossal size; but the only record we
now possess of it, is an engraving, in the seventh volume of
the “ Archzeologia,” which represents the figure of Mow-
mouth in a sitting posture; an article accompanying it
74 THE HISTORY OF DAME MITCHELL AND HER CAT.

informs us that, according to a custom prevailing at that
time in the sepulture of illustrious personages, they en-
graved upon the base of the tomb of Mowmouth an epitaph
which a learned professor of the University of Oxford had
composed to his honour.

 
PRINCE HEMPSEED

AND HIS

YOUNG SISTER. ©
 

 

PRINCE HEMPSEED.
 

THE STRANGE AND INTERESTING ADVENTURES

OF

PRINCE HEMPSEED,

AND HIS LITTLE SISTER.

Tuar beautiful marble castle, which rises in the midst of
a placid lake, and spreads itself out beneath the sunny sky,
is the abode of Prince Orfano-Orfana. The twelve ter-
races leading to it are covered with evergreen plane-trees,
firs, and poplars, and citron and orange shrubs covered
with fruit the colour of gold. The last of those terraces
is planted with rose-trees of Messina, which, when ruffled
by the evening breeze, diffuse around a sweet and refresh-
ing perfume. This castle was built on one of the Borro-
mean Isles by Prince Orfano-Orfana’s ancestors, who were
formerly the most powerful lords of Piedmont; and, in
A
4 THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED.

consequence of its great splendour, the castle was called
the Pearl of Lake Major.

You know that Lake Major is at the north-western
entrance of Italy, in the domains of the King of Sardinia,
and situate in the midst of a fertile and smiling plain. It
appears on the opposite side of the Alps, immediately after
you leave the frontiers of Savoy.

The large and numerous rooms in that peerless castle
suited its outward beauty. Nothing could be compared to
the richness of the Persian carpets, the elegance of the
furniture, all made of Indian wood, or the splendour and
endless variety of the gilding. The pictures which adorned
the walls had been painted by the best Italian artists. In
a word, the castle was so charming in all respects, that

   

 

EM - :
King Victor Emanuel of Savoy said one day to his
courtiers, “If I were not King of Sardinia, I should like
THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED. 5

to be lord of the Orfano-Orfana palace.” Such a desire,
formed by a sovereign so justly famed in history, may
spare us the necessity of offering another word of praise
in respect to the castle.

Prince Orfano-Orfana, the master of that splendid man-
sion, who enjoyed vast riches and great power over his
subjects, was blessed with a wife in every way worthy
of him, and with two charming children. © The elder was
a son, and was called Leopold-Leopoldini: the younger was
a daughter, and named Olympia after her mother. We
shall tell you presently how it happened that Leopold-Leo-
poldini received the singular name of Prince Hempseed—a
name which he was very proud to bear, and which we have
thought proper to apply to him throughout this history, of
which he is the hero. '

Olympia was seven years old: she was rosy-cheeked
and fair haired—tlively, graceful, and happy. When she

-4 laughed, she displayed her
beautiful little white teeth;
this happened very often—for
she was always laughing. Upon
her high and open forehead,
and in her eyes, which were
ever in motion, and were as
blue as the pure waters of Lake
Major, you might read intelli-
gence, wit, and gaiety, as well
. as the pride of her race—for
we must give a correct portrait
of her. Her compressed lips
showed contempt for those who.
dared to wound her feelings in

, any way. When she did not

choose to be a good-natured little girl, she gave herself the

airs of a queen. Amiable with her equals, she was very

proud and haughty towards the little village girls whom she
A2

  
6 THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED

met, although the poor children never forgot to offer her
flowers, ahd to curtsey very low to her as they passed.
As she grew up these faults in her disposition would have
‘become sad indeed, had not a good education, bestowed
in time, and in a prudent manner, caused her good qualities
to triumph over her defects.

Her brother, Leopold-Leopoldini, whom we shall call
Prince Hempseed, was twelve months older than Olympia:
he was therefore in his eighth year. Picture to yourself a
charming little boy, with an elegant coat of light blue velvet,
such as the great lords of the court wore in those times;
a, pair of yellow satin breeches, fastened with ribands at the
knees; a shirt of the whitest linen, beautifully embroidered;
and with a little sword by =
his side. On common days
this sword was of simple
steel; but on Sundays and
holidays it was exchanged
for one of mother-of-pearl
and gold.

He was very much like
his sister—fair, with a beau-

   
 
  

     
   
    
   
  
 

 
 

tiful complexion, and rosy- MAW TI eae
seca - she was. Rs at ou
Praoefuines, os wal as her at MCI)

ry Se
x Hatten cr a L

petulance and her cheerful-
ness. But there the likeness
stopped. Prince Hempseed
showed as much dignity as a child of his age possibly
could possess, but never ill-humour, when with boys of his
own rank; and he conducted himself with amiability and
kindness towards the sons of the boatmen belonging to
Lake Major, and those of the gardeners and vine-dressers
in the valley, whenever accident threw them in his way.
They were therefore all much attached to him.

 

 
THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED. 7

   

Gaucouis

This goodness on the part of Prince Hempseed was not
confined to his fellow-creatures: it extended to those beings
which many persons (wicked ones I admit) are not ac-
customed to treat with kindness. Prince Hempseed could
not conceive how people could be cruel to animals, who,
like ourselves, were created by a wise, just, and merciful
Providence: he could not understand how men could ill-
treat the dog, which protects the flock or guards the farm ;
the horse, which draws the heavy vehicle ; the patient and
docile ass, which carries to market the produce of our fields;
the cat, which prevents the mice from eating the corn; or
the bird, which enlivens with its song the solitude of the
house. He thought to himself, in the most sensible manner,
that since man has taken it upon himself to rule over
animals and deprive them of their liberty, he ought also to
perform the duty of lodging and nourishing them, and in
some measure endeavour to replace that Creator who allows
them to want for nothing in their state of freedom.

As the Castle of Orfano-Orfana was situated upon the
frontiers of Italy, it was constantly visited by those show-
men, strolling-actors, and mountebanks, who passed by on
8 THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED.

 

their way from Bergami and Milan to seek their fortunes in
France. Those tawny but lively gipsies did not always
meet with a pleasant reception on the part of the servants;
but if they were lucky enough to be perceived by little
Prince Hempseed, they were sure to escape the blows of
‘the broomstick, and the sharp prongs of the pitch-fork.
He allowed them to enter the castle, and was greatly
pleased with their exhibitions. Healso loved to witness
the tricks which they taught the animals by whose sagacity
they earned their living. He inquired of them how they
made a dog play at cards or dominoes, a monkey waltz to
the proper tune, or a bird to pretend to be dead. For a
few small coins, he learnt of them all their secrets, which
are nothing after all than the art of turning to advantage
the instinct of animals—that instinct which is capable of
the utmost perfection. The sight of those tricks and ex-
hibitions, so full of useful instruction, increased in his heart
THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED. 9

the kind feelings which he had ever shown towards dumb
animals,

Would you believe that Prince Hempseed was laughed
at for that generous kindness on his part? His father and
mother, who were good themselves, did not blame him for
it; but the maid-servants (who are always a giddy set), the
lacqueys, and the footmen joked him without pity, and took
delight in teazing his pet animals, because by so doing they
teased him. They always had some excuse for neglecting
to give hay to the horses, bran to the donkey, and hempseed
to the birds; and it was in order to make poor little Prince
Leopold-Leopoldini seem as foolish as possible, that, in
allusion to the attentions of all kinds which he showed
towards dumb animals, they surnamed him Prince Hempseed
—hempseed being, as you well know, a large grain on
which many birds feed.

Such is the clear and very simple origin of the surname
which he had received.

The most wicked of all those servants who teazed the

, prince was a footman named

Rol, a cruel and vulgar
fellow. He was born in
the mountains of the Tyrol,
whence come nearly all the
= servants employed in Italy, -
- and particularly in the
States of Piedmont. As
, if Rol carried his heart in
y his countenance, he was
ey ey, miserably ugly. He con-
= TM fa ’s. cealed half of This scowling
ee ” face beneath his long, un-
combed, rough red hair. His nose; which stuck up in the
air, was very wide at its root between the eyes, which were
of a green shade, with an orbit of black spots, like the eyes
of asnake. His mouth was wide, and shaped like a half

   
  
    
 
  
10 THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED.

moon, or the opening of an oven; and displayed six teeth
like those of a wild boar. Thousands of little red spots,
like pimples, marked his
face, the skin of which,
byitsroughness, its colour,
and the thick red down
which covered the lower
part, instead of a beard,
seemed like a late autumn
peach ripened by the rain.
The hideous grossness of
his form made him appear
short. Drinking and glut-
tony had given him fat,
= but not health. He mis-
‘took his brutality for

4 strength, and his strength
. for courage. Rol was
===; never so happy as when
~_-=— he could break his riding

——- whip over the back of a
“i> horse, snap a cornel-tree
stick across the head of a
poor donkey, or bestow a
savage kick upon Turnspit, the faithful dog of the castle.
The unhappy animals, guided by their instinct, tried all
they could to avoid him; or else they grew irritable, and
showed their anger in various ways when they could not
escape his blows. He was their tormentor.

“Tt is all for their good, my lord,” he would say to
Prince Orfano-Orfana, when this nobleman, moved by the
prayers of his son, Prince Hempseed, reproached Rol for
ill-treating the animals; and that ill-treatment continued
just the same.

The little prince, fancying that he observed in the breast
of his sister Olympia that kind feeling which he sought for

 
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
   
    
THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED. 11

in vain amongst others, said to her one day, “ Would you
believe it, dear sister? I found Emerald and Topaz nearly
dead with hunger. Poor dear little birds!”

“ Canaries are not so scarce in Italy,” answered Olympia,
“that you cannot replace Emerald and Topaz, whom you
seem to pity so much.”

“ But that is not all, sister.”

“ Have you any misfortune more serious to tell me?”
said Olympia, in a mocking manner.

“ Zug, the monkey who amuses us so much, has also
been ill-treated by Rol,” added Prince Hempseed. “He
tied a squib to his tail the other evening, and then he put a
spark to the fire-work. Zug, who ran about in all directions,
knocking against everything that came in his way, so much
was he frightened, was almost burnt to death. I have just
been to see him: the poor creature quite made me cry.
Moaning in a low and plaintive manner, he showed me
his scorched hands:—Oh! you would have cried too—”

«And should the ugly monkey die—”

“What do you say, sister? Did not Zug always please
you with his antics, his grimaces, his jumps, and his thousand
tricks? Do we owe nothing to those who for years exert.
themselves to charm our
idle hours ?”

“Should you not like
me to ask papa to send for
the doctor to see your mon-
key?”

“And why should he
not?” SAN

“In the first place, the >\ie =
doctor would not come,” ‘= SSk “8 HBF
said Olympia. =

“Then he would be fe
wrong, dear sister,” replied

Prince Hempseed. “But I myself have already done all

On

   

 

 
12 THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED.
I could for Zug. I have carefully wrapped up his hand
in a piece of linen.”

“Oh! how silly!” cried Olympia.

*Do you not think, sister, that it is quite as silly to
put a doll into a cradle, rock it for hours together, pretend
that it is ill, and watch over it?”

Thinking that her brother was laughing at her, Olym-
pia would not answer him; and, on his side, Prince
Hempseed believed that the best thing he could do was
to keep to himself his compassion, kindness, and careful
attentions for the animals.

The castle of Prince Orfano-Orfana was built precisely
upon the plan of the king’s palaces, and contained a mena-
gerie, and an aviary full of curious birds. Everything that
could make even a king eres
happy was found in that ‘il | | Hi
castle, which excited the it | Iu
admiration of all persons, i lat Por |
spiteful sayings were
spread from one to
another about the court, where they were greedily listened
to; and they reached the ears of the king, who was weak

and the envy of many.
Several noblemen de-
enough to believe them, and unwise enough to think over
them. From that moment Prince Orfano-Orfana lost

   

 

 

i
i

 

clared that a king alone
ought to possess so splen-
did an abode; and they |
accused Prince Orfano- |
Orfana of outshining the °
Court of Turin by the ==
number of his servants, —
the splendour of his
household, and the ele-
gance of his castle. These

|

  
THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED. 13

favour at the court. But, as it always happens in such
cases, he was the last to learn his disgrace, which was only
to be made known to him in a manner terrible indeed.

Before we relate the consequences of that disgrace, let
us draw up a short but very necessary list of those animals
towards which Prince Hempseed showed so much kindness
—a kindness that was speedily to be put to a harsh test!

There is a close and touching connexion between the
history of Prince Orfano-Orfana, whom false friends be-
trayed, and that of his son, who did not forsake those poor
animals, whose good friend he was.

To tell the truth, he loved all well-behaved animals,
and took care of all. Beautiful swans, with plumage as
soft as satin, swam in ponds the margins of which were
made of porphyry; and on the same pieces of water were
seen sweet little birds from Barbary, Asia, and America,
with feathers the colour of gold, and eyes like garnets. The
prince was compelled to take more care of those animals
which, not having cost much to purchase, were considered
of little value by the servants, and were therefore worse
treated than the rest.

We shall name a few of those less fortunate creatures,

against which Rol showed the greatest spite.
First of all was the castle
dog—a faithful animal, but
not particularly handsome.
How could he have been,
indeed, constantly teased,
- beaten, pulled by the ears,
and shaken by the Tyrolese
Rol? And yet he was faith-
ful, a good watcher, never
sleeping with both eyes at a time, and so sagacious that he
‘could guess the very thoughts of little Prince Hempseed .
at the least sign which he made.

This dog was neither called Cesar, nor Ponto, nor Tray;

 
  
14 THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED.

but plain T'urnspit. In those times dogs were used to turn
the roasting-spit by means of a large hollow wheel in which
they were placed. That very simple machine called a jack,
now everywhere seen for turning the spit, did not exist
then. You may judge, then, whether the poor dog we are
speaking of was not well named, and whether he did not
deserve some little kindness.

The kindness which Rol the Tyrolese showed to Turn-
spit was this: When the dog had been hard at work for
five or six hours, turning the spit, and was out of breath
with fatigue, and dying with hunger and thirst, Rol used to
take a good piece of the meat which the poor thing had
itself helped to roast. This he would place in the wheel,
from which he took good care first to remove the dog: then,
he made the wheel go round, and Turnspit, famished and
miserable as he was, saw the nice piece of meat passing
by his very nose again and again without being able to

WORE uz, reach it. Having thus tortured

MTT LI ies, the unhappy Turnspit all the
evening, Rol would throw him a
i\| sorry crust of hard bread, and leave
*. the delicious piece of meat hanging
; in the wheel.

Next came the two Canary birds.
One was called Emerald, because
|| it was green; and the other Topaz,
i\|| because its feathers were yellow.

= How theydid chirrup! what pretty
airs they sang, so long as a ray of
the sun penetrated into their cages, and sported with the
water in their crystal bowls. The delight of the prince
was to pour plenty of seed into their trough; and Rol’s
enjoyment was to empty out the seed, when the prince’s
back was turned, and supply its place with sand. It is
frightful to think of the misery to which the poor birds
were brought!

   

 
THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED. 15

As for the house cat, loved as it was by Prince Hemp-
seed, he did not escape the spite of the wicked Rol. His
name was Coco,
He was an Angora
of the finest species,
black as night, and
with a coat as soft
and silky as that of
abear. His peevish
look; his saffron-
yellow eyes, full of
cunning and mel-
ancholy by turns;
his moustachios,
long, straight, and
fierce as those of
a grenadier, — all
these did not pre-
vent him from. .
being of a very
sociable disposition, and mild in his manners. He was a
polite cat, and knew a great deal of the world. He and
Turnspit were so friendly together, that no one who saw
them could ever again say of a quarrelsome married couple
that “they lived a cat and dog life.” These two poor
creatures were very fond of each other, and always played
together under the table.

No one will ever guess what cruelty Rol was guilty of
towards poor Coco; and I am afraid that you will not
believe me when I tell you. He used to heat the tongs in
the fire, and then catch hold of the paws of the cat with
them ; so that the poor animal always mewed more or less
according to the heat of the tongs. The cunning tyrant
called that ‘‘teaching the cat music;” and indeed Coco’s
mewings did change its tones and notes so as to produce an

 
16 THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED.

air which would have made any one laugh who could not
see why the poor cat did it.

Very changeful in his cruelties, Rol put in force a
strange kind of punishment against the monkey Zug, in
whose favour the prince had so uselessly spoken to his sister
Olympia. He began by boring several holes in two large
walnut shells, which he then placed over little heaps of _
Turkish grain—a food that Zug liked very much. In order
to get at the grain, Zug thrust his fingers greedily through
the holes in the nut-shells; and when he felt the grain
underneath, he closed his hands, which is the habit of crea-
tures of his species. Then he put the shells to his mouth;
but he could not possibly eat the Turkey corn—the shells
were in the way. He ought to have let the grain fall
first, and the shells next, and then have picked up the corn,
which was a plan simple enough no doubt, but quite beyond
the instinct of monkeys. And Rol knew that perfectly
well. Caught in this shameful net, Zug would sometimes
scamper all across the park, climb up the trees, or run along
the tops of walls, holding the shells all the while in his
hands without being able to make up his mind to let them
go in order to get at the Turkish corn. Thus he usually
went without any Turkish corn at all!

You must confess that such a man was as bad as the
Roman emperor Nero, who was as cruel to man as Rol was to
animals, Every one has ever since hated the name of Nero.

The donkey, another of Rol’s victims, had nothing to
protect him save the hardness of his skin. How many
knotted sticks had been broken over his back! And yet
he was the most good-natured and active of donkeys. . His
coat was grey and as smooth as the varnished wood of a
fig-tree: he was also striped like that of a zebra. He gal-
loped, when he chose, as quick as the wind, with his ears
upright, his eyes beaming with satisfaction, and his nostrils
snuffing the welcome odour of the clover and sainfoin, as he
THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED. 17

scampered over the green fields, carrying to market flowers,
egos, and fruits. He
was so docile —so
submissive—so mild,
under the ill-treat-
ment which he en-
dured, in the shape
of privations and
biows, that the people
of the castle and its
neighbcurhood had —}
all agreed in calling ===
him Lutience. 7, ——=
Wehaveonlynow  ~ .
to speak of three other victims of the wicked Rol: these
were, the magpie, the red parrot, and the pigeon, whom
that bad man hated and ill-treated as much as he could,
and who would have died very soon had it not been for the
kindness of good little Prince Hempseed.

The magpie had a name as well as the cat, the monkey,
and the donkey, and just as suitable as their's. Fond of
talking, and as full of gossip as any old washerwoman, she
was called Chatterbox. Indeed, she was always chattering.
But the words that she loved best were “a halfpenny! a
halfpenny ! a halfpenny!” And
this was the reason: every morn-
ing when he came to the cage of
his favourite magpie, Prince
Hempsced said, “ Here is a half-
‘fs| penny to buy some nice cream
cheese for Chatterbox.” By
always hearing the same thing,
the magpie had got by heart
the word “halfpenny,” which
her liking for cream cheese made
her constantly repeat.

 

 

 

   

 
18 THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED.

And now, what do you suppose Rol did to teaze Chat-
terbox? With the halfpenny given by Prince Hempseed
he bought tobacco for himself instead of cream cheese for
the bird. Was not this enough to make the magpie a thief?

Rol was, however, obliged to spare the red parrot to
some extent; for as this bird seldom left the parlour, Rol
was not often alone with it. So it escaped with the oaths
and the cross words which the wicked servant muttered
against it when no one was very
near. We must confess that
there were times when the red
parrot was quite deafening. It
nl would shriek forth the same

:| phrases, for hours together, in
| the same tone. And those
phrases were the ones which
are so often uttered in drawing-
rooms, such as, “ Pray, walk
\\ se in,” Walk in, sir,” or Walk
in, madam.” Oh! whata noisy
~ rogue that Counsellor was: he
———_——-- would not hold his tongue!

The name of Counsellor was given to him in mockery
by the cruel Tyrolese, and had stuck to him. Thus the
red parrot was called Counsellor, as the magpie was called
Chatterbox.

But, although Rol was
obliged to spare the par-
rot a little, he avenged
himself with interest on
the most beautiful pigeon
in the aviary. And this
poor bird would come and
perch so tamely upon the
shoulder of Prince Hemp-
seed, eat out of his hand,

  

 

 
THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED. 19

or settle upon his head, stretching out its beautiful neck,
which in the sunshine seemed painted with a thousand rich
colours. He was so brilliant in plumage, so handsome, and
so elegant, that Prince Hempseed, who had a name for all
his favourites, gave him the poetical title of Awriol.

And now you will shudder when I tell you, that two or
three times a year, Auriol appeared without any feathers
at all—bleeding and naked, as if ready for the spit. The
author of this shameful action was—But why should we
mention his name? It is not difficult to guess it, And
will not God punish him for his wickedness? We shall see.

Although Prince Hempseed found nearly every one in
the castle against him, he said boldly that he would never
cease to protect and defend those useful and good creatures
who are the children of God as well as ourselves. He was
thus enabled to defy the jeering and mockery that were
cast upon him; and this is the true courage which every
one must possess when he knows that he is acting well.

As the evenings are always very beautiful in Italy,
Prince Orfano-Orfana was accustomed to assemble all his
family, after sunset, upon the terrace of the castle; and
from that point they obtained a charming view of both

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

shores of the lake, amidst the alabaster statues and the

rose-laurels.
B
20 THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED.

The tutor of Prince Hempseed and the governess of the
youthful Olympia were naturally invited to be present on
those occasions. The tutor :
always agreed with Prince
Orfano-Orfana in everything
that this nobleman said; and
the worthy man signified his
assent by the constant use of
the word “Doubtless,” from
which cause the young prince’s
tutor had received the name
of Doubtless.

He was a thin, sharp, tall,
straight man; so thin and
sharp, indeed, that you could = —
almost see throughhim. His _3_
long grey hair, his long ou- ==
rang-outang arms, his long ==s‘
legs, his long neck, and his ===:
long hands, made him look
like one of those insects which
children call “Daddy Long-
legs.” His dress was all black,
and made that likeness the
more striking. He was neither
silly nor ignorant; but he was
incapable of exertion. He
knew quite enough to make him a clever tutor; but no one
ever asked him to teach what he did know. In those times
it was not necessary for gentlemen to display much learn-
ing. Custom enabled them to get on in the world without
the knowledge of any of those sciences which gentlemen
now-a-days find it necessary to study, and in which many
persons become so famous.

Olympias governess was not much shorter nor much
thinner than the good tutor Doubtless. They seened

    
  
THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED. 21

together to be the two
halves that would make one
whole person. The same
readiness to agree to every-
thing that either the Prince
or Princess of Orfano-Or-
fana said, had made the
governess adopt a word
having the same meaning
_ as that used by the tutor.
This word was Certainly.
Thus those two adverbs
went side by side—the first
to render Prince Hempseed
an accomplished gentleman,
and the second to make the
young Olympia a perfect
princess.

The servants, seated at
a respectful distance, were
also present at those eve-
ning meetings upon the
castle terrace.

It happened, one beautiful autumn evening, when the
calm was only broken by the national songs of the sailors
getting ready for the night’s fishing in the lake, Prince
Orfano-Orfana said to his wife before all the people: of the
castle, and his two children, Prince Hempseed and Olym-
pia, ‘You were asking me last evening, my love, what
were my views relative to the future welfare of. Olympia
and our dear little son, Leopold-Leopoldini.”

“Yes, dear prince,” said the princess.

“ Olympia,” continued the prince, in a: serious tone,
“will be confirmed by the bishop when she is thirteen; and
at sixteen she will espouse the son of the Duke of Como.”

“ That marriage will be worthy of us, and suitable for

B2

 
22 THR ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED.

her,” added the Princess Orfano-Orfana. “Do you not
think so, miss?” she asked, turning towards the governess.
“ Certainly, my lady,” was the reply.
“Task you this question,” continued
the princess, “in order to learn
from you, who have the honour to
educate my daughter, whether, at
the age of sixteen, she will be fully
FSi = acquainted with the seventy-seven
(pxessNe different ways of curtseying at the
a Court of Turin?”

“ Certainly, my lady.” .

“ Will she know how to raise in a
becoming manner her court-dress
with a long train ?”

“ Certainly, my lady.”

‘* Will she open and shut her im-
mense fan with proper grace?”

“ Certainly, my lady.” 2

‘* Will she dance all the different ==) =
steps of the court minuet?” pa

* Certainly, my lady.”

“ And lastly, I wish to learn whether she will ‘be so
perfect as to appear to advantage amongst the nobles and

  
  

  

 

  

= = As ee a
great ladies of the Court of Turin, which is the finest court
in Italy, or in the whole world?”

“ Certainly, my lady.”
THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED. 23

The governess now remained silent, because the Princess
Orfano-Orfana put to her no more ques--
tions.

“In my turn I will ask you,” said the:
prince to the tutor, “if my noble son,
Leopold-Leopoldini, will be fit, on-reach-.
ing the proper age, and'by means of your
instruction, to enter the corps of royal
pages in the service of his majesty the-
King of Sardinia?”

“ Doubtless, my lord.”

f ‘Will he wear his sword' with the grace
of an elegant gallant?”
“ Doubtlessy my lord.”
“Will he have learnt how to smile in a
proper manner at the slightest words
which his sovereign may deign to:address
to him?”
‘ Doubtless, my lord.”

“Will he know how to pick up a
princess’s glove gracefully, to: pay a com-
pliment whenever there is an opportunity,
and play at fives?”

“Doubtless, my lord.”

** Will he have learnt——”’

This new question on the part of Prince
Orfano-Orfana was cut short by a loud cry uttered by
Prince Hempseed, who also exclaimed, “Oh! the wretch—
the monster—the cruel man !”’

Every one looked in astonishment: at the pale and sor-
rowful countenance of little Prince Hempseed, and tried to
find out the cause of that anger which did’ not appear to
cease; for he continued to exclaim, as he raised’ his eyes to.
heaven, “ Will not Providence take our part? Oh! they
are lost!—they are lost!”

“What is the matter with you, my dear son?” demanded

 

 

 
24 THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED.

his mother, pressing him
tenderly in her arms.

“But what is it? what
is it?” said his father. “ Are
you taking leave of your
senses ?”

“Do you not see them?”
at lengthcried Prince Hemp-
seed, pointing upwards, and
directing attention to a
small object which grew
larger and larger as it came
down from the sky. =

His heart had told him, ==
before his eyes, what that
object was.

All the persons who were upon the terrace had cast
their eyes upwards; but they were some minutes before
they could discover the reason of Prince Hempseed’s strange
grief and trouble.

At length they understood it all,

 

 

 

 

 

 

The castle magpie
was bearing the great
red parrot along with
.. it through the azure
heavens; and the red
parrot dragged at its
feet thetwo canaries,
Emerald and Topaz.
: =’ Thus fastened together
with a string, the ends
i . ‘of which were plainly
Zk iis = seen flying about, the
or. 4, fourbirdsrolled, strug-

eer aad gled, fluttered, and

turned round and:round above the heads of the persons on

   
 

 

 

  
‘THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED. 25

the terrace. Stifled cries were now heard; and the mag-
pie and parrot seemed about to breathe their last. They
were throttling each other by entangling the string with
their flutterings; for the more they tried to get loose, the
tighter they drew the string. The poor little canary birds
were hung by the feet, and were nearly killed with fits.

No one doubted who the author of this cruel amuse-
ment could be: the name of Rol, the Tyrolese, was on
every tongue.

At length, after having turned over and over a dozen
times, the red parrot, the magpie, and the two canaries, fell
heavily upon the terrace. It was a dreadful fall! But
Prince Hempseed ran to them, and with his fingers and
teeth separated or broke the string which was strangling
the poor birds.

It was indeed time!

The wretched magpie Chatterbox could scarcely utter
its favourite saying, “ A halfpenny! a halfpenny!” and the
parrot had a hoarse rattling in his‘ throat as he repeated,
* Walk in! pray walk in! walk in, sir! walk in, madam!”
As for the two little canaries, they were cold and still, as
if dead.

But they were not dead, as Prince Hempseed found
when he had warmed them in his hands and with his breath.
They moved their feet and wings a little—very little!
Still there was hope in the midst of so much grief!

And what added to Prince Hempseed’s grief, was the
coolness with which nearly all the persons upon the terrace
beheld that sad event.

His anger was so great at the moment, that he said to
his sister, who was so thoughtless that she could not prevent
herself from laughing, “Go away, miss.”

“Tt is for you to go away, sir,” exclaimed Prince Or-
fano-Orfana angrily. ‘‘ Retire, sir! you ought neither to
show such a great affection towards animals, nor so much
anger against your sister, who did nothing very wrong.”
26 THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED.

“Certainly,” said the gover-
ness.

“ Doubtless,” added the tutor.
Confused, hurt in the most
tender point, and ashamed at
having received so severe a
rebuke from his father, whom
he loved and respected much,
poor little Prince Hempseed
= retired, carrying in his arms
the four birds which he had so
= strangely saved from death,
and which he now bathed with
his tears.

All he said, when he met in the doorway the wicked
Rol, who had caused all the mischief, was, “I shall be a
man some day.”

Prince Orfano-Orfana, wishing to prove to his son how
much he was vexed at his petulance towards Olympia, gave
him a mark of his sore displeasure a few days after the
adventure of the four birds. He was resolved that Prince
Hempseed should remember all his life the important truth,
that moderation should be seen even in actions the most just.

He was in the habit of inviting to a grand dinner, on a
certain day in autumn, the principal nobles of those parts,
in order to keep the birth-day of the princess, his wife.
Those dinners were always so splendid, and so many good
things were always spread upon the table, that the people
in the neighbourhood began to talk of the feast a long time,
every year, before it took place. It was quite an event.
In a word, Prince Orfano-Orfana spared nothing to render
the present banquet as famous as all the former ones. It
was a creat day!

And that day was now come.

On every part of the lake were seen elegant barges,
bending beneath their blue or rose-coloured sails, and speed-

 
THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED. 27

 

 

 

 

ing towards the happy island where the guests were
expected. On board the boats there were musicians whose
songs united in sweet melody, and youths who strewed the
track of each boat with flowers. Livery moment one or
another of those barges touched the island; and the noble
guests of Prince Orfano-Orfana stepped upon the soft lawns
and the golden sands that were spread around the hospitable
castle.

The tutor Doubtless was the person charged by the
prince to inform Hempseed that he was not to be present
at that brilliant feast.

Such was the severe manner in which his father pun-
ished him.

It would be an untruth to say that Prince Hempseed
received this sad news without sorrow. He loved his father
and mother too much, and was too anxious to preserve their
affection and merit their good opinion, to treat this punish-
ment lightly. He did not therefore conceal from his tutor
his sorrow, his distress, and his tears.

At the same time, when he remembered the cause which
had driven him in an unguarded moment to treat his sister
Olympia harshly, he felt that he was more deserving of pity
than blame. He was sorry for having offended her, and
for having provoked his father’s anger; but he thought also
that his sister should not have been so thoughtless, hard-
hearted, and unkind in respect to poor birds at the point of
28 THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED.

‘|, death. He was very
vii sorrowful; but his
| conscience did not

prick him.

To do justice to every

{ one concerned, we

must declare that the

  
 
   

=fana begged of her
husband not to be so
very severe towards
== hisson, and thatOlym-

times at the feet or
her father to obtain the pardon of her poor brother.

Prince Orfano-Orfana was not to be moved: he was
resolved to do his duty as a father. .

Fathers are like kings—they would, if they could,
forgive every one.

But, listen! the great bell of the castle rings for dinner !

Poor little Prince Hempseed sate down mournfully on
a bench on the terrace; and from that place he could see
the splendid table prepared for the festival. His heart
beat—his eyes filled with tears.

He saw a long train of servants carrying the dishes of
delicious meats.

And he himself had eaten nothing since the day before!

Some of the servants were carrying nice soups, the
smell of which perfumed the air.

The prince looked, and sighed.

Others were laden with dishes containing roast mutton,
beautifully browned at a gentle fire. He looked again,
and sighed.

Then came some, who carried game stuffed with truf-
fles. Quails, thrushes, snipes, and woodcocks, were heaped

=

 
THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED. 29

upon vine-leaves in silver dishes. The prince dared not
look any longer; but his sighs came quicker and quicker.
Next came servants bearing wild boars’ heads, embel-
lished with parsley and mint, and decorated with cloves.
Others carried white and rose-
=.. coloured creams in china
basins;—and the poor little
== prince was so fond of white
and rose-coloured creams !

 
  
 
   
    

ra

Here were servants carrying cakes made of almonds,
pistachio nuts, and American citron: there were lacqueys
charged with preserved fruits whose shape and colour had
not been changed by the art of the confectioner.

We cannot say whether Prince Hempseed could have
endured that tantalising scene to the end; but something
happened to draw his attention to another point.

He was looking round him, when at the farther end of
the terrace he observed Turnspit, Chatterbox, Topaz, and
Emerald, all of whom seemed to beg him to notice them.

Was it an error—a mistake? He went first to Turn-
spit’s trough, and what did he see? It was empty—dry as
the wood of which it was made. The poor dog had eaten
nothing since the day before.

As for the magpie’s cage, it contained not a jot more
than that of the two canaries.
30 THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED.

The little prince understood in a moment that the dog
and the birds were to share his
punishment; for, like him, they
had not eaten all day.

* And I was making myself miser-
able! I was crying!” he said,
“and these poor creatures suffer
without a complaint. Have ani-
mals more sense than I? Is it
for them to furnish me with
examples of patience?”

So far from complaining to his
little master, the dog, who was
= chained up, stretched out his
neck as far as he could to lick
the prince’s hands, barking in a
plaintive manner at the same time.

Poor Chatterbox, the magpie, said to him in her prettiest
tone, “A halfpenny! a halfpenny!”—and the canaries
flapped their wings joyfully as he approached their cage.

Then the little prince felt comforted.

Having tasted the pleasure of resignation, by means of
the lesson taught him by beings less sensible than himself,
he said, ‘‘ No! it is impossible that my father could have
meant these harmless creatures to suffer a punishment
which I alone have deserved. His orders have not been
rightly understood; and in all this I can easily perceive the
spite of that wicked Rol.”

From that moment his mind was made up. He was
bent upon a great plan!

It was now night; and the servants were obliged to
pass through the darkness of the terrace to reach the ban-
queting-room.

Prince Hempseed boldly placed himself in the way; and
when Rol passed with two splendid plates of nice things, he
drew his sword, saying, “This is for you, or those are for me!”

 
THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED. 31

= The sword of the prince
was pointed at Rol’s heart.
That man was a coward,
because he was wicked,
and he directly gave up to
== the little prince the plates
=== that were intended for the

  
  

= The prince ran to dis-
tribute the good things
amongst Turnspit, Chatter-
box, Topaz, and Emerald,
who did not think twice, as
you may well believe, about
enjoying the fruits of the victory gained by their young
master. ,

They ate heartily of cakes,
tarts, Savoy cakes, almond
biscuits, anda thousand other
delicious things. It was a
fine sight to behold Turn-
spit thus engaged !

“Kat on!” cried Prince
Hempseed: “eat this—and
now eat that! Do not be
afraid—they are all for you!
And now,” added the prince,
returning his sword to its
sheath, “I am no longer
hungry—I am no longer
unhappy—I have done a good action!”

He then went and seated himself upon the terrace until
his tutor should come, as was the custom, to tell him to go
to bed. He was waiting in this manner, when he heard the
din of muskets, steel boots, and swords, sounding on the
marble floor of the terrace.

=

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
32 THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED.

The little prince started from his reflections, rose, and
looked anxiously around him. The castle was filled with
soldiers !

Scarcely had he thus discovered what was taking place,
when he saw the armed men advance in large numbers
towards the banqueting-room, and guard all the doors.

In a short time he heard the stern voice of their captain,
saying, “ Prince Orfano-Orfana, you are the king’s prisoner!
You and your wife must accompany us! If you resist, you
shall die!”

The young prince, alarmed by this exclamation, rushed
forward, threw himself amongst: the soldiers, and tried to
prevent them from
touching his father.
But the men drove
him back, and were
deaf to his prayers,
as well as regardless
of his threats.
Prince Orfano-Or-
_ fanaandthe princess
were dragged out of
the castlé, taken to
the opposite shore
of the lake, placed in
a carriage which was
= waiting, and borne
away as fast as four
horses could convey
them.

One half of the troops went as a guard with the two
noble prisoners; and the other half remained at the castle,
to take possession of it in the king’s name.

Thus, Prince Orfano-Orfana was not only a prisoner;
but his property was also seized by the crown.

Guards were posted all over the castle; and many of

 
THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED. 33

the soldiers took their seats at that table which the noble
guests had quitted in alarm.
Asfor the lacqueys,
footmen, and other
servants, — instead
of troubling them-
== selves with the fate
of the two children,
—they took advan-

tage of the con-
fusion to make off
with all the plate
and other valuables that they could lay their hands on.

The tutor had doubiless run away, and the governess
had certainly fled.

Olympia, half dead with fright, had passed stealthily
amongst the horde of soldiers, who knew not that she was

it

 
  

 

    
  
 

“ah
x 4
MAY

|
|

| \
y i!

   
 

 
84 THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED.

the prince’s daughter, and had joined her brother, to
implore him to protect her.

Poor dear child! What could he do against two hun-
dred men, all armed from head to foot, and who were
occupied in eating, swearing, rioting, and drinking until
they became furious.

Olympia and Hempseed left the castle, proceeded
through the darkness, and hid themselves in the park, where
they spent the night. It was not until next day that they
heard from a shepherd-boy who was friendly towards them,
that their father and mother had been conducted to a for-
tress, under pretence that they had favoured rebels, and
given refuge to the king’s enemies, who, it was said, had
been found concealed on the lands of Orfano-Orfana. All
these charges formed a great crime called high treason, and
was punishable by the seizure of the culprit’s property, his
disgrace, and perhaps his death.

Prince Hempseed and his sister fainted when they heard
this account, which they did not believe; for, children
though they were, they knew full well that their father
loved his king.

When they re-
covered, they heard
the drunken songs
of the soldiers, who
seemed capable of -%
laying waste the “2
whole estate. The
wretcheseven threat-

   

pavilions and stables,
and tosack the castle.

Until night-fall
again did the two
children hear those
oaths, those shouts,
THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED. 35

and those cries of destruction. ‘They did not move out of
the thicket where they had concealed themselves since the
previous night.

And how long that day appeared to them !

In the middle of the night, when the noise was a little
hushed, the prince, who had been thinking much for twenty-
four hours, whispered to his sister, “Dearest Olympia,
come with me. I have a plan in view.”

Olympia was frightened to leave the thicket;—she
seco ae obeyed her brother.

* But where are we going?” she said.

Follow me, sister.”

« What will become of us?”

* God will help us. Let us exert ourselves first.”

“ But, my dear brother—”

“ Silence, sister: all the soldiers are not asleep! If one
of them should overhear us—”

«You are going to the castle ?” said Olympia, trembling.

*‘T know it. Come on boldly.”

‘ But the soldiers are there !”

* Silence, dear sister—or we are lost!”

Overcome by drinking, the soldiers were sleeping pell-
mell upon the marble terrace.

The two children advanced with slow and cautious steps—
scarcely touching the ground, as they walked ontip-toe amidst
those armed men, at the risk of every ;
moment arousing'a savage halberdier,
with moustachios like a tiger, or a
dragoon more terrible still, and being
taken prisoners. What adangerous
situation! But then, they walked so
gently —so gently—so very gently !'

All of a sudden, the hoarse and
tipsy voice of one of the soldiers
lying upon the terrace, exclaimed,
* Who goes there ?”

 

Cc
86 THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED.

The two children stopped.
They gave no answer;—but how their hearts did
beat ! :

The soldier turned, and went to sleep again. All dan-
ger was not however over.

‘ What is the plan you spoke of?” asked Olympia, ina
low whisper.

‘¢ Now is the time to execute it!”

' And with wonderful care, prudence, and precaution,
did Prince Hempseed, who had now reached the end of the
terrace spread with sleeping soldiers, take the donkey out
of the stable. This done, he unchained the dog, on whom
he imposed silence with a wave of his hand: then, taking
from their pegs the cages of the twé canaries and the mag-
pie, with which latter he
placed the pigeons, he fast-
ened the two cages upon the
donkey, whom he led down
a narrow and dark walk into. .
the middle of the park. There
he told his sister to wait for
him, as he would soon come
back.

Then Prince Hempseed
took off his shoes to make less
noise, and again sought the
castle.

Having reached the ter-
race, he stopped a moment to
rest himself; for he was now
about to enter upon a task a
hundred times more difficult
and more dangerous than the
first. He had determined to
make his way into the great S
room where the banquet had j—~——= _-

 

 
THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED. 37

taken place, in spite of the watchfulness of the gigantic
sentinel who guarded the door.

The prince, we said, had his plan all ready. His first
step had been successful; and it now remained for him to
crown the work.

But what danger !—what boldness!

He waited until the sentinel, during his walk up and
down, had turned his yback towards him; and then he
entered the room.

He ran to the place where Zug, the monkey, was wont
to station himself. Zug slept soundly, for the soldiers had
made him tipsy. He took Zug, and threw him like a sack
over his shoulder :—the
cat was under the table;
he seized it, and held it
under his arm. Then,
> without delay, he hurried
to the parrot; but the bird
was overjoyed at.seeing the
== little prince, and shrieked

= out, “ Walk in, sir! walk
in, madam!” . The sentinel
opened his eyes wide at
that cry, looked round,
and saw some one hurry-
ing off in the direction of
the door. It was too late
to stop him; but he cocked his musket, presented it, and
fired at the shadow that glided near him, and now crossed
the terrace. :

The musket was fired: the bullet was lost in the dis- .
tance.

Already had Prince Hempseed joined his sister; and
now they passed through the park-gate, which they closed
behind them. At length they reached the boundary of the
estate, at the extremity of the isle whereon stood the castle

C2

 
38 THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED.

that they were leaving perhaps for ever! They got into
a boat with all the animals, who, except the donkey, were
easily embarked: they loosened the rope—they pushed off
the barge—and now they are away from the land!

The moon was concealed behind a cloud, and the tide
was rapid.

All the soldiers had awoke with a start, crying, “To
arms! to arms!”

Torches of fir-wood shone on the high parts of the islet;
and their reddish gleam was thrown to a distance upon the
water. That shining light revealed the boat which was
carrying away the children of Prince Orfano-Orfana.
Muskets were fired; but the bullets fell in the lake without
reaching the fugitives. Prince Hempseed and his sister
were already beyond musket-range. Farther and farther
they were borne along, carrying with them the donkey, the
monkey, the dog, the two canaries, the cat, the parrot, the
magpie, and the pigeon.

The two children were saved '

And so were Patience, Zug,
Turnspit, Emerald, Topaz,
Coco, Counsellor, Chatter-
box, and Auriol.
We were quite wrong when
we supposed that Doubtless
the tutor had taken to flight
the moment the castle was
entered by the soldiers.
These wretches, in search-
ing the cellars, found him
= concealed behind a row of
= barrels. To seize him by
his black coat, to drag him
~ up stairs, and to take him
- before their captain to be
disposed of,—all this was

 
THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED. 39

the work of a moment. Doubtless, the tutor trembled like a
leaf, and was scarcely less green than one, so frightened was he.

“This will exactly answer our purpose,” said the cap-
tain, when he saw him enter.

“Shall we quarter, hang, or burn him?” asked the
soldiers.

Doubtless prayed to heaven for mercy.

“No; not yet,” said the captain; “but in the mean-
time take him to the cistern.”

This order was obeyed in an instant; and the soldiers
led the prisoner to the cistern.

We must here mention a custom that prevails in war-
time. When the enemy obtain possession of a fortress or
castle, they take care, as a matter of caution, to make some
of the conquered people drink of the cisterns and wells, to
prove that the water has not been poisoned.

Doubtless, the tutor, was therefore conducted into one of
the castle cellars, where there was an immense cistern,
which supplied the estate with water.

* Now, I guess their intentions,” said the poor man to
himself, during the few
minutes that they left him
alone in the cellar: “they
are doubtless resolved that
I should taste the water.
They wish to be convinced
that we have not poisoned
it. I shall be only too
happy to escape so easily
—though doubtless some-
what uncomfortably.”

He had just finished
speaking in this manner to
himself, when a soldier en- -
tered, holding his sword
in his hand, and said—* Taste that water !”

 
40 THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED.

« With pleasure, my good friend,” answered the tutor,
filling a glass, which he emptied at a draught, although it.
was not his favourite drink.

“ Well and good,” said the soldier, leaving the cellar,
and closing the door upon the tutor.

«“ What do they want with me next?” thought Doubt-
less: “the trial has been made; why should they leave
me here? perhaps it is an error.”

A second soldier made his appearance.

“ Taste that water,” said he, brandishing a lance over
the tutor’s head.

“ But I have already done so.”

“ Taste that water, I say.”

The tutor could not resist an order so politely given;
and he drank a second glass of water.

“ Capital!” cried the soldier, going away as the first
had done, after shutting the door of the cellar.

“What does this mean?” murmured the tutor: “ he
also shuts me in! When shall I be able to go away ?”

A third soldier came, armed with a pistol; and the
same command was repeated. Se

“ Taste that water !”

* T shall doubtless be suf-
focated, if this continue.”

© Will you taste it?”

Doubtless the tutor swal-
lowed his third glass of water
with a thousand grimaces and
contortions.

The water was indeed as
cold as ice!

And now came a fourth
soldier—then a fifth—then a
sixth,—and so on up to a
dozen !

   
THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED. 41

Twelve glasses of water had already passed down the
throat, and were now lying cold on the stomach, of the
wretched tutor. He knew not what to do: he was out of
breath; and his stomach was as swollen and round asa
balloon.

And yet he must drink again:—there was no help for it !

The same order sounds in his ears, enforced by lances,
spears, clubs, swords, and loaded muskets.

* Taste that water !—or else death shall be your portion!”

At length the poor tutor, after swallowing his eigh-
teenth dose of water, fell on the ground, to the joyful but
brutal satisfaction of the soldiers, who had so well soaked

m.
We shall see hereafter whether he died in consequence.
Let us now return to the two children, whom we left
floating upon Lake Major, by the light of the moon.

 

Throughout the whole night they pursued their way on
the peaceful water, in a contrary direction to that of the
island which they had left. At times their eyes sought
in the gloom of the horizon that beautiful castle which they
might never again behold! Day broke as they reached the
42 THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED.

small port of Arona, where they landed with all their
animals, somewhat fatigued by the voyage. So soon as
Prince Hempseed had convinced himself that none of his
passengers were missing, he lost no time in going to a
fisherman, and proposing to him to sell the boat which had
brought his interesting colony into harbour. The fisher-
man of Arona saw that a good fish had fallen into his net:
he therefore offered ten crowns, and the bargain was con-
cluded—but on a condition required by Prince. Hempseed,
and which was, that the fisherman should give him the
coarse clothes of his son and daughter in exchange for those
of the young prince and his sister. The condition was too
good in the eyes of the fisherman of Arona not to be accepted;
and while he counted down the ten crowns, Prince Hemp-
seed and his sister went into the man’s hut, where they
took off their own clothes and put on those of the fisher-
man’s children. These clothes were of a coarse brown
cloth, just like the clothes worn by the little sweeps, and
the hurdy-gurdy players. Olympia sighed and shed tears
during a change of costume so hurtful to her vanity.

She blushed to see
herself dressed in that
fashion !

Thus clothed, and
quite altered in appear-
ance, the two unfortu-
nate children of Prince
Orfano-Orfana _pro-
ceeded towards the
Alps; for they thought -
of passing into France,
where, thanks to their
Giegeiee, they were sure neither to be remarked nor pur-
sued. :
As the donkey was young and strong, he easily carried
the weight of the two children and the three cages—namely,

 
THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED, 43

that with the canaries, the one with the parrot, and the last
containing the magpie and the pigeon. The monkey

 

 

balanced himself on the pummel of the saddle; and the
black cat was placed behind the saddle, in a basket supplied
with straw. The faithful Turnspit, sometimes running
before as a guide, and sometimes following as a guard,
accompanied the equipage on foot.

It was a charming group, full of innocence and frank
confidence.

“ My dear brother,” said Olympia, as they were on the
road from Arona to Biella, “ what shall you do with all
that money ?”

* What shall I do with it? must we not live ourselves,
and feed all our companions?”

“TI never. thought of that,” said Olympia, who until
now was ignorant of the wants and necessities of life.

** You will:soon see, dear sister, that we have not got
too much money.” ..

“Then why trouble yourself with so many animals to
feed ?”

* They will provide us with food in their turn, when
we shall no longer have the means of feeding them.”

You are joking, dear brother.”
44 THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED.

“No, Olympia,” returned Hempseed; “I am quite
serious in what I say to you.”

“ And how will they supply us with food?” asked his
sister.

“You shall know all the moment we have quitted
Piedmont, which we must leave behind us as soon as
we can.”

“« And where is France? shall you be able to find it?”

“ It is on the other side of those mountains, which now
rise before us.”

“ Goodness!” cried Olympia; “ shall we have to climb
up, and then go down, and climb up again, and go down
again, amongst those mountains, that seem to touch the
sky.”

* Yes, dear sister, we must!”

* But it is impossible !”

* There are several roads.”

* Do you know them?”

« We will inquire our way.”

“And the robbers, the banditti, and the wild beasts?”
cried Olympia, in affright.

“And God?” said Prince Hempseed, in an impressive
tone.

Thus speaking of the future, they at length reached
Biella; but they waited for the night, before they entered
the town. Next morning, at an early hour, they bought
a quantity of provisions, with one of the pieces of money
produced by the sale of the boat, for themselves and their
companions. Not being used to travelling, the animals
sometimes showed no little obstinacy. The most unruly
was Zug, who often endeavoured to make his escape; and
this bad example was followed by Coco. But Turnspit
barked and growled at them till he forced them to be
obedient.

When the children had travelled four or five miles, they
would stop to rest beneath one of those vast trees which
THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED. 45

there are in Italy,—the cedar, for instance, with its thick
shade, and its branches spreading like a parasol. The
prince and princess then allowed their companions to enjoy
a little freedom; for they were certain, thanks to the ex-
perience of the first few days, that this kindness would not
meet with an ungrateful return. Chatterbox perched her-

 

 

 

 

 

   

eon Ss

self on the top of her cage, and gossipped like a true
magpie as she was, crying joyously, “ A half-penny ! a half-
penny!” Counsellor, hopping from branch to branch, ex-
claimed, “ Walk in, sir! walk in, madam!” Zug ran,
clambered, and skipped from place to place more nimbly
than a squirrel; and Topaz and Emerald also enjoyed their
liberty in their own way. They ran about upon the grass,
pecking at the fresh leaves, the sweet smelling moss-roses,
and those tiny shining particles which seem to fall from
the sky, but which really escape from the very hearts of
the flowers. Perhaps you think that Turnspit and Coco
slept all this time? No such thing! As for Patience—the
46 THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED.

ood and kind-hearted donkey—the moment he was freed
froin his burdens, he seemed to shake off every care also,
and regaled himself with the softest grass and the nicest
thistles in the world.

When young Prince Hempseed thought that his mena-
gerie had enjoyed their freedom quite long enough, he
gathered all his animals and birds around him, and taught
them a great number of tricks, such as he had seen practised
by the strolling actors, conjurors, and clowns who used to
stop at Orfano-Orfana castle.

He whistled a tune, and the monkey performed a waltz,
or other dance. But if Zug grew idle or turned sulky, a
kiss, something nice to eat,,or even a gentle tap at times,
would soon make him learn: and the lessons were continued.

You will remember that Coco was the chief butt of
Rol’s cruelties, and that the wicked man used to delight in
pinching Coco’s paws with the hot tongs, to make the poor
animal mew in different tones. To induce Coco to favour
him with the same kind of music, Prince Hempseed only
had to squeeze the cat’s paws ae
with his fingers. The poor a5
animal, remembering the pain ars
that Rol used to put its paws
to, immediately began to mew
in a humming manner, and §
with evident pleasure, as the
child thus pressed its feet,
now gently, then a little har-
der, but never to hurt them.
At last the cat was actually
able to mew a tune—not very
well, perhaps; still well
enough considering that it
was but a cat!

The canaries did not remain idle. Prince Hempseed cut
two little pieces of wood into the shapes of a sword and a

  
 
THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED AT

gun, and taught the birds to attack each other, to defend
themselves, to fire off a
little brass cannon, and
to pretend to be dead.
They used those weapons,
which were tied with a
bit of silk to their feet,
very cleverly. When
one of them fell down as
if mortally wounded, the
other dragged him to a
little wheelbarrow, to

Se which he harnessed him-
self. Ifthey both pretended to be dead, the monkey put
them into a larger wheelbarrow, and carried them away
from the field of battle.

As for Turnspit, he was as sagacious as all dogs of his
kind are, and already knew the use of dominoes, and the
meaning of cards. Only pee
he could not tell the spades Aas
from the clubs. But Rome
was not built in a day:
Nero took three days to
burn it, and then did not
burn it all. This circum-
stance should render us
indulgent towards dogs,
whom heaven did not make
for the purpose of playing
at cards or dominoes. It
requires much care, much _
patience, and perseverance, <<
to train dogs in that man-
ner. But poor little Prince :
Hempseed, finding himself bound to provide for his sister
and himself, in a strange land, and no one could tell for
how many years, did not despair.

    
       

~
48 THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED.

Olympia, the beautiful little princess, did not at first
assist her brother without some grumbling; but in a short
time she agreed to prepare the food for the animals every
day; and at length the habit grew upon her so, that she
began to like it. eG

While her brother was en~
gaged in teaching the animals
and birds, she often knelt at
the trunk of a fallen tree, and
wrote to her dear father and
mother, who were weeping for
her, and for whom she wept
also. But where were that
kind father and good mother?

When her letter was finish-
ed, she would place it next to
her heart, along with the others
that she had written.

You must observe that © ia
Olympia, taught by misfortunes, improved daily.

The sun, the somewhat fatiguing but wholesome exer-
cise of travelling, and the fresh air of the open country, had
already tanned their cheeks, but they were only more
healthy, handsomer, and stronger on that account. Free-
dom is such a fine thing for both soul and body!

Beneath the beautiful sun of the borders of Italy, at
one time the children pursued their way along a river’s
bank, margined with water-cresses; at another they trod
green fields, that seemed to be sown with the thousand
drops of the diamond-sparkling dew. They ate as they went
along; they slept beneath the plane-trees; and they awoke
in the morning with the smile of hope upon their lips.
They often forgot their cares;—then they remembered
them again,—and prayed! Mounted once more on the
back of the good-natured Patience, they drew nearer and
nearer towards the Alps. Sometimes they lost themselves,

    

ee

 

 

ee
THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED. 49

and wandered back to the same point whence they went
astray :—and sometimes they were pensive and sorrowful ;
but children as they were, they soon became happy again!

One day they were rendered very miserable indeed.
Auriol, the beautiful pigeon, with the many-coloured neck,
made use of his freedom so fully, that he flew so high, and
flew so far, as to be out of sight. The bird was lost in infinite
space. Turnspit barked to no purpose: Auriol was hidden
behind the blue curtain of heaven. The two children
stopped and waited a long time for it. But half an hour
passed—then an hour ;—and still Auriol returned not!
Sadly and mournfully the children continued their way
without him. But, O joy! at the place where they
stopped for supper, they beheld Auriol re-appear from a
great distance: he came up rapidly towards them, cooing
and flapping his wings. The children fondled and scolded
him, and all was forgiven. But on the following day he flew
off again: fortunately, however, he returned. In a word,
Auriol now left his companions every day in the same man-
ner, and returned to them at night.

It was now the end of autumn—a beautiful season in
that part of Italy which the little exiles were about to leave
behind them; but amidst the Alps, which they were now
about to enter upon, it was as cold as in the depth of win-
ter. They had reached the picturesque base of those
fearful mountains, whose eternal snows, seen in the distance,
filled the children with terror and misgivings.

Before they began their Alpine journey, Prince Hemp-
seed stopped at a place between Biella and Ivry, and bought
two cloaks—one for himself, and the other for his sister
Olympia, who was ever saying to him, “ Dear brother,
those ugly mountains frighten me; do not let us go amongst
them! Let us take another road.”

** Which road can we take?” asked Prince Hempseed.

“T do not know. But those mountains—”

“Come, Olympia! God has brought us safe and sound as
far asthis; and, if He will, he can place us beyond danger.
60 THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED.

Having reached the foot of the Alps, and gained the
frontier of the valley of Piedmont, their fears increased. The
Alps were now before them—those dreadful Alps! In spite
of his bravery, Prince Hempseed would not attempt the pas-
sage until he had inquired the best road to take amongst so
many defiles, ravines, bogs, and precipices. How many
travellers had perished in those mountains, which exist as
poe of the convulsions of the globe! The prince left

is sister in charge of the animals, and resolved to set
out alone to Ivry, to ask concerning the roads.

Ivry is nearer to the Alps than Biella.

«You promise to come back in two hours?” said Olym-
pia, when she saw that her brother had made up his mind
to go’to Ivry.

 

“I promise,” answered the prince. “ And you must
promise me, dear sister, not to move away from the trunk
of this tree where I have concealed you.”

“JT will stay here until you come back.”

Prince Hempseed had concealed his sister within the
trunk of an immense old elm tree, which had a hollow
opening at its base, in the shape of a deep oval. The three
THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED. 51

cages, the monkey, and the basket with the cat, were
also placed there. Turnspit seated himself at Olympia’s
feet, for it was the dog who naturally became the guardian
of the entire establishment. The prince, while piling and
heaping around as well as he could the broken boughs of
fir and cedars, at the foot of the elm, so as to hide the hol-
low, did not forget to leave a small opening, through which
Turnspit might look forth, both right and left.

What a touching picture was afforded by that trunk of
an ancient tree, concealed by masses of green leaves, and
permitting a glimpse, behind the foliage, of the head of a
dog in listening attitude, the shining plumage of a parrot,
the glossy neck of a pigeon, and a portion of the rosy
countenance of a beautiful child!

Little Prince Hemp-
~ seed, without fears for
~ his sister or the ani-
aS , mals, and mounted on
¥~ Patience, who seemed
surprised at having
* only one load to
: carry, took the road
==> — to Ivry.
Nerja... . InhalfanhourOlym-
L. SSS = SS = pia fell asleep to the
chirping of the birds that carolled on the still pendant top
of the old tree, while the canaries, concealed in the hollow
trunk, responded to those mirthful lays.

Prince Hempseed was very punctual. The two hours
had not passed away, and he was again with his sister.

Turnspit had also done his duty faithfully. At the foot
of the tree was a great snake, writhing in horrible con-
vulsions, and which he had strangled.

That reptile had endeavoured to creep into the hollow
of the tree, to bite Olympia while she slept. ;

“ Good dog,” said the Prince, patting Turnspit’s large

D

 
  
   
    

 

 
52 THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED:'

head: “very good dog! You now see, dear sister, whether
it is wise to obtain the
love’ of animals, and
whether they have. sa-
gacity, memory, and a
good heart.” :

Olympia cast down
her eyes, and also fon-
dled the dog with her
hand.

“And now let us’
be moving,” said Prince
Hempseed: “the wea- /. ,
ther is fine, the road is /'/ h h
beautiful, and I have.” Ah EN
found out which is the <2¥e 24
proper path to take =

actoss the Alps, so as) SS iy
to reach Savoy without =

    
      

 

 

 

danger. From Savoy we shall easily pass*into France;
and when once in France, we shall-be safe! Now, Zug;
now; Auriol; now, Coco; now; Turnspit; now, Topaz,
Emerald, Chatterbox, Counsellor; and Patience! Cheer
up, my friends, and onward! This very night we’ shall be
amongst the hills, on the road leading across Mount
Cenis!”

As if they had understood the speech and the assurance
of the young chief, all the animals and birds gave signs of
satisfaction.

Auriol, the pretty pigeon, cooed and beat his wings;
Coco’ put up his great back; Turnspit barked as’ he
galloped like mad along the road, raising clouds of dust
behind him; Topaz and Emerald sang one of their sweetest
airs; Zug capered on the head of Patience, who began to
bray to his heart’s content; while Counsellor kept up the
constant cry of “ Walk in, sit! walk in, madam!” and
THE ADVENTURES oF” PRINCE: HEMPSEED. 53

Chatterbox, the magpie, exclaimed on ‘her' part} “A: half-
penny! a halfpenny!” |

The two children laughed with all their’ heart} -for’ joy
now went along with them:

Towards evening: they stopped 'to dine for the ‘last’ time
in sight of Piedmont. Nature was not now so smiling’
around: them as before; grey mists hovered above their
heads, and cold winds from time to time swept by, warning
them that they were quitting Italy—the soil of ‘flowers, the
land of the sun!’

They had finished their frugal repast on the top ofa
little hill, which separated’a ravine covered with wild ‘plum-
trees, from’ a' wood. of chesnuts, when Prince Henipseed,
having risen for the purpose of bringing back Patienée,
who had. wandered’ too far’ from head-quarters, thought he’
heard voices in the ravine. He stooped down, went upon
all fours, and climbed gently up to near the top of’ the hill.

Three men were am
conversing.

He listened ! — : =f

One said, “It is SSS : Ss
just as I told you at 2238S f .

Ivry! They are no &

doubt the children of “=3&
Prince Orfano-Orfana,
that great lord whose
estates are seized, -and
who, having been made
a'prisoner, is perhaps
at’ this very’ nioment pie lae
about'to die upon the scaffold. Yes, those are his children,
disguised ‘as beggars. I have seen them several times at
their father’s castle; and I knew Prince Hempseed, directly,
by his' pretty little hands, which ate too delicate and white.
for'a sweep. Depend upon it they have plénty of gold
about them, being the children of a'prince and princess!”

D2

 
 
 
 
 
 
54 THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED.:

“No doubt; and we must immediately o ,

“It is most likely to avoid the hands of justice that they
have put on those mean clothes,” interrupted the first
speaker; “for all the family is to be proceeded against.
There are plenty of diamonds concealed in the linings of
their garments.”

‘* Well, then; let us seize on the two children, since
they are close by.”

* Not now,” said the captain of the robbers: there are
too many travellers about here at present; and we should
be surprised. You don’t want to be hung before next
spring? Then listen tome. The two children, to-night,
take the road across Mount Cenis, in order to reach Lans-
de-burgh. I know they will; because it was I myself who
told Prince Hempseed at Ivry which path to follow. We
will. waylay them, and rob them ; and to destroy all traces
of the deed, we will roll them down some precipice, at the
bottom of which they can cry at their ease.”

« Well, then—to-night !”

«Yes, to-night, comrades. Let us now hasten on, and
lay in wait for them on the Mount Cenis road.”

And the robbers went their ways.

When Prince Hempseed rose from the ground, he was
much troubled: his own life and that of his sister were in
danger at the hands of those wretches. He did not how-
ever lose his presence of mind.

“ My dear sister,” said he to Olympia, “the sky grows
darker and darker, and if we stay here much longer, I shall
not know how to find the road which I have been advised
to take. Let us then at once continue our journey, and
reach by night-fall the beginning of the Mount Cenis road.”

Olympia obeyed; and the little party left the hill,
which was the last place in Italy whereat they stopped.

But Prince Hempseed was very silent: he was plunged
into deep thought. He said to himself, “ Since the robbers
are waiting for us on the Mount Cenis road, we must take

 
THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED. 55

another, and avoid them. Yes—but. which other? Is
there indeed any other at all? Oh! I know what we will
do!” he at length said to himself; “ we will keep at a dis-
tance of about two or three hundred paces from the Mount
Cenis road; and I shall be careful not to lose sight of the
mountain itself. By these means we may escape from the
snares of these three assassins.”

Olympia saw that her brother was unhappy and thought-
ful, but did not like to ask the reason.

Night came; and they drew nearer and nearer towards
the Mount Cenis road.

The icy air of the mountains compelled them to put on
their little brown cloaks.

Presently everything became confused and dusky before
them: the sun had set; and nature was covered with an
ocean of mist.

At a hundred paces from the point where the road
began, the little prince, without saying a word to his sister,

‘struck off to the right, and continued his way between two
mountains, that formed a long and narrow valley.

For some hours the little prince kept the road in sight
on his left hand; but at last he lost it, and could now .
guide himself only by guess-work.

By midnight the poor children had entirely lost them-
selves. On the right and on the left,—before and behind,

-—hbeneath their feet, and above their heads, spread the
frightful masses of granite. To increase the difficulty and
distress of their situation, the low and thick clouds began to
send forth a storm of snow, each flake of which, as it touched
the flesh, sent a chill shudder through the whole body.

- You must not forget that the two children had been
brought up amidst all the luxuries of life, surrounded by
attentions and kindnesses, and with many servants to obey
their slightest wishes.

The bleak wind whistled: it was a gale sharpened by

‘ the icy contact of the mountains, and it cut like a leathern
56 THE ADVENTURES /OF .PRINCE HEMPSERD.

thong. An .unseen torrent moaned beneath the rock on
which they had lost themselves. Oh! how cold—how dark
it was! And how frightened were the poor children!

They were now. compelled to stop !

Olympia began to cry; and the poor animals, chilled
and shivering, huddled, together in a mass.

Then poor Prince. Hempseed fell upon
_ his ‘knees, clasped his frozen little
<=, hands together, and cried aloud, “O
== God! have mercy upon us, for we
= are about to die! -O Lord, ‘have
mercy.upon .my sister, whom I have
led into this peril !”
_His prayer being ended, he rose; and
he found his mind more easy, now
that.he had besought the aid of heaven. He spread his
cloak upon the ground,.underneath the donkey’s feet, and
bade: his-sister stretch herself to. rest upon it. When she had
done this, he covered her with her own cloak, and placed the
monkey and cat upon her feet, so that she might be less cold.

By these means Zug and Coco had their share in the
singular mode of shelter which he had thus contrived. The
three cages were also placed close by Olympia. The young
prince next unfolded the great thick, cloth which was placed
between the saddle and the donkey’s back, and threw it
entirely over the docile comrade of their misfortunes, so
thatit fell round him on all sides. Thanks to this ingenuity,
those who were ‘beneath the cloth were concealed, and
protected -from.the cold.

“But what will you do, dear brother?” asked Olympia.

‘“T shall keep watch along with Turnspit. Sleep, dear
Sister,” was the reply.

‘Silence at length prevailed on that rock which was
white with the snow, moist with the fog, and bleak .with
the icy chill. The torrent alone was heard.

Standing close to Patience, who did not stir, little

 
THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED. 57

 

Prince Hempseeed was_a prey to the freezing sleet; but in
company with Turnspit, he bravely faced the cutting
Mountain wind.

The poor boy was nearly killed :by fatigue and heavi-
ness: he could scarcely breathe ; and his little hands were
cold as marble. Two tears hung i in icicles upon his cheeks!

All of a sudden adreadful howling awoke the echoes of the
mountains; and every hair on’ Turnspit’s body stood on end.

The howling grew louder and louder, and drew nearer
and nearer. It was a wolf!

“Oh! my dear brother !” cried Olympia.

The donkey shook with feat on his quivering limbs.

“Dear brother !” again said
‘Olympia.

“Do not move, sweet sister—
do not move |”

The wolf, whose eyes shone
like the points of two swords
heated red-hot in a furnace, and
whose tongue seemed a darting
flame, sprang upon the donkey
with all the rage of famine ; but at the same instant Turnspit

 
58 THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED.

rushed on the wolf—seized him—bit him—tore at his
stomach.

It was a dreadful battle—a mortal conflict, marked by
wounds and howlings.

But after furious struggles, the wolf and the dog, cling-
ing to each other, rolled over the edge of the rock, into the
the abyss, where the torrents poured along. On—on—on
they rolled for a length of time.

And then a deep silence followed that dreadful: fall.

But at the end of a few minutes, Prince Hempseed
heard the rustling of an animal breathlessly attempting to
climb up the rock, and falling back with every fresh effort.

At the risk of his life,—at the risk of bringing the wolf
back upon him,
—the little prince
took off his lea-
thern belt, and

 
  
   
  
  
  
 
  
 
 
   
 

tA foe body
, soon attached it-
self to the belt:
= the prince drew the
weight with difficulty

; towards him; and the
body at length reached the edge
of the rock. Was it the wolf,
come to devour them? or was
se it the dog whom he had saved
“ea from death?

It was Turnspit who came back, with
* gory mouth; for he had killed the wolf,
: The night was at length passed; and day
broke. By its pale light, the two children saw ihe
village of Lans-de-burgh, which is built at the foot
of Mount Cenis, almost at their feet.
THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED. 59

At that village they arrived in less than an hour;
and there some good people made them sit by a blazing
fire, gave them a nice breakfast, and then put them into
comfortable beds.

The poor animals were not forgotten.

Patience had as much bran and hay as he could eat.

7 Turnspit, for having
J {jt killed a wolf, which

f | isa great exploit in
those mountainous
3), parts, where wild

—7—=.animals are a general
nuisance, was re-
galed with half a
roasted leg of mut-
ton, and a little loaf,
: ct t soaked in rich soup.

——  —___ Zug was stuffed with fruit.

Coco was filled with the remnants of chicken.

As for the birds, they were not less kindly treated.

The whole party remained for two days at Lans-de-
burgh; which they did not leave until they had entirely
rested from their fatigues.

From Lans-de-Burgh to Chambery, from Chambery to
Lyons, and from Lyons to Paris, the journey was performed
without any accident worth telling. But on their arrival
in Paris, the children had not one farthing remaining of all
the money that was produced by the sale of the boat on
the bank of Lake Major.

They had, however, reached Paris.

“T must now tell you,” said Prince Hempseed to his
sister, when they found themselves on the boulevards of the
immense city, “the reason that induced me to bring with
me these animals from such a great distance, and whose
safety has until now been such a source of trouble to us.” -

  
  
  
  
60 THE ADVENTURES OF .PRINCE HEMPSEED.

‘And what is that reason, dear brother:?”

“ Look, dear sister :—or. rather listen.” Then, address-
ing himself to the,people who had already begun to. crowd
round them, much astonished to see a donkey carrying two
children, three cages, a, monkey, and a cat, Prince Hemp-
seed said, “Gentlemen, there is no shame save in doing
wrong; and I do not blush to tell you that the sagacity of
these animals is the only hope of my sister and myself for
our daily bread! Zug,” he. added, “ bow to these ladies and
gentlemen, and give us an English dance in your best
fashion.”

Zug bowed three times very politely, and performed
the English dance upon a piece of carpet.

Every one was pleased with him. *

Zug then shook hands
with several young folks,
blew kisses.to the people at
the windows, and clapped }
his hands when his master \
ordered. him to do go.

Upwards of twenty
pieces of copper and silver
coin were showered upon
the carpet.

Zug picked them up in
less than no time, and carried ‘
them with a thousand, capers, to his master. Turnspit next
had. his, turn.

«Any one who desires to play a game of cards with
this good dog,” said Prince Hempseed, “may draw near
the bench.”

““A dog play at cards! what a ridiculous idea!” said
voices in.the crowd.

“ Yes, ladies and gentlemen; he plays at cards. Pray
take the trouble to convince yourselves; and draw near !”

 
 
  
THE ADVENTURES ,OF PRINCE HEMPSEED. 61

At length a drum-major stepped forward from the
incredulous circle to try the skill of
Turnspit.

The stake was two francs. FA

The drum-major shuffled the }
cards, dealt them, and opened the *
game. He played the eight of hearts.

Turnspit pushed forward the ace
of hearts with his paw; for his own
hand was spread out, before him, and
he made choice of the one he thought
fitto play. He then played a trump.

The .drum-major, having no
trumps, played a spade. -

Turnspit,. observing :this, barked
very loud, which was as much as to
say that he: had won, because he had
nothing but.trumps left in his, hand.
‘This. was, quite correct.

«T have lost,” .said the drum-
.major. “ When I return home to my
“friends, I can safely assure them that
I.was beaten by a dog.”

The crowds were much pleased
with this trick, which brought a
second shower of ,silver and copper
coins upon the carpet; and in the
evening the two children had excel-
lent supper. They also regaled the birds and animals, and
were able to pay their landlord ,a month’s rent in advance
for their lodgings.

Next day Prince Hempseed hired, with the remainder
of his honourable earnings, a little theatre in the open air,
and which stood on the Boulevard.du Temple. He had a
large picture painted on. canvas, and bearing the following
notice, in enormous gilt letters:—

 
62 THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED.

| PRINCE HEMPSEED’S GRAND THEATRE. |

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Upon this picture were the serait of Zug, Coco,
Counsellor, Chatterbox, Turnspit, Topaz, and Emerald.
Patience was in a corner of the picture; and in the middle
were the two children, each with a wand in hand, as tokens
of command.

The artist, who was a very honest man, had not spared
the light red nor the deep blue upon that splendid piece of
canvas.

All Paris soon became mad after the show belonging to
the two children, who had made such capital actors of a
monkey, a dog, two canaries, a parrot, a magpie, and a
cat.

The people, with great good sense, found this show
much more amusing, natural, and real than the perform-
ance of a tragedy.

What helped considerably to attract the crowd, was the
singular invitation given by the red parrot, who kept up
the constant cry of é Walk in, gentlemen! Walk in, ladies !”
while the magpie shrieked with equal Fapialty, “ A half-
penny! a halfpenny! a halfpenny !”
THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED. 63:

The inhabitants crowded from all parts of the city to
hear Chatterbox and Counsellor. Once at:the door, in they
went; and once in, they could not. help applauding the
gracefulness of Zug, who was dressed asa minstrel of
olden timés, with an orange-coloured coat, and a cap with
white feathers; the sagacity of Turnspit, who struck Paris
with astonishment; and the incredible exploits of the two
canaries, who fought with sword and pistol, obeyed the
word of command, fired a cannon, and buried each other
with funeral honours after the battle.

This delightful show
was wound up by a
concert on the part of
Coco. When Prince
Hempseed squeezed his
fingers, as we have al-
ready said, Coco, re-
calling to mind the
= torture inflicted on him
_ by the cruel and wicked
Rol, began to mew in
$ a musical manner.

: At the end of a year
SSS Ss “4 the two children had
become so famous in Paris, that they had saved up nearly
eighty pounds.

They would have been happy in their disgrace if they
had known where their father and mother were.. Should
they ever see them again? Were they still living? Had
the wicked men, who had ruined them in the opinion of
their king, succeeded in getting them put to death?

At these mournful reflections, the two children would
feel their hearts sink within them; and they could only
console themselves by means of hope and prayer—those
inexhaustible treasures of the unfortunate!

Their success went on increasing. They were sent

  
64 THE ADVENTURES oF PRINCE HEMPSERD:

for to the court; where’
they exhibited the talent
of their animals. The
great lords, following the
example of the court, also’
sent for them}- and’ thus
were they made much of
throughout the winter.
Not a party was’ complete
unless Prince Hempseed
was there! Prince Hemp-
seed was here—Prince | :
Hempseed' was’ every- = SSB
where! And _ beautiful

bonnets and dresses were sent to Olympia.

We need not say that the animals shared in all the
benefits of this well-merited prosperity.

_ If they now and then showed their airs; it was‘not for a
long time. Auriol alone, the beautiful white pigeon with
the ‘glossy azure neck, would persist in going away very
often. To correct it of this habit, Prince Hempseed fas-
tened the bird in its cages but'the poor thing’ fell very ill;
and it was necessary to restore it to liberty and indepen-
dence.

One day—a very remarkable day—there was'a grand
exhibition at Prince Hempseed’s theatre. Crowds at the
door—crowds on‘ the steps—crowds inside! Children,
women, soldiers, shopkeépers, and working people entered,
or tried to enter'the place. The little prince was dresséd
like a prince—which, in his’ situation, was the same’ thing as
being disguised; and Olympia was’ dressed as’ a princess.
Counsellor exerted his voice to exclaim, “ Walk in, ladies!
walk in, gentlemen !”—and the magpie grew hoarse by dint
of crying out, “A halfpenny! a halfpenny! a halfpenny!”

At length the performance began.

The plaudits were at first few and moderate; but they

  
THE ADVENTURES’ OF PRINCE’ HEMPSEED. 65

increased: as the tricks’of the actors became’ more ‘and ‘more
amusing. Little by little, the ‘spe¢tators,. confined within
the wooden walls‘with the grey canvas roof; gréw animated}
and their delight was displayed ina variety of ways. Heré
was a group of children whose mouths were wide open with
astonishment—there- were soldiershugely pleased with the
caperings of Zug: The wonder of those soldiers’ seemed
like stupidity: they. were motionless—petrified. A. little
farther on, an’ entire’ bench of nurses displayed more
astonishment still, while’ the babies:on’ their’ knees weré
forgotten,-and rolled‘upon-the floor.- In another’ direction,
numbers: of working
people, dressed in their
7 Sunday’s’ best; would
x have it'that' Turnspit
S< was’not a dog, but a
“\\ child concealed in a
* — dog’s coat: elsewhere,
oups of country-
women were more than’ half disposed to denounce the whole
as magic ; for the two children'séemed to them a magician
and a fairy. But, whatever the°opinions‘of all these good
people, they did not’ the less clap'their’ hands in every part
of the room; and cries*of “ Bravo!” shook the. deal: walls
and the canvas ‘ceiling. a ete
All went on'wéll upto this*point ; but, behold! in‘ the
middle of that bewitching evéting; Turnspit became very
restless, and drew néar the railing’ running in front of the
stage—then went back again to his post—then returned to
the’ railing; and’ ended: by quite: forgetting the good be-
haviour he had maintained up till that hour. What was it
that thus led him ‘astray from the strict line of duty:on such
an'occasion? Could it be that spectator with the ugly face
and vulgar manners, but whose clothes, covered‘with pre-
cious'stones and fine: pearls; were those of a marquis, if not
of aprince? He was'sitting ‘on’ the front bench. Between’

 
‘66 THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED.

the acts, the people could not help admiring the capacious
light brown wig which he < te
wore, his large worked cra-
vat, his ruffles of lacestarched
so as to look as crisp as the
leaves of acabbage, the chains
of his two watches (for he
wore two watches), his scar-
let waistcoat, figured with
golden suns and silver moons; *
his light blue breeches, and
his sword, the hilt of which
was shaped like a tiger’s head :
in massive gold. we t
This stranger, so costly and brilliant in his dress, was
seated between two serious-looking persons—a man and a
woman—both clad in black
from head to foot, and both
appearing to be very little
at their ease, and almost
/ ashamed at being seen by
it that crowd which could not
' wellstareat themagnificent
person between them with-
out also paying some at-
tention to them.
Suddenly Turnspit, whose
scent and whose feverish
looks could not be averted
from that. strange person, gave one bound, and leapt over
the railing with as much agility as on that night when he
attacked the wolf in the Alps. He flew at that man, and
fastened on his legs, his neck, and his shoulders. He bit
him—he barked at him—he nearly strangled him. It was
impossible to drag him off his prey. He tore to tatters the
superb white cravat of that would-be prince, who was now

3

     
  

I

 

\
BAULENT
THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED. 67

dreadfully frightened; and with his keen teeth he rent the
court dress, the waistcoat with golden suns and silver
moons, and the cris- ,
ped ruffles—never
ceasing to bark the
whole time. To in-
crease the confusion
and disorder, the
monkey leapt in his
turn over the rail-
ings, and alighted 4
on the brown wig of *
him whom the dog
wastearing to pieces.
Zug tumbled all the
curls of the wig, and
then seized it, tore
it off, shook it, placed
it for a moment up-
on his own head, —_
and at last threw it with contempt up to the ceiling. The
people could then perceive the stranger's natural hair, which
was red, and looked like a mop. Zug, who had produced
this change, was resolved to enjoy it in his own way: he
strutted about upon the head thus laid bare, and uttered
ironical and mocking sounds. Turnspit continued to pull
the man to pieces. But this was not all. ‘The magpie, the
parrot, the cat, and the two canaries, left the stage and:
joined their comrades. Chatterbox pecked with her pointed
beak at the chin of the wretch who was thus given up to
the animals. The parrot pinched his nose in a most painful
manner; and the cat scratched his forehead, while the two
canaries sang songs of victory on the field of carnage.
Meantime the people ran from all sides to assist the
victim; but it was too late. The man of the front bench
was in tatters, and covered with blood; and his eyes had
E

  
 

 
68 THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED.

been sadly used. He was rescued; and it was then that
the two children recognised in him the Tyrolese servant of
Orfano-Orfana castle—the merciless tormentor of the do-
mestic animals. Yes; it was indeed Rol!

He was carried out of the theatre, followed by the two
persons in black, who were with him.

The prince recognised them also. The man was his
former tutor, Doubtless; and the woman was Olympia’s
tutoress, Certainly.

The people, who were ignorant of the motives of re-
venge which Prince Hempseed’s sagacious animals had for
going to such extremes against a spectator, cried out,
“ Shame!” and demanded justice.

The police are everywhere in France, particularly at
the theatres. Four of those worthies now made their ap-
pearance, and the crowd gave way to let them pass. The
officers mounted on the stage, shut the animals up in the
cages, and told the two children that they must proceed at
once to the prison of Bicétre. Being answerable for their
troop, they would have to give an account to a court of
justice, of the meaning of those ferocious acts of which the
animals and birds were guilty. The brother and sister were
chained together, and forthwith conducted to Bicétre.

Thus did the performance, after beginning so well, end
so badly.

For several days all Paris talked of the adventure. The
man with the light brown wig was said to be dying: others
supposed that he was already dead.

But we must state how Rol happened to be in Paris,
and how he came to visit Prince Hempseed’s theatre. _

When the soldiers of the King of Sardinia took posses-
sion of the castle of Prince Orfano-Orfana, the servants
profited by the general confusion, and laid hands upon every-
thing of value which fell in their way. Rol, who knew
better than any one else where the jewel-cases of the
princess, and the strong box of the prince were placed, stole
THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED. 69

them and ran away with them. In one day he thus obtained
an immense fortune—in one
day he became changed from
a lacquey into a great’ lord.
That he might enjoy the
fruit of his robberies without
annoyance (although a bad.
conscience is always in
misery), he proceeded to
France, and settled in Paris ==
—a city where it is so very
easy to escape the inquiries
of justice. el
He lived in Paris nearly =
two years, and led the life of
aprince. And that he might “
really seem to be a prince in the eyes of the wold, the
upstart rogue had
enlisted the tutor
Doubtless, and the
governess Certainly
in his service, and
kept them about his
person by threats
and bribes. By
threats — because
~ they both knew that
* Rol would strangle
them without mer-
=. cy, if they even
=. mentioned the ori-
gin of his fortune;
Kea and by bribes—be-
TF = j= cause they had no
id a) ar means of living save

£ by remaining in his

 

  
 
  

 
70 THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED.

service. The low fellow also took it into his head to make
up for his horrible birth and former condition, by imitating
his late master, Prince Orfano-Orfana; and in his turn, he
had, like them, noted people in his service.

And what a service his was too! what a good master he
made !

Certainly, the governess, dressed his dinner for him:
she was his cook. Doubtless, the
aa tutor, brushed his clothes, and
| = blacked his shoes.

He used to say to the tutor,
“Come, bustle about! Comb
out your lord’s hair! Do not
keep a prince like me waiting
for his slippers !”
And to the governess he would
say, “It is my princely will that
you make me a nice soup of
= sweet almonds, which I will take
—. -_. when I come home from the
ae = theatre.”

Doubtless would reply, “‘ Doubtless, my lord ;”—and
Certainly would answer, “Certainly, my lord.”

Certain persons, of good hearts and high rank, took
compassion upon the poor little prince and princess, and
used their interest so well that Olympia was set at liberty.
But they could not move the chief officer of the police in
favour of Prince Hempseed. He must await his trial; and
the sentence of the judges was expected to be very severe!

The man was in danger of his life, and was at all events
sure to be blind for the rest of hisdays. How, then, could
the author of such a sad accident go unpunished ?

It was necessary to afford an example to conjurors.
Poor Prince Hempseed—to be treated as a conjuror, a
clown, or a gipsy!

It was therefore clear that he would be sentenced to a

   
THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED 71

punishment in proportion to the serious misfortune which
he had caused.

The police also thought of getting rid of the animals
belonging to the prince—those animals, who had been his
comrades, his'friends, and the means by which he had earned
his bread in his misfortunes!

Yes; it was actually proposed to knock on the head,
kill, or strangle Patience, Turnspit, Zug, Chatterbox, Coun-
sellor, Coco, Topaz, and Emerald. The only reason why
Auriol was not included in the death-warrant, was that, on
the very day of the brawl at the theatre, he had got through
a hole in the ceiling, and flown away. Nor had he been
seen since!

Upon mature consideration it was thought, not that it
was too cruel, but merely too much beneath the dignity of
a judge of the high chatelet court to condemn to death a
donkey, a dog, a monkey, a magpie, a parrot, a cat, and
two canaries. They were therefore removed to the king’s
gardens.

Separated from her brother, Olympia wept night and
day. She might certainly have given another appearance
to the charge which kept him confined in a dungeon of
Bicétre. She might have told how Rol was once a lacquey
in the service of her father and mother, and how he had
vilely robbed them ;—and by those means, together with a
few other words of explanation, she might have shown how
the animals and birds had become so enraged against that
man. But to ayow all this would be at the same time to
confess that their father and mother were state-prisoners, and
that even their children were suspected and sought after by
the officers of the King of Sardinia. After such an ad-
mission they would be acquitted on one charge, and accused
on another: they would gain nothing more than a change
in the nature of the crime imputed to them, and in the
prison where the prince was shut up. And all this the
wicked Rol knew well, when he went to their little theatre
72 THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED.

to defy them, and to display the finery that he owed to the
money stolen from their parents.

Olympia was therefore obliged to hold her peace, and
not attempt to utter a word to save her brother.

Poor little Prince Hempseed! how did he eupport his
misfortunes, and his harsh im-
prisonment,—with no one near to
pity him, nor to console him, nor
to whisper hope in his ear ?

Two months—three months “
passed; and he was not set free! 4

In those times the courts were
very slow in trying prisoners—al- {i
most as slow as now-a-days.

Olympia went often and often
to the foot of the tower where her
brother was confined: but the
window of his cell was so high,
and so strongly barred, that she could scarcely perceive his
pale and altered countenance through those thick bars.
They kissed their hands to each other ; and poor Olympia
went home with a heart almost broken.

We must observe that Rol was no longer in danger of
his life; but his eyes were in a dreadful state.

Six months passed; and still there were no signs of
Prince Hempseed’s trial coming on.

Heavens! how long it seemed!

One day the king was out hunting in Senart forest.
Vexation was shown by his countenance, because he had
not killed a single thing—not a wild boar, nor a stag, nor
even ahare. His courtiers maintained a respectful silence
around him.

He was on the point of giving up the chase and return-
ing to his palace, when a white pigeon suddenly flew
through the air.

e ‘That bird at least shall not escape me!” cried the king.

 
THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED. 73

The pigeon was very high, but the king’s gun was a

: good one. He took aim,

> fired, and missed the bird,

s- which flew farther on.

=== The king was determined

to follow it. He ap-

proached very gently to

=== ——————— the tree, where it had

now perched itself, and was just on the point of firing a

second time, when he stopped short. His eye had caught

sight of a square white object tied to the pigeon’s neck.

He looked again, and was now convinced that the white
object was a letter.

J will have that white pigeon, and the letter which it
carries,” exclaimed the king.

With these words he fired again; but the pigeon was
not killed. A few drops of blood, however, fell:—the bird
was only wounded! And in spite of that wound, the poor
thing rose joyously up in the heavens.

“J will wager the crown of France,” cried the king,
greatly disappointed, “ that I will have that white pigeon.

The courtiers heard these words, which were the same
as an order to them.

They therefore all set out after the bird.

The king leapt upon his best horse; and the courtiers
followed him.

The white pigeon passed over Senart forest, crossed the
river Seine, and soared above the corn-fields, which he also
soon left behind him. The royal party pursued the sport
with eagerness ;—the pigeon was not lost sight of.

“What is it?” cried all the peasants and country-
people, in surprise.

“‘It is the king, who is after that enchanted white
pigeon,” replied the courtiers.

At last the white pigeon alighted in spite of the cries,
upon the dark walls of Bicétre, and settled himself on one

   

 

 
V4 THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED.

of the horizontal bars of a dungeon-window, cooing all the
time. It was the cell in which Prince Hempseed had
languished for six months,

“Hasten up to that dungeon,” cried the king; “I am
resolved to have that white pigeon, and that letter. Ihave
pledged my crown to that effect !”

His Majesty was obeyed: thé letter was brought him;
he opened it, and read these words: —

“ Dear and much loved children,

« We are alive, and in freedom. The King of
Sardinia has become convinced of our innocence. Three
days ago we returned to Orfano-Orfana castle. Where
are you? Should God grant that this letter may reach
you by means of the faithful pigeon Auriol, come to us—
come to us—without delay !

«“ Your affectionate father and mother,
«PRINCE AND PRINCESS ORFANO-ORFANA.”

Surprised by the contents of this letter, the king kindly
made inquiries, and found that Prince Hempseed and
Olympia were themselves the children of Prince and
Princess Orfano-Orfana. ‘The little prince was that mo-
ment set at liberty. The king embraced him, and said
“the day after to-morrow you shall return to Italy with
your sister.”

On the following day the king invited Prince Hemp-
seed and his sister Olympia to a splendid feast, and gave
them many rich presents.

“What else can Ido for you?” he asked, with a gra-
cious smile.

“May it please your Majesty to restore our dear com-
panions to us?” said the two children.

‘Tt shall be done!” cried the king.

A month afterwards, the little prince and his sister
arrived at Orfano-Orfana castle, accompanied by a gentle-
YHE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED. 75

man and lady of high rank, who were charged by the king
to see them safe to their parents’ dwelling.

Their father and mother came out to meet them ;—and
then—oh! what kisses—what happiness—what tears of joy !

    
   
   

cM, fino

 

 

And how the beautiful white pigeon was fondled, for
having so well delivered the letter! Auriol belonged to
that race of carrier-pigeons which originally came from the
East, and which are trained, when very young, to carry a
letter, fastened to their necks, for even a distance of many
hundred miles. The frequent absence of Auriol may now
be understood: during his stay in France, with the two
children, he had constantly visited Prince and Princess Or-
fano-Orfana, who were kept captive for nearly two years,
in the fortress of Pignerol, in Piedmont. Oh! if he had
only been able to tell Prince Hempseed and his sister in
what place their beloved parents endured an unjust im-
prisonment!—But on that day when the Princess—(for a
mother alone thinks of such means!)—fastened a letter to
Auriol’s neck by a piece of silk, he knew what she wished,
‘and set off with rapid wing from the valley of Lake Major
to the walls of Bicétre. You already know through what
perils he passed in order to convey that letter, which was
stained with his blood, from a despairing mother to her
captive son.

=< —_— -_ =

F
76 THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED.

Touched by the friendship, which necessity in the first
instance, and gratitude afterwards, had established between
his children and the animals,—their companions in mis-
fortune,—Prince Orfano-Orfana ordered the canvas picture
of Hempseed’s Theatre to be hung in the finest drawing-
room in his castle, there to remain as long as the castle
itself should exist.

Patience never toiled again; and never more did the
pack-saddle touch his back.

Topaz and Emerald, the two little canaries, had a grand
cage of gold made for them to live in.

Zug was allowed to sleep whenever he chose, upon the
princess’s best sofa.

Coco, Chatterbox, and Counsellor were also well re-
warded.

A certain Princess of Carignan sent every year a box
of delicious seed, picked with her own hands, to the beauti-
ful white pigeon.

It was decreed that all the descendants of Turnspit
should live and die in the castle.

The portrait of the faithful dog is in the picture-gallery

at Turin.

 

* * * * * * * *

All the animals lived for a long—long time. Auriol
was the first to die. He was carefully embalmed, and was
placed in a nest of fine silk, lined with swan’s-down.
THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED. 77

Let us drop a tear for Auriol.

But what of Doubtless, the Tutor? He returned to
Orfano-Orfana castle, where his old age was passed in

eace.

And what of Certainly, the governess? She also came
back to the castle.

Rol lost his eyes in consequence of the terrible ven-
geance of the animals whom he had once tormented. The
anger of heaven did not stop there :—Rol’s heart remained
hardened until his death !

 
LONDON?

PRINTED BY ROBSON, LEVEY, AND FRANKLYN,
Great New Street, Fetter Lane.
THE HISTORY

OF

A NUTCRACKER.
a
nn

i “ .

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE NUTCRACKER,
 
  

PREFACE,

WHICH SHOWS HOW THE AUTHOR WAS FORCED TO RELATE THE HISTORY
OF THE NUT-CRACKER OF NUREMBERG,

THERE was « juvenile party at the house of my friend
Lord M. ; and I had helped to add to the number
and noise of the company by taking my little daughter.

It is true that in half an hour, during which I joined in
four or five games of blind-man’s buff, hot cockles, and hunt
the slipper—in spite of the noise which was made by a
couple of dozen of delightful little rogues of from eight to
ten years old, and who seemed to try which would talk the
loudest—I slipt out of the drawing-room, and sought a
certain snug parlour which I knew, and where I hoped to
enjoy a little peace for an hour or so.

I had effected my retreat with as much skill as success,
escaping not only without being perceived by the juvenile
' guests, which was not very difficult, considering how intent
they were upon their games, but also unnoticed by their
parents, which was not so easy a matter. I had reached the
wished-for parlour, when I observed, on entering it, that it
was for the moment converted into a supper-room, the side-
boards being heaped up with confectionery and other re-
freshments. Now as these appearances seemed to promise
that I should not be disturbed until supper-time, I threw
myself into a comfortable arm-chair, quite delighted with

A

 
iv PREFACE

the idea that I was about to enjoy an hour’s peace after the
dreadful noise which had deafened me in the drawing-room.

IT don’t know exactly how it was, but at the end of about
ten minutes I fell fast asleep.

-I cannot say how long I had thus lost all knowledge of
what was passing around, when I was suddenly aroused by
loud peals of laughter. I opened my eyes in terror, and
saw nothing but the beautifully-painted ceiling over my
head. Then I tried to get up; but the attempt was useless,
for I was fastened to my chair as firmly as Gulliver was on
the shore of Lilliput.

I immediately understood in what a scrape I had got
myself: I had been surprised in the enemy’s country, and
was a prisoner of war.

The best thing for me to do in such a case was to put a
good face upon the matter, and treat for my liberty.

My first proposal was to take my conquerors the very
next morning to Farrance’s, and treat them to anything they
liked; but, unhappily, the moment was not well chosen for
such an offer: I was addressing myself to an audience already
well stuffed with tarts, and whose hands were filled with
patties.

My proposal was therefore refused in plain terms.

I then offered to take the entire party to Vauxhall next
evening, and amuse them with the exhibition of fire-works.

This proposal was well received by the little boys; but
the little girls would not listen to it, because they were
dreadfully afraid of fire-works: they could not endure the
noise of the crackers, and the smell of the gunpowder an-
noyed them.

I was about to make a third offer, when I heard a sweet
little musical voice whispering in the ears of a companion
PREFACE, v

certain words which made me tremble: “ Ask papa, who
writes novels, to tell us some pretty story.”

I was on the point of protesting against this; but my
voice was drowned by cries of ‘‘Oh! yes, a story—we will
have a story!”

“But, my dear children,” I said, as loud as I could,
‘you ask me the most difficult thing in the world. A story
indeed! Ask me to recite one of Gay’s fables, or ‘ My name
ts Norval, if you will; and I may consent. But, a story!”

“We don’t want any dane out of the ‘ Speaker,” cried
the children altogether: ‘“ we want a story !”

‘“‘ My dear little friends, if-

“There ’s no ¢f in the case: we will have a story !”

* But, my dear little friends, I say again

“ There is no du¢: we will have a story !”.

“Yes; we will have a story! we will have a story!”
now echoed on all sides, and in a manner which was too
positive to object to any longer.

“ Well,” I said, with a sigh: “if you must, you must.”

“ Ah! that’s capital,” cried my little tormentors.

“ But I must tell you one thing,” said I: “the story I
am about to relate is not my own.”

** Never mind that, so long as it amuses us.”

I must confess that I was a little vexed to think that my
audience set so light a value upon my own writings.

‘‘ Whose tale is it, then, sir?” asked a pretty voice, be-
longing, no doubt, to some little being more curious than
the others.

“Tt is by Hoffman, miss. Have you ever heard of
Hoffman ?”

“No, sir; I never heard of him.”

A2

 

 
al PREFACE.

And what is the name of your story, sir?” asked a
young gentlemen, who, being the son of the nobleman that
gave the party, felt a right to question me.

“ The Nut-cracker of Nuremberg,” was my answer.
“‘ Does the title please you, my dear Henry?” |

“Hem! I don’t think the title promises anything -par-
ticularly fine. But, never mind; go on! If it does not
please us, we will stop you, and you must begin another ;
and so on, I can tell you, until you really do fix upon a
good one.”

“One moment!” I exclaimed. ‘I will not accept those
conditions. If you were grown-up persons, well and good!”

‘* Nevertheless, those are our conditions: if not, .a prisoner
you must remain with us for ever.”

“My dear Henry, you are a charming boy — well
brought up—and I shall be much surprised if you do not
some day become Prime Minister of England. Let me
go free, and I will do all you ask.”

‘On your word of honour?”

“On my word of honour.”

At the same moment I felt the thousand threads that
held me suddenly become loose: each of the little tormentors
had set to work to untie a knot; and in half a minute I was
at liberty.

Now as every one must keep his word, even when it is
pledged to children, I desired my audience to sit round me;
and when the children had all placed themselves in a manner
so comfortable that I fancied they would soon fall off to sleep
in their chairs, I began my story in the following manner.
 

CHAPTER I.

GODFATHER DROSSELMAYER.

On CE upon a time there lived at Nuremberg, in Germany,
a judge of great respectability, and who was called Judge
Siberian which means ‘“silver-house.”

This judge had a son and a daughter. The son was
nine years old, and was named Fritz: the daughter, who was
seven and a half, was called Mary.

They were two beautiful children; but so different in
disposition and features, that no one would have believed
them to be brother and sister.
8 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

Fritz was a fine stout boy,
with ruddy cheeks and roguish
looks. He was very impatient,
and stamped on the floor when-
ever he was contradicted ; for
he thought that everything in
the wend had been made for
his amusement, or to-suit his
fancy. In this humour he
would remain until the judge,
annoyed by his cries and
screams, or by his stamping,
came out of his study, and,
raising his fore-finger, said with
a frown, ‘“ Master Fritz.!”

 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 

    
  

2 py

These two words
were quite sufficient to
make Master Fritz wish
that the earth would
open and swallow him
up.

As for his mother,
it was no matter how
much or how often she
raised her fore-finger ;
for Fritz. did not mind
her at all.

His sister Mary was,
on the contrary, a deli-
cate and pale child, with
long hair curling natur-
ally, and flowing over
her little white shoulders
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 9

like a flood of golden light
upon a vase of alabaster. She
was sweet, amiable, bashful,
and kind to all who were in
sorrow, even to her dolls:
she was very obedient to her
mamma, and never contra-
dicted her governess, Miss
Trudchen; so that Mary was
beloved by every one.

Now, the 24th of Decem-
ber, 17..., had arrived. You
all know, my dear young 2
friends, that the 24th of De- =
cember is called Christmas ~
Eve, being the day before
the one on which the Re-
deemer Jesus was born.

But I must now explain something to you. You have
all heard, perhaps, that every country has its peculiar customs;
and the best read amongst you are aware that Nuremberg,
in Germany, is a town famous for its toys, puppets, and
playthings, of which it exports great
quantities to other countries. You will
admit, therefore, that the little boys
and girls of Nuremberg ought to be
the happiest children in the world,
unless, indeed, they are like the in-
habitants of Ostend, who seem only to
delight in their oysters for the purpose
of sending them to foreign markets,
Germany, being quite a different
country from England, has altogether
= other customs. In England, New
- Year’s Day is the grand day for
making presents, so that many parents

 

 
10 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

would be very glad if the year
always commenced with the
2nd of January. But in Ger-
many the great day for presents
is the 24th of December, the
one preceding Christmas Day.
Moreover, in Germany, child-
ren’s presents are given in a
peculiar way. A large shrub
is placed upon a table in the
drawing-room; and to all its
branches are hung the toys to
be distributed among the child-
ren. Such play-things as are
too heavy to hang to the shrub,
are placed on the table; and
the children are then told that f
it is their guardian angel who PR
sends them all those pretty
toys. This is a very innocent

 
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. ‘11

deception, after all; and perhaps it can scarcely be called a
deception, because all the good things of this world are sent
to us by heaven.

I need scarcely tell you that amongst those children of
Nuremberg who received most
presents were the son and daugh-
ter of Judge Silberhaus ; ‘for
besides their father and mother,
who doated on them, they also
) had a godfather who loved them

dearly, and whose name was

> Drosselmayer.

I must describe in a few words the portrait of this illus-
trious - person, who
occupied in the town
of Nuremberg a posi-
tion almost as high
as that of Judge Sil-
berhaus himself.

Godfather Dros-
selmayer, who was a
great physician and
doctor of medicine,
was by no means a
very good-looking
person. He wasa tall
thin. man, about six
feet high, but who
stooped very much,
so that, in spite of
the length of his legs,
he could almost pick
up his handkerchief,
if it fell, without
stooping any lower.”
His face was as wrin-

  

 
12 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

kled as a golden rennet that has withered and fallen from
the tree. Being blind of the right eye, he wore a black
atch; and, being entirely bald, he wore a shining and
Frizzled wig, which he had made himself with spun glass,
such as you may have seen the glass-blowers spin at the
Adelaide Gallery or Polytechnic Institution. He was, how-
ever, compelled, for fear of damaging this ingenious con-
trivance, to carry his hat under his arm. His remaining eye
was sparkling and bright, and seemed not only to perform its
own duty, but that of its absent companion, so rapidly did it
eae round any room which Godfather Drosselmayer was
esirous to scrutinize in all points, or fix itself upon any
person whose secret thoughts he wished to read.
Now, Godfather Drosselmayer, who was a learned doctor,
did not follow the example of those physicians who allow
their patients to die, but occupied his time in giving
life to dead things: I mean that, by studying the formation
of men and animals, he had gained so deep a knowledge of
the manner in which they are made, that he was able to
manufacture men who could walk, bow to each other, and go
through their exercise with a musket. He also made ladies
who danced, and played upon the harpsichord, the harp, and
the viol; dogs that ran, carried, and barked ; birds that flew,
hopped, and sang; and fish that swam, and ate crumbs of
bread. He had even succeeded in making puppets and
ws ui images of Punch utter a few
: i) words—not many, it is true,
a Fi but such as “papa,” ‘mam-
? ma,” &c. The tones were
‘ i certainly harsh, and always
. the same in sound ; because
ui, you can very well understand
( ieee’ that all this was done merely
SSS “Y ‘by means of machinery con-~
cealed inside the toys; and no machinery can ever perform
the same wonders as the beings which God has created. #*

   
 
  

 
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 13

Nevertheless, in spite of all difficulties, Godfather Dros-
selmayer did not despair of being some day able to make real
men, real women, real dogs, real birds, and real fish. It is
scarcely necessary to add that his two god-children, to whom
he had promised the first proofs of his success in this line,
awaited the happy moment with great impatience.

Godfather Drosselmayer, having reached this state of
perfection in mechanical science, was a most useful man to
his friends. Thus, for instance, if a time-piece at the house
of Judge Silberhaus got out of order, in spite of the attentions
of the usual clock-makers—if the hands suddenly stopped—
if the tick-tick seemed to go badly—or if the wheels inside
would not move—Godfather Drosselmayer was immediatel
sent for; and he hastened to the house as quick as he could,
for he was a man devoted to the art of mechanics. He was
no sooner shown the poor clock, than he instantly opened it,
took out the works, and placed them between his knees. Then,
tae

Coil
ee,

ni
if el

     

   

    
 
  

  

i oe

Il om
ll

         
  
   

i
ll
\

   

Re Le
5 St ili |

sf,
pi

 

 

 

 

 

 

A ASTA”
14 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

with his eye glittering like a carbuncle, and his wig laid upon
the floor, he drew from his pocket a number of little tools-
which he had made himself, and the proper use of which he
alone knew. Choosing the most pointed one, he plunged it
into the very midst of the works, to the great alarm of little
Mary, who could not believe that the poor clock did not suffer
bia, from the operation. But in a short time,

when the old gentleman had touched
the works in various parts, and placed.
them again in their case, or on their
stand, or between the four pillars of the
_ time-piece, as the case might be, the
clock soon began to revive, to tick as
i loud as ever, and to strike with its shrill
clear voice at the proper time; a circum-
$= = = = stance that gave new life, as it were, to
‘the room itself, which. without it seemed a melancholy place.

Moreover, in compliance with the wishes of little Mary,
who was grieved to see the kitchen dog turning the spit,
Godfather Drosselmayer made a wooden dog, which, by
means of mechanism connected inside, turned the spit
without annoyance to itself wrk, who had done this
duty for three years, until he had become quite shaky all
over, was now able to lie down in peace in front of the
kitchen fire, and amuse himself by
watching the movements of his suc-
cessor.

Thus, after the judge, after the
judge’s wife, after Fritz, and after
Mary, the dog Turk was certainly
the next inmate of the house who had
most reason to love and respect God-
father Drosselmayer. Turk wasindeed
grateful, and showed his joy, when-
ever Drosselmayer drew near the |),
house, by leaping up against the front =~

 
  
 
 
 
  
 
  
 

 
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 15

   

a

door and wagging his tail,
Hi) even before the old gentleman

had knocked. | !

On the evening of the 24th of |

December, just as the twilight was iv
approaching, Fritz and Mary, who ai
had not been allowed to enter the i
drawing-room all day, were huddled |
together in a corner of the dining-
parlour. Miss Trudchen, the go-
verness, was knitting near the win-
dow, to which she.had moved her
chair, in order to catch the last rays
of day-light. The children were
seized with a kind of vague fear, |

 
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  

   

Se
aaa

because candles had not been
brought into the room, according |

 

 

 

 

 

fi

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
16 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

to custom; so
they were talk-
ing in a low tone
to each other,
just as children
talk when they
are afraid.

“ Fritz,” said
Mary, “I am
sure papa and
mamma are busy
in preparing the
Christmas tree;
for ever since
the morning I
have heard a

eat deal goin
et in the awe
ing-room, which
we were forbid-
‘den to enter.”

* And I know,” said Fritz, ‘by the way Turk barked
ten minutes ago, that Godfather Drosselmayer has arrived.”

“Oh! I wonder what our dear kind godfather has
brought us!” exclaimed Mary, clappmg her little hands.
‘‘T am sure it will be a beautiful cation planted with trees,
and with a beautiful river running between banks, covered
with flowers. And on the river, too, there will be some
silver swans with collars of gold, and a little girl will bring
them sweet-cake, which they will eat out of her apron.”

“In the first place, Miss,” said Fritz, in that authoritative
tone which was natural to him, and which his parents con-
sidered to be one of his greatest faults, “ you must know that
swans do not eat sweet-cake.”

“T thought they did,” answered Mary; ‘‘ but as you are
a year and a half older than I, you must. know best.”

 
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 17

Fritz tossed up his head with
an air of importance.

“And, for my part,” he con-
tinued, “I feel certain that if
Godfather Drosselmayer brings
anything at all, it will be a castle
with soldiers to watch it, cannons
to. defend it, and enemies to
attack it. We shall then have
some famous battles !”

“‘T do not like battles,” said Mary. ‘If he does bring a
castle, as you think he will, it must be for you: I shall, how-
ever, take care of the wounded.”

“Whatever it is that he brings,” returned Fritz, “you
know very well that it is neither for you nor for me; because
the toys which Godfather Drosselmayer gives us are always
taken away again immediately afterwards, under pretence
that they really are works of great art. Then, you know,
they are always put into that great cupboard with the glass
doors, and on the top shelves, which papa himself can only
reach when he stands upon a chair. So, after all, I much
prefer the toys which papa and mamma give us, and which
we are allowed to play with until we Thieak them into a
thousand pieces.”

*« And so do I,” answered Mary; ‘‘ only we must not say
so to godfather.”

“And why not ?”

‘Because he would feel annoyed to think that we do not
like his toys as much as those which papa and mamma give
us. He gives them to us, thinking to pleas us; and it would
be wrong to tell him the contrary.”

*¢Oh! nonsense,” cried Fritz.

“Miss Mary is quite right, Master Fritz,” said Dame
Trudchen, who was wenenully very silent, and only spoke on
important occasions.

“Come,” said Mary hastily, in order to prevent Fritz from

 
18 TH HISTORY: OF A NUT-CRACKER.

giving an impudent
answer to the poor
governess; ‘‘let us
guess what our pa-
rents intend to give
\ us. For my partI told
| | mamma—but upon
\ condition that she
ty would not scold—
i, that Miss Rose, my
ee doll, grows more and
Ey ee more awkward, in
iy . WS spite of the lessons
\e i ve which I am constant-
ly giving her; and
that she does nothing but fall upon her nose, which never
fails to leave most disagreeable marks upon her face ; so that
Tcan nolonger
take her into
decent society,
because her
face does not =
at all corres- *
pond with her
frocks.”.  ~
“ And I,” said Fritz, ‘‘did not hesitate to assure papa
that a nice little horse would look admirably well in my
stables; I also took the opportunity to inform him that no
army can possibly exist without cavalry, and that I want a
squadron of hussars to complete the division which. I
command.”
These words made Miss Trudchen conclude that the
moment was favourable for her to speak a second time.
‘Master Fritz and Miss Mary,” said she, ‘you know
very well that it is your guardian angel who sends and
blesses all those fine toys which are given to you. Do not

 
       
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
THE HISTORY OF A NUT. CRACKER. 19

therefore say beforehand what you want; because the angel
knows much better than you vihat will please you.”

“Oh!” cried Fritz; “and yet last year he sent me foot
soldiers, although, as I have just said, I should have been
better satisfied with a squadron of hussars.”

“For my part I have only to thank my good angel,”
said Mary; “ tr I did but ask for a doll last year; and I not
only, had the doll, but also a beautiful white dove, with red
feet and beak.”

In the meantime the night had altogether drawn in, and
the children, who by degrees spoke lower and lower, and
grew closer and closer together, fancied that they heard the
wings of their guardian angels fluttering near them, and a
sweet music in the distance, like that of an organ accompany-
ing the Hymn of the Nativity, beneath the gloomy as of
a cathedral. Presently a sudden light shone upon the wall
for a moment, and Fritz and Mary believed that it was their
guardian angel, who, after depositing the toys in the draw-

ane),

|

 
20 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

ing-room, flew away in the midst of a golden lustre to visit
other children who were expecting fim with the same.
impatience as themselves.

Immediately afterwards a bell rang—the door was thrown
violently open—and so strong a light burst into the apartment
that the children were dazzled, and uttered cries of surprise
and alarm.

-The judge and his wife then appeared at the door, and
took the hands of their children, saying, ‘‘ Come, little dears,
and see what the guardian angels have sent you.”

The children hastened to the drawing-room; and Miss
Trudchen, having placed her work upon a chair, followed
them.

CHAPTER II.

THE CHRISTMAS TREE.

MY acar children, you all know the beautiful toy-stalls in
the Soho Bazaar, the Pantheon, and the Lowther Arcade ;
and your parents have often taken you there, to permit you
to choose whatever you liked best. Then you have stopped
short, with longing eyes and open mouth; and you have
experienced a pleasure
which you will never
again know in your lives
. no, not even when you
,, become men and acquire
titles or fortunes. Well,
Hy that same joy was felt
me by Fritz and Mary when
they entered the draw-
\\ Ne ieee ing-room and saw the
A Yan Nt \ Se = v. great tree growin#fas it
were from the middle of the table, and covered with blqssoms

   
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 21

made of sugar, and sugar-plums in-
stead of fruit—the whole glittering
by the light of a hundred Christmas
candles concealed amidst the leaves.
At that beautiful sight Fritz leapt
e for joy, and saneal about in a
manner which showed how well he
had attended to the lessons of his
dancing-master. On her side, Mary
s=== could not restrain two large tears of
joy which, like liquid pearls, rolled
== down her countenance, that was
open and smiling as a rose in June.
. But the children’s joy knew no
bounds when they came to examine
all the pretty things which covered
the table. There was a beautiful
doll, twice as large as Miss Rose ;
and there was also a charming silk
frock, hung on a stand in such a
manner that Mary could walk round
it. Fritz was also well pleased ;
for he found upon the table a squad-
ron of hussars, with red jackets and
gold lace, and mounted on white
horses; while on the carpet, near
the table, stood the famous horse
which he so much longed to see in
his stables. In a moment did this es
modern Alexander leap upon the back of that brilliant

   

 

 
22 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

Bucephalus, which was already saddled and bridled; and,
having ridden two or
three times round the
table, he got off again,
declaring that though
the animal was very
spirited and restive, he
should soon be able to
tame him in such a man-
= ner that ere a month
=. passed the horse would
= be as quiet as a lamb.
ess But at the moment when

ae Fritz set his foot upon
the ground, and when Mary was baptising her new doll by
the name of Clara, the bell rang a second time; and the
children turned towards that
corner of the room whence the
sound came.

They then beheld something
which had hitherto escaped
their attention, so intent had
they been upon the beautiful
Christmas tree. In fact, the
corner of the room of which
I have just spoken, was con- 4h
cealed, or cut off as it were, by SS
a large Chinese screen, behind
which there was a certain noise .
accompanied by a certain sweet music, which proved that
something unusual was going on in that quarter. The
children then recollected that they had not yet seen the
doctor; and they both exclaimed at the same moment,
“Oh! Godpapa Drosselmayer !”

At these words—and as if it had only waited for that
exclamation to put itself in motion—the screen opened

   
   
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 23

inwards, and showed not only Godfather Drosselmayer, but
something more! °
In the midst of a green meadow, decorated with flowers,
stood a magnificent country-seat, with numerous windows,
all made of real glass, in front, and two gilt towers on the
wings. At the same moment the jingling of bells was heard
from within—the doors and windows opened—and the rooms
inside were discovered lighted up by wax-tapers half an inch
high. In those rooms were several little gentlemen and
ladies, all walking about: the gentlemen splendidly dressed
in laced coats, and silk waistcoats and breeches, each with a
sword. by his side,
and a hat under
his arm; the ladies
gorgeously attired
in brocades, their
hair dressed in the
eS SSI Ses. style of the eigh-
teenth century, and each one holding a fan in her hand,
-wherewith they all fanned themselves as if overcome by the
heat. In the central drawing-room, which actually seemed
to be on fire, so splendid was the lustre of the crystal
chandelier, filled with wax candles, a number of children
were dancing to the jingling
music; the boysall in round
jackets, and the girls all in
short frocks. At the same
time a gentleman, clad in a
furred cloak, appeared at
the window of an adjoining
chamber, made signs, and
then disappeared again ; 37a
while Godfather Drossel- ===
mayer himself, with his drab
frock-coat, the patch on his eye, and the glass wig—so like
the original, although only three inches high, that the puppet

  
   

 

— o L Y
24 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

might be taken for the
doctor, as if seen at a
great distance — went
out and in the front door
of the mansion with the
air of a gentleman, in-
viting those who were
walking outside to enter
his abode.

The first moment was
one of surprise and delight for the two children; but, having
watched the building for a few minutes with his elbows
resting on the table, Fritz rose and exclaimed, ‘“‘ But, God-
papa Drosselmayer, why do you keep going in and coming
out by the same door? You must be tired of going back-
wards and forwards like that. Come, enter by that door
there, and come out by this one here.”

And Fritz pointed with his finger to the doors of the
two towers.
‘‘No, that cannot be done,” answered Godfather Dros-

  

selmayer.

«Well, then,” said Fritz, ‘do me the pleasure of going
up those stairs, and taking the place of that gentleman at
the window: then tell him to go down to the door.”

‘Tt is impossible, my dear Fritz,” again said the doctor.

* Atall events the children have danced enough: let them

“ ” go and walk, while the gen-

tlemen and ladies who are now

walking, dance in their turn.”

on “But you are not reasonable,

a you little rogue,” cried the

ow godpapa, who begun to grow

=SS angry: “the mechanism must
S move in a certain way.”

“Then let me go into the

house,” said Fritz.

 
  
 
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 25

“‘ Now you are silly, my dear boy,” observed the judge:
“you see that it is impossible for you to enter the house,
since the vanes on the top of the towers scarcely come up to
your shoulders.”

Fritz yielded to this reasoning and held his tongue; but
ina few moments, seeing that the ladies and gentlemen kept
on walking, that the children would not leave off dancing,
that the gentleman with the furred cloak appeared and dis-
appeared at ae intervals, and that Godfather Drossel-
mayer did not leave the door, he again broke silence.

‘My dear godpapa,” said he, ‘‘if all these little figures
can do nothing more than what they are doing over and over
again, you may take them away to-morrow, for I do not care
about them; and I like my horse much better, because it
runs when I choose—and my hussars, because they man-
ceuvre at my command, and wheel to the right or left, or
march forward or backward, and are not shut up in any
house like your poor little people who can only move over
and over in the same way.

With these words he turned his back upon Godfather
Drosselmayer and the house, hastened to the table, and
drew up his hussars in battle array.

|) eral |
J

  
   

away very gently, because the
Been JF fhe Peele figures in
the house seemed to her to be
very tiresome: but, as she was
a charming child, she said
= nothing, for fear of wounding
the feelings of Godpapa Dros-
. = ue selmayer. Indeed, the moment
Fritz had turned his back, the doctor said to the judge and
his wife, in a tone of vexation, ‘‘ This master-piece is not fit
for children ; and I will put my house back again into the
box, and take it away.” :
But the judge’s wife approached him, and, in order to

 

aN
26 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

qi”

Way
AN

 

  
   

 

i
IK

       

 

  
  
 

=
atone for her son’s rudeness, begged Godfather Drosselmayer
to explain to her all the secrets of the beautiful house, and
praised the ingenuity of the mechanism to such an extent,
that she not only made the doctor forget his vexation, but
put him into such a good humour, that he drew from the
pockets of his drab coat a number of little men and women,
with horn complexions, white eyes, and gilt hands and feet.

ne, =
py

i appearance, these littlemen
and women sent forth a
delicious perfume, because
they were made of cinna-
" mon.
rij, At this moment Miss
Trudchen called Mary, and
| offered to help her to put
onthepretty hittlesilk frock
i which she had so much
: < ‘y | NEES admired on first entering
\\\ \ iW the drawing-room ;_ but
MIN Mary, in spite of her usual
politeness, did not answer
the governess, so much was she occupied with a new person-
age whom she had discovered amongst the toys, and to

 
  
 
  
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 27

whom, my dear children, I must briefly direct your attention,
since he is actually the hero of my tale, in which Miss
Trudchen, Mary, Write, the judge, the judge’s lady, and
even Godfather Drosselmayer, are only secondary characters.

CHAPTER III.

THE LITTLE MAN WITH THE WOODEN CLOAK,

I toa you that Mary did not reply to the invitation of
Miss Trudchen, because she had just discovered a new toy
which she had not before perceived.

Indeed, by dint of making his hussars march and counter-
march about the table, Fritz had brought to light a charming
little gentleman, who, leaning in a melancholy mood against
the trunk of the Christmas tree, awaited, in silence and polite
reserve, the moment when his turn to be inspected should
arrive. We must pause to notice the appearance of this
little man, to whom I gave the epithet ‘‘ charming” somewhat
hastily; for, in addition to his body being too long and large
for the miserable little thin legs which supported it, his head
was of a size so enormous that it
was quite at variance with the
proportions indicated not only
by nature, but also by those
drawing-masters who know much
better than even Nature herself.
But if there were any fault
in his person, that defect was
atoned for by the excellence of
his toilette, which denoted at
_ once a man of education and
=staste. He wore a braided frock-

coat of violet-coloured velvet, all
SSS > frogged.and covered with buttons;

   
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

  
  
 
 
  
 
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 29 f

little man for upwards of ten minutes, without daring to
touch it, Mary exclaimed, “‘Oh! dear papa, whose is that
funny figure leaning against the Christmas tree?”

“It belongs to no one in particular,” answered the
judge; ‘but to both of you together.”

“How do you mean, dear papa? Ido not understand you.”

“ This little man,” continued the judge, ‘“ will help you
both ; for it is he who in future will crack all your nuts for
you; and he belongs as much to Fritz as to you, and as
much to you as to Fritz.”

Thus speaking, the judge took up the little man very
carefully, and raismg his wooden cloak, made him open his

» mouth by a very simple motion,

and display two rows of sharp
white teeth. Mary then placed a
nut in the little man’s mouth; and
* erack—crack—theshell was broken
into a dozen pieces, and the
kernel fell whole and sound into
Mary’s hand. The little girl then

SS ; learnt that the dandified gentleman
belonged to that ancient and re-
spectable race of Nut-crackers
whose origin is as ancient as that
of the town of Nuremberg, and
that he continued to exercise the
honourable calling of his fore-
fathers. Mary, delighted to have
made this discovery, leapt for <=
joy; whereupon the Judge said,
ff Well, my dear little Mary, since
the Nut-cracker pleases you so
much, although it belongs equally
to Fritz and yourself, it is to you
that I especially trust it. I place
it in your care.”

  

 
30 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

With these words the judge handed the little fellow to
Mary, who took the puppet in her arms, and began to prac-
tise it in its vocation, choosing, however—so good was her
heart—the smallest nuts, that 1t might not be compelled to
open its mouth too wide, because by so doing its face assumed
a most ridiculous expression.
Then Miss Trudchen drew
near to behold the little pup-
pet in her turn; and for her
also did it perform its duty in
the most unassuming and
_ obliging manner in the world,
| although she was but a de-
endant.

hile he was employed
in training his horse and
) parading his hussars, Master
Fritz heard the crack—crack
ie so often repeated, that he felt
sure something new was going on. He accordingly looked
up and turned his ee inquiring eyes upon the group com-
pose of the judge, Mary, and Miss Trudchen; and, when
e observed the little man with the wooden cloak in his
sister’s arms, he leapt from his
horse, and, without waiting to __ {ili lt l I
put the animal in its stable, |i} | all \\
hastened towards Mary. Then
what a joyous shout of laughter
burst from his lips as he espied
the funny appearance of the
little man opening his large? _
mouth. Fritz also demanded sm
his share of the nuts which the Ww ee
puppet cracked; and this was of course granted. Next he
wanted to hold the little man while he cracked the nuts;
and this wish was also gratified. Only, in. spite of the. —

 
 
   
 
 
 
 
  
  
 

   
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 31

remonstrances of his
sister, Fritz chose the
largest and hardest nuts
to cram into his mouth;
so that at the fifth or
sixth c-r-r-ack! and out
fell three ofthe poor little
fellow’s teeth. At the
2 same time his chin fell

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   
 

> like that of an old man.
!” ejaculated Mary, snatching
the little man from the hands of Fritz.
“What a stupid
fellow he is!” cried
the boy: ‘he pre-,
tends to be a nut-
cracker, and his
jaws are as brittle
as glass. He is a
false nut-cracker,
and does not un-
derstand his duty. Give him to me, Mary; I will make him
go on cracking my nuts, even if he loses all his teeth in doing
so, and his chin is dislocated entirely. But how you seem to
feel for the lazy fellow!”

** No—no—no!” cried aT
Mary, clasping the little (

 

  
   

man in her arms: ‘“ no—
you shall not have my Nut-
cracker! See how he looks
at me, as much as to tell
me that his poor jaw is
hurt. Fie, Fritz! youare
very ill-natured—you beat ~% , :

your horses; and the other day you shot one of your
soldiers.”

    

 
32 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

“‘T beat my horses when they are restive,” said Fritz, with
an air of importance; ‘‘and as for the soldier whom I shot
the other day, he was a wretched scoundrel that I never have
been able to do anything with for the last year, and who de-
serted one fine morning with his arms and hageng>—* crime
that is punished by death in all countries. Besides, all these
things are matters of discipline which do not regard women.

in I do not prevent you

ye gut

I

   
  
 

  

    
  
  
 

 

 

 

doll’s ears; so don’t
try to hinder me from
h_ whipping my horses
or shooting my sol-
diers. But I want the
. == Nut-cracker.”
Sy ‘¢ Papa — papa! —
help—help!” cried
Mary, wrapping the’
little man in her pocket-handkerchief: “help! Fritz is gong
to take the Nut-cracker from me!”

At Mary’s cries, not only the judge drew near the child-
ren; buthis wifeand
Godfather Dros-
selmayer also ran
towardsthem. The
two children told
their stories in their
own way— Mary
wishing to keep the -
Nut-cracker, and
Fritz anxious to
have it again. But
to the astonishment
of Mary, Godfather
Drosselmayer, with
a smile that seemed
perfectly frightful

from boxing your
i"

 

 
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER, 33.

to the little girl, decided in favour of Fritz. Happily for
the poor Nut-cracker, the judge and his wife took little
Mary’s part.

“My dear Fritz,” said the judge, “I trusted the Nut-
cracker to the care of your sister; and as far as my knowledge
of surgery goes, I see that the poor creature is very unwell,
and requires attention. I therefore give him over solely to
the care of Mary, until he is quite well; and no one must
say a word against my decision. And you, Fritz, who stand
up so firmly in behalf of military discipline, when did you
ever hear of making a wounded soldier return to his duty?
The wounded always go to the hospital until they are cured;
and if they be disabled by their wounds, they are entitled to
pensions.”

Fritz was about to reply; but the judge raised his fore-
finger to a level with his right eye, and said, “ Master Fritz !”

You have already seen what influence those two words
had upon the little boy:—thus, ashamed at having drawn

, upon himself the
reprimand convey-
ed in those words,
he slipped quietly
off, without giving
any answer, to the
=, table where his hus-
ee EE sars were posted:

= & ? then, having placed
the sentinels in their stations, he marched off the rest to their
quarters for the night.

In the meantime Mary picked up the three little teeth
which had fallen from the Nut-cracker’s mouth, and kept the
Nut-cracker himself well wrapped up in the pocket-handker-
chief; she had also bound up his chin with a pretty white
ribbon which she cut from the frock. On his side, the little
man, who was at first very pale and much frizhtened, seemed
quite contented in the care of his protectress, and gradually

  

 

 

 

 
34 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

acquired confidence, when he felt
himself gently rocked in her arms.
Then Mary perceived that God-
father Drosselmayer watched with
mocking smiles the care which
she bestowed upon the little man
with the wooden cloak; and it struck
her that the single eye of the doctor
had acquired an expression of spite .<
and malignity which she had never
before seen. She therefore tried to
get away from him; but Godfather
Drosselmayer burst out laughing,
saying, ‘* Well, my dear god-
uA daughter, I am really astonished
that a pretty little girl like you can
be so devoted to an ugly little urchin
like that.”
Mary turned round; and, much as
she loved her godfather, even the
compliment which he paid her
did not make amends for the unjust
attack he made upon the person of her Nut-cracker. She
even felt—contrary to her usual disposition—very angry; and
that vague comparison which she had before formed between
the little man with the wooden cloak and her godfather, re-
turned to her memory.
“*Godpapa Drosselmayer,”
she said, ‘ you are unkind to-
wards my little Nut-cracker,
whom you call an ugly urchin.
Who knows whether you would
even look so well as he, even if
you had his pretty little military °
coat, his pretty thttle breeches, *
and his pretty little boots!”

 

 

 
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 85

At these words Mary’s parents burst out laughing ; and
the doctor’s nose grew prodigiously longer.

Why did the doctor’s nose grow so much longer? Mary,
surprised by the effect of her remark, could not guess
the reason.

But as there are never auy effects without causes, that
reason no doubt belonged to -some strange and unknown
cause, which we must explain.

CHAPTER IV.

“WONDERFUL EVENTS.

I do not know, my dear little friends, whether you remember
that I-spoke of a certain large cupboard, with glass windows,
in which the children’s toys were locked up. ‘This cupboard
was on the right of the door of the judge’s own room. Mary
was still a baby in the cradle, and Fritz had only just began
to walk, when the judge had that cupboard made by a very
skilful carpenter, who put such brilliant glass in the frames,
that the toys appeared a thousand ‘times finer when ranged
on the shelves than when they were held in the hand. Upon
the top shelf of all, which neither Fritz nor Mary could
reach, the beautiful pieces of workmanship of Godfather
Drosselmayer were placed. Immediately beneath was the
shelf containing the picture-books; and the two lower shelves
were given to Fritz and Mary, who filled them in the way
they liked best. It seemed, however, to have been tacitly
agreed upon ‘between the two children, that Fritz should
hold possession of the higher shelf of the two, for the mar-
shalling of his troops, and that Mary should keep the lower
shelf for her dolls and their households. This arrangement
was entered into on the eve of Christmas Day. Fritz placed
his soldiers upon his own shelf; and Mary, having thrust
Cc
36 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

Miss Rose into a corner, gave the bed-room, formed by the
lowest shelf, to Miss cls, with whom she invited herself
TTT I _ to pass the even-
ing and enjoy a
supper of sugar
plums. MissClara,
on casting her
eyes around, saw
that everything
was in proper or-
der; her table well
spread with sugar
; plums and con-
served fruits, and her nice white bed with its white counter-
pane, all so neat and comfortable. She therefore felt very
well satisfied with her new apartment.

While all these arrangements were being made, the eve-
ning wore away: midnight was approaching—Godfather
Drosselmayer had been gone a long time—and yet the
children could not be persuaded to quit the cupboard.

Contrary to custom, it was Fritz that yielded first to the
persuasion of his parents, who told him that it was time to go
to bed.

“Well,” said he, “after all the exercise which my peer
hussars have had to-day, they must be i
fatigued ; and as those excellent soldiers
all know their duty towards me—and |
as, so long as I remain here, they will _A
not close their eyes—I must retire.” ===

With these words—and having
given them the watch-word, to pre-
vent them from being surprised by a
patrol of the enemy—Fritz went off I
to bed. — AMIN

But this was not the case with we
Mary; and as her mamma, who was 7 _

 

   
  
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 37

about to follow her husband to their bed-chamber, . desired
her to tear herself away from the dearly-beloved cupboard,
little Mary said, ‘‘ Only one moment, dear mamma—a single
-, moment:. do: let: me
finish all I have todo
here. . There are:a hun-
dred or more important
things to put to rights;
and the moment .I have
settled them, I promise
to go to bed.”
Mary requested. this
favour in so touching
“and plaintive a tone,
—she was, moreover,
so glad and obedient a
child hae her mother
did not hesitate to grant her request... Nevertheless, as- Miss
Trudchen had already gone-up stairs to get Mary’s bed ready,
the judge's wife, thinking that her daughter might forget to
put out thecandles, performed that duty herself, leaving only
a light in the lamp hanging from the ceiling.

“Do not be long before you go to your room, dear little
Mary,” said the judge’s wile; “for if you remain up, too
long, you will not be able to rise at your usual hour to-
morrow morning.”

With these words the lady quitted the room. and closed
the door behind her.

The moment Mary found as
herself alone, she bethought
herself, above all things, of _—(\-
her poor little Nut-cracker; ==
for she had contrived to keep
it in her arms, wrapped up in
her pocket handkerchief. She placed him upon the table
very gently, unrolled her handkerchief, and examined his

c2

 

  
 

“
38 ‘THE HISTORY OF A NUTCRACKER.

chin. The Nut-cracker still seemed to suffer much pain,
and appeared very cross.

‘Ah! my dear little fellow,” she said in a low tone, ‘‘do
not be angry, I pray, because my brother Fritz hurt you so
much. He had.no evil intention, rest well assured; only his
manners have become rough, and his heart is a little hardened
by his soldier's. life. Otherwise he is a-very good boy, I can
assure you; and I know that when you are better acquainted
with him, you will forgive him. Besides, to atone for the
injury which he has done
you, I will take care of you;
which I willdo so attentively
that in a few days you will
be quite well. As for putting
in the teeth again and fas-
tening your-chin properly,
that is the business of God-
papa Drosselmayer, who per-
fectly understands those‘ kind
of things.”

Mary could say no more; ‘for the moment she pronounced.
the name of her Godfather Drosselmayer, the Nut-cracker, to
whom this discourse was addressed, made so dreadful a |
grimace, and his eyes suddenly flashed so brightly, that the
little girl stopped short in affright, and.stepped a pace back.
But as the Nut-cracker immediately
afterwards resumed its amiable expression
and its melancholy smile, she fancied that
she must have been the sport of an illusion,
and that the flame of the lamp, agitated
by a current of air, had thus disfigured
the little man. ‘She even laughed at
herself, saying, ‘“I-am indeed very foolish
to think that this wooden puppet could make faces to .me.
Come, let me draw near the poor fellow, and take that. care
of him which he requires.”

 

 
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 39

Having thus mused within herself, Mary took the puppet
once more in her arms, drew near the cupboard, knocked
at the glass door, which Fritz had closed, and said to the
new doll, “I beg of you; Miss Clara, to give wp your bed to
my poor Nut-cracker, who is unwell,.and to shift: for your-
self on the sofa to-night.

Remember that you are in
excellent health yourself,
as your round and rosy
cheeks sufficiently prove.
Moreover, a night is soon
passed; the sofa is very
comfortable; and there will
not be many dolls in Nu- |
remberg as well lodged as |
yourself.”

Miss Clara, as you.may
very well suppose, did not
utter a word; butit struck |]
Mary that she seemed very
sulky and discontented;
but Mary, whose conscience
told her that she had
treated Miss Clara in the most: considerate manner, used no
farther ceremony with hezj.
but, drawing the bed to-
wards her, placed the Nut-
cracker in it; covering him
with the clothes up to the
very chin: shethen thought
that she knew*nothing as
yet ofthe real disposition
S of Miss Clara, whom she
Shad only seen for a few
© hours; but that as Miss
Clara had appeared to be

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 
40 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

in a very bad humour at losing her bed, some evil might
happen to the poor invalid if he were left with so insolent a
i -person. She therefore placed the bed,

with the Nut-cracker in it, upon the
:second shelf, close by the ridge where
Fritz’s cavalry were quartered: then,
having laid Miss Clara upon the sofa,
she closed the cupboard, and was about
to rejoin Miss Trudchen .in the bed-
chamber, when all round the room the
poor little girl heard a variety of low
scratching sounds, coming from behind
the chairs, the store, and the cupboard.
i! The large clock which hung against the
wall, and which was surmounted by a
- large gilt owl, instead of a cuckoo, as is

usual with old German clocks, began that usual whirring
sound which gives warning of striking; and .yet 1 did not
strike. Mary glanced towards
it, and saw that the immense
gilt owl had drooped its wings
in such a way that they cover-
ed the entire clock, and that
the bird thrust forward as far
as it could its hideous cat-like
head, with the round eyes and
the crooked beak. Then the
whirring sound of the clock
became loude? and louder, and
gradual’y changed into the (Uf
resemblance of a human voice,
until it appeared as if these
words issued from the beak of
the owl: ‘Clocks, clocks,
clocks! whir, whir, whir! in a low tone! The king of the
mice has a sharp ear! Sing him his old song! Strike,

   

 

 
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 41

strike, strike, clocks all: sound his last hour—for his fate
is nigh at hand!”
And then, dong—dong— i
dong—the clock struck twelve |
in a hollow and gloomy tone. (Ul
Mary was very much ae G ly
frightened. She began to VES, / in|
shudder from head to foot; i
and she was about to run a a aa i

 

 

 

 

 

 

away from the room, when
she beheld Godfather Dros- |
selmayer seated upon the clock iG
instead of the owl, the two |
skirts of his coat having taken | \
the place of the drooping || \
wings of the bird. At that |B Gsy)|
spectacle, Mary remained |
nailed as it were to the spot ~&! | I
with astonishment; and she | |
begaa to cry, saying, ‘‘ What Fl.
are you doing up there, Godpapa Drosselmayer? Come
down here, and don’t frighten me like that, naughty God-
papa Drosselmayer.”

But at these words there began a sharp whistling and
furious kind of tittering all around: then in a few moments
Mary heard thousands of little fect treading behind the
walls; and next she saw thousands of little lights through
the joints in the wainscot. When I say little lights, I am
wrong—lI mean thousands of little shining eyes. Mary full
well perceived that there was an entire population of mice
about to enter the room. And, in fact, in the course of five
minutes, thousands and thousands of mice made their ap-
pearance by the creases of the door and the joints of the
floor, and began to gallop hither and thither, until at length
they ranged themselves in order of battle, as Fritz was wont
to draw up his wooden soldiers. All this seemed very

i

 

 

 

1 i
l

 

 

 

=
42 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

amusing to Mary; and as she did not feel towards mice that
absurd alarm which so many foolish children experience, she
thought she should divert herself with the sight, when there
suddenly rang through the room a whistling so sharp, so
terrible, and so long, that a cold: shudder passed over her.

ut

  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     

 

 

 

 

At the same time, a plank was raised up by some power
underneath, and the king of the mice, with seven heads all

; wearing gold crowns, appeared at
her very feet, in the midst of the
\ \ mortar and plaster that was broken
| wp; and each of his seven mouths
| began to whistle and scream horribly,
ailj,, while the body to which those seven
"a i heads belonged forced its way through
{Ay the opening. The entire army ad-
wis vanced towards the king, speaking
2 with their little mouths three times
- in chorus. Then the various regi-
sas ments marched across the room,
directing their course towards the cupboard, and surrounding
Mary on all sides, so that she began to beat a retreat. I
have already told you that Mary was not a timid child; but
when she thus saw herself surrounded by the crowds of mice,

  
  
  
THE. HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 43

commanded by that. monster with seven heads, fear seized
upon her, and her heart began to beat so violently, that it
seemed as if it would burst from her chest. Her blood ap-
peared to freeze in her veins, her breath failed her; and, half
fainting, she retreated with trembling steps. At length—
pir-r-r-r-r ! and the pieces of one of the panes in the cupboard,
broken by her. elbow which knocked against it, fell upon the
floor. She felt at the moment an
acute pain in the left arm; but at the
same time her. heart grew lighter, for
she no longer heard that squeaking
which had so much frightened her.
Indeed, everything had again become
quiet around her ;. the mice had dis-
appeared ; and she thought that, ter-
rified by the noise of the glass
which was broken, they had sought
refuge in their holes.
But almost immediately afterwards
a strange noise commenced in the cupboard; and numerous
little sharp voices exclaimed, ‘‘To arms! to arms! to arms!”
At the same time the music of Godfather Drosselmayer’s
country-house, which had been placed upon the top shelf of
the cupboard, began to play; and on all sides she heard the
words, ‘ Quick! rise to arms! to arms!”

Mary turned round. The cupboard was lighted up in a
wondrous manner, and all was bustle within. All the har-
lequins, the clowns, the punches, and the other puppets
scampered about; while the dolls set to work to make lint
and prepare bandages for the wounded. At length the Nut-
cracker himself threw off all the clothes, and jumped off the
bed, crying, ‘“ Foolish troop of mice! return to your holes,
or you must encounter me!”

But at that menace a loud whistling echoed through the
room; and Mary perceived that the mice had not returned
to their holes; but that, frightened by the noise of the broken

  
44 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

glass, they had sought refuge beneath the chairs and tables,
Whence they were now beginning to issue again.

On his side, Nut-cracker, far from being terrified by the
whistling, seemed to gather fresh courage.

‘‘ Despicable king of the mice,” he exclaimed; ‘it is thou,
then! Thou acceptest the death which I have so long offered
you? Come on, and let
this night decide between
us. And you, my good
friends—my companions—
my brethren, if it be indeed
\\ true that we are united in
< bonds of affection, support
me in this perilous contest !
On! on!—let those who
love me, follow!”

Never did a proclamation
produce such an effect. Two

 
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 45

harlequins, a clown, two punches, and three other puppets,
cried out in a loud tone, ‘‘ Yes, my lord, we are your's in
life and death! We will conquer under your command, or
| die with you!”

At these words, which proved that
there was an echo to his speech in the
heart of his friends, Nut-cracker felt
himself so excited, that he drew his
sword, and without calculating the
dreadful height on which he stood,
leapt from the second shelf. Mary,
\ upon perceiving that dangerous leap,
gave a piercing cry; for Nut-cracker
i seemed on the point of being dashed
SSS to pieces; when Miss Clara, who was
on the lower shelf, darted from the
sof, and received -him in her arms.

   

“Ah! my dear little Clara,” said Mary, clasping her
hands together with emotion: “how have I mistaken your
disposition !”

But Miss Clara, thinking only of the
present events, said to the Nut-cracker,
“ What! my lord—wounded and suffer-
ing as you are, you are plunging head-
long into new dangers! Content yourself
with commanding the army, and let the
others fight! “Your courage is known;
and you can do no good by giving fresh
proof of it!”

. And as she spoke, Clara endeavoured to
restrain the gallant Nut-cracker by hold-
ing him tight in her arms; but he began
to struggle and kick in such a manner
that Miss Clara was obliged to let him glide down. He
slipped from her arms, and fell on his knees at her feet in a
most graceful manner, saying, ‘Princess, believe me, that

 
46 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

 

although at a certain period you were unjust towards me, I
shall always remember you,.even in. =>
lis midst of betile!” —
Miss Clara.stooped as low.down
as possible, and, taking him by his
little arm, compelled him to rise:
then taking off her waist-band all¥;
glittering with spangles, she made)
a scarf of it, and sought to pass it
over the shoulder of the young
hero; but he, stepping back a few = -
. paces, and bowing at the same
time in acknowledgment of so
great a favour, untied the little
white ribbon with which Mary
had bound up his chin, and
tied it round his waist, after
pressing it to his lips. Then,
light as a bird, he leapt from
the shelf on the floor, bran-
dishing his sabre all the time.
Immediately did the squeak-

    
 
  
 

   

 
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 47

ings and creakings of the mice begin over again; and the
king of the mice, as if to reply to the challenge of the Nut-
cracker, issued from beneath the great table in the middle of
the room, followed by the main body of his army. At the
same time, the wings, on the right and left, began to appear
from beneath the arm-chair, under which they had taken

refuge,
CHAPTER Y.

THE. BATTLE.

TRUMPETS, sound
the charge! drums,
beat the dlarm!” ex-
claimed the valiant
Nut-cracker. °

And at the same
moment the trumpets
of Fritz’s hussars *be-
gan to sound, while
SS the drums of his in-
fantry began to beat, and the rumbling of cannon was. also
heard. At the same
time a band of mu-
sicians was formed
of fat Figaros with
their guitars, Swiss
peasants with their
horns, and Negroes
with their. triangles. o
And all these per- = My
sons, though not «
called upon by thes fpoai
Nut-cracker, did not =
the less begin to de-
scend from shelf to

  
    

 
48 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

shelf, playing the beautiful march of the “ British Grenadiers.”
The music no doubt excited the most peaceably-inclined
puppets; for, at the
same moment, a kind
of militia, commanded
by the beadle of the
parish, was formed,
consisting of harle-
‘quins, punches, clowns,
and pantaloons. Arm-
ing themselves with
anything that fell in
their way, they were
7 soon. ready for battle.
All was bustle, even to a man-cook, who, quittimg his fire,
came down with his spit, on which was a half roasted turkey,
and went and took his place in the ranks.. ‘The Nutscracker
placed himself at the head of
this valiant battalion, which,
to the shame of the regular
troops, was ready first.
I must tell you everything,

or else you might think that I
am inclined tobe too favourable
to that glorious militia; and
therefore I must say that if the
infantry and cavalry of Master
Fritz were not ready so soon
as the others, it was because
they were all shut up in four boxes. The poor prisoners
mught therefore well hear the trumpet and drum which
called them to battle: they were shut up, and could not get
out. Mary heard them stirring in their boxes, like cray-fish
in a basket; but, in spite of their efforts, they could not free
themselves. At length the grenadiers, less tightly fastened
in than the others, succeeded in raising the lid of their bos,

   

 

 
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 49

and then helped to liberate the light infantry. In another
instant, thesewere free;
and, well knowing how
useful cavalry is in a
battle, they hastened
to release the hussars,
who began to canter
gaily about, and range
; themselves four deep
eee ee upon the flanks.
But if the regular troops ¥ were thus somewhat behind-
hand, in consequence '
of the excellent dis-
cipline in which Fritz
maintained them, they 4
speedily repaired the §
lost time: for infantry,
cavalry, and artillery
began to descend with the fury of an avalanche, amidst the
plaudits of Miss Rose and Miss Clara, who clapped their
hands as they passed, and encouraged them with their voices,
as the ladies from whom
they were descended
most likely were wont
to do in the days of
ancient chivalry.
Meantime the king ot
the mice perceived that
She had to encounter an
entire army. In fact,
the Nut-cracker was in
the centre with his sellant band of militia; on the left was
the regiment of hussar; 8, waiting only the moment to charge;
on the right was stationed a formidable battalion of infantry;
while, upon a footstool which commanded the entire scene of
battle, was a park of ten cannon. In addition to these

te

 
   
   

 
 
 
 

(
oY

‘aah eka

     
 
 
 
 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
  
50 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

forces, a powerful reserve, composed of gingerbread men, and
warriors made of sugar of different colours, had remained in
the cupboard, and already began to bustle about. The king
of the mice had, however, gone too far to retreat; and he
gave the signal by a squeak, which was repeated by all the
forces under his command.

At the same moment
the battery on the foot-
stool replied with avolley
of shot amongst the
masses of mice.

The regiment of hus- z
sars rushed onward to the charge, so that on one side the dust
raised by their horses’ feet, and on the other the smoke of the
cannon, concealed the plain of battle from the eyes of Mary.

But in the midst of the roar of the cannon, the shouts of
the combatants, and the groans of the dying, she heard the
voice of the Nut-cracker ever rising above the din.

“¢ Serjeant Harlequin,” he cried, ‘take twenty men, and
fall upon the flank of the enemy. Lieutenant Punch, form
into a square. Captain Puppet, fire in platoons. Colonel of
Hussars, charge in masses, and not four deep, as you are
doing. Bravo, good leaden soldiers—bravo! If all my
troops behave as well as you, the day is our’s!”

 
   

.
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 51

But, by these encouraging words even, Mary was at no
loss to perceive that the battle was deadly, and that the vic-
tory remained doubtful. The mice, thrown back by the

 

hussars—decimated by the fire of the platoons—and shattered
by the park of artillery, returned again and again to the
charge, biting and tearing all who came in their way. It
was like the combats in ‘the days of chivalry—a furious
struggle foot to foot and hand to hand, each one bent upon
attack or defence, without waiting to think of his neighbour.
Nut-cracker vainly endeavoured to direct the evolutions in a
disciplined manner, and form his troops into dense columns.
The hussars, assailed by a numerous corps of mice, were
scattered, and failed to rally round their colonel; a vast bat-
talion of the enemy had cut them off from the main body of
their army, and had actually advanced up to the militia,
which performed prodigies of valour. The beadle of the
parish used his battle-axe most gallantly; the man-cook ran
whole ranks of mice through with his spit; the leaden soldiers
remained firm as a wall; but Harlequin and his twenty men
had been driven ‘back, and were forced to retreat under cover
of the battery; and Lieutenant Punch’s square had been
broken up. ‘The remains of his troops fled and threw the
militia into disorder; and Captain Puppet, doubtless for want
D
2 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

of cartridges, had ceased to fire, -
and was in full retreat. In con-
sequence of thisbackward move-
ment throughout the line, the
park of cannon was exposed.
The king of the mice, perceiving
that the success of the fight de-
pended upon the capture of that
battery, ordered his bravest
troops to attack it. The foot-
stool was accordingly stormed
in a moment, and the artillery-
2 men were cut to pieces by the
side of their cannon. One of
them set fire to his powder-
SS waggon, and met an heroic
< death with twenty of his com-
< rades. But all this display was
° useless against numbers; and in
. a short time a volley of shot,
fired upon them from their own
cannon, and which swept the
ssc. forces commanded by the Nut-
Bp Se é
SSS SS cracker, convinced him that the
aN Sa battery of the footstool had
EN fallen into the hands of the
&* enemy.
W Aly From that moment the battle
I\) % was lost, and the Nut-cracker
eri now thought only of beating an
é \ honourable retreat: but, in
WS order to give breathing time to
AS his cea he aera the
# reserve to his aid.
Thereupon the gingerbread

= men and the corps of sugar

  
       

    
    
 

 

 
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 53

warriors descended from the cupboard and took part in the
battle. They were certainly fresh, but very inexperienced,
troops: the gingerbread men especially were very awkward,
and, hitting right and left, did as much injury to friends as
to enemies. ‘The sugar warriors stood firm; but they were
of such different natures—emperors, knights, Tyrolese pea-
sants, gardeners, cupids, monkeys, lions, and crocodiles—that
they could not combine their movements,.and. were strong

 

only as a mass. Their arrival, however,- produced some
good; for scarcely had the mice tasted the gmgerbread men
and the sugar warriors, when they left’ the leaden soldiers,.
whom they found very hard to bite,-and turned also from
the punches, harlequins, beadles, and. cooks, who were only
stuffed with bran, to fall-upon the unfortunate reserve, which
in a moment was surrounded by thousands of mice, and, after:
an heroic defence, devoured arms and baggage.

Nut-cracker attempted to profit by that moment'‘to rally:
his army; but the terrible spectacle of the destruction of the:
reserve had struck terror to the bravest hearts. Captain
Puppet was as pale as death; Harlequin’s clothes were in

Nest rags; a'mouse had Faria into

Punch’s hump, and, like the youthful

‘Spartan’s fox, began to devour his en-

trails; and not only was the colonel

of the hussars a prisoner with a large

portion of his troops, but the mice had
D2

 
54 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

even formed a squadron of cavalry, by means of the horses
thus taken.

The unfortunate Nut-cracker had no chance of victory
left: he could not even retreat with honour; and therefore
he determined to die.

He placed himself at the head of a small body of men,
pee like himself to sell their lives dearly.

Jn the meantime terror reigned among the dolls: Miss
Clara and Miss Rose wrung their hands, and gave vent to
loud cries.

- Alas!”? exclaimed Miss Clara; ‘‘ must I die in the flower
of my youth—I, the daughter of
a king, and born to such brilliant
destinies?”

“« Alas!” said Miss Rose; ‘“‘am
I doomed to fall ‘mto the
hands of the enemy, and be
devoured by the filthy mice?”
> The other dolls ran about in
; tears; their cries mingling with
> those ‘of Miss Clara and Miss Rose.
Meanwhile matters went worse
and worse with Nutcracker:
‘he was sperilondl by the few friends who had remained
faithful ‘to him. “The remains of the squadron of hussars
took refuge 1 in the cupboard; the leaden soldiers had ail
fallen into the power of the enemy; the cannoneers had
long previously been
dispersed; and the | {i
militia was cut ‘to
pieces, like the three
hundred Spartans of
Leonidas, without
ieldingastep. Nut-
eu a planted = =
himself against the

 
  
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 55

lower part of the cupboard, which he vainly sought to climb
up: he could not do so without the aid.of Miss Rose or Miss
Clara; and they had found nothing better to do than to
faint. Nut-cracker made a last effort, collected all his
courage, and cried in an agony of despair, “A horse! a
horse! my kingdom for a horse!” But, as in the case of
Richard IIL, his voice remained without even an echo—or
rather betrayed him to the enemy. Two of the rifle-brigade
of the mice seized upon
his wooden cloak; and
at the same time the
king of the mice cried
with his seven mouths,
“On your heads, take
«him alive! Remem-
ber that I have my
mother toavenge! This
punishment must serve as an example to all future Nut-
crackers |”

And, with these words, the king rushed: upon the
prisoner. :

But Mary could no longer support that horrible spectacle.

“Oh! my poor Nut-cracker!” she exclaimed: ‘I love
you with all my heart, and cannot see é
you die thus!”

At the same moment, by a natural
impulse, and without precisely knowing
what she was doing, Mary took off one
of her shoes, and threw it with all her
force in the midst of the combatants.
Her aim was so ‘good that the shoe hit
the king of the mice, and made him roll
over in the dust. A moment afterwards,
king and army—conquerors and con-
quered—all alike oS as if by

enchantment. Mary felt a more severe

 

 
56 THE HISTORY .OF A NUT-CRACKER.

pain than before in her arm. She endeavoured to reach an
arm-chair to sit down; but her strength failed her—and she
fainted !

 

CHAPTER VI

THE 'ILLNESs,

Wen Mary awoke from her deep sleep, she found her-
self lying in her little bed, and the sun penetrated radiant
ry and brilliant through
11 i Uh ix |, the windows. By
lh i her side was seated

  
   
  
   

i, a gentleman whom
& |\\ sheshortly perceived
to be a surgeon
snamed Vandelstern,
jand who said in a
low voice, the mo-
ment she opened
her eyes, ‘She is
awake.”
> af Re Then the judge’s
wife advanced towards the bed, and gazed upon her daughter
for a long time with an anxious air.
“Ah! my dear mamma,” exclaimed little Mary, upon

Zz

He
So! ee

Cease re —
<a
LEE

LZ,

Fone

CLL,
:

 
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 57

seeing her mother; ‘are all those horrible mice gone ? and
is my poor Nut-cracker saved?”

“Vor the love of heaven, my dear Mary, do not repeat
all that nonsense,” said the lady. ‘* What have mice, I
' should like to know, to do with the Nut-cracker? But you,
naughty girl, have frightened us all sadly. And it is always
so when children are obstinate and will not obey their parents.
You played with your toys very late last night: you most
likely fell asleep; and it is probable that a little mouse
frightened you. At all events, in your alarm, you thrust
your elbow through one of the panes of the cupboard, and
cut your arm in such a manner that Mr. Vandlestern, who
has just extracted the fragments of glass, declares that you
ran a risk of cutting an artery and dying through loss of
blood. Heaven be thanked that I awoke—I know not at
what o’clock—and that, recollecting how I had left you in
the room, I went down to look after you. Poor child! you
were stretched upon the floor, near the cupboard; and all
round you were strewed the dolls, the puppets, the punches,
the leaden soldiers, pieces of the gingerbread men, and
Fritz’s hussars—all scattered about pell-mell—while in your
arms you held the Nut-cracker. But how was it that you
had taken off one of your shoes, and that it was at some
distance from you?”

‘Ah! my dear mother,” said Mary, shuddering as she
thought of what had taken place; ‘‘all that you saw was
caused by the great battle that took place between the
puppets and the mice: but the reason of my terror was that
I saw the victorious mice about to seize upon the poor Nut-
cracker, who commanded the puppets;—and it was then that
I threw my shoe at the king of the mice. After that, I
know not what happened.”

The surgeon made a sign to the judge’s lady, who said
in a soft tone to Mary, “ Do not think any more of all that,
my dear child. All the mice are gone, and the little Nut-
cracker is safe and comfortable in the glass cupboard.”
58 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

The judge then entered the room,
and conversed for a long time
with the surgeon; but of all that
they said Mary could only catch:
these words—“ It is delirium.”
Mary saw immediately that her
story was not believed, but that it
was looked upon as a fable; and
she did not say any more upon the
subject,-but allowed those around
her to have their own way. For
she was anxious to get up as soon as possible and pay a visit
to the poor Nut-cracker. She, however, knew that he had
escaped safe and sound from the battle; and that was all she
cared about.for the present.

Nevertheless Mary was very restless. She could not
play, on account of her wounded arm; and when she tried
to read or look over her picture-books, everything swam so
before her eyes, that she was obliged to give up the task.
The time hung very heavily upon her hands; and she
looked forward with impatience to the evening, because
her mamma would then come and sit by her, and tell her
pleasant stories.

One evening, the judge’s wife had just ended the pretty
tale of ‘* Prince Facardin,” when the door opened, and God-
father Drosselmayer thrust in his head, saying, ‘I must see
with my own eyes how the little invalid gets on.”

But when Mary perceived Godfather Drosselmayer with
his glass wig, his black patch, and his drab frock coat, the
remembrance of the night when the Nut-cracker lost the
famous battle against the mice, returned so forcibly to her
mind, that she could not prevent herself from crying out,
‘OQ Godpapa Drosselmayer, you were really very ugly! I
saw you quite plainly, when you were astride upon the
clock, and when you covered it with your wings to prevent
it from striking, because it would have frightened away the

 
THE HISTORY OF A. NUT-CRACKER. 59

mice. I heard you call the king with the seven heads.
Why did you not come to the aid of my poor Nut-cracker,
naughty Godpapa Drosselmayer; for, by not coming, you
were the cause of my hurting myself and having to keep
my bed.”

” The judge’s wife listened to all this with a kind of
stupor; for she thought that the poor little girl was relapsing
into delirium. She therefore said,.in a low tone of alarm,
‘What are you talking about, Mary? are you taking leave

<==. of your senses?”
“Oh! no,” answered Mary; ‘and
Godpapa Drosselmayer knows that I
“vam telling the truth.”

\ But the godfather, without saying
<\- a word, made horrible faces, like a
man who was sitting upon thorns;

if then all of a sudden he began to
chaunt these lines in a gloomy and sing-song tone:—

 

 
 
 

Old Clock-bell, beat
Low, dull, and hoarse :—
Advance, retreat, .
Thou gallant force!

The bell’s lone sound proclaims around’
The hour of-deep mid-night;

And the piercing note from the screech-owl’s throat
Puts the king himself to flight.

Old clock-bell, beat

Low, dull, and hoarse :—
Advance, retreat,

Thou gallant force!”

Mary contemplated Godfather Drosselmayer with increas-
ing terror; for he now seemed to her more hideously ugly
than usual. She would indeed have ‘been dreadfully afraid
of him, if her mother had not’ been present, and if Fritz had
not at that moment entered the room with a loud shout of
laughter.
60 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

““Do you know, Godpapa Drosselmayer,” said Fritz,

“that you are uncommonly amusing to-day: you seem to

 

move about just like my punch that stands behind the store;
and, as for the song, it 1s not common sense.”

But the judge’s wife looked severe.

“‘ My dear doctor,” she said, ‘‘ your song is indeed very
strange, and appears to me to be only calculated to make
little Mary worse.”

‘‘Nonsense!” cried Godfather Drosselmayer: ‘“‘do you
not recognise the old chant which I am in the habit of hum-
ming when IJ mend your clocks?”

At the same time he seated himself near Mary’s bed, and
said to her in a rapid tone, “ Do not be angry with me, my
dear child, because I did not tear out the fourteen eyes of the
king of the mice with my own hands; but I knew what I
was about—and now, as I am anxious to make it up with
you, I will tell you a story.”

‘What story ?” asked Mary.

“The History of the Crackatook Nut and Princess
Pirlipata. Do you know it?”

‘No, my dear godpapa,” replied Mary, whom the offer
of a story reconciled to the doctor that moment. ‘Go on.”
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 61

‘My dear doctor,” said the judge’s wife, “I hope that
your story will not be so melancholy as your song?”

“Qh! no, my dear lady,” returned Godfather Drossel-
mayer. ‘On the contrary, it is very amusing.”

“ Tell it to us, then!” cried both the children.

Godfather Drosselmayer accordingly began in the follow-
ing manner.

 
THE HISTORY OF

THE CRACKATOOK NUT

AND

PRINCESS PIRLIPATA.
PART I.

HOW PRINCESS PIRLIPATA WAS BORN, AND HOW THE EVENT PRODUCED
THE GREATEST JOY TO HER PARENTS.

 
 
     

yt rity, HERE was lately, in the neigh-
) 2, bourhood of Nuremberg, a little
Wy kingdom, which was not Prussia,
i nor Poland, nor Bavaria, nor the
Palatinate, and which was go-
verned by a king.
This king’s wife, who was con-
sequently a queen, became the
mother of a little girl, who was
therefore a princess by birth, and re-
ceived the sweet name of Pirlipata.
The king was instantly informed
of the event, and he hastened out of
breath to see the pretty infant in her
cradle. The joy which he felt in
being the father of so charming a
child, carried him to such an ex-
treme that, quite forgetting himself, =
he uttered loud cries of joy, and |
began to dance round the room, =
crying, ‘“‘Oh! who has ever seen
anything so beautiful as my Pir- =
lipatetta?”

Lo

 
 
 

 

  
 
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER: 63

_ Then, as the king had been followed into the room by
his ministers, his generals, the great officers of state, the

 

chief judges, the councillors, and the puisne judges, they all
began dancing round the room after the king, singing :—

‘Great monarch, we ne’er
In this. world did see
A child so fair
As the one that there
Has been given to thee!
Oh! ne’er, and Qh! ne’er,
-Was there child so fair!”

And, indeed—although I may surprise you:by-saying so
—there was not a word af ater in all ce fon, ie ke
creation of the world, a sweeter child than Princess Pirlipata
never had been seen. Her little:face appeared to be made
of the softest silken tissue, like the white and rosy tints of
the lily combined. Her eyes were of the purest and brightest
blue; and nothing was more charming than to behold the
golden thread of her hair, flowing in delicate curls over
shoulders as white as alabaster. Moreover, Pirlipata, when
born, was already provided with two complete rows of the
most pearly teeth, with which—two hours after her birth—
64 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

she bit the finger of the lord chancellor so hard, when, being
near sighted, he stooped down to look close at her, that,
although he belonged to the sect of stoic philosophers, he
Aden cried out according to some,
“Oh! the dickens!” whereas
others affirm, to the honour
of philosophy, that he only
said, ‘Oh! Oh!” however,
up to the present day opinions
SS are divided upon this im-
portant subject, neither party
being willing to yield to the
other. Indeed, the only point
Ne! on which the Dichkensonians
| ia and the Ohists are agreed is,
that the princess really did bite the finger of the lord high
chancellor. The country thereby learnt that there was as
much spirit as beauty belonging to the charming Pirlipata.
Every one was therefore happy in a kingdom so blest by
heaven, save the queen herself, who was anxious and uneasy,
no person knew why. But what chiefly struck people with
surprise, was the care with
which the timid mother
had the cradle of the infant
watched. In fact, be-
sides having all the doors
guarded by sentinels, and
in addition to thetworegu-
lar nurses, the queen had
six other nurses to sit
round the cradle, and who
were relieved by half-a-
dozen others at night. But
what caused the greatest
interest, and which no one
could understand, was that

gh

   

 

 

 
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 65

each of these six nurses was compelled to hold a cat upon
her knees, and to tickle it all night so as to prevent it from
sleeping, and keep it purring.

 

T am certain, my dear children, that you are as curious
as the inhabitants of that little kingdom without a name, to
know why these extra nurses were forced to hold cats upon
their knees, and to tickle them in such a way that they
should never cease purring; but, as you would vainly
endeavour to find out the secret of that enigma, I shall
explain it to you, in order to save you the headache which
would not fail ‘to be the result of all your guess-work.

It happened one day that half-a-dozen great kings took
it into their heads to
pay a visit to the future
father of Princess Pir-
lipata, for at that
time the princess was
not born. They were
accompanied by the
royal princes, the he-
reditary. grand dukes,
: and the heirs apparent,
all most agreeable per-

 
66 THE HISTORY OF .A NUT-CRACKER.

Sou ~c sonages. This arrival was
f ; thesignal forthe king whom
they visited, and who was
a most hospitable monarch,
to make a large drain upon
his treasury, and give tour-
naments, feasts, and drama-
tic representations. But
this was notall. He having
learnt from

the intendant of the royal kitchens, that the

astronomer royal of the court had an-
nounced that the moment was favour-
able for killing pigs, and that the con-
junction of the stars foretold that the
year would be propitious for sausage-
making, the king commanded a tre-
mendous slaughter of pigs to take place
in the court-yard. Then, ordering his
carriage, he went in person to call upon
all the kings and princes staying in his
capital, and invite them to dine with
him; for he was resolved ‘to surprise
them by the splendid banquet which xg
he intended to give them. On his & \ 2asRegesS
return to the palace, he retired to the queen’s apartment, and

  

   

    

 

 

 

 

 
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 67

going up to her, said
in a coaxing tone, with
which he was always
accustomed to make
her do anything he
wished, ‘‘ My most par-
ticular and very dear
love, you have not for- __.
gotten —have you
how doatingly fond I §
am of black puddings?
You surely have not
forgotten that ?”

The queen understood by the first word what the king
wanted of her. In fact she knew by his cunning address,
that she must now proceed, as she had done many times
before, to the very useful occupation of making, with her
own royal hands, the greatest possible quantity of sausages,
polonies, and black puddings. She therefore smiled at that
proposal of her husband ; for, al-
though filling with dignity the high
situation of queen, she was less proud
of the compliments paid her upon
the manner in which she bore the
sceptre and the crown, than of those
bestowed on her skill in making a
black pudding, or any other dish.
She therefore contented herself by
curtseying gracefully to her husband,
saying that she was quite ready to
make him the puddings which he
required.

The grand treasurer accordingly received orders to carry
the immense enamelled cauldron and the large silver sauce-
pans to the royal kitchens, so that the queen might make
the black puddings, the polonies, and the sausages. An enor-

K

   
 

«,

 

 
68 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

mous fire was made with
sandal-wood ; the queen
put on her kitchen apron
of white damask, and in
a short time delicious
odours steamed from the
cauldron. Those sweet
perfumes spread through
the passages, penetrated
into all the rooms, and
om ss} reached the throne-room
a where the king was hold-
ing a privy councu. The king was
very fond of good eating, and the
smell made a profound impression
upon him. Nevertheless, as he was
a wise prince, and was famed for his
habits of self-command, he resisted
for a long time the feeling which
attracted him towards the kitchens:
but at last, in spite of the command
which he exercised over himself, he
was compelled to yield to the inclina-
tion that now ruled him.
‘‘My lords and gentlemen,” he
accordingly said, rising from his §
io throne, “with
AP your permission I will retire for a
few moments; pray wait for me.”
Then this great king hastened
through the passages and corridors
to the kitchen, embraced his wife
tenderly, stirred the contents of the
cauldron with his golden sceptre,
and tasted them with the tip of his
tongue. Having thus calmed his

  

 

 

  
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 69

mind, he returned
to the council, and
résumed, though
somewhat abstract-
edly, the subject of
discussion.

He had left the
kitchen just at the
important moment
when the fat, cut up :
in small pieces, was
about to be broiled
upon the silver grid-
irons. The queen, encouraged by his praises, now com
menced that important operation; and the first drops of
grease had just dripped upon the live coals, when a squeak-
ing voice was heard to chant the following lines:—

ti
ti

 

Dear sister, pray give to the Queen of the Mice,
A piece of that fat which is grilling so nice;

To me a good dinner is something so rare,

That I hope of the fat you will give me a share.

The queen immediately recognised the voice that thus
spoke; it was the voice of Dame ‘Mousey:

Dame Mousey had lived for many years in the palace.
She declared herself to be a relation of the royal family, and
was Queen of the kingdom of Mice. She therefore main-
tained a numerous court beneath the kitchen hearth-stone.

The queen was a kind and good-natured woman; and
although she would not publicly recognise Dame Mousey as
a sister and a sovereign, she nevertheless showed her in
private a thousand attentions. Her husband, more particular
than herself, had often reproached her for thus lowering
herself. But on the present occasion she could not find it in
her heart to refuse the request of her little friend; and she
accordingly said, “ Come, Dame Mousey, without fear, and

E 2
70 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

taste my pork-fat as much as you like. I give you full leave
to do so.”

Dame Mousey accord- “til
ingly leapt upon the hearth, "
quite gay and happy, and pi
took with her little paws the
pieces of fat which the queen
gave her. \

But, behold! the mur-
murs of joy which escaped
the mouth of Dame Mousey,
and the delicious smell of the
morsels of fat on the grid-
iron, reached her seven sons,
then her relations, and next
her friends, all of whom were terribly addicted to gour-
mandising, and who now fell upon the fat with such fury,
that the queen was obliged, hospitable as she was, to remind
them that if they contmued at that rate only five minutes
more, there would not be enough fat left for the black
puddings. But, in spite of the justice of this remonstrance,
the seven sons of Dame Mousey took no heed of them; .

   

i

af
ff]

i
a
TERT

 

 
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 71

and setting a bad example to their relations and friends,
rushed upon their aunt’s fat, which would have entirely
disappeared, had not the cries of the queen brought the man-
cook and the scullery boys, all armed with brushes and
brooms, to drive the mice back again under the hearth-stone.
But the victory, although complete, came somewhat too late ;
for there scarcely remained a quarter enough fat necessary
for the polonies, the sausages, and the black puddings. The

a
ali

i

 

remnant, however, was scientifically divided by the royal
mathematician, who was sent for in all possible haste, between
the large cauldron containing the materials
for the puddings, and the two saucepans
in which the sausages and polonies were
cooking.

Half an hour after this event, the cannon
fired, the clarions and trumpets sounded,
and then came the potentates, the royal
princes, the hereditary dukes, and the heirs
apparent to the thrones, all dressed in their
most splendid clothes, and some riding on

 
‘72 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

 

 

 

 

 

gallant chargers. The king received them on the threshold
of the palace, in the most courteous manner possible; then,
having conducted them to the banqueting room, he took his
seat at the head of the table in his quality of sovereignhood,
ae and having the crown upon his
head and the sceptre in his
hand. The guests all placed
themselves at table according to
their rank, as crowned kings,
royal princes, hereditary dukes,
or heirs apparent.
The board was covered with
& dainties, and everything went
well during the soup and the
first course. But when the
polonies were placed on the
table, the king seemed to be agitated ;
17 when the sausages
<_were served up, he
<= grew very aoe and
S when the black pud-
S dings were brought
ws in, he raised his
y >, .
"& ~ eyes to heaven, sighs

 

     
  
 
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 73
escaped his breast, and a terrible grief seemed to rend his
soul. At length he fell back in his chair, and covered his
face with his hands, sobbing and moaning in so lamentable
a manner, that all the guests rose from their seats and
surrounded him with great anxiety. At length the crisis
seemed very serious; the court physician could not feel the

 

beating of the pulse of the untortunate monarch, who was
thus overwhelmed with the weight of the most profound,
the most frightful, and the most unheard of calamity. At
length, upon the most violent remedies, such as burnt
feathers, volatile salts, and cold keys thrust down the back,
had been employed, the king seemed to return to himself.
He opened his eyes, and said in a scarcely audible tone,
“not enough fat!”

At these words, the queen grew pale in her turn, she
threw herself at his feet, crying in a voice interrupted b
sobs, “ Oh! my unfortunate, unhappy, and royal husband,
74 ‘THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

what grief have I not caused you, by refusing to listen to
the advice which you have so often given me! But you
behold the guilty one at your feet, and you can punish her
as severely as you think fit.”

«* What is the matter?” demanded the king, ‘‘ and what
has happened that I know not of?”

‘ Alas! alas!” answered the queen, to whom her husband
had never spoken in so cross a tone; ‘‘ Alas! Dame Mousey,
her seven sons, her si

ee

     

nephews, her cousins,
and her friends, de-
voured the fat.”

But the queen could
not say any more; her
strength failed her, she
fell back and fainted.

Then the king rose °
in a great rage, and
cried in a terrible voice,
‘“‘Let her ladyship the
royal housekeeper ex-
plain what all this means! Come, speak !’

Then the royal housekeeper related all that she knew ;
namely, that being alarmed by the queen’s cries, she ran and
beheld her majesty beset
by the entire family of
Dame Mousey, and that,
having summoned the cooks
and scullery boys, the plun-
derers were compelled to
retreat.

The king, perceiving that
this was a case of high
treason, resumed all his dig-
2 nity and calmness,and com-
manded the privy council

 
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 75

to meet that minute, the matter being
of the utmost importance. The council
assembled, the business was explained,
and it was decided by a majority of
voices, “ That’ Dame Mousey, being
accused of having eaten of the fat des-
tined for the sausages, the polonies, and
the black puddings of the king, should
be tried for the same offence; and that
if the said Dame Mousey was found =
guilty, she and all her race should be
banished from the kingdom, and all her
goods or possessions, namely, lands,
castles, palaces, and royal residences should be confiscated.”
Then the king ob-

served to his coun-
th cillors that while the

| trial lasted, Dame

Mousey and_ her
Mi family would have
: ‘hi ‘sufficient time to
devour all the fat in
"the royal kitchens,

which would expose

him to the same

privation as_ that

which he had just
endured in the presence of six crowned heads, without
reckoning royal princes, hereditary dukes, and heirs apparent.
He therefore demanded a discretionary power in respect to
Dame Mousey and her family.

The privy council divided, for the form of the thing, but
the discretionary power was voted, as you may well suppose,
by a large majority.

The king then sent one of his best carriages, preceded by
a courier that greater speed might be used, to a very skilful

 

    
  

 

 
76 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

mechanic who lived at Nurem-
berg, and whose name was
Christian Elias Drosselmayer.
This mechanic was requested
to proceed that moment to the
=; palace upon urgent business.
Christian Elias Drosselmayer
. immediately obeyed, for he felt
convinced that the kingrequired -
him to make some work of art.
Stepping into the vehicle, he travelled
day and night, until he arrived in the
king’s presence. Indeed, such was his
haste, that he had not waited to change
the drab-coloured coat which he usually
wore. But, instead of being angry at
that breach of etiquette, the king was
much pleased with his haste; for if the
famous mechanic had committed a fault,
it was in his anxiety to obey the king’s
commands.

The king took Chris

jg

 

 

tian Elias Dros- 3
’ selmayer into his pri-
ih, vate chamber, and
4 i" explained to him the
¥{ || position of affairs;
3} namely, that it was
decided uponto make
is a striking example of
4 the race of mice
Ge\—\' throughout the king-
{ q F dom; that, attracted
AN ea by the fame of his
eer Ge skill, the king had
fixed upon him to

put the decree of justice into execution ; and that the said

   
   
       
 
  

   
  
 
 

   
 
    
 

     
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

  
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
78 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

cousins, and two hundred and thirty-five of her other
connexions, without reckoning thousands of her subjects,
were caught in the mouse-traps and ignominiously executed.

  
  

“dy SS
‘ge

. Then did Dame Mousey, with the remnant of her court
and the rest of her ———
subjects, resolve upon
abandoning a_ place
covered with the blood
of her massacred rela- =
tives and friends. The
tidings of that resolution became known, and reached the

1

EA

 
 
 
 
 
      

y

;

 
 

 
  

~< =
oe

Ze

Be

i
hh

Pr,

  

2

 
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 79.

ears of the king. His majesty expressed his satisfaction,
and the poets of the court composed
sonnets upon his victory, while the
courtiers compared him to Sesostris,
Alexander, and Cesar.

The queen was alone anxious and
uneasy; she knew Dame Mousey well,
and suspected that she would not leave
unavenged the death of her relations
and friends. And, in fact, at the
very moment when the queen, by
way of atoning for her previous fault,
was preparing with her own hands
a liver soup for the king, who doated
upon that dish, Dame Mousey sud- “=
denly appeared and chanted the following lines :—

  

 

Thine husband, void of pity and of fear,
Hath slain my cousins, sons, and nephews dear ;
But list, O Queen! to the decrees of fate:
The child which heaven will shortly give to thee,
And which the object of thy love will be,
Shall bear the rage of my vindictive hate.

Thine husband owneth castles, cannon, towers,

A council’s wisdom, and an army’s powers,
Mechanics, ministers, mouse-traps, and snares :

None of all these, alas! to me belong;

But heaven hath given me teeth, sharp, firm, and streng,
That I may rend in pieces royal heirs.
80 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER

Havingsung
these words
she  disap-
peared, and
no one saw
her after-
4 wards. But
the queen,
who expect-
ed a little
: se

  

= overcome by
the prophecy, that she upset the liver
soup into the fire.

Thus, for the second time, was Dame Mousey the cause
of depriving the king of one of his favourite dishes, whereat
he fell into a dreadful rage. He, however, rejoiced more
than ever at the step he had taken to rid his country of the
mice.

It is scarcely necessary to say that Christian Elias Dros-
selmayer was sent away well rewarded, and returned in
triumph to Nuremberg.

 

 

END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
= A
\} i My}
Re K i i Fj

 

THE NUTCRACKER.
    

, CONTINUATION OF THE HISTORY OF ‘
ft 5)
Thy THE CRACKATOOK NUT AND PRINCESS PIRLIPATA.

PART II.

HOW, IN SPITE OF THE PRECAUTIONS TAKEN BY THE QUEEN, DAME MOUSEY
ACCOMPLISHES HER THREAT IN REGARD TO PRINCESS PIRLIPATA.

AND now, my dear children, you know as well as I do,
wherefore the queen had Princess Pirlipata watched with
such wonderful care. She feared the vengeanze of Dame
Mousey; for, according to what Dame Mousey had said,
there could be nothing less in store for the heiress of this
little kingdom without a name, than the loss of her life, or
at all events her beauty ; which last affliction is considered
by some people worse for one of her sex. What redoubled
the fears of the queen was, that the machines invented by
Master Drosselmayer were totally useless against the experi-
ence of Dame Mousey. The astronomer of the court, who
was also grand prophet and grand astrologer, was fearful
lest his office should be suppressed unless he gave his opinion
at this important juncture: he accordingly declared that he
read in the stars the great fact that the illustrious family of
the cat Murr was alone capable of defending the cradle
against the approach of Dame Mousey. It was for this rea-
son that each of the six nurses was forced to hold a cat
A
4 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

constantly wpon her knees, Those cats might be considered as
under-oflicers attached to the
court; and the nurses sought
to lighten the cares of the
duty performed by the cats, by
_ gently rubbing them with their
\ fair hands.
You know, my dear children,
. that there are certain times when
= a person watches even while ac-
=" tually dozing ; and so it was that,
one evening, in spite of all the
efforts which the six nurses made to the contrary, as they
sate round the cradle of the princess with the cats upon their
knees, they felt sleep rapidly gaining upon them. Now, as
each nurse kept her own ideas to herself, and was afraid of
revealing them to their companions, hoping all the time that
their drowsiness would not be perceived by the others, the

  
 

    
  
  

 

Sas
a
Se

 
  

result was, that, one after another, they closed their eyes—
their hands stopped from stroking the cats—and the cats
themselves, being no longer rubbed and scratched, profited
by the circumstance to take a nap.
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 5

I cannot say how long this strange slumber had lasted,
when, towards midnight, one of the nurses awoke with a
start. All the others were in a state of profound lethargy:
not a sound—not even their very breathing, was heard: the
silence of death reigned around, broken only by the slight
creak of the worm biting the wood. But how frightened
was the nurse when she beheld a large and horrible mouse

 

standing up near her on its hind legs, and, having plunged
its head into the cradle, seemed very busy in biting the face
of the princess! She rose with a cry of alarm; and at that
exclamation, all the other nurses jumped up. But Dame
Mousey—for she indeed it was—sprang towards one corner
of theroom. ‘The cats leapt after her: alas! it was too late—

 
6 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

Dame Mousey had disappeared by a crevice in the floor.
At the same moment Princess Pirlipata, who was awoke by
all that din, began to cry. Those sounds made the nurses lea:
with joy. ‘“ Thank God!” they said; ‘‘ since Princess Pirh-
pata cries she is not dead.” They then all ran towards the
cradle—but their despair was great indeed when they saw
what had happened to that delicate and charming creature !
In fact, instead of that face of softly-blended white and
red—that little head, with its golden hair—those mild blue
eyes, azure as the sky itself—instead of all these charms
the nurses beheld an enormous
and mis-shapen head upon a de-
formed and ugly body. Her
2 two sweet eyes had lost their
heavenly hue, and became gog-
gle, fixed, and haggard. Her
httle mouth had grown from ear
' to ear; and her chin was covered
with a beard like grizzly cotton.
All this would have suited old
Punch; but seemed very horrible
for a young princess.
At that moment the queen entered. The twelve nurses
threw themselves with their faces against the ground; while

 

 
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 7

the six cats walked about to discover if there were not some
open window by which they might escape upon the tiles.
At the sight of her
child the despair of
the poor mother was
something frightful
to behold; and she
was carried off in a
fainting fit into the
the royal chamber.
But it was chiefly
the unhappy father
whose sorrow was the
most desperate and painful to witness. The courtiers were
compelled to put padlocks upon the windows, for fear he
should throw himself out; and they were also forced to line
the walls with mattrasses, lest he should dash out his brains
against them. Hissword was of course taken away from him;
iil and neither knife nor fork, nor any sharp or
pointed instruments were left in his
way. This was the more easily
'\, effected; imasmuch as he ate
"i nothing for the two or
three following days,
iy, crying without
ty <a ceasing,

 

  
    
   
     
    
  
8 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

“Oh! miserable king that I am! Oh! cruel destiny
that thou art!”

Perhaps, instead of accusing destiny, the king should
have remembered that, as is generally the case with mankind,
he was the author of his own misfortunes; for had he known
how to content himself with black puddings containing a
little less fat than usual, and had he abandoned his ideas of
vengeance, and left Dame Mousey and her family in peace
beneath the hearth-stone, the affliction which he deplored
would not have happened. But we must confess that the
ideas of the royal father of Princess Pirlipata did not tend
at all in that direction.

On the contrary—believing, as all great men do, that
they must necessarily attribute their misfortunes to others—
he threw all the blame upon the skilful mechanic Christian
Elias Drosselmayer. Well convinced, moreover, that, if he
invited him back to court to be hung or beheaded, he would
not accept the invitation, he desired him to come in order to
receive a new order of knighthood which had just been
created for men of letters, artists, and mechanics. Master
Drosselmayer was not exempt from human pride: he thought
that a star would look well upon the breast of his drab sur-
tout coat; and accordingly set off for the king’s court. But
his joy was soon changed into fear; for on the frontiers of

 
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 9

the kingdom, guards awaited him. They seized upon him,
and conducted him from station to station, until they reached
the capital.

The king, who was afraid of being won over to mercy,
would not see Master Drosselmayer when the latter arrived
at the palace; but he ordered him to be immediately con-
ducted to the cradle of Pirlipata, with the assurance that if
the princess were not restored by that day month to her
former state of beauty, he would have the mechanic’s head
cut off.

Master Drosselmayer did not pretend to be bolder than
his fellow-men, and had always hoped to die a natural death,

: He was therefore much frightened at
this threat. Nevertheless, trusting a
great deal to his knowledge, which his
own modesty had never prevented him
from being aware of to its full extent,
he acquired courage. Then he set to
work to discover whether the evil
would yield to any remedy, or whether
it were really incurable, as he from the first believed
it to be.

With this object in view,
he skilfully took off the head
of the Princess, and next all
her limbs. He likewise dis-
sected the hands and the feet,
in order to examine, with
more accuracy, not only the
joints and the muscles, but
also the internal formation.
But, alas! the more he work-
ed into the frame of Pirlipata,
the more firmly did he be-
come convinced that as the
princess grew, the uglier she

  

 
10 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

would become. He therefore joined Pirlipata together
again; and then, seating himself by the side of her cradle,
which he was not to quit until she had resumed her former
beauty, he gave way to his melancholy thoughts.

The fourth week had already commenced, and Wednes-
day made its appearance, when, according to custom, the
king came in to see if any change had taken place in the ex-
terior of the princess. But when he saw that it was just
the same, he shook his
sceptre at the mechanic,
crying, ‘‘ Christian Elias
Drosselmayer, take care
of yourself! you have
only three days left to
restore me my daughter
just as she was wont to
be; and if you remain
obstinate in refusing to
cure her, on Monday
next you shall be be-
headed.”

Master Drosselmayer, who could not cure the princess,
not through any obstinacy on his part, but through actual -
ignorance how to do it, began to weep bitterly, surveying,
with tearful eyes, Princess
Pirlipata, who was crack-
ing nuts as comfortably as
if she were the most beau-
tiful child upon earth.
Then, as he beheld that
melting spectacle, the me-
chanic was struck for the
first time by that particu-
lar taste for nuts which the
princess had shown since
her birth; and he remem~

 

 
THE HISTORY OF A NU'T-CRACKER. 1]

bered also the singular fact that she was born with teeth. In
fact, immediately after her change from beauty to ugliness
she had begun to ery bitterly, until she found a nut near her:
she had then cracked it, eaten the kernel, and turned round
to sleep quietly. From that moment the nurses had taken
good care to fill their pockets with nuts, and give her one or
more whenever she made a face.

“Oh! instinct of nature! Eternal and mysterious sym-
pathy ofall created beings!” cried Christian Elias Drossel-
mayer, ‘‘thou showest me the door which leads to the
discovery of thy secrets! I will knock at it, and it will
open!” :

E At these words, which surprised the king, the mechanic
turned towards his majesty and requested the favour of being
conducted into the presence of the astronomer of the court.
The king consented, but on condition that it should be with
a guard. Master Drosselmayer would perhaps have been bet-
ter pleased to take that little walk all alone; but, as under
the circumstances he could not help himself, he was obliged
to submit to what he could not prevent, and proceed through
the streets of the capital escorted like a felon.

On reaching the house of the astrologer, Master Drossel-
mayer threw himself into his arms;
and they embraced each other a-
midst torrents of tears, for they
were acquaintances of long stand-
ing, and were much attached to
each other. They then retired to
a private room, and examined a
= great number of books which treat-
ed upon likings and dislikings,
and a host of other matters not a
whit less profound. At length
night came; and the astrologer ascending to his tower, and
aided by Master Drosselmayer, who was himself very skilful
in such matters, discovered, in spite of the difficulty of the

 
12 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

heavenly circles which crossed each other in all directions,
that in order to break the spell which rendered Princess
Pirlipata hideous, and to restore her to her former beauty,

pare eee she must eat the kernel of the
Crackatook nut, the shell of
which was so hard that the
wheel of a forty-eight pounder
might pass over it without
breaking it. Moreover, it
was necessary that this nut
should be cracked in the pre-
sence of the princess, and by
a young man who had never
been shaved, and who had
always worn boots. Lastly,
it was requisite that he should
present the nut to the prin-
cess with his eyes closed, and
in the same way step seven paces backward without stumb-
ling. Such was the answer of the stars.

Drosselmayer and the astronomer had worked without
ceasing for four days and four nights, to clear up this mys-
terious affair. It was on the
Sunday evening,—the king
had finished his dinner, and
was just beginning on the des-
sert,—when the mechanic,
who was to be beheaded next
day, entered the royal dining-
room, full of joy, and an-
nounced that he had disco-
vered the means of restoring
Princess Pirlipata to her
beauty. At these news, the
king caught him in his arms, with the most touching kind-
ness, and asked him what those means were.

 

 
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 18

The mechanic thereupon explained to the king the result
of his consultation with the astrologer.

‘¢ T knew perfectly well, Master
Drosselmayer,” said the king, ‘“ that
all your delay was only through ob-
stinacy. It is, however, settled at
last; and after dinner we will set
to work. Take care, then, dearest
mechanic, to have the young man
, Who has never been shaved, and
~ who wears boots, in readiness in
ten minutes, together with the nut
SN Crackatook. Let him, moreover,

abstain from drinking wine for the
SN next hour, for fear he should stum-
ble while walking backwards like a
crab; but when once it is all over,
tell him that he is welcome to my whole cellar, and may
get as tipsy as he chooses.”

But, to the great astonishment of the king, Master Dros-
selmayer seemed quite frightened at these words ; and, as
he held his tongue, the king insisted upon knowing why he
remained silent and motionless instead of hastening to exe-
cute the orders of his sovereign.

“Sire,” replied the mechanician, throwing himself on his
knees before the king, ‘it is perfectly true that we have
found out the means of curing Princess Pilipata, and that
those means consist of her eating a Crackatook nut when it
shall have been cracked by a young man who has never been
shaved, and who has always worn boots; but we have not
as yet either the young man or the nut—we know not where
to find them, and in all probability we shall have the greatest
difficulty in discovering both the nut and the nut-cracker.”

At these words, the king brandished his sceptre above
the head of the mechanician, crying, ‘‘Then hasten to the
scaffold !”

  
  
14 . THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

But the queen, on her side, hastened to kneel by
the side of Master Drosselmayer, and begged her august
husband to remem-
ber that by cut-
ting off the head
of the mechanician
he would be losing
even that ray of
hope which remain-
ed to them during
his lifetime ; that
the chances were
that he who had dis-
covered the horo-
scope would also
find the nut and the
nut-cracker ; that
they ought to be-
lieve the more firmly
in the present prediction of the astronomer, inasmuch as
nothing which he had hitherto prophesied had ever come
to pass, but that it was evident his presages must be fulfilled
some day or another, inasmuch as the king had named him
his grand prophet ; and that, as the princess was not yet of
an age to marry (she being now only three months old), and
would not even be marriageable until she was fifteen, there
was consequently a period of fourteen years and nine months
during which Master Drosselmayer and the astrologer might
search after the Crackatook nut and the young man who
was to break it. The queen therefore suggested that a re-
prieve might be awarded to Christian Elias Drosselmayer, at
the expiration of which he should return to surrender him-
self into the king’s power, whether he had found the means
of curing the princess, or not ; and either to be generously
rewarded, or put to death without mercy.

‘The king, who was a very just man, and who on that

 
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 15

day especially had dined splendidly upon his two favourite
dishes—namely, liver soup and black puddings—lent a fa-
vourable ear to the prayer of his wise and courageous queen.
He therefore decided that the astrologer and the mechanician
should that moment set out in search of the nut and the
nut-cracker ; for which purpose he granted fourteen years
and nine months, with the condition that they should
return, at the expiration of that reprieve, to place them-
selves in his power, so that, if they were empty-handed,
he might deal with them according to his own royal pleasure.

If, on the contrary, they should
make their re-appearance with the
Crackatook nut which was to re-
store the princess to all her former
beauty, the astrologer would be re-
warded with a yearly pension of
six hundred pounds and a telescope
of honour; and the mechanician
would receive a sword set with dia-
monds, the Order of the Golden
Spider (the grand order of the
_ State), and a new frock-coat.

As for the young man who was
to crack the nut, the king had no
doubt of being able to find one
suitable for the purpose, by means
of advertisements constantly inserted in the national and
foreign newspapers. .

Touched by this declaration on the part of the King,
which relieved them from half the difficulty of their task,
Christian Elias Drosselmayer pledged his honour that he
would either find the Crackatook-nut, or return, like another
Regulus, to place himself in the hands of the king.

That same evening the astrologer and the mechanician
departed from the capital of the kingdom to commence their
researches.

 
PART III.

HOW THE MECHANICIAN AND THE ASTROLOGER WANDER OVER THE FOUR
QUARTERS OF THE WORLD, AND DISCOVERED A FIFTH, WITHOUT
FINDING THE CRACKATOOK NUT.

   
      
 
  
 

a
nally T was now fourteen years
HESS and five months since the
Ss astrologer and the mecha-
Meee. r nician first set out on their

wanderings through all
arts, without discovering a vestige of what they sought.
‘hey had first of all travelled through Europe; then they
visited America, next Africa, and afterwards Asia: they
even discovered a fifth part of the world, which learned
men have since called New Holland, because it was dis-
covered by two Germans! But throughout that long series
of travels, although they had seen many nuts of different
shapes and sizes, they never fell in with the Crackatook nut.

They had, however, in, alas! a vain hope, passed several

  
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 17
years at the court of the King of Dates and at that of the
Canes of Almonds: they had uselessly consulted the cele-
brated Academy of Grau Monkeys and the famous Natu-
ralist Society of Squirrels; until at length they arrived,
sinking with fatigue, upon the borders of the great forest
which touches the feet of the Himalayan Mountains. And
now they dolefully said to each other that they had only a
hundred and twenty-two days to find what they sought,
after an useless search of fourteen years and five months.

If I were to tell you, my dear children, the strange ad-
ventures which happened to the two travellers during that
long wandering, I should occupy
you every evening for an entire
month, and should then weary you
in the long run. I will therefore
only tell you that Christian Elias
Drosselmayer, who was the most
eager in search after the nut,—since
his head depended upon finding it,
—gave himself up to greater dan-
gers than his companion, and lost
~ all his hair by a

stroke of the sun ra

received in the ~ Z
tropics. He also
lost his right eye
by an arrow which a Caribbean Chief
aimed at him. Moreover, his drab
frock-coat, which was not new when he
left Germany, had literally fallen
into rags and tatters. His situation
was therefore most deplorable; and
yet, so much do men cling to life,
that, damaged as he was by the

various accidents which had be- =
fallen him, he beheld with increas-

    
 

 

4
=
18 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

ing terror the approach of the moment when he must return
to place himself in the power of the king.

Nevertheless, the mechanician was a man of honour: he
would not break a promise so sacred as that which he had
made. He accordingly resolved, whatever might ee
to set out the very next morning on his return to Ger-
many. And indeed there was no time to lose; fourteen
years and five months had passed away, and the two
travellers had only a hundred and twenty-two days, as we
have already said, to reach the capital of Princess Pirlipata’s
father.

Christian Elias Drosselmayer accordingly made known
his noble intention to his friend the astrologer; and both de-
cided that they would set out on their return next morning.

And, true to this intention, the travellers resumed their
Journey at daybreak, taking the direction of Bagdad. From
Bagdad they proceeded to Alexandria, where they em-
barked for Venice. From Venice they passed through the
Tyrol; and from the Tyrol they entered into the kingdom
of Pirhpata’s father, both sincerely hoping that he was either
dead or in his dotage.

But, alas! it was no such thing! Upon reaching the
capital, the unfortunate mechanician learnt that the worthy
monarch not only had not lost his intellectual faculties, but
was also in better health than ever. There was consequently
no chance for him—unless Princess Pirlipata had become
cured of her ugliness without any remedy at all, which was
not possible; or, that the king’s heart had softened, which
was not probable—of escaping the dreadful fate which
threatened him.

He did not however present himself the less boldly at the
gate of the palace, for he was sustained by the idea that he
was doing an heroic action; and he accordingly desired to
speak to the king.

The king, who was easy of access, and who gave an
audience to whomsoever he had business with, ordered the
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER, 19

grand master of the ceremomes to biing the strangers into
his presence.

The grand master of the ceremonies then stated that
the strangers were of a most villanous appearance, and could
not possibly be worse dressed. But the king answered that
it was wrong to judge the heart by the countenance, and the
gown did not make the parson.

9 Thereupon, the grand master of
the ceremonies, having perceived
the correctness of these observations,
bowed respectfully and proceeded to
fetch the mechanician and the as-
trologer.

The king was the same as ever,
and they immediately recognised
him; but the travellers were so
= changed, especially poor Elias Dros-
selmayer, that they were obliged to

= - declare who they were.

‘Upon-seeing the two travellers return of their own ac-
cord, the king gave a sign of joy, for he felt well convinced
that they would not have come back if they had not found the
Crackatook nut. But he was speedily undeceived ; and the
mechanician, throwing himself at his feet, confessed that, in
spite of the most earnest and constant search, his friend and
himself had returned empty-handed.

The king, as we have said, although of a passionate dis-
position, was an excellent man at bottom; he was touched
by the punctuality with which Christian Elas Drosselmayer
had kept his word; and he changed the sentence of death,
long before pronounced against him, into imprisonment for
life. As for the astrologer, he contented himself by banish-
ing that great sage.

But as three days were still remaining of the period of
fourteen years and nine months’ delay, granted by the king,
Master Drosselmayer, who was deeply attached to his coun-

B

   
20 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

try, implored the king’s permission to profit by those three
days to visit Nuremberg once more.

This request seemed so just to the king, that he granted
it without any restriction.

Master Drosselmayer, having only three days left, re-
solved to profit by that time as much as possible; and, hav-
ing fortunately found that two places in the mail were
not taken, he secured them that moment.

 

Now, as the astrologer was himself condemned to banish-
ment, and as it was all the same to him which way he went,
he took his departure with the mechanician.

Next morning, at about ten o’clock, they were at Nurem-
berg. As Master Drosselmayer had only one relation in the
world, namely, his brother, Christopher Zacharias Drossel-
mayer, who kept one of the principal toy-shops in Nurem-
berg, it was at his house that he alighted.

Christopher Zacharias Drosselmayer was overjoyed to see
his poor brother Christian Elias, whom he had believed to be
dead. In the first instance he would not admit that the man
with the bald head and the black patch upon the eye was in
reality his brother; but the mechanician showed him his
famous drab surtout coat, which, all tattered as it was, had
retained in certain parts some traces of its original colour;
and in support of that first proof he mentioned so many
family secrets, unknown to all save to Zacharias and himself,
that the toy-merchant was compelled to yield to the evidence
brought forward. :
THE HISTORY OF A: NUT-CRAOKER.. 24

He then inquired of him what:
had kept him so long absent from
his native city, and in what coun--
try he had left his hair, his eye,
and the missing pieces of' his coat..

Christian Elias Drosselmayer
had no motive to keep secret from
his brother the events which had
occurred. He began by introdu--
cing his companion in misfortune;
and, this formal usage having been
performed, he related his adven--
tures from A to Z, ending them
by saying that he had only a few.
hours to stay with his brother,
because, not having found the
Crackatook nut, he was on the
point of being shut up in a dun-
geon for ever.

While Christian Elias was telling his story,.Christopher
Zacharias had more than once twiddled his finger and thumb,
turned round upon one leg, and made a certain knowing
noise with his tongue. Under-any. other circumstances, the
mechanician would have demanded of him what those signs
meant; but he was so full of thought, that:he saw nothing;
and it was only when his brother exclaimed, ‘‘ Hem! hem!”
twice, and **Oh! oh! oh!” three times, that he asked the
reason of those expressions.

“The reason is,” said Christopher Zacharias;.‘‘ that it
would be strange indeed if — but,.no—andiyet—” = +

“What do you mean ?” cried the mechanician.

“‘ Tf—” continued the toy merchant.

“Tf what?” again said Master Drosselmayer.

But instead of giving any answer, Christopher Zacharias,
who, during those short questions and answers, had no doubt
collected his thoughts, threw his wig up into the air, and

B2

 
22 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

began to caper about, crying, ‘‘ Brother, you are saved!
You shall not go to prison; for either I am much mistaken,
or I myself am in possession of the Crackatook nut.”

 

And, without giving any further explanation ‘to his as-
tonished ‘brother, Christopher Zacharias rushed out of the
room, ‘but returned in a moment with a box containing a
large gilt filbert, which he presented to the mechanician.

The mechanician, who dared not believe in such good
luck, took the nut with hesitation, and turned it round in all
directions so-as to examine it with the attention which it
deserved. He then declared. that he was of the same opinion
as his brother, and that he should be much astonished if that
filbert were not indeed the Crackatook nut. Thus saying,
he handed it to:the astrologer, and asked his opinion.

The astrologer examined it with as -much attention as
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 23

Master Drosselmayer had
done; but shaking his head,
he replied, ‘I should also
be of the same opinion as
yourself and brother, if the
nut were not gilt; but I have
not seen anything in the
stars showing that the nut
which’ we are in search of
ought to be so ornamented.
Besides, how came your bro-
ther by the Crackatook
nut?”

“J will explain the whole
thing to you,” said Chris-
topher, ‘and tell you how
the nut fell into my hands,
and how it came to have that: gildmg which prevents
you from recognising it, and which indeed is not its own
naturally.”

Then—having made them
sit down, for he very wisely:
thought that after travelling for
fourteen years and nine months,
they must be tired—he began as
follows:—

“The very day on which
the Be sent for you under pre-
tence of giving you an Order of
Knighthood, a stranger arrived
at Nuremberg, carrying with him a bag of nuts which he
had to sell. But the nut-merchants of this town, being anx-
ious to keep the monopoly to themselves, quarrelled with him
just opposite my shop. The stranger, with a view to defend
himself more easily, placed his bag of nuts upon the ground,
and the fight continued, to the great delight of the little boys

 

 
a4 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

and the ticket-porters; when a waggon, heavily laden, passed
over the bag of nuts. Upon seeing this accident, which they
attributed to the justice of heaven, the merchants considered
that they were sufficiently avenged, and left the stranger
alone. He picked up his bag, and all his nuts were found:
to be cracked, save ONE—one only—which he handed to me
with a strange.kind of smile, requesting me to buy it for a
new zwanziger of the year 1720, and declaring that the day
would come when ‘I should
not repent the bargain, dear
as it then might seem. I
felt in my pocket, and was
much surprised to find a
zwanziger of the kind men-
tioned by this man. The co-
incidence seemed so strange,
that I gave him my zwanzi- —
ger; he handed me the nut,
and took his departure.
“T placed the nut in my vy
window for sale; and although I only asked two kreutzers
more than the money I had given for it, it remained in the
ae window for seven or eight
years without finding a
purchaser. I:then had it
gilt to increase its value;
*. ‘but fowtltat purpose I use-
() ‘lessly spentitwo zwanzigers
fy more; forthe nut has been
“here-ever sinee'the day I
‘bought it.”
‘At that moment the astro-
momer, ‘in whose hands the
‘nut ‘had -remained, uttered
a cry of joy. While Master Drosselmayer was listening to
his brother’s story, the astrologer had delicately scraped off

 

   
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 25

some of the gilding of the nut; and on the shell he had found
the word ‘‘ CRACKATOOK” engraven in Chinese characters.

All doubts were now cleared up; and the three indivi-
duals danced for joy, the real Crackatook nut being
actually in their possession,

PART IV.

HOW, AFTER HAVING FOUND THE CRACKATOOK NUT, THE MECHANICIAN
AND THE ASTROLOGER FIND THE YOUNG MAN WHO IS TO CRACK IT,

CurisTIaAn EL1As DROSSELMAYER was in such a hurry to
announce the good news to the king, that he was anxious to
return by the mail that very moment; but Christian
Zecharias begged him to stay at least until his son should
come in, The mechanician yielded the more easily to this
request, because he had not seen his nephew for fifteen years,
and. hecatise, on recalling the ideas of the past, he remembered
that at the time when he quitted
Nuremberg, he had leftthesaidnephew
a fine fat romping fellow of only three
and a half, but of whom he (the uncle)
was doatingly fond.

While he was thinking of these things,
a handsome young man of between
eighteen and nineteen entered the
shop of Christopher Zacharias, whom
he saluted by the name of ‘ Father.”
Then Christopher Zacharias, having
embraced him, presented him to
Christian Elias, saying to the young
man, ‘And now embrace your un-
cle.”

The young man hesitated; for Uncle
Droeatlinegae with his frock-coat in rags, his bald head, and
the plaster upon his eye, did not seem a very inviting

 
26 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

person. But his father observed the hesitation, and as he
was fearful that Christian Elias’s feelings would be wounded,
he pushed his son forward, aha
thrust him into the arms of the
mechanician.
In the meantime the astrologer
had kept his eyes fixed upon the
young man with a steady attention
which seemed so singular that the
youth felt ill at his ease in being
5 so stared at, and left the room.

= The astrologer then put several
srdestione to Christopher Zecharias concerning his son; and
the father answered them with all the enthusiasm of a fond
parent.

Young Drosselmayer was, as his appearance indicated,
between seventeen and eighteen. From his earliest years he
had been so funny: and yet so tractable, that his mother had
taken a delight in dressing him like some of the puppets
which her husband: sold: namely, sometimes as a student,
sometimes as a postilion, sometimes as a Hungarian, but
always in a garb that required boots; because, as he possessed
the prettiest little foot in the world, but had a rather small
calf, the boots showed off the little foot, and concealed the
fault of the calf.

‘¢ And so,” said the astrologer to Christopher Zecharias,
‘your son has always worn boots?”

Christian Elias now stared in his turn.

‘“« My son has never worn anything but boots,” replied
the toy-man. ‘At the age of ten,” he continued, “I sent
him to the University of ‘Tubingen, where he omamied till
he was eighteen, without contracting 2 any of the bad habits
of his companions, such as drinking, swearing, and fighting.
The only weakness of which I believe him to be guilty, is
that he allows the four or five wretched hairs which he has
upon his chin to grow, without permitting a barber to touch
his countenance.”

  
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 27

“And thus,” said the astrologer, ‘* your son has never
been shaved?”

Christian Elias stared more‘and more.

‘‘ Never,” answered Christopher Zecharias.

‘And during the holidays,” continued the astrologer,
‘how did he pass his time?”

; ane ‘“Why,” replied the father,
“he used to remain in the
shop, in his becoming stu-
dent’s dress; and, through pure
eer he cracked nuts

or all the young ladies who
came to the shop to buy toys,
and who, on that account,
called him Nut-cracker.”

“ Nut-cracker!” cried the
mechanician.

‘“‘ Nut-cracker !” repeated the astrologer in his turn.

And then they looked at each other while Christopher
Zecharias looked at them both.

 

 

‘““My dear sir,” said the astrologer to the toy-man, “in
my opinion your fortune is as good as made.”

The toy-man, who had not heard this prophecy without
a feeling of pleasure, required an explanation, which the as-
trologer, however, put off until the next morning.

When the mechanician and the astrologer were shown to
28 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

their apartment, and were alone
together, the astrologer embraced
his friend, crying, ‘‘Itishe! We
have him!”

“Do you think so?” demanded
Christian Elias, in the tone of a
man who had his doubts, but who
only wished to be convinced.
“‘Can there be any uncertainty ?”
exclaimed the astrologer: ‘‘ he has
all the necessary qualifications!”
“Let us sum them up.”

‘* He has never worn anything but boots.”

“True!”

“‘ He has never been shaved.”

“True, again!”

‘“‘ And through good-nature, he has stood in his father’s
shop to crack nuts for young persons, who never called him
by any other name than Nut-cracker.”

* All this is quite true.”

“ My dear friend,” added the astrologer, ‘‘ one stroke of
good luck never comes alone. But if you still doubt, let us
go and consult the stars.”

They accordingly ascended to the roof of the house; and,
having drawn the young man’s horoscope, discovered that he
was intended for great things.

This prophecy, which confirmed all the astrologer’s hopes,
forced the mechanician to adopt his opinion.

“« And-now,” said the astrologer, in a triumphant tone,
‘‘ there are only two things which we must not neglect.”

‘* What are they?” demanded Christian Elias.

“The first is, that you must fit to the nape of your
nephew’s neck a large piece of wood, which must be so well
connected with the lower jaw that it will increase its power -
by the fact of pressure.”

“‘ Nothing is more easy,” answered Christian Elias; ‘it is

the A, B, C of mechanics.”

 
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER, 29

‘The second thing,” continued the astrologer, ‘is, that
on arriving at the residence of the king, we must carefully
conceal the fact that we have brought with us the young
man who is destined to crack the Crackatook nut. For my
opinion is that the more teeth there are broken, and the more
jaws there are dislocated in trying to break the Crackatook
nut, the more eager the king will be to offer a great reward
to him who shall succeed where so many will have failed.”

‘¢ My dear friend,” answered the mechanician, ‘‘ you are
. aman of sound sense. Let us go to bed.”

And, with these words, having quitted the top of the
house, they descended to their bed-room, where, having
drawn their cotton night-caps over their ears, they slept

Mh Li 1
Nat Ml ne
yg
! ‘I (Is ie

 

more comfortably than they had done for fourteen years and
nine months past.

On the following morning, at an early hour, the two
friends went down to the apartment of Christopher Zecharias,
and told him all the fine plans they had formed the evening
before. Now, as the toyman was not wanting in ambition,
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
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 31

with them; but, as he was forced to take care of his shop,
that excellent father resigned himself to necessity, and re-
mained behind at Nuremberg.

 

PART V.

END OF THE HISTORY OF PRINCESS PIRLIPATA.

THE mechanician and the astrologer, on reaching the capital,
took good care to leave young Drosselmayer at the inn where
they put up. They then proceeded to the
palace to announce that having vainly
sought the Crackatook nut all over the
world, they had at length found it at
Nuremberg. But of him who was to crack
it, they said not a word, according to the
arrangement made between them.

The joy at the palace was very great.
The king sent directly for the privy coun-
cillor who had the care of the public mind,
and who acted as censor in respect to the
newspapers; and this great man, by the
king’s command, drew up an article to be

 
82 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

inserted in the Royal Gazette, and which all other news-
papers were ordered to copy, to the effect that “‘ add persons
who fancied they had teeth good enough to break the Crack-
atook nut, were to present themselves at the palace, and if
they succeeded, would be liberally rewarded for their trouble.”

This circumstance was well suited to show how rich the

kingdom was in strong jaws. The candidates were so nu-
merous, that the king was forced to form a jury, the foreman
of whom.was the crown
dentist; and their duty
was to examine all the
competitors, to see if
they hadall their thirty-
two teeth perfect, and
whether any were de-
cayed.
Three thousand fiye
hundred _ candidatés
were admitted to this
first trial, which lasted
a week, and which produced only an immense number of
broken teeth and jaws put out of place.

It was therefore necessary to make a second appeal; and
all the national and foreign newspapers were crammed with
advertisements to that purpose. The king offered the post
of Perpetual President of the Academy, and the order of the -
Golden Spider to whomsoever should succeed in cracking
the Crackatook nut. There was no necessity to have a degree
of Doctor of Philosophy, or Master of Arts, to be competent
to stand as a candidate.

This second trial produced five thousand candidates. All
the learned societies of Europe sent deputies to this import-
ant assembly. Several members of the English Royal
Society were present; and a great number of critics belong-
ing to the leading London newspapers and literary journals;
but they were not able to stand as candidates, because their
teeth had all been broken long before in their frequent

 
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 33

attempts to tear to pieces the works of their brother authors.
This second trial, which lasted a fortnight, was, alas! as
fruitless as the first. The deputies of the learned societies
disputed amongst themselves, for the honour of the associa-

: tions to which they respectively
belonged, as to who should

‘ SK break the nut; but they only left
eat A their best teeth behind them.

f » \ As for the nut itself, its shell
\S didnot even bear the marks of
“ the attempts that had been
Pe sp made to crack it.

The king was in despair. He resolved, however, to strike
one grand blow; and, as he had no male descendant, he de-
clared, by means of a third article in the Royal Gazette, the
national newspapers, and the foreign journals, that the hand
of Princess Pirlipata and the inheritance of the throne
should be given to him who
might ae the Crackatook .\ |
nut. There was one condi- yw
tion to this announcement;
namely, that this time the , 7 oS
candidates must be from ce Sa
™ sixteen to twenty-four C
years of age. The pro-
mise of such a reward UP |
excited all Germany. ~_.

  
 
  

  

 
  

D

 
   
  
  
   

 

A Cove be CASSATION
Sof

x ] {fore ~ Krakaruk .

\ RANT

ITO

   

ae
tt

         
   
34 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

Competitors poured in from all parts of Europe; and they
would even have come from Asia, Africa, and America,
and that fifth quarter of the world which had been discovered
by Christian Elias Drosselmayer and his friend the astrolo-
ger, if there had been. sufficient time.

" On this occasion the mechanician and the astrologer
thought that the moment was now come to produce young
Drosselmayer; for it was impossible for the king to offer a
higher reward than that just announced. -Only, certain of
success as they were, and although this time a host of
princes and royal and imperial jaws had presented themselves,
the mechanician and the-astronomer did not appear with
their young friend at the register-office until just as it was
about to close; so that the name of NATHANIEL DROSSsEL-
MAYER was numbered the 11,375th, and stood last.

It was on this occasion as on the preceding ones. The
11,374 rivals of young Drosselmayer were foiled; and on the
nineteenth day: of the trial, at twenty-five minutes to twelve
o'clock, and just as the .princess accomplished her fifteenth
year, the name.of Nathaniel Drosselmayer was called.

The young man presented himself, accompanied by his
two guardians, the mechanician and the astrologer. It was
the first time that these two illustrious persons had seen the
princess since they had beheld her in her cradle; and since
that period great changes had taken
place in her. But I must inform
you, with due candour, that those
changes were not to her advantage.
When a child, she was shockingly
ugly: she was now frightfully so.
Her form had lost, with its growth,
none of its important features. It
is therefore difficult to understand
how those skinny legs, those flat
hips, and that distorted body, could
have supported such a monstrous

 
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 85

head. And that head had the same grizzly hair—the same
green eyes—the same enormous mouth—and the same cotton
beard on the chin, as we have already described; only all
these features were just fifteen years older.

Upon perceiving that monster of ugliness, poor Nathaniel
shuddered and inquired of the mechanician and the astrologer
if they were quite sure that the kernel of the Crackatook nut
would restore the princess to her beauty: because, if she were
to remain in that state, he was quite willing to make the trial
in a matter where all the others had failed; but he should
leave the honour of the marriage and the profit of the heir-
ship of the throne to any one who might be inclined to
accept them. It is hardly necessary to state that both the
mechanician and the astrologer reassured their young friend,
promising that, the nut once broken, and the kernel once
eaten, Pirlipata would become that very moment the most
beautiful princess on the face of the earth.

But if the sight of Princess Pirlipata had struck poor
Nathaniel with dismay, I must tell you, in honour of the
young man, that is presence had produced a very different

‘ effect upon the sensitive heart
of the heiress of the crown;
and she could not prevent
herself from exclaiming, when
she saw him, ‘‘Oh! how
glad I should be if he were
to break the nut!”
Thereupon the chief gover-
ness of the princess replied,
“T think I have often ob-
served to your highness, that
it is not customary for a young and beautiful princess like
yourself to express her opinion aloud relative to such
matters.”

Nathaniel was indeed calculated to turn the heads of all
the princesses in the world. He wore alittle military frock-

Cc

 
36 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

coat, of .a violet colour, all braided, and with golden buttons,
and which his uncle had had made for this solemn occasion.
His breeches were of the same stuff; and his boots were so
well blacked, and sat in such an admirable manner, that they
seemed as if they were painted. The only thing which some-
what spoilt his appearance was the
ugly piece of wood fitted to the nape
of his neck; but Uncle Drosselmayer
had so contrived that it seemed likea
little bag attached to his wig, and might
at a stretch have passed. as an eccentri-
city of the toilet, or elseas a new fashion
=x which Nathaniel’s tailor was trying to
S$ push into vogue at the court.

Thus it was, that when this charming
young man entered the great hall,
what the princess had had the impru-
dence to say aloud, the other ladies present said to them-
selves; and there was not a person, not even excepting theking

   

 
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 87

and the queen, who did not desire at the bottom of his heart
that Nathaniel might prove triumphant in the adventure
which he had undertaken.

On his side, young Drosselmayer approached with a con-
fidence which encouraged the hopes that were placed in him.
Having reached the steps leading to the throne, he bowed to
the king and queen, then to Princess Pirlipata, and then
to the spectators; after which he received the Carel took nut
from the grand master of the ceremonies, took it delicately
between his fore-finger and thumb, placed it in his mouth,
and gave a violent pull at the wooden balance hanging be-
hind him.

Crack! crack!—and the shell was broken in several
pieces.

He then skilfully detached the kernel from the fibres
hanging to it, and presented it to the princess, bowing grace-

 

fully but respectfully at the same time; after which he closed

his eyes, and began to walk backwards. At the same moment

the princess swallowed the kernel; and, O! wonder!. her

horrible ugliness disappeared, and she became a young:lady

of angelic beauty. Her face seemed to have borrowed the
c 2
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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 39

the queen of the mice suddenly appeared through a crevice
in the floor. With horrible squeaks she ran between his
legs ; so that just at the very moment when the future Prince
Royal placed his foot upon the ground, his heel came so fully
on the body of the mouse that he stumbled in such a manner
as nearly to fall.

O sorrow! at that same instant the
handsome young man became as ugly
as the princess was before him: his
legs shrivelled up; his shrunken form
could hardly support his enormous
head; his eyes became green, haggard, «
and goggle; his mouth split from ear to \N
ear; and his delicate little sprouting =
beard changed into a white and soft
substance, which was afterwards found
to be cotton.

But the cause of this event was punished at the same
moment that she produced it. Dame Mousey was weltering
in her own blood upon the floor. Her wickedness did not
therefore go without its punishment. In fact, young Dros-
selmayer had trampled so hard upon her with his heel, that
she was crushed beyond all hope of recovery. But, while
still writhing on the floor, Dame Mousey squeaked forth
the following words, with all the strength of her agonizing
voice :—

   

“ Crackatook! Crackatook! fatal nut that thou art,
Through thee has Death reached me, at length, with his dart!
Heigho! heigho!
But the Queen of the Mice has thousands to back her,
And my son will yet punish that wretched Nut-cracker,
I know! I know!

* Sweet life, adieu!
Too soon snatch’d away!
And thou heaven of blue,
And thou world so gay,
Adieu! adieu!’
40 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

The verses of Dame Mousey might have been better ; but
one cannot be very correct, as you will all agree, when
breathing the last sigh !

And when that last sigh was ren-
dered, a great officer of the court took
up Dame Mousey by the tail, and car-
ried her away for the purpose of inter-
ting her remains in the hole where so
many of her family had been buried
fifteen years and some months before-
hand.

As, in the middle of all this, no one
had troubled themselves about Nathaniel
Drosselmayer except the mechanician 4
and the astrologer, the princess, who a 3
was unaware of the accident which ~ °
had happened, ordered the young hero to be brought into
her presence ; for, in spite of the lesson read her by the
governess, she was in haste to thank him. But scarcely
had she perceived the unfortunate Nathaniel, than she hid
her face in her hands ; and, forgetting the service which
he had rendered her, cried, ‘‘ Turn out the horrible Nut-
cracker ! turn him out! turn him out!”

The grand marshal
of the palace accor-
dingly took poor
Nathaniel by the
shoulders and push-
ed him down stairs.
The king, who was
very angry at hav-
ing a nut-cracker
proposed to him as
his son-in-law, at-
tacked the astro-
loger and the me-
chanician ; and,

 

 
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 41

instead of the income of six hundred pounds a year and
the telescope of honour which he had promised the first,
—instead, also, of the sword set with diamonds, the Order
of the Golden Spider, and the drab frock-coat, which he
ought to have given to the latter,—he banished them both
from his kingdom, granting them only twenty-four hours to
cross the frontiers.

Obedience was necessary. The mechanician, the astro-
loger, and young Drosselmayer (now become a nut-cracker),
left the capital and quitted
the country. But when
night came, the two learned
men consulted the stars
once more, and read in them
that, all deformed though he
were, Nathaniel would not
the less become a prince
and king, unless indeed he

W, %, "8 chose to remain a private

mf. = 7\ | individual, which was left

; =" to hisown choice. This was

to happen when his deformity should disappear ; and that

deformity would disappear when he should have commanded

an army in battle,—when he should have killed the seven-

headed king of the mice, who was born after Dame

Mousey’s seven first sons had been put to death,—and,
lastly, when a beautiful lady should fall in love with him.

But while awaiting these brilliant destinies, Nathaniel
Drosselmayer, who had left the paternal shop as the only son
and heir, now returned to it in the form of a nut-cracker !

I need scarcely tell you that his.father did not recognise
him; and that, when Christopher Zacharias inquired of the
mechanician and his friend the astrologer, what had become
of his dearly-beloved son, those two illustrious persons
replied, with the seriousness of learned men, that the king
and the queen would not allow the saviour of the princess

   
42 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

to leave them, and that young Nathaniel remained at court
covered with honour and glory.

As for the unfortunate nut-
cracker, who felt how deeply
painful was his situation, he
uttered not a word, but re-
solved to await patiently the
change which must some day
or another take place in him.
Nevertheless, Imust candidly
admit, that in spite of the
goodnature of his disposition,
he was desperately vexed
with Uncle Drosselmayer,
who, coming at a moment
he was so little expected, and
having enticed him away by
so many fine promises, was the sole and only cause of the
frightful misfortune that had occurred to him.

Such, my dear children, is the History of the Crackatook
Nut, just as Godfather Drosselmayer told it to little Mary
and Fritz; and you can now understand why people often
say, when speaking of anything difficult to do, “ ‘That is a
hard nut to crack.”

 

 
 

CHAPTER VII.

THE UNCLE AND THE NEPHEW.

Tr any one of my young friends now around me has ever

cut himself with glass, which he has most likely done in the
days of his disobedience, he must know by experience that °
it 1s a particularly disagreeable kind of cut, because it is so
long in healing. Mary was, therefore, forced to stay a whole
week in bed; for she always felt giddy whenever she tried
to getup. But at last she got well altogether, and was able
to skip about the room as she was wont to do.

You would not do my little heroine the injustice to sup-
pose that her first visit was to any other place than the glass
cupboard, which now seemed quite charming to look at. A
new pane had been put in; and all the windows had been
so well cleaned by Miss Trudchen, that all the trees, houses,
dolls, and other toys of the Christmas eve seemed quite new,
gay, and polished. But in the midst of all the treasures of
her little kingdom, and before all other things, Mary per-

Reese! A ceived her Nut-cracker smiling upon

il Ady | oe her from the second shelf where he
| jeer . was placed, and with his teeth all in
eas Ve |

 
     
 

as good order as ever they were.

While thus joyfully examining her
favourite, an idea which had more
_ than once presented itself to the mind
of Mary touched her to the quick.
i ' She was persuaded that all Godfather
H.W S) Se 3a Drosselmayer had told her was not
i ee ee a mere fable, but the true history of
era 5a Pe the disagreement between the Nut-
cracker on one side, and the late queen of the mice and her

 

 

 

if

 
44 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

son, the reigning king, on the other side. She, therefore,
knew that the Nut-cracker could be neither more nor less
than Nathaniel Drosselmayer, of Nuremberg, the amiable but
enchanted nephew of her godfather; for that the skilful mech-
anician who had figured at the court of Pirlipata’s father, was
Doctor Drosselmayer, she had never doubted from the
moment when he introduced his drab frock-coat into his tale.
This belief was strengthened when she found him losing first
his hair by a sun-stroke, and then his eye by an arrow, events
which had rendered necessary the invention of the ugly black
patch, and of the ingenious glass wig, of which I have already
spoken.
ee But why did not your uncle help you, poor Nut-
cracker ?” said Mary, as she stood at the glass cupboard,
gazing up at her favourite; for she remembered that on the
success of the battle depended the disenchantment of the
ee little man and _his elevation to the rank of king of the
ingdom of toys. Then she thought that all the dolls, pup-
pets, and little men must be well prepared to receive him as
their king; for did they not obey the Nut-cracker- as soldiers
obey a general? That indifference on the part of Godfather
Drosselmayer was so much the more annoying to little Mary,
because she was certain that those dolls and puppets to which,
in her imagination, she gave life and motion, really did live
and move.

Nevertheless, there was now no appearance of either life
or motion in the cupboard, where everything was still and
quiet. But Mary, rather than give up her sincere belief,
thought that all this was occasioned by the sorcery of the late
queen of the mice and her son; and so firm was she in this
belief, that, while she gazed up at the Nut-cracker, she con-
tinued to say aloud what she had only begun to say to herself.

“And yet,” she resumed, “although you are unable to
move, and are prevented by enchantment from saying a sin-
gle word to me, I am very sure, my dear Mr. Drosselmayer,
that you understand me perfectly, and that you are well
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 45

aware of my good intentions with regard to you. Reckon,
then, upon my support when you require it; and in the
meantime, do not vex yourself. I will go straight to your
uncle, and beg him to assist you; and if he only loves you a
little, he is so clever that I am sure he can help you.”

In spite of the eloquence of this speech, the Nutcracker
did not move an inch; but it seemed to Mary that a sigh
came from behind the glass, the panes of which began to
sound very low, but wonderfully soft and pleasing; while it
appeared to Mary that a sweet voice, like a small silver bell,
said, ‘ Dear little Mary, thou art my guardian angel! Iwill
be thine, and Mary shall be mine!” And at these words, so
mysteriously heard, Mary felt a singular sensation of happi-
ness, in spite of the shudder which passed through her entire
frame.

Twilight had now arrived; and the judge returned home,
accompanied by Doctor Drosselmayer. In a few moments
Miss Trudchen got tea ready, and all the family were gath-
ered round the table, talking gaily. As for Mary, she had

 

been to fetch her little arm-chair, and had seated herself in
silence at the feet of Godfather Drosselmayer. Taking ad-
vantage of a moment when no one was speaking, she raised
46 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

her large blue eyes towards the doctor, and, looking earnestly
at him, said, ‘I now know, dear godpapa, that my Nut-
cracker is your nephew, young Drosselmayer, of Nuremberg.
He has become a prince, and also king of the kingdom of
toys, as your friend the astrologer prophesied. But you
know that he is at open war with the king of the mice.
Come, dear godpapa, tell me why you did not help him when
you were sitting astride upon the clock ? and why do you now
desert him ?”

And, with these words, Mary again related, amidst the
laughter of her father, her mother, and Miss Trudchen, the
events of that famous battle which she had seen. Fritz and
Godfather Drosselmayer alone did not enjoy the whole
scene.

“‘ Where,” said the godfather, ‘“ does that little girl get all
those foolish ideas which enter her head?”

‘She has a very lively imagination,” replied Mary’s
mother; ‘and, after all, these are only dreams and visions
occasioned by fever.”

“ And I can prove ¢hat,” shouted Fritz; ‘for she says
that my red hussars took to flight, which cannot possibly be
true—unless indeed they are abominable cowards, in which
case they would not get the better of me, for I would flog
them all soundly.”

Then, with a singular smile, Godfather Drosselmayer
took Mary upon his knees, and said with more kindness than
before, ‘‘ My dear child, you do not know what course you
are pursuing in espousing so warmly the cause of your Nut-
cracker. You will have to suffer much if you persist in
taking. the part of one who is in disgrace; for the king of
the mice, who considers him to be the murderer of his
mother, will persecute him inall ways. But, in any case, re-
member that it is not I—but you alone—who can save him.
Be firm and faithful—and all will go well.”

Neither Mary nor any one else understood the words of
Godfather Drosselmayer: on the contrary, those words
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 47

seemed go strange to thejudge, that he took the doctor’s hand,
felt his pulse for some moments in silence, and then said,
‘« My dear friend, you are very feverish, and I should advise
you to go home to bed.”

 

CHAPTER VIII.

THE DUEL.

DURING. the night which followed the scene just related,
and while the moon, shining in all its splendour, cast its bright
rays through the openings in the curtains, Mary, who now
slept with her mother, was awakened by a noise that seemed
to come from the corner of the room, and was mingled with
sharp screeches and squeakings.

“ Alas!” cried Mary, who remembered to have heard the
same noise on the occasion of the famous battle; “alas! the
mice are coming again! Mamma, mamma, mamma!”

But her voice was stifled in her throat, in spite of all her
efforts: she endeavoured to get up to run out of the room,
but seemed to be nailed to her bed, unable to move her
limbs. At length, turning her affrighted eyes towards the
corner of the room, whence the noise came, she beheld the
48 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

king of the mice scraping for himself a way through. the
wall, and thrusting in first one of his heads, then another,
then a third, and so on until the whole seven,. each with a
crown, made their appearance. Having entered the room,
he walked several times round it like a victor who takes pos-
session of his conquest: he then leapt with one bound upon
a table that was standing near the bed. Gazing upon her

with"his fourteen eyes, all as
bright as carbuncles, and with
a gnashing of his teeth and a
horrible squeaking noise, he
B said, “ Fe, fa, fum! You must
~ give me all your sugar-plums
and ;your sweet cakes, little
girl, and if not, I will eat up
your friend the Nut-cracker.”

Then, having uttered this threat, he fled from the room
by the same hole as he had entered by.

Mary was so frightened by this terrible apparition, that
she awoke in the morning very pale and almost broken hearted,
the more so that she dared not mention what had taken
place during the night, for fear of being laughed at. Twenty
times was she on the point of telling all, either to her mother
or to Fritz; but she stopped, still
thinking that neither the one nor the
other would believe her. It was,
however, pretty clear that she must
sacrifice her sugar-plums and_ her
sweet cakes to the safety of the poor
Nut-cracker. She accordingly placed
them all on the ledge of the cupboard
that very evening.

Next morning, the judge’s wife
said, ‘“‘T really do not know whence
come all the mice that have suddenly

 

 
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 49

creatures have actually eaten up all my poor little Mary’s
sugar-plunis.”

The lady was not quite right; the sugar-plums and
cakes were only spoilt, not eaten up; for the gluttonous
king of the mice, not finding the sweet cakes as good as he
had expected, messed them about so that they were forced
to be thrown away.”

But as it was not sugar-plums that Mary liked’ best, she
did not feel much regret at the sacrifice which theking of
the mice had extorted from her; and, thinking that he
would be contented with the first contribution with which
he had taxed her, she was much pleased at the idea of having
saved Nut-cracker upon such good terms.

Unfortunately her satisfaction was not of long duration ;
for the followmg night she was again awoke by hearing
equeecng and whining close by her ears.

Alas! it was the king of the mice again, his eyes
shining more horribly than on the preceding night ; and, in
a voice interrupted by frequent whines and squeaks, he said,
“You must give me your little sugar dolls and figures made
of biscuit, little girl ; if not, I will eat up your friend the
Nut-cracker.”

Thereupon the king of the mice went skipping away,
and disappeared by the hole in the wall.

Next morning, Mary, now deeply afflicted, went straight
to the glass cupboard, and threw a mournful look upon her
figures of sugar and biscuit; and her grief was very natural,
for never were such nice-looking sweet things seen before.

Alas!” she said, as she turned towards the Nut-cracker,
‘‘ what would I not do for you, my dear Mr. Drosselmayer?
But you must admit all the same that what I am required to
do 1s very hard.”

At these words the Nut-cracker assumed so piteous an
air, that Mary, who fancied that she was for ever beholding
the jaws of the king of the mice opening to devour him,
resolved to make this second sacrifice to save the unfor-
50 THE HISTORY OF A NUT+CRACKER.

tunate young man. ‘That very evening, therefore, she
placed her sugar figures and her biscuits upon
the ledge of the cupboard, where the night
before she had put her sugar-plums and sweet
cakes. Kissing them, :

ith

however, one after | co
pa
(ig

        

  

Se another, as a token | a
of farewell, she yield-

ed up her shepherds, © ~anrir
her  shepherdesses,
and her sheep, concealing behind
the flock at the same time a little
sugar baby with fat round cheeks,
and which she loved above all the
other things.

‘Now really this is too bad 1”
cried the judge’s wife next morning: “it is very clear
that these odious mice have taken up their dwelling in
the glass cupboard ; for all poor Mary’s sugar figures are
eaten up.”

At these words large tears started from Mary’s eyes; but
she dried them up almost directly, and even smiled sweetly
as she thought to herself, ‘‘ What matter my shepherds,
shepherdesses, and sheep, since the Nut+cracker is saved!”

, “ Mamma,” cried Fritz, who was present
at the time, ‘‘I must remind you that
our baker has an excellent grey cat,
which we might send for, and which
would soon put an end to all this by
snapping up the mice one after ano-
ae wtissexd) ther, and even Dame Mousey herself
===" _ afterwards, as well as her son the king.”

‘ Yes,” replied the judge’s wife; ‘‘ but that same cat would
jump upon the tables and shelves, and break my glasses and
cups to pieces.”

“Qh! there is no fear of that!” cried Fritz. ‘‘ The

     

 

   
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 51

baker’s cat is too polite to do any such thing ; and I wish I
could walk along the pipes and the roofs of houses .as skil-
fully as he can.”

‘““No cats here, if you please !” cried the judge’s wife,
- who could not bear those domestic animals.

“ But, after all,” said the judge, who overheard what was
going on, ‘‘ some good may follow from the remarks of Fritz:
if you will not have a cat, get a mouse-trap.”

“Capital!” cried Fritz: “that idea is very happy, since
Godpapa Drosselmayer invented mouse-traps.”

Every one now laughed; and as, after a strict search, no

such thing as a mouse-trap was found in the house, the ser-
vant went to Godfather Drosselmayer,
who sent back a famous one, which was
baited with a bit of bacon, and placed in
the spot where the mice had made such
havock.
Mary went to bed with the hope that
morning would find the king of the mice
a prisoner in the box, to which his glut-
tony was almost certain tolead him. But
at about eleven o’clock, and while she was in her first sleep,
she was awoke by something cold and velvety that leapt
about upon her arms and face ; and, at the same moment,
the whining and squeaking which she knew so well, rang in
her ears. The horrible king of the mice was there—seated
on her pillow, with his eyes shooting red flames and his
seven mouths wide open, as if he were about to eat poor
Mary up.

“Tlaugh at the trap—I laugh at the trap,” said the king
of the mice: “I shall not go into the little house, and the
bacon will not tempt me. T shall not be taken: I laugh at
the trap! But you must give me your picture-books and
your little silk frock; if not, I will eat up your friend the
Nut-cracker.”

You can very well understand that after such a demand

D

 
52 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

as this, Mary awoke in the morning with her heart full of
sorrow and her eyes full of tears. Her mother, moreover,
told her nothing new when she said that the trap had re-
mained empty, and that the king of the mice had suspected
the snare. Then, as the judge’s wife left the room to see
after the breakfast, Mary entered her papa’s room, and going
up to the cupboard, said, ‘‘ Alas, my dear good Mr. Drossel-
mayer, where will all this end? When I have given my
picture-books to the king of the mice to tear, and my pretty
little silk frock, which my guardian angel sent me, to rend
into pieces, he will not be content, but will every day be
asking me for more. And when | have nothing else left to
give him, he will perhaps eat me up in your place. Alas!
what can a poor little girl like me do for you, dear good Mr.
Drosselmayer ? what can I do?”

While Mary was weeping and lamenting in this manner,
she observed that the Nut-cracker had a drop of blood upon
his neck. From the day when she had discovered that her
favourite was the son of the toyman and the nephew of the
Doctor, she had left off carrying him in her arms, and had
neither kissed nor caressed him. Indeed, so great was her
timidity in this respect, that she had not even dared to touch
him with the tip of her finger. But at this moment, seeing
that he was hurt, and fearing lest his wound might be dan-

gerous, she took him gently out
of the cupboard, and began to
wipe away with her handkerchief
the drop of blood which was
-upon his neck. But how great
_ was her astonishment, when: she
. suddenly felt the Nut-cracker
‘ moving about in her hands! She
replaced him quickly upon the
shelf: his lips quivered from ear
to ear, which made his mouth seem larger still ; and, by dint
of trying to speak, he concluded by uttering the following

   
 
  
   
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 53

words:— Ah, dear Miss Silberhaus—excellent friend —
what do I not owe you? and how much gratitude have I to
express.to you? Do not sacrifice for me your picture-books
and your silk frock; but get me a sword—a good sword—
and I will take care of the rest!”

The Nut-cracker would have said more; but his words
became unintelligible—his voice sank altogether—and his
eyes, for a moment animated by an expression of the softest
melancholy, grew motionless and. vacant.. Mary felt no
alarm: on the contrary, she leapt for joy,.for she was very
happy at.the idea of being able to save the Nut-cracker,
without being compelled to give up her picture-books or her
silk frock. One thing. alone vexed her—and that was,.
where could she find the good sword that. the little man
man required ? Mary resolved to explain. her difficulty to
Fritz, who, in spite of his blustering manners, she knew to
be a good-natured boy. She accordingly took him close up
to the glass cupboard, told him all that had happened between
Nut-cracker and the king of the mice, and ended by ex-
plaining the nature of the service she required of him. The
only thing which made a great. impression upon Fritz. was
the idea that his hussars had really. acted in a cowardly
manner in the thickest of the battle: he therefore asked
Mary if: the accusation were really true;
and as he knew that she never told a
story, he believed her words. Then,
rushing up to the cupboard, he. made a
speech to his soldiers, who seemed. quite
ashamed of themselves. But.this was
44, not all: in order to punish the whole
“, Yegiment in the person of its officers, he
\ji\| degraded them one after the other, and

- expressly ordered the band not to play
— the Hussar’s March during parade.

‘Then, turning to Mary, he said,‘ As for the Nut-cracker,

who seems to me to be a brave little fellow, [ think I can
D2

 
54 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

manage his business ; for, as I put a:veteran major of horse-
guards upon half pay yesterday, he having finished his time
in the service, I should think he cannot want his sword any
longer. It isan excellent blade, I can.assure you !”

It now remained to find the major. A search was com-

menced, and he was found living on his half-
pay in a little tavern which stood in a dark
corner of the third shelf in the cupboard. As
Fritz had imagined, he offered.no objection to
give up his sword, which had become useless
to him, and which was that instant fastened to
the Nutcracker’s neck.
The fear which Mary now felt prevented her
= from sleeping all the next night; and she
was -so wide awake that she heard the clock
strike twelve.in the room where the cupboard was. Scarcely
had the hum of the last stroke ceased, when strange noises came
from the direction ofthe cupboard; and then there was a great
lashing of swords, as if two enemies were fighting in mortal
combat. Suddenly one of the duellists gave a squeak !

‘The king of ‘the mice!” cried Mary, full of joy and
terror at the same time.

There was then .a dead si- ;

 

lence ; but presently some one
knocked gently—very gently—
at the door; and a pretty little
voice said, ‘‘ Dearest Miss Sil-
berhaus, I have glorious news
for you: open the door, I be-
seech you!”

Mary recognised the voice of Bah!
young Drosselmayer. She has- Sao —O/e re
tily put on her little frock, and ~+ == ae
opened the door. The Nut-cracker was there, holding the
‘plood-stained sword in his right hand and a candle in his
left.. -The moment he saw Mary he knelt down, and said,

   
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 55

* Tt is you alone, O dearest: lady.! who have nerved me with
the chivalrous courage which I have just shown, and who
gave mestrength to fight that insolent wretch who dared to
threaten you. The vile king of the mice is bathed in his
blood. Will you, O lady! deign to. accept the trophies of
the victory—trophies that are offered by the hand-of a knight
who is devoted to you until death ?”

With these words the Nut-cracker drew from his left arm .
the seven: golden crowns
of the king of the mice,
- which he had placed there
as if they were bracelets,
* and which he now offered
= to Mary, who received
= them with joy.
= The Nut-cracker, encou-
raged by this amiability
=. on her part, then rose and
spoke thus :—“ Oh! dear Miss-Silberhaus, now that I have
conquered my enemy, what beautiful things can I show you,
if you would have the condescension to go with me only a
few paces hence! Oh! do not:refuse me—do not refuse me,
dear lady—I implore you!”

Mary did not hesitate a moment to follow
the Nut-cracker, knowing how great were
her claims upon his gratitude, and.
being quite certain that he had
no evil intention towards her-.

“T will follow you,” she said,. _
“‘my dear Mr. Drosselmayer; but’ <
you must not take me very far, S
nor keep me long away, because I
have not yet slept a wink.”

‘‘T will choose the shortest,. although the most difficult;
path,” said the Nut-cracker; and, thus speaking, he led the
way, Mary following him.

      
  

   
 
 
  
CHAPTER IX.

THE KINGDOM OF TOYS.

Tuey both reached, in a short time, a large old cupboard
standing in a passage near the door, and which was used as
a clothes’-press. There the Nut-cracker stopped ; and Mary
observed, to her great astonishment, that the folding-doors
of the cupboard, which were nearly always kept shut, were
now wide open, so that-she could see plainly her father’s
travelling-cloak lined with fox-skin, which was hanging
over the other clothes. The Nut-cracker climbed very skil-
fully along the border of the cloak; and, clinging to the
braiding, he reached the large cape, which, fastened by a piece
of lace, fell over the back of the cloak. From heneath this
cape the Nut-cracker drew down a pretty little ladder of
cedar-wood, which he placed in such a manner that the foot
touched the bottom of the cupboard, and the top was lost in
the sleeve of the cloak.

‘Now, dear young lady,”-said:the Nut-eracker, ‘have
the goodness to give me your hand and ascend with me.”

Mary complied; and scarcely had she glanced up the
sleeve, when a brilliant light burst upon her view, and she
suddenly found herself transported into the midst of a fra-
grant meadow, which glittered as if it were strewed with
precious stones.

Oh! how charming!” cried Mary, dazzled by the sight,
‘‘ where are we ?”

“ We are in the Field of Sugar-candy, Miss; but we will
not remain here, unless you wish to do so, Let us pass
through this door.”

Then Mary observed a beautiful gate through which
they left the field. The gate seemed to be made of white
marble, red marble, and blue marble; but when Mary drew
near it she saw that it was made only of preserves, candied
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 57

orange-peel, burnt almonds, and sugared raisins. This was
the reason, as she learnt from the Nut-cracker, why that gate
was called the Gate of Burnt Almonds.

The gate opened into a long gallery, the roof of which
was supported by pillars of barley-sugar. In the gallery
there were five monkeys, all dressed in red, and playing
music, which, if it were not the most melodious in the world,

 

was at least the most original. Mary made so much haste
to see more, that she did not even perceive that she was
walking’upon a pavement of pistachio-nuts and macaroons,
which she took for marble. At length she reached the end
of the gallery, and scarcely was she in the open air, when she
found herself surrounded by the most delicious perfumes,
which came from a charming little forest that opened before
her. ‘This forest, which would have been dark were it not
for the quantity of lamps that it contained, was lighted up in
so brilliant a manner that it was easy to distinguish the
golden and silver fruits, which were suspended to branches
ornamented with white ribands and nosegays, resembling
marriage-favours.

“Oh! my dear Mr. Drosselmayer,” cried’ Mary, “ what
is the name of this charming place, I beseech you ?”

“We are now in the Forest of Christmas, Miss,” an-
swered the Nut-cracker; ‘and it is here that people come
58 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

to fetch the trees to which the presents sent by the guardian
angels are fastened.” ;
“Qh!” continued Mary, ‘‘may I not remain here one
moment? Everything is so nice here, and smells so sweet !”
The Nut-cracker clapped his hands together; and several
shepherds and shepherdesses, hunters and huntresses, came
out of the forest, all so delicate and white that they seemed
made of refined sugar. They carried “=
on their shoulders an arm-chair,
made of chocolate, incrusted with
angelica, in which they placed
a cushion of jujube, inviting
Mary most politely to sit down.
Scarcely had she done so when,
as at operas, the shepherds and
shepherdesses, the hunters and 2
huntresses_ took their places and 3%
began to dance a charming ballet ae
to an accompaniment of horns and bugles, which the hunters
i blew with'such good
will that their faces
became flushed just
as if they were made
. of conserve of roses.
= Then, the dance
being finished, they
all disappeared in a
: Tove.
‘*Pardon me, dear Miss Silberhaus,” said the Nut-cracker,
holding out his hand towards Mary,—* pardon me for
having exhibited to you so poor a ballet ; but those simpletons
can do nothing better than repeat, over and over again, the
same step. As for the hunters, they blew their bugles as
if they were afraid of them; and I can promise you that I
shall not let it pass so quietly. But let us leave those crea-
tures for the present, and continue our walk, if you please.”

    
      
 
 
 
 

  
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 59

“‘T really found it all very delightful,” said Mary, ac-
cepting the invitation of the Nut-cracker ; ‘‘ and it seems to
me, my dear Mr. Drosselmayer, that you are harsh towards
the little dancers.”

The Nut-cracker made a face, as much as to say, “* We
shall see ; but your plea in their favour shall be considered.”
They then continued their journey, and reached a river
which seemed to send forth all the sweet scents that per-
fumed the air.

‘« This,” said the Nut-cracker, without even waiting to be
questioned by Mary, “is the River of Orange Juice. It is one
of the smallest in the kingdom ; for, save in respect to its
sweet odour, it cannot be compared to the River of Lemonade,
which falls into the southern sea, or the Sea of Punch. The
Lake of Sweet Whey is also finer : it joins the northern sea,
which is called the Sea of Milk of Almonds.”

At a short distance was a little villaze, in which the
houses, the church, and the parsonage were all brown; the
roofs however were gilt, and the walls were resplendent with
incrustations of red, blue, and white sugar-plums.

‘This is the Village of Sweet Cake,” said the Nut-cracker;
‘tit 1s a pretty little place, as you perceive, and is situate on
the Streamlet of Honey. The inhabitants are very agreeable
to look upon ; but they are always in a bad humour, because
they are constantly troubled with the tooth-ache. But, my
dear Miss Silberhaus,” continued the Nut-cracker, ‘do not
let us stop at all the villages and little towns of the kingdom.
To the capital ! to the capital!”

The Nut-cracker advanced, still holding Mary’s hand, but
walking more confidently than he had hitherto done; for
Mary, who was full of curiosity, kept by his side, light as a
bird. At length, after the expiration of some minutes, the
odour of roses was spread through the air, and everything
around them now seemed to be of a rose-tint. Mary re-
marked that this was the perfume and the reflection of a
River of Essence of Roses, which flowed along, its waves rip-
60 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

pling melodiously. Upon the sweet-scented waters, silver
swans, with collars of gold round their necks, swam gently
along, warbling the most delicious songs, so that this har-
mony, with which they were apparently much pleased, made
the diamond fishes leap up around them.

“Ah!” cried Mary, ‘this is the pretty river which
Godpapa Drosselmayer made me at Christmas ; and I am the
girl who played with the swans!”

CHAPTER X.

THE JOURNEY.

THE Nut-cracker clapped his hands together once more ;
and, at that moment, the River of Essence of Roses began to
rise visibly ; and from its swelling waves came forth a chariot
made of shells, and covered with precious stones that glit-
tered in the sun. It was drawn by golden dolphins; and
four charming little Moors, with caps made of the scales of
gold-fish and clothes of
humming-birds’ feathers,
leapt upon the bank. They
first carried Mary, and
then the Nut-cracker, very
gently down to the cha-
riot, which instantly be-
gan to advance upon the
stream.
You must confess that
it was a ravishing specta-
= cle, and one which might
even be compared to the voyage of Cleopatra upon the
Cydnus, which you read of in Roman History, to behold
little Mary in the chariot of shells, surrounded by perfume,
and floating on the waves of essence of roses. ‘The golden

 
 
 
 
 
 
  
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 61

dolphins that drew the chariot, tossed up their heads, and
threw into the air the glittering jets of rosy crystal, which
fell in variegated showers of all the colours of the rainbow.
Moreover, that pleasure might penetrate every sense, a soft
music began to echo round; and sweet silvery voices were
heard singing in the following manner:—
“Who art thou, thus floating where essence of rose
In a stream of sweet perfume deliciously flows ?
Art thou the. Fairies’ Queen?
Say, dear little fishes that gleam in the tide;
Or answer, ye cygnets that gracefully glide
‘Upon that flood serene!”
And all this time the little Moors, who stood behind the
seat on the chariot of shells, shook two parasols, hung with
bells, in such a manner that those sounds formed an accom-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

—S> —————

paniment to the vocal melody. And Mary, beneath the
shade of the parasols, leant over the waters, each wave of
which as it passed reflected her smiling countenance.

In this manner she traversed'the River of Essence of Roses,
and reached the bank on the opposite side. Then, when
they were within an oar's length of the shore, the little
Moors leapt, some into the water, others on the bank, the
whole forming a chain so as to convey Mary and the Nut-
cracker ashore upon a carpet made of angelica, all covered
with mint-drops.
62 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

The Nut-cracker now conducted Mary through 4 little
grove, which was perhaps even prettier than the Christmas
Forest, so brilliantly did each tree shine, and so sweetly did
they all smell with their own peculiar essence. But what
was most remarkable was the quantity of fruits hanging to
the branches, those fruits being not only of singular colour
and transparency—some yellow as the topaz, others red like ~
the ruby—but also of a wondrous perfume.

“We are now in the Wood of Preserved Fruits,” said
the Nut-cracker, ‘‘ and beyond that boundary is the capital.”

And, as Mary thrust aside the last branches, she was
stupified at beholding the extent, the magnificence, and the
novel appearance of the city which rose before her upon a
mound of flowers. Not only did the walls and steeples
glitter with the most splendid colours, but, in respect to the
shape of the buildings, it was impossible to see any so beau-
tiful upon the earth. The fortifications and the gates were
built of candied fruits, which shone in the sun with their
own gay colours, all rendered more brilliant still by the
crystallised sugar that covered them. At the principal gate,
which was the one by which they entered, silver soldiers
presented arms to them, and a little man, clad in a dressing-
gown of gold brocade, threw
himself into the Nut-cracker’s
arms, crying, ‘Oh! dear
prince, have you come at
length ? Welcome—wel-
come to the City of Candied
Fruits!”

Mary was somewhat as-
tonished at the great title
given to the Nut-cracker ;
but she was soon drawn from
her surprise by the noise
of an immense quantity of voices all chattering at the
same time; so that she asked the Nut-cracker if there

 
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 63

were ne disturbance or some festival in the Kingdom of
Toys?

Me There is nothing of all that, dear Miss Silberhaus,”
answered the Nut-cracker; “but the City of Candied Fruits is
so happy a place, and all its people are so joyful, that they
are constantly talking and laughing. And this is always the
same as you see it now. But come with me; let us proceed,
I implore of you.”

Mary, urged by her own curiosity and by the polite in-
vitation of the Nut-cracker, hastened her steps, and soon found
herself in a large market-place, which had the most magnifi-
cent aspects that could possibly be seen. All the houses
around were of sugar, open with fretwork, and having baleony
over balcony ; and in the middle of the market-place was an
enormous cake, from the inside of which flowed four foun-

 

tains, namely, lemonade, orangade, sweet milk, and goose-
berry syrup. The basins around were filled with whip-
syllabub, so delicious in appearance, that several well-dressed
persons publicly ate of it by means of spoons. But the most
agreeable and amusing part of the whole scene, was the crowd
of little people who walked about, arm-in-arm, by thousands
and tens of thousands, all laughing, singing, and chattering, at
the tops of their voices, so that Mary could now account for
the joyous din which she had heard. Besides the inhabitants
of the capital, there were men of all countries—Armenians,
64 THE HISTORY OF A. NUT-CRACKER.

Jews, Greeks, Tyrolese, officers, soldiers, clergymen, monks,
shepherds, punches, and all kinds of funny people, such as
one meets with in the world..

 

   

Presently the tumult redoubled atthe entrance of a street
looking upon the great square; and the people stood aside
to allow the cavalcade to pass. It was the Great Mogul, who
was carried upon a palanquin, attended by ninety-three lords
of his kingdom and.seven hundred slaves: but, at the same
time, it happened that: from the opposite street the Grand
Sultan appeared on horseback, followed by three hundred
janissaries. The two sovereigns had always been rivals, and
therefore enemies; and this feeling made it impossible for
their attendants to meet each other without quarrelling. It
was even much worse, as you may well suppose, when those
two powerful monarchs found themselves face to face: in the
first place there was a great confusion, from the midst of
which the citizens sought to save themselves; but cries of
fury and despair were soon heard, for a gardener, in the act
of running away, had: knocked off the head of a Brahmin,
greatly respected by his own class; and the Grand Sultan's
horse had knocked down a frightened punch, who endea-
voured to creep between the animal’s legs to get away from
the riot. The din was increasing, when the gentleman in the
gold brocade dressing-gown, who had saluted the Nut-cracker
by the title of ‘‘ Prince” at the gate of the city; leapt to the
top of the huge cake with a single bound; and having rung
a silvery sweet-toned bell three times, cried out three times,
‘Confectioner ! confectioner! confectioner |”
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 65

That instant did the tu-
mult subside and the com-
batants separate. The Grand
Sultan was brushed, for he
was covered with dust; the
Brahmin’s head was fixed
on, with the injunction that
he must not sneeze for three
days, for fear it should fall
off again; and order was re-
stored. The pleasant sports
began again, and every one hastened to quench his thirst with
the lemonade, the orangade, the 7
sweet milk, or the gooseberry
syrup, and to regale himself with
the whip-syllabub.

“ My. dear Mr. Drosselmayer,”
said Mary, ‘“ what is the cause of
the influence exercised upon those
little folks by the word confec-_

tioner repeated thrice ?”

  
  
  
  
  
 

   

“‘T must tell you, Miss,” said o=

the Nut-cracker, ‘that the people of the City of Candied
Fruits believe, by experience, in the transmigration of souls,
and are in the power of a superior principle, called confec-
tioner, which principle can bestow on each individual what
form he likes by merely baking him, for a shorter or longer
period, as the case may be. ee as every one believes his
own existing shape to be the best, he does not like to change
it. Hence the magic influence of the word confectioner
upon the people of the City of Candied Fruits, when pro-
nounced by the chief magistrate. It is sufficient, as you |

erceive, to appease all that tumult; every one, in an
instant, forgets earthly things, broken ribs, and bumps upon
the head; and, restored to himself, says, ‘ What is man?
and what may he not become?’”
66 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

While they were thus talking, they reached the entrance
of the palace, which shed around a rosy lustre, and was sur-
mounted by a hundred light and elegant towers. The walls
were strewed with nosegays, of violets, narcissi, tulips, and
jasmine, which set off with their various hues the rose-
coloured ground from which they stood forth. The great
dome in the centre was covered with thousands of gold and
silver stars.

‘QO, heavens!” exclaimed Mary, “ what is that won-
derful building ?”

“ The Paes of Sweet
Cake,” answered the Nut-
cracker; “and it is one of
the most famous monuments
in the capital of the Kingdom
of Toys.”

Nevertheless, lost:in won-
der as she was, Mary could
not help observing that the
roof of one of the great
towers was totally wanting,
and that little gingerbread &
men, mounted on a scaffold
of cinnamon, were occupied
in repairing it. She was about to question the Nut-cracker
relative 'to ‘this accident, when he said, “ Alas! it is only a
a short time ago that this palace was threatened by a great
disgrace, if not with absolute ruin. The giant Glutton ate
up the top of that tower; and he was already on the point
of biting the dome, when the people hastened to give him as
a tribute the quarter of the city called Almond and Honey-
cake District, together with a large portion of the Forest of
Angelica, in consideration of which he agreed to take him-
self off without making any worse ravages than those which
you see.”

At that moment a soft and delicious music was heard.

   
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 67

The gates of the palace opened by themselves, and twelve
little pages came forth, carrying in their hands branches of
aromatic herbs, lighted like torches. Their heads were
made of pearl, six, of them had bodies made of rubies, and
the six others of emeralds, wherewith they trotted joyously
along upon two little feet of gold, sculptured with all the
taste and care of Benvenuto Cellini.

They were followed. by, four ladies, about the same size as
‘Miss Clara, Mary’s new doll; but all,so splendidly dressed
and so richly adorned, that Mary was not at a loss to per-
ceive in them the royal princesses of the City of Preserved
Fruits. They all four, upon perceiving the Nut-cracker,
hastened to embrace him with the utmost tenderness, ex-
claiming at. the same time, and as it were with one voice,
‘Oh ! prince—dear prince! _Dear—dear brother |”

The Nut-cracker seemed
much moved; he wiped away
the tears which flowed from his |
eyes, and, taking Mary by the @&
hand, said, in a feeling tone,
to the four princesses, ‘‘My
dear sisters, this is Miss Silber-
haus whom I now introduce
to you. She is the daughter =
of Chief-Justice Silberhaus, of Nuremberg, a gentleman of
the highest respectability. It is this young lady who saved
my life; for, if at the moment when I lost the battle she had
not thrown her shoe at the king of the mice—and, again, if
she had not afterwards lent me the sword of a major whom
her brother had placed on the half-pay list—I should even
now be sleeping in my tomb, or what is worse, be de-
voured by the "ing of the mice. ‘Ah! my dear Miss
Silberhaus,” cried the Nut-cracker, with an enthusiasm which
he could not controul, ‘ Pirlipata, although the daughter of
a king, was not worthy to unloose the latchet of your pretty
little shoes.”

 

B
68 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

“Oh! no—no ; certainly not!” repeated the four prin-
cesses in ‘chorus; and, throwing their arms round Mary's
neck, they cried, ‘Oh! noble Itberatrix of our dear ‘and:
much-loved prince and brother! oh! excellent Miss Silber-
haus!”

And, with these exclamations, which their heart-felt joy
cut short, the four princesses conducted the Nut-cracker and
Mary into the palace, made them sit down upon beautiful
little sofas of cedar-wood, covered with golden flowers, and
then insisted upon preparing a banquet with their own hands.
With this object, they hastened to fetch a number of little
vases and bowls made of the finest Japan porcelain, and
silver knives, forks, spoons, and other articles of the table.
They then brought in the finest fruits and most delicious
sugar-plums that Mary had ever seen, and began to bustle
about so nimbly that Mary was at no loss to perceive how well
they understood everything connected with cooking. Now,
as Mary herself was well acquainted with such matters, she
wished inwardly to take a share in all that was going on;
and, as if she understood Mary’s wishes, the most beautiful
ofthe Nut-cracker’s four sisters, handed ‘her a little golden
mortar, saying, ‘‘ Dear liberatrix of my brother, pound me
some sugar-candy, if you please.”

Mary hastened to do as
she was asked; and while
she was pounding the sugar-
candy in the mortar, whence
adeliciousmusic came forth,
the Nut-cracker began to
relate all his adventures :
but, strange as it was, it
seemed to Mary, during
that recital, as if the words

, of young Drosselmayer and
the noise of the pestle came gradually more and more indis«
tinct to her ears. In a short time she seemed to be sure

   

A.
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 69

rounded by a light vapour; then. the vapour turned into a
silvery mist, which spread more and more densely around
her, so that it presently concealed the Nut-cracker and the
princesses from her sight. Strange songs, which reminded her
of those she had heard on the River of Essence of Roses, met
her ears, commingled with the increasing murmur of waters;
and then Mary thought that the waves flowed beneath her,
raising her up with their swell. She felt as if she were rising
high up—higher—and higher; when, suddenly, down she
fell from a precipice that she could not measure. =

CONCLUSION

ONE does not fall several thousand feet without awaking.
Thus was it that Mary awoke; and, on awaking, she found
herself in her little bed. It was broad daylight, and her
mother, who was standing by her, said, ‘“ Is it possible to be
ee) ay you are? Come, get up, and dress yourself, dear
little

ary, for breakfast is waiting.”

“Oh! my dear mamma,”
said Mary, opening her eyes
wide with astonishment, ‘whi-
ther did young Mr. Drossel-
mayer take me last night? and
what splendid things did he
show me?”

Then Mary related all that I
have just told you; and when
she had done her mother said,
“You have had a very long
and charming dream, dear little
Mary; but now that you are awake, you must forget it all,
and come and have your breakfast.”

 
70 THE HISTORY OF A‘ NUT-CRACKER.

But Mary, while she dressed herself; persisted’ in main-
taining that she had really seen all'she spoke of. Her mother
accordingly went to the cupboard and took out the Nut-
cracker, who, according to custom, was upori' the third shelf.
Bringing it to her daughter, she said, ‘‘ How can’ you suppose,
silly child, that’ this puppet, which is made’ of wood and
cloth, can be alive, or move, or think ?”

“But, my dear mamma,” said Mary, perpetually, “I am
well aware that the Nut-cracker is none other than young
Mr. Drosselmayer, the nephew of godpapa.”

At that moment Mary heard a loud shout of laughter
behind her.

It was the judge, Fritz, and
Miss Trudchen, who made them-
selves merry at her expense.

“ Ah!” cried Mary, ‘“ how
can you laugh at me, dear papa,
and at my poor Nut-cracker ?
He spoke very respectfully of
you, nevertheless, when we went
into the Palace of Sweet Cake,
and he introduced me to his sisters.”

The shouts of laughter redoubled to such an extent that
Mary began to see the necessity of giving some proof of the
truth of what she said, for fear of being treated as a sim-
pleton. She therefore went into the adjoming room and
brought back a little box im which she had carefully placed
the seven crowns of the king of the mice.

‘Here, mamma,” she said, ‘ are the seven crowns of the
king of the mice, which the Nut-cracker gave me last night
as a proof of his victory.”

The judge’s wife, full of surprise, took the seven little
crowns, which were made of an unknown but very brilliant
metal, and were carved with a delicacy of which human hands
were incapable. The judge himself could not take his eyes
off them, and considered them to be so precious, that, in

  
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 71

spite ofthe prayers of Fritz,. he

would:not let him. touch one of

them.

The judge and his wife then
_... pressed Mary to tell them whence
= came those little crowns;. but she
could only persist:in what she had
said already : and when her father,
annoyed at what he heard and at

; what he considered obstinacy on
her part, called her a little'‘‘story-teller,” she burst into tears,
exclaiming, “‘ Alas! unfortunate child that Iam! what, would
you have me’ tell you?”

At that moment:the door opened, and the doctor made
his appearance.

‘What is the matter?” he said, ‘‘ and what have they
done to my little god-daughter, that she cries and sobs like
this?) What isit? whatis it all?”

The judge acquainted Doctor Drosselmayer with all that
had’ occurred’; and, when the story was ended, he showed
him: the seven. crowns. But scarcely had the doctor seen
them, when he burst out laughing, and said, ‘‘ Well ! really
this is too' good! These are the seven crowns that I used to
wear to my watch-chain some years ago, and which I gave
to my god-daughter on the occasion of her second birth-day.
Do you not remember, my dear friend ?”

But the judge and his wife could not recollect anything
about the present stated to have been given. Nevertheless,
believing what the godfather said, their countenances became
more calm. Mary, upon seeing this, ran up to Doctor Dros-
selmayer, saying, “ But you know all, godpapa! confess that
the Nut-cracker is your nephew, and that:it was he who gave
me the seven crowns.”

But Godfather Drosselmayer did not at all seem to like
these words; and his face became so gloomy, that the judge
called little Mary to him, and taking her upon his knees,

 
  
 
72, THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER,

said, ‘ Listen to me, my dear child, for I wish to speak to
_— you very seriously. Do me the
pleasure, once for all, to put an end
. to these silly ideas; because, if you
should again assert that this ugly
NS and deformed Nut-cracker is the
* nephew of our friend the doctor, I
give you due warning that I will
throw, not only the Nut-cracker,
but all the other toys, Miss Clara
amongst them, out of the window.”

Poor Mary was therefore unable to speak any more of all
the fine things with which her imagination was filled; but
you can well understand that when a person has once tra-
velled in such a fine place as the Kingdom of Toys, and seen
such a delicious town as the City of Preserved Fruits, were
it only for an hour, it is not easy to forget such sights.

Mary therefore endeavoured to speak to her brother of the
whole business; but she had lost all his confidence since the
moment when she had said that his hussars had taken to flight.
Convinced, therefore, that Mary was a story-teller, as her
father had said so, he restored his officers to the rank from
which he had reduced them, and allowed the band to play
as usual the Hussar’s March—a step which did not prevent
Mary from entertaining her own es
opinion relative to their courage.

Mary dared not therefore speak
further of her adventures. Never-
theless, the remembrance of the King-
dom of Toys followed her without
ceasing ; and when she thought of
all that, she looked upon it as if she |
were still in the Christmas Forest, or <
on the River of Essence of Roses, or
in the City of Preserved Fruits;—so “24 a
that, instead of playing with her toys as she had been wont

 

 
  
  
  
 
‘THE HISTORY OF A NU'T-CRACKER. 63)

‘to do, she remained silent and ‘pensive, occupied only with
her own thoughts, while every one called her “the little
dreamer.”

But one day, when the doctor, with his wig laid upon
the ground, his tongue thrust into one corner of his mouth,
and the sleeves of his yellow coat turned up, was mendin
a clock by the aid of a long pointed instrument, it happene
that Mary, who was seated near the glass cupboard con-
templating the Nut-cracker, and buried in her own thoughts,
suddenly said, quite forgetful that both the doctor and her
mamma were close by, ‘Ah! my dear Mr. Drosselmayer,
if you were not a little man made of wood, as my papa
declares, and if you really were alive, I would not do as
Princess Pirlipata did, and desert you because, in servin
me, you had ceased to be a handsome young man; for
love you sincerely |”

But scarcely had she uttered these words, when there
was such a noise in the room, that Mary fell off her chair
in a fainting fit.

When she came to herself, she
found that she was in the
arms of her mother, who said,
‘How is it possible that a
great girl like you, | ask, can
be so foolish as to fall off your
chair—and just at the moment,
too, when young Mr. Drossel-
mayer, who has finished his
travels, arrives at Nuremberg?
Come, wipe your eyes, and be
a good girl.”
Indeed, as Mary wiped her
eyes, the door opened, and
Godpapa Drosselmayer, with his glass wig upon his head,
his hat under his arm, and his drab frock-coat upon his
back, entered the room. He wore a smiling countenance,

  

iS
VA ‘THE HISTORY OF .A -NUT-CRACKER.

cand held by the hand a young man, who, although very
‘little, was very handsome. This young man wore .a.superb
frock-coat of ‘red
:velvet embroidered
with gold, white silk
~stockings, and shoes
ibrilliantly polished.
-He had a charming
mosegay on the
‘bosom of his shirt,
and was very dan-
dified with his curls
and hair-powder ;
moreover, long tres-
ses, neatly braided,
hung behind his
back. The little
sword that he wore
by his side was bril-
lant with precious
stones ; and the hat which he carried under his arm was of
the finest. silk. 3
The amiable manners of
this young man showed
who he was directly; for
scarcely had he entered
the room, -when he placed
2 at Mary’s feet a quantity
of magnificent toys and
nice confectionery —
chiefly sweet cake and sugar-plum, the finest she had. ever
tasted, save in the Kingdom es

of Toys. As for Fritz, the
doctor’s nephew seemed to
have guessed his martial taste,

for he brought him a sword witha blade of the finest

 

 

       

 
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER 75.

Damascus steel. At table, and when the dessert was placed
upon it, the amiable youth cracked nuts for all the company:
the hardest could not resist his ae

teeth for a moment. He placed
them in his mouth with his
right hand; with the left he
pulled his hair behind; and,
crack! the shell was broken. =

Mary had become very red
when she first saw that pretty
little gentleman ; but she
blushed deeper still, when, after the dessert, he invited her
to go with him into the room where the glass cupboard was.

“Yes, go, my dear children, and amuse yourselves to-
gether,” said Godpapa Drosselmayer : ‘I do not want that
room any more to-day, since all the clocks of my friend the
judge now go well.”

The two young people proceeded to the room; but
scarcely was young Drosselmayer alone with Mary, when
he fell upon one knee, and spoke thus:—

‘My dear Miss Silberhaus, you see at your feet the
happy Nathaniel Drosselmayer, whose life you saved on this

> very spot. You also said
that you would not have
repulsed me, as Princess
Pirlipata did, if, im ser-
ving you, I had become
hideous. Now, as the spell
which the queen of the
mice threw upon me was
= destined to lose all its
power on that day when,
“~*~ in spite of my ugly face,
I should be beloved by a young and beautiful girl, I at that
moment ceased to be a vile Nut-cracker and resumed my
proper shape, which is not disagreeable, as you may see.
F

   

   

 

Ar =

 
76 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

Therefore, my dear young lady, if you still possess the same
sentiments in respect to myself, do me the favour to bestow
your much-loved hand upon me, share my throne and my
crown, and reign with me over the Kingdom of Toys, of
which I have ere now become the king.”

Then Mary raised young Drosselmayer gently, and said,
‘You are an amiable and a good king, sir; and as you
have moreover a charming kingdom, adorned with magni-
ficent palaces, and possessing a very happy people, I receive
you as my future husband, provided my parents give their
consent.”

Thereupon, as the door of the room had opened very
gently without the two young folks having heard it, so
occupied were they with their own sentiments, the judge,
his wife, and Godpapa
Drosselmayer came for- ’
ward, crying “‘ Bravo !”
with all their might;
which made Mary as
. red asa cherry. But
the young man was
not abashed ; and, ad-
vancing towards the
judge and his wife, he
bowed gracefully to
: them, paid them a
handsome compliment, and ended by soliciting the hand of
Mary in marriage. The request was immediately granted.

That same day Mary was engaged to Nathaniel Drossel-
mayer, on condition that the marriage should not take place
for a year.

At the expiration of the year, the bridegroom came to
fetch the bride in a little carriage of mother of pearl in-
crusted with gold and silver, and drawn by ponies of the
size of sheep, but which were of countless worth, because
there were none others like them in the world. The young.

 
THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER. 77

king took his bride to the Palace of Sweet Cake, where they
were married by the chaplain. Twenty-two thousand little

 

people, all covered with pearls, diamonds, and brilliant
stones, danced at the bridal.

Even at the present day, Mary is still queen of that
beautiful country, where may be seen brilliant forests of
Christmas ; rivers of orangade, sweet milk, and essence of
roses ; transparent palaces of sugar whiter than snow and
clearer than ice ;—in a word, all kinds of wonderful and
extraordinary things may there be seen by those who have
eyes sharp enough to discover them.

 
LONDON?
PRINTED BY LEVEY, ROBSON, AND FRANKLYN,
Great New Street, Fetter Lane.
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