MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Today I am going to share with you the origin story of the Nutcracker (all great superheros have an origin story after all!) The origin story - "The Tale of the Hard Nut" - is told by Godfather Drosselmeier in the original "The Nutcracker" by E.T.A Hoffman. Miss H rewrote it to make it shorter and less creepy, but the main points of the story are unchanged.
A HARD NUT TO CRACK
REWRITTEN BY HANNAH
As with all great fairy tale stories, the origin story of
the Nutcracker starts with a beautiful princess. This princess was called
Princess Pearl. In celebration of the birth of Princess Pearl the King and
Queen held many tournaments and court balls. To conclude these marvellous
celebrations one final feast, greater than any feast had ever been, was held.
The Queen herself was to make the delicious traditional sausages that were
famous throughout the kingdom.
The day of the feast arrived and at the proper time the
Queen gracefully entered the kitchen to cook her mouth watering sausages. A
tasty aroma rose as the sausages sizzled in the frying pan. The enticing smell
reached the hungry mouse queen – known as Mistress Mousie – who lusted after
the special sausages. Scurrying towards the Queen, Mistress Mousie said in a
quiet squeaky voice “Give me some sausages as I also am a queen and want to
feast.”
The kind-hearted queen was feeling especially generous on
this festive day, so she set aside a little bit of sausage for Mistress Mousie.
However, as soon as she had done so Mistress Mousie’s entire family – uncles,
aunts, cousins, and sons – hastily scampered out and began devouring all the
sausages. The poor frightened Queen stood helplessly by unable to fend off the
swarms of mice. Luckily, the housekeeper rushed in and managed to scare the
mice off, rescue the Queen, and save a few sausages. The Queen was distraught
that there were so few sausages left to serve at the feast. However, her
distress was nothing in comparison to the King’s anguish and grief. He had been
eagerly anticipating the divine sausages made by his skilled wife as well as
proud to be showing off the abilities of his precious Queen.
Upon hearing of the cause of the scant amount of sausages,
the King flew into a rage and demanded the destruction of the mouse queen and
all her relatives. A clockmaker and inventor by the name of Christian Elias
Drosselmeier was assigned the task of ridding the palace of the mice. Using his
latest invention called a mousetrap – for Clockmaker Drosselmeier is the
inventor of mousetraps – he managed to dispose of all but one of the mice that
had gobbled up most of the Queen’s famous sausages.
Unfortunately, Mistress Mousie was the one who managed to
get away. Her overwhelming desire was to avenge the loss of her family and
especially her sons. The King and Queen correctly fearing that the mouse queen
would seek revenge for the death of her relatives, set guards around Princess
Pearl day and night.
One night, however, the faithful guards all fell asleep and,
seizing her moment, Mistress Mousie pounced upon the sleeping princess and
cursed her. Suddenly the guards awoke and rushed to the Princess’ aid, but alas
it was too late. Princess Pearl had lost all her beauty and was now unpleasant
to look at.
Once again Clockmaker Drosselmeier was commanded to solve
the problem. This time though Drosselmeier was struggling to do so. The King
had declared that if Drosselmeier was unable to cure the princess he would be
executed, and so in desperation Drosselmeier went to visit his old friend the
Astronomer. Thankfully, the Astronomer knew just what to do.
“My friend, you need to find the hardest nut in all the
world – the Krakatuk nut – which then needs to be eaten by the Princess in
order to restore her beauty. The man who cracks the nut must be young and has
never shaved before. After successfully cracking the nut he must take seven
steps backwards without stumbling and with his eyes closed or else he will be
cursed with what Princess Pearl had.”
Clockmaker Drosselmeier passed this information on to the
King who excitedly ordered him and the Astronomer to find the Krakatuk nut and
bring it back. Obediently the two men set out on their journey. Sixteen years
later, Drosselmeier and the Astronomer had still not discovered the Krakatuk
nut. Feeling hopeless and homesick, they headed back to the town Clockmaker Drosselmeier
had grown up in. Upon arriving, he met his cousin Christoph and explained to
him the long quest they had been on. Enthusiastically, Christoph told
Drosselmeier about a nut he had bought that was the strongest nut he had ever
seen. In fact, a heavily laden cart had run over a bag of nuts, cracking all
the others but that one nut. Upon seeing the nut, the Astronomer confirmed it
was the one that they had spent many long years looking for – the Krakatuk nut.
Not only that, but Christoph’s son young Mr. Drosselmeier, who had as yet not
shaved, was the one who would crack the nut and save the princess. Clockmaker Drosselmeier invented a special
wooden ponytail that when attached to his nephew’s jaw would assist him in
cracking the Krakatuk nut.
Eagerly, Clockmaker Drosselmeier, the Astronomer, and young
Mr. Drosselmeier headed back to the palace. Princess Pearl was now a teenager,
but rather than improving in her looks, she had instead become even more
unpleasant to look at. The King was so keen to have his daughter restored to
the beautiful lady she should be that he promised her hand in marriage to
whomsoever was able to crack the Krakatuk nut. Other young men tried, but were
unable to break open the hardest nut in the world and were left with very sore
teeth. Then it was young Mr. Drosselmeier’s turn. Princess Pearl thought he was
handsome, indeed he was very handsome, and she wished that he would be the one
to open the nut and marry her.
Mr Drosselmeier stepped forward and popped the Krakatuk nut
between his teeth. Using his wooden pigtail, he crushed the nutshell to pieces
and handed Princess Pearl the kernel. As soon as she had eaten it, Princess
Pearl was restored to her angelic beauty. But all was not yet complete. Mr.
Drosselmeier closed his eyes and started taking seven steps backwards – which
was made more difficult by the celebration going on around him. However, he successfully
managed the first six steps. As he put his foot down for his seventh and final
step, Mistress Mousie raced out from her hiding place and under Mr. Drosselmeier’s
foot causing him to stumble. It was Mistress Mousie’s final act of vengeance
before dying from being crushed under foot.
Unfortunately, as young Mr. Drosselmeier was unable to
complete the seven steps Princess Pearl’s curse landed on him, and turned him
into the unusual looking Nutcracker who is known and loved around the world
today. Princess Pearl refused to marry Mr. Drosselmeier, and the King cast him
out of the kingdom. Nevertheless, Mr. Drosselmeier, who is now known as the Nutcracker,
had become a prince through his honourable and noble act.
But that is not the end of the story, for there is a way in
which the Nutcracker can once again be restored to the handsome young man he
was. If, by his hand, he could kill Mistress Mousie’s son – the Mouse King (who was born after the death of her relatives) – and if a lady loved him despite
the way he looked, he would be free from the curse.
THE
END
SPOILER ALERT: The Nutcracker finds true love and is restored to his former handsomeness. YAY!
Love From
Baa. xxx
