Chapter 7
I believe every one of you children would have instantly followed the honest and good-natured Nutcracker, who never had an evil thought in his head. Marie was glad to follow him all the more because of her gratitude to him, and because she was convinced he would keep his word. So she said, “I’ll go with you, Mr. Drosselmeier, but it can’t be too far or take too long because I haven’t had enough sleep yet.”
“Then we’ll take the shortcut, though it is a bit harder.”
He walked ahead and Marie followed him until they reached the big old wardrobe in the hall. To Marie’s surprise, its doors – which were normally locked – hung open. She could see her father’s fox-fur traveling coat hanging in the front.
Nutcracker nimbly climbed up the coat by grabbing onto its trimmings until he reached the large tassels that hung from its back. He pulled on one of them, and a little cedar ladder descended from the coat sleeve. “Please climb up, my dear lady.”
Marie – who had somehow become as small as the Nutcracker in the meantime – did. When she drew close to where the collar ought to have been, she could see a blinding light through it. When she pulled herself up and her eyes adjusted, she could see that she was standing in a wonderfully fragrant meadow that sparkled like millions of shimmering gems.
“We are in Candy Meadow now,” Nutcracker said. “But we’ll soon pass through that gate.”
Marie looked up and saw the beautiful gate, which was just ahead of them. It seemed to be made of white, brown, and rosy-colored speckled marble, but when she got closer she could see that it was really made of almonds and raisins baked in sugar. Nutcracker informed her that for this reason it was known as the Almond-and-Raisin Gate, though the common folk had rather disparagingly nicknamed it the “Student’s Snack Gate.”
A gallery made from barley sugar had been built out from the gate where six monkeys in little red jackets played Turkish marching music. Their music was so beautiful that Marie almost didn’t notice that the marbled path that lead through the meadows was really made of beautifully-crafted nougat.
Soon they approached a grove with an opening on each end, and the loveliest smells drifted out from it. Although it was rather dark inside, gold and silver fruits hanging from the trees sparkled brightly. The branches and trunks were adorned with bouquets and ribbons like a joyous bride and groom and their wedding guests. When orange-scented zephyrs drifted through, the tinsel tinkled and clinked to make cheery music and twinkling little lights bounced about.
“Oh, it’s so beautiful here,” Marie said in delight.
“We are in Christmas Forest, excellent lady,” Nutcracker said.
“I’d love to stay here awhile – it’s so beautiful!”
Nutcracker clapped his little hands and immediately a few shepherds, shepherdesses, hunters, and huntresses appeared. They were all so white you’d have thought they were made of pure sugar. They had been about all along, but Marie had not noticed them while she’d been walking. They brought Marie an adorable little golden chair with a cushion of white licorice and invited her to sit down on it. No sooner than she had done so the shepherds and shepherdesses danced a magnificent ballet and the hunters blew their horns. When they finished, they all disappeared into the bushes again.
“Pardon me, excellent Lady Stahlbaum,” Nutcracker said, “and forgive me that the dance turned out so badly, but the people are part of our wire ballet; they can’t do anything differently; it’s always and forever the same. And the hunters and their sleepy, dull blowing – that has its reasons, too. The candy hangs a bit high over their noses in the Christmas tree! Even so, why don’t we move on?”
“I thought it was very pretty; I liked it quite well!” Marie said as she stood up and followed the Nutcracker.
Soon they came to a murmuring, whispering creek that seemed to be the source of the wonderful smells that filled the woods.
“This is Orange Creek,” Nutcracker explained when she asked. “But aside from the lovely fragrance, it’s not nearly as impressive as Lemonade River. They both pour into Almond Milk Lake.”
Before long, Marie heard a louder rippling noise and saw the wide Lemonade River flowing in amber-colored waves between bushes as bright and green as emeralds and peridots. A cool, fresh scent that strengthened the heart and chest rose from the water. Not far away a dark yellow stream that smelled uncommonly sweet plodded along, and all kinds of pretty little children sat fishing at its banks. They pulled up small, round fish that they ate immediately. As she drew near, she noticed that the fish looked like hazelnuts.
In the distance a lovely little village sat near the river. The houses, church, parson’s home, and barns were all dark brown, though the roofs were covered in gold. Many of the walls were painted with bright colors, as though they had been pasted with candied orange peels and almonds.
“That’s Gingerbreadholm,” Nutcracker said. “It’s on the Honey River. The people there are nice to look at, but they’re in terrible moods because they suffer from toothaches. So we’ll pass them by.”
Then Marie saw a small and beautiful town full of colourful and translucent houses. Nutcracker headed straight up to it.
Marie heard a ruckus and clamor and saw what had to be thousands of little people unloading carts that had been packed as full as they could in the marketplace. Upon closer inspection, their goods seemed to be multicolored paper and bars of chocolate.
“This is Bonbonville,” the Nutcracker said. “Shipments from Paperland and from the Chocolate King have just arrived. The poor town has been threatened by the mosquito admiral, so they’re covering their houses with donations from Paperland and building walls with the bars the Chocolate King sent them. But what we really want to see, excellent lady, are not these small country towns and cities. Let us hurry to the capital – the capital!”
Full of curiosity, Marie hurried after Nutcracker. Before long the air was filled with the scent of roses, and everything around them seemed to have a gentle rosy glow. She saw that the glow came from light reflecting from a body of rosy water that splashed with silvery-pink waves just ahead of them, and as they drew nearer she could see that it was really a large lake.
Silvery-white swans with golden collars swam about the lake singing the most beautiful songs in chorus while fish that shimmered like diamonds jumped up and down as if in dance.
“Oh!” Marie exclaimed. “That’s the lake godfather Drosselmeier promised to make me, and I’m the girl who will pet the swans!”
Nutcracker smiled a mocking smile she’d never seen before. “Uncle could never do anything like that; even you would be more likely to make a lake, dear Miss Stahlbum. But let’s not worry about that right now, and sail across Rose Lake to the capital.”
Nutcracker clapped his little hands again and the silvery-pink waves of Rose Lake came faster and higher. Marie could see what looked like a chariot made from a giant seashell covered with glittering gems in the distance. As it drew closer she could see that it was pulled by two golden dolphins. When it reached the shore, twelve little Moors with hats and tunics woven from glistening hummingbird feathers jumped off and took Marie, then Nutcracker onto the little sea-chariot and immediately took off again.
The golden dolphins raised their heads out of the water and blew crystalline sprays through their blowholes and sang in in silvery voices:
Who is this who crosses Rose Lake? A fairy!
A bumblebee! Bim bim little fishes Sim sim swans
Tweet tweet golden birds Little fairy, come along
Come along the fragrant rosy waves
But the little Moors who were at the back of the sea-chariot didn’t seem to like the dolphin’s song very much at all. They shook their palm-leaf parasols so hard that the fronds they were made from rustled loudly. They stamped their feet in a strange rhythm and sang:
Click-a-clack, Clack-a-clop
The Moorish dance mustn’t stop
Swim on, fishes, swim on swans
Roll along, shell-boat, roll along on
Click-a-clack, Clack-a-clop
Cloppa-clicka-clop!
“The Moors are amusing enough,” Nutcracker said, sounding a little embarrassed, “but they’re going to make the whole lake rebellious.”
In fact, it wasn’t long before a ruckus of voices from the air and the sea could be heard, but Marie wasn’t paying attention. Instead, she was looking at the face of a lovely and charming girl in the rose-colored waters who was smiling up at her.
“Oh, look, Mr. Drosselmeier! Look down there! It’s Princess Pirlipat and she’s smiling at me! Please look, Mr. Drosselmeier!”
Nutcracker sighed sadly and said, “Oh, excellent Lady Stahlbaum, that is not Princess Pirlipat, but your own face smiling up at you.”
Marie sat up very quickly, closed her eyes, and felt very ashamed. At that same moment the Moors lifted her out of the sea-chariot and carried her to land. She was in a small thicket that was almost more beautiful than Christmas Forest. Everything shone and sparkled, and the fruits that hung from the trees were of the most unusual colors and smelled marvelous.
“We’re in Marmalade Grove,” Nutcracker said, “but there is the capital!”
And what Marie saw now! I will describe to you children the beauty and splendor of the city which opened into a wide meadow of flowers before Marie’s eyes. The walls and towers were resplendent in beautiful colors, and their shape and design was like nothing else seen on Earth. Instead of roofs, the houses were topped with finely-wrought crowns and the towers were adorned with garlands of the most delicate multicolored foliage.
As they passed through the gate (which appeared to be made of macaroons and and candied fruits) silver soldiers saluted with with their rifles and a man in a brocade gown threw his arms around the Nutcracker’s neck. “Welcome, excellent prince! Welcome to Confectionery City!”
Marie was not a little surprised when she saw young Drosselmeier recognized as a prince by the distinguished-looking man. Then she noticed the confused and noisy din of the city with its merry and joyous shouting, laughing, playing, and singing, and such was the noise that she was distracted from all other thoughts.
“Nutcracker, what’s all this noise about?” she asked.
“Excellent Lady Stahlbaum, this isn’t anything special. Confectionery City is a densely populated and merry city; it’s always like this. Please come farther inside.”
They had hardly taken but a few steps when they came to a huge marketplace. It was a glorious sight – all of the houses were made from sugar filigree, rows of pillars and arches were stacked high, and in the center of it all was an obelisk made of cake. On each side of the latter were four marvelous fountains that bubbled with lemonade, orangeade, and other delicious sweet drinks, and the basin was full of cream so thick you could have eaten it with a spoon.
But prettier than all of this were the people gathered together by the thousands. They laughed, joked and sang – in short, they were the source of the noise Marie had noticed earlier. There were finely-dressed gentlemen and ladies of all sorts: Armenians, Greeks, Jews, Tyroleans, officers, soldiers, preachers, shepherds, clowns, and as many other kinds of people as there are in the world.
At one corner there was an even greater din and the people were scattering in all directions, for the Grand Mogul who had been carried in on a palanquin accompanied by ninety three grandees of the realm and seven hundred slaves had unexpectedly run into the annual parade conducted by the fishermen’s guild, which comprised of five hundred members. Unfortuntely, a Turkish general suddenly had the idea to ride into the marketplace with three thousand Janissaries, and by an extra stroke of bad luck the procession of the Interrupted Sacrifice came by singing and playing “let us thank the almighty sun!” right up to the cake obelisk.
When all four of these parties met, there was a great pushing, shoving, and squeaking. There was suddenly a great wailing, as a fisherman had knocked a Brahmin’s head off and the mogul had nearly been run over by a clown. The noise grew louder and it looked like a riot was going to break out when the man in the brocade robe climbed to the top of the cake obelisk, rang a bell three times, and cried out, “Candyman! Candyman! Candyman!”
Suddenly the din died down, and everyone was busy getting back to their business as best as they could. The processions involved got back on their tracks, the mogul was picked up and dusted off, and the Brahmin’s head was put back on his shoulders. The merry din resumed itself and everything went back to normal.
“Who is this ‘Candyman’ they’re talking about, Drosselmeier sir?” Marie asked.
“Excellent Lady Stahlbaum, the Candyman is an unknown but terrifying power which is believed to control the destiny of these people, and is the eventual doom of them all. They are so terrified of it that the mere mention of its name can quell the greatest turmoil, as the Lord Mayor has just demonstrated. When its name is mentioned, no one thinks any more of Earthly matters such as pokes in the ribs or knocks to the head, but stops and asks, ‘what is the nature of man, and what is his fate?’”
Marie could not contain a cry of astonishment when she stood before a castle with a hundred towers shining with a rosy-red glow. Now and then rich bouquets of violets, narcissuses, tulips, and matthiolas were hung from the walls. Their dark and vivid colors contrasted against the pinkish-white plaster behind them.
The great dome of the central dome and the pyramidal roofs of the towers were studded with thousands of twinking stars of gold and and silver.
“Now we’re at Marzipan Castle,” Nutcracker said.
Marie was completely lost in the sight of the magical castle, and it didn’t escape her notice that one of the towers was completely missing its roof, which little men on scaffoldings of cinnamon sticks were working hard to build.
Before she could ask about it, Nutcracker said, “not too long ago this beautiful castle was threatened by devastation, if not utter ruin. The giant Sweettooth came along and bit off the roof of that tower and had even started in on the great dome, but the people offered him a whole district and part of Marmalade Grove instead, which he ate up and continued on his way.”
At that moment a soft and pleasant music began to play and the gate opened. Twelve little pageboys walked out holding lighted clove sticks like torches. Each of their heads was a single pearl and their bodies were made of ruby and emerald. They were followed by four ladies almost as tall as Marie’s Clarette, and their clothes were so beautiful and brilliantly-colored that she knew at once they were princesses. They tenderly embraced Nutcracker and shouted joyously, “My lord – my prince – my brother!”
Nutcracker seemed very moved by this display of affection and wiped tears from his eyes. He took Marie by the hand and said emotionally, “This is Lady Marie Stahlbaum, the daughter of a very respectable doctor, and the one who saved my life. Had she not thrown her shoe at the right time and later found me a sword, I would have been in the grave, bitten to death by the Mouse King. Tell me, does Pirlipat, who was born a princess, compare to Marie’s beauty, goodness, and virtue? No, I say! No!”
All of the ladies shouted “no!” and tearfully embraced Marie crying, “Oh, noble savior of our brother, noble Lady Stahlbaum!”
The ladies escorted Nutcracker and Marie into the interior of the castle, into a room where the walls were made of pure sparkling crystals of every color. But Marie was most taken by the dear little chairs, tables, dresser, desks, and other furniture standing around made of cedar and Brazil wood and strewn with golden flowers. The princesses had Marie and Nutcracker sit down and immediately announced that they themselves would prepare them a meal.
The princesses fetched bowls and pots of the finest Japanese porcelain, as well as spoons, forks, knives, and graters and other kitchen utensils plated with gold and silver. The brought in the finest fruits and sweets, such as Marie had never seen before, and began to squeeze the fruits, crush the spices, and grate the sugared almonds with their delicate snow-white hands. They were so efficent in their work that Marie could see what expert chefs they all were and that she could expect a splendid meal. It was all so exciting to watch that she secretly wished she could help them.
As if reading her mind, the most beautiful of Nutcracker’s sisters handed Marie a golden mortar and said, “Sweet friend and rescuer of my brother, please crush this sugar candy.”
Marie cheerfully crushed the candy in the mortar, which made a pleasant, almost musical sound. Nutcracker began to tell at length how he had fared badly against the Mouse King’s army and how the cowardice of half the troops had lead to their defeat, how the Mouse King had wanted to bite him to pieces, how Marie had been forced to sacrifice many of his subjects in her service, and so on. As Marie listened to him tell the tale, the sound of the mortar seemed to grow more distant and indistinct, and a silver mist seemed to rise out of the floor and surround the princesses, the Nutcracker, and evern herself. She heard strange singing, buzzing, and humming noises in the distance that seemed to draw closer, and felt herself rising as if on waves higher, higher, higher, and higher.
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