On Christmas Marie and her brothers had a fine big Christmas tree. It shone with a glory of light from its myriad little candles. All the full green branches were draped with strings of popcorn and hung with honey-cakes, sugar-plums, oranges, cookies and candy. The children’s mother and father, with a crowd of merry guests, all gathered around the tree to give the presents out. But, while they were doing this, a friend of the family came in quite loaded down with gifts. To each of the children he gave a doll that could walk and talk; but to Marie, he handed another wonderful gift, the one she liked best of all. It was a wooden nutcracker having the head of a man who cracked nuts between his jaws. How Marie loved that nutcracker! She carried it around in her arms till her little brother, Fritz, snatched it from her and broke it. Marie burst into tears. She picked up the broken nutcracker, and soothed him in her arms. Then she put him in a little doll’s cradle and gently rocked him to sleep.
When the Christmas party was over, the candles were all put out and the family went up to bed. But Marie could not go to sleep for thinking of her nutcracker. At last she got up quietly and stole down the stairs to see him. But what did she see now? The fir tree began to grow. It grew up enormously tall, and was all a great blaze of light. The dolls and the other toys came down from the branches where they hung and started in to dance. Fairylike, bright and gay, lively music rose with the piping of shrill little flutes and the silver chiming of bells.
That was a revel for you! But, while these high jinks went on, there appeared all at once in the room an army of little mice. They had come to eat up the sweets that still hung on the tree. The toys under little Nutcracker formed ranks in order at once to fight the army of mice. What a battle they fought! It was a terrific tussle. At last, King Mouse the leader of the band of tiny robbers, fought hand to hand with Nutcracker. Then little Marie, afraid that her beloved Nutcracker might get hurt in the fray, threw her shoe at King Mouse. Instantly the mice scattered, running in all directions and scampering off to their holes.
But now that the battle was over, a very strange thing came to pass. Nutcracker all at once changed into a handsome young prince. Courteously he bowed and kissed the hand of little Marie, and he asked her to fly with him far away to his Magic Kingdom which lay on that place of goodies, the honey-sweet Jam Mountain. Jam Mountain! O Jam Mountain! What little girl would not like to fly to such a place. Marie said yes at once and off they went on their way.
They flew over forests and plains in company with the fluffy little white fairy snowflakes and soon they reached Jam Mountain.
What a land was that! A sugar-incrusted land of cherry and strawberry jam, where the Sugar-Plum Fairy reigned! Dressed in her glistening robes that shone like pink and white frostings, the Sugar-Plum Fairy came forward, surrounded by her candy court to greet the Prince and Marie. Then a great feast was held in their honour. The green and yellow stick candies, the pink-and-white striped stick candies, the chocolates, and other goodies all began to dance. Even brown coffee-berries form Java, and dignified tea leaves from China, joined in the merrymaking. Flowers danced a gay little waltz. The toy pipes danced a polka and the Sugar-Plum Fairy herself went lightly tripping and twirling skipping and twinkling and sparkling, nodding her head and bowing most prettily to Marie. Again there was sprightly music, lively, brisk, and gay.
But, just at that moment, Marie suddenly opened her eyes. In the moonlight she saw the snow lying white on neighbouring rooftops, the bare black branches of trees, laden down with the snow and little soft drifts of snowflakes piled high on her window sill. Where was she? What a surprise! She was not in the court of the gay little. Sugar-Plum Fairy. She was lying on her own little bed upstairs in her own little room and she had only been dreaming! And Nutcracker? What of Nutcracker? He was in his cradle where she would find him in the morning.
