Nutcracker and Mouse King and The Tale of the Nutcracker
Page 21
Marie gently helped young Drosselmayer to stand up, and she said to him:
“You are a good and friendly ruler, Your Majesty, and you have a charming kingdom adorned with magnificent palaces and inhabited by very cheerful subjects. I therefore accept you as my fiancé, provided my parents have no objection.”
The salon door opened very softly. But the young people paid it no heed, they were too engrossed in their own feelings. Mother and Father and Godfather came forward, shouting “Bravo!” with all their strength. Marie was as red as a cherry, while the young man was unfazed. He went over to her parents, and with a graceful bow, he paid them a lovely compliment. He then asked for Marie’s hand, and it was granted to him on the spot.
That same day, Marie was engaged to young Drosselmayer on condition that the wedding take place in a year.
One year later, the fiancé came for his bride in a small mother-of-pearl carriage encrusted with gold and silver and drawn by ponies no larger than sheep. These creatures had an inestimable value, for there was nothing like them anywhere in the world. The bridegroom conducted his bride into Marzipan Palace, where they were married by the castle chaplain. Twenty-two thousand figurines, covered with pearls, diamonds, and dazzling jewels, danced at the celebration.
At this hour, Marie is still queen of the gorgeous kingdom, where we see brilliant Christmas Forests everywhere, rivers of orangeade, orgeat, and attar of roses, diaphanous palaces of sugar finer than snow and more transparent than ice. And finally, all kinds of magnificent and miraculous things—provided your eyes are sharp enough to see them.
The End of the History of a Nutcracker