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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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a broken nose he had received in the scuffle . I had the nut gilded , and have kept it carefully ever since , without knowing 1 the reason why I attached any value to it . " 4 All doubts concerning the authenticity o £ the nut disappeared , when the court astrologer rubbed off the gilding , and was able to read upon a ridge of the shell , the word cratacrack , in Chinese characters . Great
was the joy of the travellers . When bedtime came , the astrologer said to the mechanician , " My dear colleague , we are very fortunate ; I think we have not only found the nut cratacrack , but also the person who can crack it , and restore the princess her beauty . I speak of your cousin's son . No , I will not go to bed ; I will pass the night in drawing his horoscope . *' 4 speaking , the astrologer pulled off his night-cap , and raised his nose towards the planets , in an angle of 85 ° .
* The son of Christopher Zacharias Pivot was a hobby-de-hoy , not yet shaveabie , nor arrived at the dignity of a pair of Wellingtons . * 4 The next morning the astrologer threw himself upon the neck of the mechanician . " He is indeed the person , " said he ; " now , my dear colleague , we have only to keep our secret safe , when we arrive again at court ; and I know that he who restores the princess her beauty will be her husband , and succeed to the throne /'
' When Pivot and the astronomer reached the court , from which they had so long been absent , they quickly made known that they had found the hard nut , and a crowd of persons , including many princes , who reckoned upon the goodness of their teeth , presented themselves to restore the princess her beauty . One after another broke their jaws , and went away crying , " Oh ! what a hard nut !"
* At last , the king , in despair , promised solemnly his daughter in marriage to the person who restored her beauty $ then did young Pivot step forward . After saluting the king and queen most politely , he took the nut from the hands of the master of the ceremonies , placed it betwixt his teeth , cracked it , and gracefully presented the kernel to the princess , who swallowed it . In a moment , marvellous to relate , she vanished
and in her place was seen a young lady of ravishing beauty . The trumpets , the cymbals , the mouth-organs , the jews ' -harps flourished ; the king and all the court danced upon one leg , as ttiey danced when Pearloprice was born ; the queen was bo overcome with joy , that they were obliged to inundate her with eau de Cologne . 1
In the midst of all this tumult , young Mr . Pivot did not forget his manners . Preparing for a very superlative bow , he stepped back three paces , and threw himself into the first position . At that instant , a little piercing cry was heard ; he stood upon dame Greymouse , who had peeped out of her hole . The unfortunate young * man underwent the fate of the princess ; his head became immediately enormous , his body unshapely . Meanwhile , dame Greymouse , on the floor bleeding , made a terrible lamentation , " O , cursed hard nut , " said she , "to thee I owe my death . But Nutcracker shall also die ; my children will avenge me . O life , so full of sweets , must I relinquish thee 1 Death—awayoh—s-q-u-e-a-k ! " So , squeaking , dame Greymouse expired , and they threw her out of the window . 4 for young Mr . Pivot , when the princess saw his transformation , she shrieked with horror . The king was determined that his daughter
Untitled Article
22 The Nutcracker .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1835, page 22, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2641/page/22/
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