The Nutcracker 1

The Nutcracker 1

It was Christmas Eve. Fritz, Marie, and their godfather were sitting next to the Christmas tree. “ Godfather, what’s that present?” asked Fritz curiously. Fritz pointed to a very big red-and- green box. “ Open it and see, ” replied their godfather. Fritz and Marie opened their gift. It was an old wooden nutcracker shaped like a man. “ He’s kind of ugly, ” said Fritz, disappointed.

The nutcracker’s legs were too short and his head was too big. “ This nutcracker wasn’t always ugly, ” said Godfather. “ I like this funny-looking nutcracker, ” said Marie. “ What happened to him?” “ Once upon a time, ” Godfather began, “ there was a king and a queen who lived in a palace. The queen was in the kitchen, when suddenly a very large mouse burst in. ”

“ It was not any ordinary mouse but the queen of the mice. The Mouse Queen squeaked, ‘Queen, may I have some bacon?’ ” “ The kind queen replied, ‘Of course. ’ ” “ But the Mouse Queen was cunning. She quickly called all her family and friends. Hundreds of mice filled the kitchen. The mice ate everything in sight. The queen tried to chase them away, but there were too many. She ran out screaming. Later the king ordered mousetraps to be set all around the palace.

All of the mice, except for the Mouse Queen, died in the mousetraps. ” “ The Mouse Queen was furious at the king and the queen. All the mice were dead. That night, when the king and queen were eating, the Mouse Queen jumped onto the table. She shrieked at them, ‘When you have a baby, I will take my revenge! ’ ” “ Later, when Princess Perlipat was born, everyone was overjoyed―everyone except the queen.

She was afraid of the Mouse Queen’s revenge. For ten years eight nurses and eight cats guarded the princess day and night. Meanwhile the Mouse Queen had a son of her own, but she never forgot her plan of revenge. ” “ One night, when the nurses and cats were sleeping, the Mouse Queen snuck into the nursery. She whispered a magic spell and the beautiful princess became ugly. The princess’ head became larger than her body, and her mouth grew until it was the largest part of her face. ”