ion,
might, perhaps, have been taken to him on the score of his figure, for
his body was rather too tall and stout for his legs, which were short
and slight; moreover, his head was a good deal too large. But much of
this was atoned for by the elegance of his costume, which showed
him to be a person of taste and cultivation. He had on a very pretty
violet hussar's jacket, all over knobs and braiding, pantaloons of
the same, and the loveliest little boots ever seen even on a hussar
officer--fitting his dear little legs just as if they had been painted
on to them. It was funny, certainly, that, dressed in this style as he
was, he had on a little, rather absurd, short cloak on his shoulders,
which looked almost as if it were made of wood, and on his head a cap
like a miner's. But Marie remembered that Godpapa Drosselmeier often
appeared in a terribly ugly morning jacket, and with a frightful
looking cap on his head, and yet was a very very darling godpapa.

"As Marie kept looking at this little man, whom she had quite fallen in
love with at first sight, she saw more and more clearly what a sweet
nature and disposition was legible in his countenance. Those green eyes
of his (which stuck, perhaps, a little more prominently out of his head
than was quite desirable) beamed with kindliness and benevolence. It
was one of his beauties, too, that his chin was set off with a well
kept beard of white cotton, as this drew attention to the sweet smile
which his bright red lips always expressed.

"'Oh, papa, dear!' cried Marie at last, 'whose is that most darling
little man beside the tree?'

"Well,' was the answer, 'that little fellow is going to do plenty of
good service for all of you; he's going to crack nuts for you, and he
is to belong to Louise just as much as to you and Fritz.' With which
papa took him up from the table, and on his lifting the end of his
wooden cloak, the little man opened his mouth wider and wider,
displaying two rows of very white, sharp teeth. Marie, directed by her
father, put a nut into his mouth, and--knack--he had bitten it in two,
so that the shells fell down, and Marie got the kernel. So then it was
explained to all that this charming little man belonged to the
Nutcracker family, and was practising the profession of his ancestors.
'And,' said papa, 'as friend Nutcracker seems to have made such an
impression on you, Marie, he shall be given over to your special care
and charge, though, as I said, Loui