CHAPTER THE FIFTH.
the puppet-kingdom is set in order.—haughtiness of nutcracker, his wife, and subjects.—antipathy of the two peoples.—the root-king abdicates his crown.—nutcracker a tyrant.—preparations for war in root-valley.—the war.—harlequin's death.—flight and destruction of the puppet-kingdom.—nutcracker's death.—the princess saved.
It took Prince Nutcracker a full week to put his State in order, to erect towns, fortresses, and villages on their proper spots, and to assign to his subjects their places and sphere of activity. All this was admirably executed with the aid of his indefatigable councillor Harlequin, who was the soul of the whole undertaking. Everything too seemed to favour the new State, for as yet there had been no cloud in the sky, no gust of wind to overthrow a company of soldiers, no rain to wash off the beautiful colours of the castles, or to wet the princely decorations of the great theatre.
Thus lived the young Princess for some days with her husband in joy and splendour. She had laid aside her old dresses of leaves, flowers, and gossamer, and was arrayed like the most elegant State Puppet, after the newest Paris fashions. She left off her natural lively movements, and assumed the stiff and stately deportment of her husband and the ladies of the Court, who considered it unbecoming to turn their head ever so little on one side. She almost wholly forgot how to walk, while she was constantly driving to balls, concerts, and parades, to cockchafer-hunts and fly-chases. Her chief delight was in finery: every day she put on a new dress, and before her windows were shops of all the newest fashions, so that her first glance fell upon them when she got up in the morning.
Her husband too, and his subjects, grew continually more and more haughty. They looked down with contempt upon everything that was not a Puppet, or so finely painted and varnished as they. Every bird that flew past, or came near them, was pursued with the greatest cruelty.
Even the Rootmen, who came from time to time for their pleasure, were received with more and more coldness, insomuch that they soon ceased coming at all. Nay the good King himself was compelled to witness how his son-in-law and his own daughter came in time to treat him with indifference. Naturally the former friendship of the two Peoples was soon turned into bitter hatred. Before a month had elapsed Prince Nutcracker's arrogance became so great, that he demanded of the Rootmen a monthly tribute of two thousand of the finest hazelnuts: at the same time he assembled his troops and planted his fortresses in a line on the frontier of the Root-kingdom, resolving, in case of refusal, to invade with his army the territory of his father-in-law.
Such a violation of all right naturally filled the gentle spirit of the good old King with indignation. One whole day long he wept tears of bitterness into his mossy beard; he then publicly renounced his ungrateful daughter, and forbade her ever to come into his sight again. At length he retired from all affairs of government; he felt that he was too tender-hearted for such arduous business.
The tidings of this soon reached his daughter. Her eyes were now at once opened, and she saw how unworthily she had given away her hand, how from vanity she had violated her duty to her father, and to all those who had once been dear to her. Alas, it was too late! She tried all means to dissuade her husband from his unjust demands, but he was resolute; and when she continued unceasingly her entreaties, his anger turned against her likewise; he shut her up in her room, and would not hear a word more from her. Instead of joy and peace, her constant companions now were sorrow and repentance.
Meanwhile in the Root-kingdom a young and vigorous King was elected, who shared the hostility of his people against the insolent intruders, and forthwith declared war upon them. He resolved by a decisive battle either to annihilate or drive them away, and to this end he summoned his Allies from all sides to his aid. Rabbits and moles, lizards and worms, were to invade Nutcracker's country by an underground attack, and overthrow towns and villages; locusts, bees, and cockchafers were to fall upon the enemy from the air; whilst on the ground the Rootmen themselves should assail the foe with sharp rush-lances and two-edged blades of grass.
The morning of the fatal battle dawned gloomily; the sky was covered with black clouds. Clad in their green and brown moss coats the Rootmen marched toward the Nutfield, so that the enemy did not observe them until they were close under his fortresses. Suddenly there burst forth a cannonade and firing from all the loopholes; but the balls remained sticking in the moss of the assailants, who answered the terrific discharge with loud laughter. Quickly the army of the Rootmen pressed onward into the Nutfield: Prince Nutcracker threw himself upon them with his Body-guard, but was driven back; whereupon he fled into the palace, and made Harlequin his Fieldmarshal. With wild leaps of despair Harlequin led the main army to the field.
But soon a general panic seized upon all. The subterranean Allies of the enemy had already undermined the ground along which the army of Puppets were marching, and with it the fortresses, towns, and villages on the Nutfield; at the same time almost all the buildings round about tumbled one upon another with a loud crash. Fieldmarshal Harlequin himself was seized by the leg by a fierce old Mole, who dragged him down into the earth, in spite of the most heroic struggles: he was never seen again!
This was the signal for a general and wild flight of Nutcracker's brilliant army, who fled to the royal palace with the cry of "Save yourselves as you can!" The palace consisted of strongly-built wooden saloons, and longest withstood the labours of the undermining animals. Here Nutcracker had already put the horses to his State-carriage; then quickly jumping into it with his wife, he holloa'd to the coachman, "Off and away, far out of this Valley, as fast as you can, and as far as possible!" And all his people crowded round the coach in wild confusion to find a refuge, for on every side insects came flying and buzzing around in the air, and with their wings overthrew everything that was not firmly fixed.
Away went the fugitives, rolling over the field like a great ball. Although hard pressed by the enemy, and with the loss of many killed, they succeeded in creeping through the great hedge which surrounded the Valley, and escaping into the forest.
The reverses of the insolent Prince and his subjects now reached their height: the very sky waged war against them, and poured down upon them torrents of rain. Nutcracker and his Princess saw with grief, from the windows of their coach, the torrent increasing and overflowing the road,—their subjects, houses, and furniture swept past in the whirlpool, one after another falling under the toils of the march, tumbling over precipices or getting entangled in roots, nettles, and heaps of fallen leaves, and perishing miserably. Nutcracker's whole People were speedily destroyed: he too had not gone many yards, when the water unglued the joints of his coach, and the princely pair were carried away by the flood. But the natural strong and active spirit of the Princess was now re-awakened by the danger. How had she once used to skip about exultingly, and swim upon the waves in such weather! With one hand she seized her husband's pigtail, and with the other a twig. She tried with a spring to reach the root of a tree; but alas! the hair of the terrified Prince was not strong enough: the pigtail remained in her hand, and she saw her husband carried away by the torrent and vanish from her sight.
At first she called sorrowfully after him, but presently her natural spirit became only the more daring. She threw off her silly fashionable dress, soaked with the rain, which cramped her slender limbs; and quickly clothing herself in the first leaves she could find, climbed up like a squirrel into an old tree, and in a hole in its branches sought shelter from the storm and the approaching night.
