Extrait du livre The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker A Story of Christmas Magic Illustrated by David Cutting
This is the story of The Nutcracker. It is a story of romance, adventure, battles, love, and dancing…lots of dancing…beautiful, breathtaking and magical dancing. But mostly, it is a story about the magic of Christmas. This story starts on Christmas Eve, many years ago, in a land far away, where a young girl named Clara is happily looking forward to her family’s big Christmas celebration… Clara helped her mother prepare everything for the party. The big Christmas tree was wonderfully decorated with all sorts of sparkly ornaments and lights. There were so many candy canes and treats hanging from the tree, Clara thought they could never all be eaten. Clara and her mother made a feast of their favorite Christmas foods for everyone to eat. There was a roaring fire in the fireplace, and Christmas music could be heard throughout the house. Clara was happy. She loved parties, and she loved Christmas… and today there were both. Clara was so happy that she even felt happy to be playing with her little brother, Fritz, and his toy soldiers. Soon the guests started to arrive. Everybody was dressed for a Christmas party, and Clara loved the fancy outfits. The partygoers were all full of Christmas cheer. They were laughing and singing Christmas carols, and just having an all-around great time.
Suddenly, the door burst open. There was Clara’s favorite uncle, Uncle Dross. He was dressed in a beautiful Christmas suit and had a big box in his arms. It was all wrapped up in shiny paper and bows. He had helpers with him, and they carried in three more big boxes that were also wrapped up beautifully. The helpers placed the packages with Uncle Dross and then slipped out of the room. Uncle Dross was a toymaker and always brought wonderful, magical gifts. All the kids were so excited to see what Uncle Dross had brought, they were clapping and jumping up and down. Uncle Dross beckoned Fritz over to help him open one of the big boxes. Uncle Dross lifted Fritz up high and told him to pull the big bow on the box. Fritz pulled hard, and suddenly, the front of the box opened like a door. Out of the box marched the biggest toy soldier Fritz had ever seen. He was dressed in a bright red uniform, and he stood tall at attention waiting for Fritz to command him. Soon Fritz had the soldier marching about the room with great precision. Fritz was so happy he was smiling ear-to-ear
Uncle Dross then invited Clara and her cousin over to help him open the other two big boxes. He lifted them up one-by-one to tug at the big ribbons. When both boxes fell open, the girls stood back to admire the wonderful, big dolls that came tumbling out. It was Harlequin the clown and his clown girlfriend, the beautiful Colombine. Harlequin and Colombine were soon tumbling around the room. They were leaping and jumping, and twirling and dancing, to the pleasure of all who watched. Soon everyone was laughing with joy and clapping for the wonderful clowns.
