payment page
A few nights later, Maria awakens to a strange noise and finds the seven-headed Mouse King. He demands that Maria sacrifice her sugar plums and ginger breads to him; otherwise, he will eat the Nutcracker. Knowing that no one will believe her if she asks for help, she reluctantly leaves out her sweets. This sacrifice, however, is not enough to satisfy the Mouse King, and he returns to demand that all of her sugar and chocolate figurines. Again, she laments this loss but vows to do anything she can to save her beloved Nutcracker. The Mouse King climbs up onto Maria’s shoulder the next night, demanding that she give him all of her picture books and her new dress. As she grieves over her predicament in the morning, she takes the Nutcracker out of the glass case to clean him up. Suddenly, the Nutcracker begins whispering to her and begs for a sword. Maria convinces Fred to lend her one of his soldier’s swords, and the Nutcracker uses it to slay the Mouse King. He thanks Maria for giving him the strength to kill his enemy and asks her to follow him.
The Nutcracker leads Maria to the large wardrobe in the hallway which, despite always being locked, is wide open. They climb through and find themselves in the glittering Candy Meadow of the Puppet Kingdom. Maria is in awe as the Nutcracker leads her through the Christmas Wood, past the Lemonade River, away from Gingerbreadville, and into Bonbon Town. He explains that all of these locations, however, pale in comparison to the capital. They soon come upon a rose-colored lake which reminds Maria of the swan lake that Godfather Drosselmeier was once going to make for her.
The Nutcracker summons a pair of dolphins that help transport them across Rose Lake, and they come ashore at Sweetmeat Grove before heading to the capital, Confectionville. Once they arrive, a distinguished man welcomes the Nutcracker home as a prince. Maria then admires the diverse population that fills the central marketplace, although she is taken aback when a fight breaks out and is quelled by cries of “Confiseur.” The Nutcracker explains that “Confiseur” is the fate that rules over the people of Confectionville. Finally, Maria and the Nutcracker arrive at Marchpane Castle where pages, whose bodies are made of precious jewels, greet them. The Nutcracker introduces Maria as the maiden who saved his life and tells the story of his battle with the Mouse King. His voice, however, begins to soften and Maria’s vision fades away.
Maria wakes up in her own bed and tells her mother the tale of her journey with the Nutcracker. Mrs. Stahlbaum dismisses her story as a dream, and the rest of the family laughs at her whenever she tries to insist that her experiences were real. One day when Drosselmeier is repairing a clock at the Stahlbaum house, she softly admits to the Nutcracker that she never would have treated him as poorly as Princess Pirlipat. This moment causes Drosselmeier to cry out and Maria to faint in her chair. When Maria wakes, Mrs. Stahlbaum announces that Drosselmeier’s nephew has arrived from Nuremburg with gifts for the children. Young Drosselmeier summons Maria over to the glass case later that evening and reveals to her that he was, indeed, her beloved Nutcracker. He asks for her hand in marriage, and one year later, returns to the Stahlbaum house in order to whisk her away to Marchpane Castle where she will rule as queen.
