Marie Stahlbaum Quotes

“Silly child, how can you imagine that this wooden doll from Nuremberg is really alive and capable of moving about?”

“He stopped, gave a deep sigh, quickly tore from his shoulders the ribbon Marie had tied around him, pressed it to his lips, put it on as a token, and, bravely brandishing his bare sword, jumped as nimbly as a bird over the ledge of the cabinet to the floor. ”

“He’s my dear Nutcracker and you can’t have him. See the sad way he looking at me and showing me his sore little mouth. You’re a heartless brute- you beat your houses, and you’ve even had one of your soldiers shot.”

“If she hadn’t thrown her slipper at the right time, if she hadn’t outfitted me with the pensioned colonel’s sword, I’d be lying in my grave, bitten to pieces by the abominable King of Mice. Tell me now, can Pirlipat, though a true princess, hold a candle to Mistress Stahlbaum for beauty, kindness, and virtue? No, I say, she cannot!”

“Oh, what do you think Godfather Drosselmeier has made for us?”

“Well, dear Marie, since you seem so fond of friend Nutcracker, he shall be entrusted to your special care, though, as I’ve already told you, Louise and Fritz have as much right to make use of him as you.”

“There had just been a big battles between the dolls and mice. The reason I was so scared was that the mice were going to capture poor Nutcracker, who was in command of the dolls. So I threw my shoe at the mice, and after that I don’t know what happened.”

“With that, he reached into his pocket, and guess what he took out-- Nutcracker, whose lost teeth he had put back in very neatly and firmly, and whose broken jaw he had fixed as good as new. Marie cried out for joy.”

“You alone, dear lady, gave me the courage and strength to fight the insolent varlet who dared to defy you. The treacherous King of the Mice has been vanquished and lies writhing in his blood. Deign, dear lady, to accept these tokens of victory from the hand of one who will be your true and faithful knight until death.”

“Oh, my precious Mistress Stahlbaum, you see at your feet the happiest of men, whose life you saved on this very spot. You were kind enough to say that you would not scorn me as that nasty Princess Pirlipat did, for becoming ugly on your account. In that instant, I ceased to be a lowly nutcracker and regained my former, not unpleasant aspect. Oh, precious Mistress Stahlbaum, favor me with your hand, share my crown and kingdom with me, reign with me over Marzipan Case, for I am king there now.”