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(2)
4-6
Translated by Ralph Manheim.
Illustrated by
Maurice Sendak.
Familiar in part because it forms the basis of the famous ballet, Hoffmann's tale "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" is actually quite different from the ballet. The original story is a mysterious, powerful, and slightly grotesque tale. Some of the illustrations, spectacular and remarkably effective, are taken from Sendak's stage settings for the ballet.