Konrad and Alexandra (pdf) - Rolf Gross

knelt down before him. And then he noticed that the mouse had fearlessly climbed onto the
elephant's broad back and was inviting him to follow her. He climbed next to the mouse holding
on to the elephant's shoulder and off they went running through the house.
"This house has many hidden rooms and stairs." said the mouse, "I will show them to
you. The elephant is too big to pass some of the secret passages, but I can."
They ran down a long, dark corridor with many rooms. In one the snake had her bed,
another was occupied by the bird, it was full of feathers, the dogs lived in a surprisingly clean
room.
"Where does the elephant live?" asked Otto. "Oh, he is already big, he goes to school
and has a room downstairs," daid the mouse, "and the rooster lives in the attic, so he can see
the sun first every morning and crow when we have to get up."
Otto asked, "Do I get a room too?" "I will show you, it's a special room above the dining
room," said the mouse and whispered to the elephant, who stopped and with his trunk grabbed
the mouse and set her on the floor. Otto slid down by himself.
The mouse opened a door and let him in, the others all waited in the hall. "Look," said
the mouse, "here is a hole through which you can see into the dining room and spy on the
grown-ups." She opened a trap door in the floor. A blast of hot air came through the opening.
Otto went on his belly and peered down. The door was above the huge, tiled stove in the dining
room which almost reached to the ceiling. Voices came from below, and after he had figured
out how to peer around the stove, he saw his mother sitting next to a gentleman who looked
like his uncle Niko only much older. They were eating with silver forks from elegant plates,
drinking red wine, and talking. He roared at them but they must have thought that it was the
wind fanning the fire in the stove, no one paid attention to the lion.
When they returned to the dark corridor the animals were making a deafening noise
surrounding Otto and threatening him with their arms, beaks, and the elephant's trunk. He
raised his paws at them showing his claws and roared his most frightening roar. That shut
them up.
"Bravo!" said the snake curling up to him, "that will show them who is the king."
Otto took the mouse's hand. The snake hissed, "She is only a little, gray mouse. Look at
me! I am a poisonous snake, I could eat her up."
They all ran after the rooster who, flapping his wings, flew up a staircase to the attic. It
was dark up there, old trunks, unused beds, and other furniture were cluttering the place. The
rooster opened a door to a small room with a window. The moon was shining in. They became
very quiet looking out the window at the white snow fields which glistened in the cold moon
light.
"Do you like it up here all alone by yourself?" Asked Otto the rooster. "Oh," said the
rooster bravely, "I am used to it and sometimes my brother sleeps with me." He pointed at one
of the dogs. "You see, the two dogs are twins, and when they hate each other, he prefers to
sleep in my room."
"Let's go down to where the elephant lives," said the mouse who was still holding Otto's
hand. "I don't like the attic, there are so many mice up here." The other children began making
mouse noises to scare their sister, and the lion had to roar at them to stop them from
frightening her.
"Now, when we go downstairs you have to be very quiet so we don't arouse the
governess or our father," said the elephant.
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