Chapter 21 Part 1

The Heart of a Mouse

Part 1

A

1.It was lovely to be back m Norway once again in my grandmother's fine old house.

2.But now that I was so small, everything looked different and it took me quite a while to find my way around.

3.Mine was a world of carpets and table-legs and chair-legs and the little crannies behind large pieces of furniture.

4.A closed door could not be opened and nothing could be reached that was on a table.

5.But after a few days, my grandmother began to invent gadgets for me in order to make life a bit easier.

B

1.She got a carpenter to put together a number of slim tall stepladders and she placed one of these against each table in the house so that I could climb up whenever I wanted to.

2.She herself invented a wonderful door-opening device made out of wires and springs and pulleys, with heavy weights dangling on cords, and soon every door in the house had a door-opener on it.

3.All I had to do was to press my front paws on to a tiny wooden platform and hey presto, a spring would stretch and a weight would drop and the door would swing open.

C

1.Next, she rigged up an equally ingenious system whereby I could switch on the light whenever I entered a room at night.

2.I cannot explain how it worked because I know nothing about electricity, but there was a little button let into the floor near the door in every room in the house, and when I pressed the button gently with one paw, the light would come on.

3.When I pressed it a second time, the light would go off again.

4.My grandmother made me a tiny toothbrush, using matchstick for the handle, and into this she stuck little bits of bristle that she had snipped off one of her hairbrushes.

D

1.You must not get any holes in your teeth, she said.

2.I can't take a mouse to a dentist! He'd think I was crazy!

3.It's funny, I said, but ever since I became a mouse I've hated the taste of sweets and chocolate.

4.So I don't think I'll get any holes.

5.You are still going to brush your teeth after every meal, my grandmother said.And I did.

E

1.For a bath-tub she gave me a silver sugar-basin, and I bathed in it every night before going to bed.

2.She allowed no one else into the house, not even a servant or a cook.

3.We kept entirely to ourselves and we were very happy in each other's company.

4.One evening, as I lay on my grandmother's lap in front of the fire, she said to me, I wonder what happened to that little Bruno.

5.I wouldn't be surprised if his father gave him to the hall-porter to drown in the firebucket, I answered.

F

1.I'm afraid you may be right, my grandmother said.

2.The poor little thing.

3.We were silent for a few minutes, my grandmother puffing away at her black cigar while I dozed comfortably in the warmth.

4.Can I ask you something, Grandmamma I said.

5.Ask me anything you like, my darling.How long does a mouse live

G

1.Ah, she said.I've been waiting for you to ask me that.

2.There was a silence.She sat there smoking away and gazing at the fire.

3.Well, I said.How long do we live, us mice.I have been reading about mice, she said.

4.I have been trying to find out everything I can about them.

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