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Fritz, the little mouse, has found out a secret! The old oak which is housing his family will be cut down soon to make place for a new road. Alarmed, Fritz's great-grandfather Balthazar visits tree-spirit Big Cloud, who is living in the Oak. Big Cloud asks the wise owl Lou for advice. Lou, who lives in the tree top, is very upset about the planned devastation of their environment and promises to help. Working together, the tree spirits in the nearby forest and the other animals who live near the Oak, make up their mind to save the tree and prevent the roadwork. Is there a chance for them?
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Seitenzahl: 42
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016
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Fritz and Balthazar
Their adventure with tree spirits
by Bodo Henningsen
Pictures Petra Jakob
Translation Klaus Buring & Team
Copyright: © 2016 Bodo Henningsen From German into English: Klaus Buring & Team Cover and setting: Erik Kinting
Published by tredition GmbH, Hamburg
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher and author.
On a clear autumn day, Louthe owl was doing as she did almost every day: sitting fast asleep, hidden in a crook of a branch.
The old oak tree in whichLoulived was still full of leaves, so it really was an ideal hiding place. As usual, there was heavy traffic on the main road which skirted the area, but the creatures who lived there were used to it.
But suddenly a new sound grew louder and louder and eventually settled over the tree with an enormous roar.
It felt like a hurricane. The thinner branches of the oak bent and shook. Almost all of the leaves blew away.Louhuddled closer to the tree trunk as the hurricane ruffled her usually immaculate plumage.
Now, through the suddenly naked branches, Loucould see a helicopter above the tree in which there were three people: the pilot, the co-pilot and the boss of the highway planning department.
The boss was saying “To straighten out this road here, all we have to do is remove one old oak tree!”
The pilot replied: “And then you could build a rest area where the bend used to be.“
The helicopter turned and disappeared, and silence returned.Loulaboriously groomed her feathers and closed her eyes. Two jays landed on top of the tree and wondered why almost all of the leaves were lying on the ground. Usually they knew everything that happened near the edge of the forest, but they hadn’t noticed the helicopter.
Soon life in and around the oak tree returned to normal.
Deep inside the old oak livedBig Cloud, the old spirit of the tree. He had lived there from the very beginning.
All of the animals as well as the many younger tree spirits in the forest called himBig Cloud. There was a reason, of course: every time he took an extra deep breath he looked exactly like a huge cloud of fog. Even though he usually slept during the day, he had once played a joke onJackandCracke, the two jays, by making the tree disappear in a big cloud of fog in broad daylight, so that they could not land after one of their patrols. This wasBig Clouds way of punishing them for constantly disturbing his sleep during the day with their loud screeching.
And then, in the spring, it happened. A family of mice who lived under the tree was industriously hunting for food when a heavy jeep turned from the road into the meadow and drove toward the oak.
All the mice ran in panic to their mouse holes and disappeared underground. All, that is, except one.
This was youngFritz, who had once again been playing alone, away from all the others.Fritzwas different. You could recognize him even from afar, because the tip of his tail looked like a paintbrush. He had injured it badly in an accident and it had grown back just like a paintbrush. All the other mice teased him about it constantly, and because of that he usually kept himself to himself.
As well as this, Fritzhad a cheeky-looking snub nose and exceptionally big, dark brown button eyes.
AsFritzwas rushing towards the mouse hole, the jeep stopped right on top of it, covering the entrance with one of the wheels.Fritzwas too late and would have been squashed if he hadn’t stopped as fast as he did. Shocked, he ducked behind a wheel and wondered what would happen next.
Two men and a woman got out of the jeep and immediately started to unload things: red and white stakes, measuring equipment, a table and three chairs. They rushed back and forth with their instruments until they decided that they had planted enough stakes in the ground.
Fritzwatched it all carefully, but didn’t really understand what was happening.
Then the three people grabbed something to eat out of the jeep and made themselves comfortable at the table.Fritzsneaked closer to them and hid behind a basket so that he could listen to the conversation.
Just then the driver of the jeep said ”As the planning inspector, I’m very happy that we can start building this road. Now all we have to do is get rid of this old tree. It’s right in our path.”
The woman, a surveyor, who together with her assistant had put all the stakes in the ground, replied: ”You know, it’s really a pity about this old oak. All this, just to make it easier for people to drive like maniacs.”
