A tiny little mouse in a straw hat and slippers
and big gold spectacles
King Bubi stared at him in astonishment, and Perez the Mouse, seeing that His Majesty was awake, took off his hat and made a very low bow, waiting to be spoken to. But the King said nothing, because he had quite forgotten all he had made up to say, and after thinking and thinking he faltered out at last ‘Good night.’ *
Perez answered with a low bow, ‘God give your Majesty a very good one.’ *These civil speeches quite broke the ice,
and the King and the mouse became the greatest friends. *It was easy to see that Perez was a mouse who was accustomed to polite society, and to run about on soft carpets, as he had such very good manners. *It was wonderful what a lot of things he could talk about which made him a very pleasant companion. *
He had travelled through all the pipes and drains of the capital, and in the Royal Library alone he had eaten up three books in less than a week. *He talked too about his family. He had two quite grown-up daughters, Adelaide and Elvira, and a son, nearly grown up, called Adolphus,
who was studying for diplomacy in the drawer where the Minister of State kept his most secret notes. He did not say much about Mrs. Mouse, and the little King somehow fancied that she was rather vulgar.