The Secret Vice Press

Tallinn, Estonia

Copyright © 2006 Rolf Andersen

First Published 2006

Publisher Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Rolf Andersen
The House / Rolf Andersen
69p. ; ill. ; 29cm.
ISBN 9985-80-001-X (paperback)
1. Picture books Talking animals Nature of personal identity 2. Picture books s-
Architecture Immortality

Typeset in Beatriz

http://jcreed.org/

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Once,
not long ago,
 There used
to be a house

2
Up on a high,
high hill

3
 And for some time
it was completely empty

4
 Nobody knew who
built the house,

or who it belonged to,

or who lived in it.

5
 Until one day,
when it happened to be

6
 That a small fly
was living in the house.

7
 And the fly thought
to himself for a moment

8
 and said:

This house was built

by those like me.

My kind built this house,

and so too they made me.
9
The fly was pleased
by this thought.

10
So he left the house,

11
And went down into
a valley,

12
And crossed a river,

13
And flew through
a forest,

14
 And came to a cliff
at the edge of the forest.

and said, as loud as

he could:

15
16
I am the lord
of the house
on the hill,
and I will live forever.

17
The next morning,
there was no fly
living in the house.

18
Instead, there was
a toad.

19
 And the toad thought
to himself for a moment.

He thought:
I used to be a fly,

20
 and he said:

But this house was built

by those like me.

My kind built this house,

and so too they made me.
21
The toad was pleased
by this thought.

22
So he left the house,

23
And went down into
the valley,

24
And swam across the river,

25
And hopped through
the forest,

26
 And came to the cliff
at the edge of the forest.

and said, as loud as

he could:

27
28
I am the lord
of the house
on the hill,
and I will live forever.

29
The next morning,
there was no toad
living in the house.

30
Instead, there was
a bird.

31
 And the bird thought
to himself for a moment.

He thought:
I used to be a toad, and
before that a fly, but all
the while I have been
Forever Bird: That is
my name.
32
 and he said:

For this house was built

by those like me.

My kind built this house,

and so too they made me.
33
The bird was pleased
by this thought.

34
So he left the house,
which he named
Forever House,

35
And went down into
the valley, which he
named Deep Valley,

36
And flew across the river,
which he named
Swift River,

37
And hopped through
the forest,

which he named
Dark Forest,
38
 And came to the cliff
at the edge of the forest,
which he named High Cliff,

and said, as loud as

he could:

39
40
I am the lord
of the house
on the hill,
and I will live forever.

41
The next morning,
there was no bird
living in the house.

42
Instead, there was
a donkey.

43
 And the donkey thought
to himself for a moment.

He thought:
I used to be a bird, and
before that a toad, and
before that a fly.
Who am I now?

44
 and he said:

Surely, at least, this house

was built by those like me.

My kind built this house,

and so too they made me.
45
The donkey was pleased
by this thought.

46
So he left the house
that he lived in,

47
 And went down into
the valley by his home,

48
And waded across the
river he drank from,

49
And walked through
the forest,

where he sometimes
went to be quiet,
50
 And came to the cliff
at the edge of the forest,

and said, as loud as

he could:

51
52
I am the lord
of the house
on the hill,
and I will live forever.

53
 The next morning,
there was no donkey
living in the house.

54
Instead, there was
a snake.

55
 And the snake thought
to himself for a moment.

He thought:
I have been many things,
so many that I have
forgotten them.

56
 and he said:

Was this house

built by those like me?

Did my kind build this

house? Did they make me?
57
The snake was not pleased
by this confusion,

but he had another

thought, which
he kept to himself.

58
So he left,

59
And went down,

60
And swam across,

61
And slithered through,

62
And came to the cliff,

and said, as loud as

he could:

63
64
 I am
the house
on the hill,
and I will live forever.

65
The next morning, there
was nothing at all
in the house
on the
hill.