Welcome to the Ancient
Far North . . . and the
World of the Micekings!
WHERE THEY LIVE: Miceking Island
CAPITAL: Mouseborg, home of the Stiltonord family
OTHER VILLAGES: Oofadale, village of the Oofa Oofas, and Feargard,
village of the vilekings
CLIMATE: Cold, cold, cold, especially when the icy north wind blows!
TYPICAL FOOD: Gloog, a superstinky but fabumouse stew. The secret
recipe is closely guarded by the wife of the miceking chief.
NATIONAL DRINK: Finnbrew, made of equal parts codfish juice and
herring juice, with a splash of squid ink
MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION: The drekar, a light but very fast ship
GREATEST HONOR: The miceking helmet. It is only earned when a
mouse performs an act of courage or wins a Miceking Challenge.
UNIT OF MEASUREMENT: A mouseking tail (full tail, half tail, third tail,
quarter tail)
ENEMIES: The terrible dragons who live in Beastgard
Meet the Stiltonord Family . . .
GERONIMO
Advisor
to
the
miceking chief
THEA
A
horse trainer who
works
well with all
kinds
of
animals
TRAP
The
most
famouse
inventor
in
Mouseborg
BENJAMIN
Geronimo’s
nephew
BUGSILDA
Benjamin’s
best
friend
. . . and the Evil Dragons!
GOBBLER THE
PUTRID
The
fierce
king
of
the
dragons
is
a
Devourer!
The dragons are
divided into 5
clans, all of which
are terrifying!
1. Devourers
They love to eat micekings raw —
no cooking necessary.
2. Steamers
They grab micekings, then fly over
volcanoes so the steam and smoke make them taste good.
SIZZLE
The
cook
3. Biters
Before eating micekings, they nibble
them delicately to see if they like
them or not.
4. Slurpers
They wrap their long tongues around
micekings and slurp them up.
5. Rinsers
As soon as they catch micekings,
they rinse them in a stream to wash
them off.
Copyright © 2014 by Edizioni Piemme S.p.A., Palazzo Mondadori, Via Mondadori 1, 20090 Segrate, Italy. International Rights © Atlantyca S.p.A. English translation © 2016 by Atlantyca S.p.A.
The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
GERONIMO STILTON names, characters, and related indicia are copyright, trademark, and exclusive license of Atlantyca S.p.A. All rights reserved. The moral right of the author has been asserted. Based on an original idea by Elisabetta Dami. www.geronimostilton.com
Published by Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012. SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered
trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
Stilton is the name of a famous English cheese. It is a registered trademark of the Stilton Cheese Makers’ Association. For more information, go to www.stiltoncheese.com.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, please contact Atlantyca S.p.A., Via Leopardi 8, 20123 Milan, Italy; e-mail foreignrights@
atlantyca.it, www.atlantyca.com.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
e-ISBN 978-1-338-03559-9
Text by Geronimo Stilton
Original title Toglilo tu, il dente al dragante!
Cover by Giuseppe Facciotto (pencils) and Flavio Ferron (ink and color)
Illustrations by Giuseppe Facciotto (pencils) and Alessandro Costa (ink and
color)
Graphics by Chiara Cebraro
Special thanks to Tracey West
Translated by Julia Heim
Interior design by Kay Petronio
First printing 2016
What’s the Big
Secret?
It was a calm summer evening in
Mouseborg, the capital village of
Miceking Island. The sun was setting over
the mountains, and a fresh breeze blew
across my fur. I whistled as I walked home.
Sorry, I haven’t introduced myself. My
name is Geronimo Stiltonord, and I am
a mouseking!
As I walked, two young rodents RACED
past me: my nephew Benjamin and his best
friend, Bugsilda.
“It’s so exciting!” said Benjamin.
“Yes, it’s really exciting!” agreed
1
What’s the Big Secret?
“What’s so exciting?” I called out as
they raced past.
“Oh, nothing,” replied Benjamin, and they
ran away, giggling.
HOW STRANGE!
Next I passed the hut of Copper Ironpaws,
the village blacksmith.
Hee,
hee!
He
doesn’t
know
a
thing!
Where
are
you
going?
What’s the Big Secret?
“It’s so exciting!” Copper was saying
to another mouseking.
His customer glanced at me. “Shh, he’s
coming.”
I marched up to them. “What’s so exciting?”
“Oh, nothing,” the mouse said quickly.
“You must have heard wrong.”
HOW
VERY
STRANGE!
Oh, nothing.
Hee,
hee!
What’s
exciting?
What’s the Big Secret?
I was almost at my hut when I saw a
group of micekings talking very quietly.
My cousin Trap, the village inventor, was
among them.
“Careful, it’s him!” I heard Trap whisper
as I got near.
The micekings scattered, chuckling.
HOW
VERY,
VERY, STRANGE!
But . . .
Hee,
hee,
hee
What
’s the Big Secret?
“Trap, what is happening?” I
asked. “Why is it that every time I show
up somewhere, everyone stops talking and
giggles?”
“I don’t know what you mean, Cousin,”
Trap said. “There’s nothing going on. Tee,
hee!”
I was starting to become annoyed. “Fine!
I don’t care about your little secrets
anyway!”
Then I stomped into my hut and settled in
for what I hoped would be a relaxing
night. I prepared a delicious pot of hot
cheese soup and was about to
dig in when someone knocked on my door.
5
A Surprise for Me
My sister, Thea, was outside the door.
“Geronimo, open up!” she called out.
“Have you come to laugh at me, too?” I
yelled through the door. “I am tired of all
these secrets!”
“Don’t be a codfish,” Thea said. “Open
the door!”
“No, no, no!”
I said stubbornly.
I am
fed
up!
A Surprise for Me
I heard Thea sigh. “Oh, all right. But then
I’ll have to tell Sven that you REFUSED to
come out of your hut. I warned you.”
I jumped up. “Sven the Shouter wants
me? Our village leader? Why didn’t you
say that before?”
I hurried to open the door. Thea entered
and grabbed a hunk of bread from my table.
“Sven ordered us not to tell you
anything so we wouldn’t ruin the surprise,”
she explained.
My whiskers trembled with excitement. “A
surprise?
For me? What is it? A new
goatskin blanket? A precious scroll? A
big chunk of Stenchberg cheese?” My mouth
watered at the thought of it.
I was so
curious
I was practically jumping
out of my fur!
Then we heard noises outside. “That must
7
A Surprise for Me
be the others,” Thea said.
“Others? What others?” I asked. “I’m
not expecting anyone.”
But Thea ignored me and opened the door.
A sea of micekings invaded! They
made themselves COMFORTABLE
right away. They
sat
on my chairs. They
bounced
Make way!
Make
room
for
me!
I’m
coming!
Squeak!
What’s
happening?
A Surprise for Me
my bread and drank my cheese soup!
My humble home now held every rodent
in Mouseborg!
“Great groaning glaciers!” I yelled. “What
is everyone doing here?”
Right at that moment, Sven the Shouter
stepped in. He pounded me on the
back with his paw.
Watch out!
Move it!
They’re here!
A Surprise for Me
“I have gathered all the micekings here in
your hut, you smarty-mouseking!” he
thundered.
I nodded nervously.
“I need to make an IMPORTANT
announcement!” Sven said. “Max
Musclepaw,
the great-great-great-grandson of the
legendary Moki Musclepaw, has
arrived in Mouseborg!”
I’ve got
quite
a
surprise
for
you!
Ouch!
A Surprise for Me
The micekings let out a cheer.
“Hooray
for
max
musclepaw!”
Hooray for the mouseking hero who has
earned 1,753 MICEKING HELMETS!”
Shivering squids! That’s a lot of miceking
helmets, the highest honor of the micekings!
“Is the surprise that Max is here?”
I asked. “What does that have to do with
me?”
Sven gave me a piercing stare.
“It has everything to do with you, you
shrimpsnout! I asked
Max Musclepaw
to
come back to make YOU into a true macho
mouseking!”
11
Is This the Little
Shrimp
I’m Supposed
to Train?
Sven LOOKED me up and down, from
the tips of my whiskers to the end of my tail.
Then he frowned.
“A true macho mouseking needs muscles!”
he barked. “You are as
squishy
as
a jellyfish!”
A glacial chill ran down my spine.
Sven continued. “So I have decided that
you need a special trainer!”
“so
says
sven
the
shouter!”
the micekings cheered.
“Well said, oh fearless leader!” my cousin
12
Is This the Little Shrimp?
Trap chimed in.
I
scowled
at Trap,
but he kept talking.
“Either you have
muscles or you don’t,
and I have plenty,” Trap
said, flexing his meaty (but
not very muscly) arm. “But
you, Cousin, are as soft as
Have
you
seen
these
muscles?
a ball of mozzarella!”
“Wise words!” Sven the Shouter
agreed. “Trap, I order you to also participate
in the special training so you can show
Geronimo how a macho mouseking trains!”
Trap tried to protest. “Um, well, that
wouldn’t be fair to the other micekings,
would it?” he asked.
“Yes, why can’t we train, too?” the other
micekings asked.
13
Is This the Little Shrimp?
Taking advantage of the CONFUSION,
I tried to quickly slip out of there. I was a
whisker away from the exit, when . . . the
door swung open and hit me right
in the snout!
Helmets and herring, that hurt!
“Geronimo, where are you going?”
Are
you
leaving?
Ouch!
Is This the Little Shrimp?
I looked up to see Thora, Sven’s
charming daughter!
“Well I . . . I j-just remembered I have
something important to do!” I stuttered.
Then the door swung open
(again!).
“Geronimo, let me introduce you to
Max
Musclepaw,
the great miceking hero!” Thora
said.
This is Max
Musclepaw!
Hey there!
He’s
enormouse!
Is This the Little Shrimp?
So there I stood, gazing up at the tallest
and most muscled mouseking I
had ever seen! He was as big as a block of
stone — no, as a
&nb
sp; boulder — no,
as a whole mountain!
He looked me up and down.
“IS
THIS
THE
LITTLE
SHRIMP
I’M
SUPPOSED
TO
TRAIN?”
he asked. “His tiny bones won’t be crushed,
will they?”
“Ha! A bit of hard work never hurt
anyone,” boomed Sven. “And, to make
everyone happy, I have decided that
Crusher,
Smasher, and
Sprainer
will participate in the
training, too.”
At those words, three strong micekings
made their way through the crowd.
One by one they approached me, yelling:
16
I’ll
crush
you!
“I’m going to
Crush
you!”
“I’m going to Smash
you!”
“I’m going to
SPRAIN
your tail!”
I’ll smash
you!
I’ll sprain
you!
WHY,
WHY,
WHY
DOES
EVERYTHING
HAPPEN
TO
ME?
You’re Hopeless,
You
Smarty-
Mouseking!
“Get out of bed, shrimp!” Max
Musclepaw yelled early the next morning as
he dumped a bucket of freezing water
on me.
“B-but, it’s still dark outside!” I squeaked.
But this muscled hero didn’t want to hear
it. “A
true macho mouseking
gets
up every day at dawn and starts to RUN,
RUN,
RUN!” he bellowed.
I reluctantly got out of bed, yawning
like a bear just waking from hibernation.
“Can’t we at least have breakfast?” I asked.
Max gave me a strange smile. “Pack all
18
You’re Hopeless!
the food that you want in your bag. We will
bring it with us to Three Lookouts Cliff.”
SQUEAK! I was already hungry. I
wanted to protest, but then I decided it
was better to do what he said. (Have I
mentioned that Max is
very tall
and
very muscled?)
So I took the bag and stuffed it
with:
22 eggs,
✔
16
slices of