For two years Solomon the elephant has lived in Lisbon Now King Dom Joao III wishes to make him a wedding gift for a Hapsburg archduke in Vienna The only way for Solomon to get to his new home is to walk So begins a journey that will take the stalwart elephant across the dusty plains of Castile over the sea to Genoa & up to northern Italy where like Hannibal's elephants before him he must cross the snowy Alps Based on a true story Saramago's tale is an enchanting mix of fact fable & fantasy