,_,
aroun had not f~rgotten what his fath~r had said about
Khattam-Shud. Too many fancy notions are turning
H out to be true,' he thought. At once Butt the Hoopoe
answered, without moving its beak: 'A strange sort of
Story Moon our Kahani would be, if storybook things
" who's been boasting about how Speed has hidden this
weren't everywhere to be found.' And Haroun had to admit
that that was a reasonable remark.
They were speeding south to Gup City. The Hoopoe had
chosen to remain on the water, zooming along like a speed-
boat, spraying Story Streams in every direction. 'Doesn't it
muddle up the stories?' Haroun inquired. 'All this
turbulence. It must mix things up dreadfully.'
'No problem!' cried Butt the Hoopoe. 'Any story worth
its salt can handle a little shaking up! Va-voom!'
Abandoning what was clearly not a profitable line of
conversation, Haroun returned to more import.ant matters.
'Tell me more about this Khattam-Shud,' he requested, and
was utterly amazed when Itf replied in almost ,the very same
words that Rashid Khalifa had used. 'He is the Arch-Enemy
of all Stories, even of Language itself He is the Prince of
Silence and the Foe of Speech. At least', and here the Water
Genie abandoned the somewhat too sonorous tone of the
preceding sentences, 'that's what they say. When it comes to
che Land of Chup and its people the Chupwalas, it's all
mostly gossip and ilim-flam, because it's generations since
any of us went across the Twilight Strip into the Perpetual
Night.'
'You'll have to forgive me,' Haroun broke in, 'but I'm
going to need a little help with the geography.'
'Hmf,' sniffed Butt the Hoopoe. 'Poorly educated, I see.'
'That's totally illogical,' Haroun retorted. 'You're the one
79
SAIMA N R USHDI E
Moon from people on Earth. So it's unreasonable to expect
us to know about its topographical features, principal exports
and the like.'
But Butt's eye was twinkling. Really, there were major
difficulties involved in talking to machines, Haroun thought.
With their deadpan expressions, it was impossible to know
when they were pulling your leg.
'Thanks to the genius of the Eggheads at P2C2E House,'
Butt began, taking pity on Haroun, 'the rotation of Kahani
has been brought under control. As a result the Land of Gup
is bathed in Endless Sunshine, while over in Chup it's
always the middle of the night. In between the two lies the
Twilight Strip, in which, at the Grand Comptroller's
command, Guppees long ago constructed an unbreakable
I (and also invisible) Wall of Force. Its goodname is
Chattergy's Wall, named after our King, who of course had
:'; I absolutely nothing to do with building it.'
,' I,
I' I
'Hold on a minute,' Haroun frowned. 'If Kahani goes
, u I
t round the Earth, even if it goes very fast indeed, there must
,, ,1
I be moments when the Earth is between it and the sun. So it
can't be true that one half is always in the daylight; you're
telling stories again.'
'Naturally I'm telling stories,' Butt the Hoopoe replied.
'And if you have any arguments, please to take them up
with the Walrus. Now excuse, please, while I pay attention
ahead. Volume of traffic has dramatically increased.'
"' "' "'
80