eyes.
“Where were we?” Engywook asked.
“At the Great Riddle Gate,” Atreyu reminded him.
“Right. Now suppose you’ve managed to get through. Then—and only then—the second gate will be there for you. The Magic Mirror Gate. As I’ve said, I myself have not been able to observe it, what I tell you has been gleaned from travelers’ accounts. This second gate is both open and closed. Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? It might be better to say: neither closed nor open. Though that doesn’t make it any less crazy. The point is that this gate seems to be a big mirror or something of the kind, though it’s made neither of glass nor of metal. What it is made of, no one has ever been able to tell me. Anyway, when you stand before it, you see yourself. But not as you would in an ordinary mirror. You don’t see your outward appearance; what you see is your real innermost nature. If you want to go through, you have to—in a manner of speaking—go into yourself.”
“Well,” said Atreyu. “It seems to me that this Magic Mirror Gate is easier to get through than the first.”
“Wrong!” cried Engywook. Once again he began to trot back and forth in agitation. “Dead wrong, my friend! I’ve known travelers who considered themselves absolutely blameless to yelp with horror and run away at the sight of the monster grinning out of the mirror at them. We had to care for some of them for weeks before they were even able to start home.”
“We!” growled Urgl, who was passing with another bucket. “I keep hearing ‘we’.
When did you ever take care of anybody?”
Engywook waved her away.
“Others,” he went on lecturing, “appear to have seen something even more horrible, but had the courage to go through. What some saw was not so frightening, but it still cost every one of them an inner struggle. Nothing I can say would apply to all. It’s a different experience each time.”
“Good,” said Atreyu. “Then at least it’s possible to go through this Magic Mirror Gate?”
“Oh yes, of course it’s possible, or it wouldn’t be a gate. Where’s your logic, my boy?”
“But it’s also possible to go around it,” said Atreyu. “Or isn’t it?”
“Yes indeed,” said Engywook. “Of course it is. But if you do that, there’s nothing more behind it. The third gate isn’t there until you’ve gone through the second. How often do I have to tell you that?”
“I understand. But what about this third gate?”
“That’s where things get really difficult! Because, you see, the No-Key Gate is closed. Simply closed. And that’s that! There’s no handle and no doorknob and no keyhole. Nothing. My theory is that this single, hermetically closed door is made of Fantastican selenium. You may know that there’s no way of destroying, bending or dissolving Fantastican selenium. It’s absolutely indestructible.”
“Then there’s no way of getting through?”
“Not so fast. Not so fast, my boy. Certain individuals have got through and spoken with Uyulala. So the door can be opened.”
“But
how?”
“Just listen. Fantastican selenium reacts to our will. It’s our will that makes it unyielding. But if someone succeeds in forgetting all purpose, in wanting nothing at all—to him the gate will open of its own accord.”
Atreyu looked down and said in an undertone: “If that’s the case—how can I possibly get through? How can I manage not to want to get through?”
Engywook sighed and nodded, nodded and sighed.
“Just what I’ve been saying. The No-Key Gate is the hardest.”
“But if I succeed after all,” Atreyu asked, “will I then be in the Southern Oracle?”
“Yes,” said the gnome.
“But who or what is Uyulala?”
“No idea,” said the gnome, and his eyes sparkled with fury. “None of those who have reached her has been willing to tell me. How can I be expected to complete my scientific work if everyone cloaks himself in mysterious silence? I could tear my hair
“Where were we?” Engywook asked.
“At the Great Riddle Gate,” Atreyu reminded him.
“Right. Now suppose you’ve managed to get through. Then—and only then—the second gate will be there for you. The Magic Mirror Gate. As I’ve said, I myself have not been able to observe it, what I tell you has been gleaned from travelers’ accounts. This second gate is both open and closed. Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? It might be better to say: neither closed nor open. Though that doesn’t make it any less crazy. The point is that this gate seems to be a big mirror or something of the kind, though it’s made neither of glass nor of metal. What it is made of, no one has ever been able to tell me. Anyway, when you stand before it, you see yourself. But not as you would in an ordinary mirror. You don’t see your outward appearance; what you see is your real innermost nature. If you want to go through, you have to—in a manner of speaking—go into yourself.”
“Well,” said Atreyu. “It seems to me that this Magic Mirror Gate is easier to get through than the first.”
“Wrong!” cried Engywook. Once again he began to trot back and forth in agitation. “Dead wrong, my friend! I’ve known travelers who considered themselves absolutely blameless to yelp with horror and run away at the sight of the monster grinning out of the mirror at them. We had to care for some of them for weeks before they were even able to start home.”
“We!” growled Urgl, who was passing with another bucket. “I keep hearing ‘we’.
When did you ever take care of anybody?”
Engywook waved her away.
“Others,” he went on lecturing, “appear to have seen something even more horrible, but had the courage to go through. What some saw was not so frightening, but it still cost every one of them an inner struggle. Nothing I can say would apply to all. It’s a different experience each time.”
“Good,” said Atreyu. “Then at least it’s possible to go through this Magic Mirror Gate?”
“Oh yes, of course it’s possible, or it wouldn’t be a gate. Where’s your logic, my boy?”
“But it’s also possible to go around it,” said Atreyu. “Or isn’t it?”
“Yes indeed,” said Engywook. “Of course it is. But if you do that, there’s nothing more behind it. The third gate isn’t there until you’ve gone through the second. How often do I have to tell you that?”
“I understand. But what about this third gate?”
“That’s where things get really difficult! Because, you see, the No-Key Gate is closed. Simply closed. And that’s that! There’s no handle and no doorknob and no keyhole. Nothing. My theory is that this single, hermetically closed door is made of Fantastican selenium. You may know that there’s no way of destroying, bending or dissolving Fantastican selenium. It’s absolutely indestructible.”
“Then there’s no way of getting through?”
“Not so fast. Not so fast, my boy. Certain individuals have got through and spoken with Uyulala. So the door can be opened.”
“But
how?”
“Just listen. Fantastican selenium reacts to our will. It’s our will that makes it unyielding. But if someone succeeds in forgetting all purpose, in wanting nothing at all—to him the gate will open of its own accord.”
Atreyu looked down and said in an undertone: “If that’s the case—how can I possibly get through? How can I manage not to want to get through?”
Engywook sighed and nodded, nodded and sighed.
“Just what I’ve been saying. The No-Key Gate is the hardest.”
“But if I succeed after all,” Atreyu asked, “will I then be in the Southern Oracle?”
“Yes,” said the gnome.
“But who or what is Uyulala?”
“No idea,” said the gnome, and his eyes sparkled with fury. “None of those who have reached her has been willing to tell me. How can I be expected to complete my scientific work if everyone cloaks himself in mysterious silence? I could tear my hair