Haroun and the Sea of Stories

The crowd is outraged when Rashid describes himself as a storyteller and subscriber to the storytelling service. Haroun worries that they will torture his father. Iff is appalled; he says they will scold Rashid, at worst. They have no precedent for dealing with spies because there has never been one before. Haroun shouts, and Rashid sees him before guards take them into the palace.

Inside, a Page named Blabbermouth escorts Haroun and Iff deeper into the palace. Haroun notices each Page’s tunic has the text of a story on it. Blabbermouth’s uniform contains the text of a story called “Bolo and the Golden Fleece” (98).

Rashid tells his story to Prince Bolo, General Kitab, the Speaker, and the Walrus. Rashid says that back on earth, he ate something to cure his insomnia and woke up in the Twilight Strip. He saw that Chup had fallen under the power of a “Cult of Dumbness or Muteness” (100), ruled by Bezaban, an idol made of black ice. Bezaban forbids speech of any kind.

Rashid claims that he saw Chupwalas kidnap Princess Batcheat. They plan to sacrifice her at the Great Feast of Bezaban. He offers to lead them to the Chupwala camp.

After the meeting, Blabbermouth escorts Haroun to his room. He says the Page’s outfits were Batcheat’s idea. They get lost on the way. Haroun stumbles, accidentally bumps into Blabbermouth, and knocks off his hat, revealing the long hair beneath—Blabbermouth is a girl. She says she hides her identity because it’s impossible for a girl to become a Page, and she doesn’t want anyone to know. Pretending to be a boy is the only way she can pursue her career as a Page.

She takes Haroun to the Palace roof to admire the view. Then she juggles for him, adding more and more golden balls until he is shocked by how many she is handling. He compares juggling to storytelling: If one ball falls, the routine collapses. Afterward, Haroun falls asleep in his room. He wakes to Blabbermouth’s hands around his throat. She warns him to keep her secret and says the army is ready to march.

Blabbermouth says she took the Disconnecting tool while he was sleeping. She believes that Rashid can solve his own problems; it’s not Haroun’s responsibility.

Haroun watches the Pages gather outside. Each of them is numbered like the page of a book, but they still argue about which order they should stand in, given that there are multiple Pages wearing the same numbers, only from different stories.

The Guppee armada leaves, along with barge birds, Floating Gardeners, and a school of Plentimaw fishes. The Guppees talk constantly, and the sound carries across the water. Haroun worries that they are mutinous as they complain about their leaders. Butt says that the power of speech must be exercised to be useful, and that the Guppees must be allowed to talk.

When they reach the Twilight Strip, it grows darker. Haroun grows depressed immediately, and Butt says that he is suffering from a “Heart-Shadow” (121). Haroun notices that the Ocean of Stories is dirtier here: its colors are fading to gray, and it is growing cold due to poison.

After they make camp on a beach, they go on a patrol to examine the shore. Haroun sees a man sword fighting against his own shadow, which seems to have its own autonomy. The warrior’s eyes are black with white pupils. Haroun thinks this is why Chupwalas must live in the dark: the warrior would be blind in the light because his eyes are turned the wrong way. The warrior approaches them and begins to make rapid hand gestures before speaking.

The warrior grunts at them. One of the sounds he makes sounds like the word “murder.” Rashid says that people from Chup rarely speak, which is why the warrior struggles to verbalize. Rashid realizes that the man is communicating with the rapid hand gestures, in which Rashid is fluent. The warrior was not saying “murder,” but rather, his name, which is Mudra. He is Chup’s Champion Warrior and was Khattam-Shud’s closest lieutenant. He now hates the cult and says the people would follow him if the Cultmaster died.

Then Mudra’s shadow speaks to them and explains the relationships of shadows to their hosts in Kahani. Shadows are seen as equals with the people they are stuck to. Khattam-Shud is almost a shadow now; he has spent so much time in the dark arts that his humanity has almost vanished. He separated from his shadow and can now be in two places at once. Now, some of the shadows of Kahani resent the Chupwalas to whom they are attached and wish for independence.

Haroun sees that Mudra impresses Blabbermouth, and he is jealous. Prince Bolo is skeptical of Mudra and calls him a traitor who may be tricking them.

Mudra says that one version of Khattam-Shud is in the Citadel of Chup, preparing to sacrifice Batcheat at the Feast of Bezaban. The other is in the Old Zone, poisoning the Ocean of the Streams of Story.

Haroun tells Bolo he will go to the Old Zone and spy for them. Now that he believes in the Ocean, he believes it is his duty to help. Haroun and Iff leave with the Plentimaw fishes and Mali, the Floating Gardener. They eventually reach the Southern Polar Ocean, where the waters grow colder and thicker. They leave the Plentimaw fishes behind. Soon, they reach a jungle of weeds, sprouting from the ocean. Mali clears a path through the weeds. Haroun sees a net fall over them all. Butt the Hoopoe calls it a “web of night” (142) and says they are trapped.