Elemoont/Chapter 11

tells how the Martian Mosquito wandered about the Lunar Labyrinth.

At this time, the Martian Mosquito wishing to help the Hunter rushed along the Lunar Labyrinth. It was not a simple business! Moreover, the Insidious Lunatic turned out the more insidious than we supposed. As soon as he muttered "Hmm-Hmm.... The Interplanetary Law?… Are you right? Are you left?… I don’t understand anything!" - so, as soon as he pronounced these words, the Martian Mosquito telepathically receiving all the Lunatic’s thoughts stopped to understand where is the right side and where is the left one "I'll fly to the right," decided Mosquito and felt that he flew to the left. "Well, I'll fly to the left," and he flew to the right! "Thus I can easily lose my way!" thought Mosquito and stopped. A malicious mental chuckle was heard from the darkness; the Insidious Lunatic gloated over him. "Nothing of the kind!" got angry the Martian Mosquito. Probably, you do not know that when the Martian Mosquitoes getting angry, they begin to shine like an electric light bulb. But our Mosquito was so angry that shone like a searchlight of ten million candles! Of course, he lit up some part of the Lunar Labyrinth where he was. "It seems I already lose my way!" exclaimed Mosquito seeing before him several entrances above every of which were written ‘NO ENTRANCE!’ "I don't believe in it!" said the Mosquito but the inscriptions did not disappear. "I have to count how many entrances that have not existed are placed here," he decided and began to count. "One ‘no entrance’, two ‘no entrance’, three ‘no entrance’, four ‘no entrance’, five ‘no entrance’, six ‘no entrance’…" And as soon as he pronounced the name of the ordinary digit, the inscription above the counted entrance disappeared and instead of it strange signs sprang up on the wall. However, above the sixth entrance the inscription did not disappear:



(ХОДА НЕТ! = NO ENTRANCE!)

In the electric light of his rage, the Martian Mosquito saw that together with the inscriptions the entrances disappeared also. Only one entrance did not disappear and the words "NO ENTRANCE!" shone above it as before.

"There is a mystery here!" thought Mosquito, "But I have no time to solve it. I must help the Hunter out of a difficulty. In a different way, the bad lunatics quite confused him. So, here is written that there is no entrance but the entrance exists! I'll try to enter it!" With that thought the Mosquito came up to the entrance and looked into it. And on the spot, he was blinded with a power searchlight. "Oh!" exclaimed Mosquito and of amazement stopped to shine like a searchlight of ten million candles. Instead of it, he began to give up a soft yellowish light that happened at oil lamps. In this soft light, he saw another Martian Mosquito that was exactly like he himself!

"Hello!" said Mosquitoes all together bowing to each other, "Can you help me to find a right way in this labyrinth?" The two Mosquitoes wait a little but there was no answer. Our Mosquito opened his mouth and "Hello!" said again both Mosquitoes all together. "I have lost my way myself!" It was silence again. "Ah!" guessed the Mosquitoes and flopped themselves on their foreheads, "It's simply a reflection!"

"You are the reflection yourself!" suddenly said the Reflected Martian Mosquito.

"Is it me?" was indignant the Simply Martian Mosquito, "I'm not a reflection, I'm simply a Martian Mosquito and who are you it is not known. I must investigate it!"

"There is nothing to investigate it," said the Reflected Mosquito, "I'm your reflection but only not a ‘simply reflection’ as you thought. I'm a Spell Bound Reflection!"

"And who cast a spell on you?" asked the Martian Mosquito.

"Lunatics," there was the reply.

"What for?"

"I don't know. You have to ask them."

"But how can I ask them if I have lost my way and cannot reach them?"

"You can reach them if you stop to yell at the top of your voice and think a little."

"It is I'm yelling?" was angry the Martian Mosquito and had shone more strongly. "It is you are yelling!"

"I'm only a looking– glass…" began to speak the Reflected Mosquito but the Simply Martian Mosquito interrupted him, "Well, well, you are a very clever person." The Reflected Martian Mosquito cast down his eyes and the Simply Martian Mosquito looked again at the strange signs and had saw:



"But I don't know what it means!" And Mosquito plunged deep in thought. Do you guess already? Of course, the Mosquito must answer a question how are the six sign in this row looking. Only in that case the entrance will open. "I have almost guessed already," muttered Mosquito, "but it is a too hard task I need a prompt!" "I'm the prompt myself," whispered the Reflected Mosquito. "You are the prompt?" was amazed the Martian Mosquito and fell to thinking again, and so long as all his malice disappeared from the pensiveness he stopped to shine and all around was plunged in darkness.