Elemoont/Chapter 33

tells how the Elemoont and the Cat met cosmic pirates again

"Is everything in order?" asked the Tiger–Cat when the Elemoont came to himself.

"Yes," answered the Elemoont, "I think you cannot imagine how it is a good thing to feel yourself in singular after being in plural."

"Of course," answered the Cat who always feels himself in singular, "Only you must not wave your trunk in your joy, either a metamorphosis will happen again."

"Why is it?" did not understand the Elemoont.

"Because you have held a magic wand in your trunk and it's better don't wave it without extreme necessity."

"So that it!" exclaimed the Elemoont, "The magic wand!" and he began to look at the stick, "I think I know whose it is."

"Whose?"

"It belongs to the lunatics–sorcerers. They used it in the scientific debates when they have no any arguments. The chief sorcerer waves it in such way…"

The Elemoont waved the magic wand showing to the Cat how it did, and…

"And again it ‘and’," said the Cat "Please, don't brandish this thing!"

The Elemoont quickly lowered the stick but it was too late. The space all around them got rough (How can the space be rough? It is very simply. Waves go along the space!), rose (You must imagine it yourself), and then burst with ringing.

"What is it?" exclaimed the Cat and the Elemoont.

An ordinary yogurt-bottle was hanging before them gleaming in the light of stars. It was stuffed with yogurtical pirates. All they were here: Tusk, Box, Crocomuzzle, and others who our friends did not know.

"Alas!" moaned the pirates, "How very narrowly here!"

"How did you get in the bottle?" asked the Elemoont who felt sorry with them (all elemoonts have a kind heart).

"Our pirates' character lets us down," said Crocomuzzle, "When the Big Cosmogrunt grunted we were thrown to the very edge of the Universe and there we saw this bottle.

"Was it full?" was interested the Cat.

"If only! It was quite empty. But it was a yogurt–bottle! And since we are the yogurtical pirates and not any sea ones, we could not pass it by!"

"Flew pass," put in a remark the Cat.

"All the same! We came to a stop as if we are rooted to the ground."

"And what happened further?" asked the Elemoont, "And why had you mentioned the pirates' character?"

"It's very simple. Only disobedient boys became pirates," sadly gave a sigh Crocomuzzle, "My father always said me, ‘Don't blow your top! Don't blow your top!’ And since my daddy was a Russian, he added in Russian. «don’t crawl into a bottle! » ”

Crocomuzzle gave a sigh once more and far more sadly.

"So, you get into the bottle yourselves!" guessed the Elemoont.

"We could not act otherwise," said Tusk, "Our pirates' character force us nobody obey and always get into a bottle."

"And we had got into it," added Box.

"And we cannot get out of it!" concluded Crocomuzzle.

"But why?" was astonished the Elemoont, "I think if you could got into the bottle, you also could get out of it."

"You make a mistake," said Crocomuzzle, "The bottle was spell bound!"

"And who cast a spell over it?" asked the Cat sniffing the bottle, "It smells of burnt matches."

"It isn't from the bottle," said Tusk, "It your friend the Hare still attempts to make a fire. The bottle was spell bound by the Great Magician Mr. Moonswitcher."

"Mr. Moonswitcher!" exclaimed the Cat and the Elemoont in one voice, "He is wanted here!"

"No! It's better to keep away from him!" answered the pirates.

"Aha!" remarked the Cat, "It is not a harmless Gruntresses from whom you had taken the gruntler–scooter."

"And it is not a peaceful penguins flying to the Moon," added the Elemoont, "from that you had taken all their ice–cream."

"We'll not do it again!" cried pirates all together. "Help us to find our way from this bottle!"

"May we believe them?" asked the cat with a doubt.

"I swear!" solemnly pronounced Crocomuzzle, "No any lie again! Help us, that is SOS!"

"Well," agreed the Cat (some cats are very trustful), "But how could he spell bound you? Did he use a small magic wand?"

"A small magic wand? Most like it was a large cudgel!" said Box, "Mr. Moonswitcher waved his magic cudgel and ask a riddle to us."

"A riddle?" I like riddles!" was glad the Elemoont, "And what a riddle was it?"

"That riddle is very difficult. It is not likely that you can solve it," said Tusk. "We thought, thought, thought…"

"And didn't guess," concluded Crocomuzzle, "Listen it. Certain Ruler was angry with his astrologer. He got furious so that ordered his executioner to chop off his head…'

"Whose head?" did not understand the Elemoont, "The Ruler's?"

"No! The astrologer's. However, at the last moment the Ruler changed his mind and decided to enable the astrologer to safe his life. The Ruler took four balls (two of them were black and two others were white) and said, ‘You must put them at will in these two caskets and the executor will choose one of them at random, and also at random he extracts one ball from chosen casket. If it be a white ball, I'll show mercy to you and if it be a black ball, the executor will chop you head’…"

"It's terribly!" was indignant the Elemoont, "And then what?"

"Then we must answer how the astrologer must put the balls into caskets to be alive?"

"It's not a riddle, it's a whole task," remarked the Cat.

"What's the difference?" said the Elemoont,

"There is a big difference here. Here you have not to guess. Here you must think! Reason logically!"

"To reason logically! How can I do it?"

"It's very simply. For example, all cats like to sleep. I like to sleep. Therefore, I am a cat. It is a logical conclusion, isn't it?"

"Yes," agreed the Elemoont, "but I also like to sleep, and so…I'm also a cat!?"

"It comes out that yes."

"But I'm not a cat, I'm an elephant!"

"I know!" angrily answered the Cat, "But if you reason strictly logically, you'll be a cat!"

"Not a bad logic!" said the Elemoont, "It's better simply to guess and all come out right."

"No! All will not come out right," broke into the conversation the Computer, "Logic is power!"

"The power that changes Elemoonts in Cats," muttered the Elemoont, "All cats like to sleep. The Elemoont likes to sleep. Therefore, the Elemoont is a cat. Not bad! And all is logical!"

He waved his trunk forgetting that he had held the magic wand in it, and…