The Phantom Tollbooth
讀書樂編號：5195
推介人： 嚴家恩校友
Milo comes home from school one day to find in his bedroom an anonymous package containing a miniature tollbooth and a map of Lands Beyond. He assembles the tollbooth, takes the map, drives through in his toy car, and instantly finds himself driving on a road in Expectations. Enjoying the ride, he pays no attention to his route and soon becomes lost in the Doldrums, a colorless place where thinking and laughing are not allowed. However, he is found there and rescued by Tock, a watchdog with the body of an alarm clock, who joins him on his journey. Their first stop is Dictionopolis, one of two capital cities of Wisdom. They visit the word marketplace, where all the world's words are bought and sold. After an altercation between the Spelling Bee and the blustering Humbug, Milo and Tock are imprisoned by the very short Officer Shrift. In the prison, Milo learns the history of Wisdom. Its two rulers, King Azaz the Unabridged and the Mathemagician, had two adopted younger sisters, Rhyme and Reason, who had settled all disputes in the kingdom. Everyone lived in harmony until the rulers disagreed with the princesses' decision that letters and numbers were equally important. They banished the princesses to the Castle in the Air, and since then, the kingdom has been plagued with discord and disharmony. Because the officer only likes to put people in prison, not to keep them there, Milo and Tock leave the dungeon and attend a banquet given by King Azaz, where the participants literally eat their words. King Azaz allows Milo and the Humbug to talk themselves into a quest to rescue the princesses. Azaz appoints the Humbug as a guide, and he, Milo and Tock set off for the Mathemagician's capital of Digitopolis to get his approval for their quest. Along the way they meet fantastic characters like Alec Bings, a little boy who sees through things and grows until he reaches the ground, and have adventures like watching Chroma conduct his orchestra in playing the colors of the sunset. In Digitopolis, their first stop is the mine where numbers are dug out and precious stones are thrown away. They eat subtraction stew, which makes the diner hungrier. The Mathemagician erases the mine with his magic pencil eraser, he and Milo discuss Infinity, and Milo proves to the Mathemagician that he must allow them to rescue the princesses. In the Mountains of Ignorance, the three intrepid journeyers contend with lurking, obstructionist demons like the Terrible Trivium and the Senses Taker. Milo thwarts them from stopping his quest by using gifts he has received in Wisdom. After overcoming all obstacles and their own fears, the questers reach the Castle in the Air. The two princesses welcome Milo and agree to return to Wisdom. When the group leaves, Tock carries them through the sky, because, after all, time flies. The armies of Wisdom welcome the princesses home, King Azaz and the Mathemagician are reconciled, and all enjoy a three-day celebration of the return of Rhyme and Reason. Milo says goodbye and drives off, feeling he has been away several weeks. Off ahead in the road he spies the tollbooth and drives through. Suddenly he is back in his own room. He awakens the next day full of plans to return to Wisdom, but when he returns from school the tollbooth has vanished. A new note has arrived, addressed, "FOR MILO, WHO NOW KNOWS THE WAY." Milo becomes sad and hopes the tollbooth will return to him some day. However, he looks around him and finds that the world is now beautiful and interesting.
