On the way to the unknown....

The Tigers were two wise men made of chestnut trees who sailed on a paper boat to a blue palace—where instead of Persian carpets, there was water, but instead Persian cats that snorted in their sleep. And because they had slept forever and ever, the palace halls were filled with animalistic rumbling.

In the corner of the magnificent building, a petrified rooster—the doorkeeper—stood on one leg. He was made of stone, which meant he couldn't move and could never open the door when someone rang the bell. That was why the palace hadn't had any guests since its inception, a very long time ago, since long before the world began.

The king was a furry creature, unlike anything known or unknown. He sang constantly to the accompaniment of the Persian cats. The fact that he was mute didn't bother him, for silent singing was the most beautiful sound that had ever been.

Despite this apparent silence, strange and incomprehensible whispers could be heard in the palace,

coming from nowhere. The bark beetles said it was the dugols murmuring a dirge for their deceased great-grandfather; the vassals stubbornly claimed it was the wind arguing with the sun at the edge of the world, and the sound of their quarrel could be heard all the way here. But the king knew the truth—it was his own voice... Yes, yes—he paced the castle as if nothing had happened, muttering... singing... howling in praise of the one who had freed him from his body and set him free.

The savior looked like an angel enchanted in human form, and her eyes glowed with a mysterious light. She had no name, for she knew well who she was and had no need of a name. She had come to the hairy, repulsive king to beg his mercy.

She believed he would forgive her the greatest mistake she had ever made...

...freed the Salony Elf.

The elf had three arms and was invisible, masking the fact that he didn't exist at all. This was his uniqueness—he didn't exist, a fact he knew perfectly well and often exploited.

But the king didn't forgive this beautiful creature; on the contrary, he plunged her even deeper, ordering her to become invisible, just as the evil she had committed was invisible. The savior fulfilled the king's will, but not before releasing the royal voice, so the purring and singing could finally become audible. The voice, in its joy, wanted to travel across the world, but the world was flat, so the sound reached its edge and fell into the abyss, to fall forever. And the strangest thing was that every time it fell, it returned to the palace... and could not change it.

As soon as the chestnut sages saw the entire castle—for which they had to make eyes out of pebbles—they decided to be its first guests since the creation of the world. To this end, they took off their hairy-steel robes and donned those befitting the occasion. The robes the butterfly had previously given them...

When they felt the touch of primrose petals on their skin, they knew they had made the right choice. They set off down the steep stairs to the feast specially prepared for the first guests.

The feast, like all its participants, was made of stone. Only a rubber elephant stood out from the crowd, but he wasn't really there. In fact—but don't tell anyone this—there was no feast, just as there was no palace. So what was there?

There were three chestnut trees lying motionless in a meadow. In an orange meadow full of butterflies and... someone else. It was the hairy king strolling through his domain. A light thud, laughter... a crack, a boom, something landed! Everyone, along with the chestnut trees, looked toward the setting sun. Its rays fell limply to the ground.

The sun smiled at the creatures one last time, twisting its face in agony. It was dying, setting for the last time. It was now the color of love, the rustling of barley ears, and it wanted to utter its final words...

At that moment, a stick emerged from the tall orange grass, a slight wound on its leg, from which sweet honey oozed. "A ray, a ray of sunshine that had fallen!" everyone marveled. The ray transformed into a withered stick!

The sun, sighing sadly, looked at these wonderful creatures, stretched its last rays upward, and... faded.

Darkness fell, and with the darkness, the moon shone in the green sky... Only the rubber elephant felt the strange atmosphere that reigned when the sun fell asleep forever—for he was made of rubber, and the lack of sunlight affected him badly.

The elephant fell ill.

The moon, seeing the creature's suffering, drew air into its lungs and strained to illuminate the sky as brightly as the sun had once done, but... it failed. He knew the sun would never return, and now it was time for his humble, silvery reign... The elephant was worried, for he didn't know what to do—and worst of all, he was alone... His friends—a pebble and a butterfly—went off into the blue distance to search for the palace they thought they had once seen. The elephant, however, had no strength, exhausted by the lack of golden rays. He was lonely, sick, and depressed. Finally, the moon, fed up with this sad sight, turned its back on the elephant.

And then the elephant heard a voice falling somewhere in the distance. Decide to call for him as hard as he could. He called and called until he finally lost his voice. "So what am I supposed to do now?" thought the elephant. Tears welled up in his eyes, as if dancing.

"Don't worry, little elephant," said one of the tears, "and dance with us.

" "But I don't have the strength," replied the elephant, growing even sadder.

Suddenly he heard the quiet, sweet laughter of the second teardrop.

"Imagination will allow you to dance with us," she said.

The little elephant, following the advice, escaped into the world of imagination. He was in an orange meadow, over which an orange sun shone; his friends were there, and he himself danced with his own tears, having a wonderful time. He heard laughter, music, and even touch... "It's so wonderful," he thought, "imagination can do anything."

Suddenly, he felt something wet. It was a tear that fell on his rubber belly and... woke him from a long sleep. Yes, he really was sitting among friends in an orange meadow, bathed in the rays of a smiling sun! But he was never sure anymore when he was dreaming and when he was awake...