By Louise Gikow, Illustrated by Bruce McNally
A Purnell book published by Macdonald & Co Ltd, 1986
Copyright Henson Associates, Inc.
Somewhere on the edge of your imagination, there is a Labyrinth. It twists and turns like wicked thoughts, and no one - no man, woman, or child - has ever reached its centre. There standing within the walls of Goblin Town, is the castle of Jareth, the Goblin King.
Goblins are nasty little creatures whose greatest delight is stealing babies and turning them into goblins. But this can only happen if you wish for it. You must say exactly the right words for your wish to come true. ‘I wish the goblins would come and take you away right now!’ are the right words. When the goblins hear them, they will come…
In a little town just outside a big city lived Sarah, her father, her stepmother, her half-brother, Toby and her dog, Merlin.
Toby was just a year old, but Sarah considered him a terrible nuisance. She was always asked by to baby-sit for him when she had something better to do.
He was allowed to play with all her favourite toys - even her very special bear, Lancelot. Besides, everyone paid lots of attention when he did something silly, like made noises or stand up. While no one, Sarah thought, pays any attention to me at all.
One summer’s night, Sarah was alone with Toby when a storm swept in from the east. Lightening flashed, and thunder roared. Toby began to cry.
No matter what she did, Sarah couldn’t make him stop.
She tried picking him up and bouncing him on her knee. She tried his rattle, his bottle and his fuzzy yellow chicken. She tried everything she could think of.
But the tiny, red-headed, red-faced Toby cried louder.
‘Oh, be quiet!’ Sarah was furious. ‘Sometimes I really hate you.’ Then she added, stamping her foot, ‘I wish the goblins would come and take you away right now!’
Toby was gone. In his place was Jareth, king of the goblins, tall and stern in his dark cloak, eyes glittering in the gloom.
‘Who are you?’ Sarah whispered, trembling. ‘And where is my baby brother?’
‘Toby is mine,’ Jareth told her. "He is in my castle, at the centre of the Labyrinth.’
‘But I didn’t really mean it!’ Sarah gasped.
‘You must have,’ Jareth replied, raising his eyebrows. ‘You said the words.’
‘Where is the Labyrinth?’ Sarah asked.
Jareth made a grand gesture, waving his arm and swirling his cape. Sarah found herself on a hillside. The sky glowed yellow and orange. In the distance was a castle surrounded by darkness.
Jareth spoke. ‘In thirteen hours, Toby will be turned into a goblin. Then he will be mine forever.’ He waved his arm again and was gone.
Fingers of light spread over the hillside as the sun began to rise. Stretched out at Sarah’s feet was the Labyrinth.
Sarah walked down the hillside towards the huge wall that surrounded the Labyrinth. She hadn’t gone very far when she came upon Hoggle, who was gardening outside the labyrinth walls.
Hoggle was not very nice. That wasn’t unusual because it isn’t very nice when you live near the Labyrinth. But Hoggle was not very nice to everyone, including Jareth and that was unusual.
‘Excuse me,’ Sarah said politely, ‘Can you tell me where the door to the Labyrinth is?’
‘Maybe,’ Hoggle replied, sniffing.
‘Well, where is it?’
‘Where is what?’
‘The door,’ Sarah said. ‘How do I get into the Labyrinth?’
Hoggle shrugged and pointed. Behind Sarah, a pair of doors had mysteriously appeared. They swung open.
Sarah looked at Hoggle. This was a strange place, and even someone as disagreeable as he would be better than none. But he wasn’t about to join her, so she entered the Labyrinth alone.
As the gates swung shut behind her, Hoggle shook his head and went back to his work.
The corridors of the Labyrinth seemed to go on forever, but Sarah took a deep breath, straightened her shoulders and started walking. Sooner or later, she thought, I’ll have to get somewhere.
The Labyrinth was determined to prove her wrong. The walls moved closer together. A damp chill settled heavily over her, and small noises sounded loud in the echoing air.
She walked and walked. Then she began to run. The sound of her won breathing was harsh in her ears. The Labyrinth stretched out before her, never-ending.
Finally she stopped, out of breath. She reached out to steady herself, touching the rough surface of the Labyrinth wall.
‘Hello,’ said a cheerful voice near her hand. ‘Why don’t you try walking that way?’
A small worm peered at Sarah from a crack in the wall.
‘That way,’ the worm repeated. ‘Don’t you see?’
Sarah didn’t see. As far as she could tell, there was a solid wall in front of her.
‘Go on,’ said the worm. ‘Things are not what they seem in this place.’
And they weren’t.
Sarah had learned her first lesson. She would no longer allow the Labyrinth to lead her in a straight line to nowhere. She had found her way through the wall. But two hours had already passed, and there was still a long way to go.
She soon came upon a pair of doors that were guarded by two of the oddest creatures she had ever seen. A riddle unlocked the door that led her onward.
One of us will tell you true,
One will always lie.
Just one question is your due,
And only one reply.
One right answer gets you through,
Which door will you try?
Footnote:
The solution to the riddle: Sarah was allowed only one question of her two doorkeepers, one of whom always lied and one of whom always told the truth. The question she finally asked was: "Would he (she pointed at the other doorkeeper) tell me this door leads to the castle?"If the door she was indicating was the wrong one and she was asking the lying doorkeeper, his answer would be yes - because he would lie. If she was asking the truthful doorkeeper, he too would answer yes - since the other doorkeeper would lie. In either case, the other door would be the correct one.
If the door she was indicating was the right one and she was asking the lying doorkeeper, his answer would be no - because he would lie. If she was asking the truthful doorkeeper, he too would answer no, since the other doorkeeper would lie. In either case, this would be the correct door
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