Illogic Book/Page 20
August 29
Construction of the city is finally finished. Some people say we should have built it in the ground, but the king thinks it is enough to have it built above ground at least for now.
August 30
A man reported to our king today, saying that he has many things he does not want, and not enough of the things he does. He has a big problem when he tries to trade with people, because the things that he wants, so do they, and they will not trade them to him, and the things that he does not want, neither do they, and they will not let him trade them to him. Because he has only the things nobody wants, and other people want to keep the things that he wants, he cannot get anything he wants by trading.
Matláti and Bátla think long and hard about a way to solve this problem. Only thing Matláti has come up with so far is that he needs to know how many people there are in Bigák each year if he has to solve problems like this.
August 31
I, Bob, Chronicler of the Ancient City of Bigák, have counted everybody in the city today. It made me realize how small the city is -- there are only six houses around the palace. 27 people live in those houses. Every person, I tell them my name and what I am doing. People are always laughing at my silly name.
I told Matláti that there were 27 people besides the king and queen. He said, "Then there are 29 people including me and my wife, right?" I said, "Yes." He went back into deep thought.