Chapter 14: The Dodecahedron Leads the Way

The Dodecahedron Leads the Way is the fourteenth chapter of The Phantom Tollbooth.

Characters[]

Plot[]

Shortly after their detour to Conclusions, Milo, Tock, and the Humbug pass a road sign to Digitopolis. The sign starts with the distance in miles and then goes down in increments all the way to half inches. There are all kinds of ways to measure the distance to Digitopolis, and the travelers can't agree on which measurement they should use. A living dodecahedron, who has "twelve faces", shows up to help them. When Milo introduces himself, the Dodecahedron wonders if everyone with one face is called "a Milo" and explains that in Digitopolis everything is named for what it is. He finds Milo's system of naming very difficult and wonders how anything gets done if the numbers all had their own names, and one had to do the sum of "Robert plus John." Milo asks which fork he should take to get to Digitopolis, and the Dodecahedron responds with a series of increasingly ridiculous story problems. When Milo points out how silly they are, the Dodecahedron remarks, "As long as the answer is right, who cares if the question is wrong?" Then he explains that none of the three roads is right and points out that it was foolish of Milo to assume that just because there were three choices one of them was right. The Dodecahedron offers to personally escort the travelers to Digitopolis and hops in the car with them. The Dodecahedron also tells the travelers where numbers come from. They're like jewels buried deep in the earth, and they have to be brought out through a mining process. To prove it, the Dodecahedron takes Milo, Tock, and the Humbug into a mine. Before they go in, the Dodecahedron asks Milo what he knows about numbers, and he replies by saying he doesn't think they're important. Infuriated, the Dodecahedron rants about how certain things cannot be (no "tea for two" without the two, or "three blind mice" without the three, etc.) or how one cannot know the measurements of certain things (high hopes, close calls, wide world and long lasts) without numbers. Inside, they meet the Mathemagician, an impressive man who carries a giant pencil that he uses as a wand. He helps further explain the numbers-focused philosophy of the realm. In Digitopolis, numbers are more important than words. The miners think numbers are the most special things of all. Even though their mine produces what we humans would think of as very valuable objects, like precious stones, the people of Digitopolis don't see the value in them. They only see the value of the numbers. In fact, the Mathemagician dismisses a huge pile of precious stones like they're trash. Instead, he turns his attention to something far more important: lunch.

Chapter Guide[]

< Unfortunate Conclusions (Chapter 13) | This Way to Infinity (Chapter 15)>