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The Silent Valley

 Milo, Tock, and the Humbug have gathered their courage and driven away from Dr.
Dischord.

 They know that they're about to get to the Valley of Sound, which should scare them, but
so far things don't seem that bad. Deep breath.

 After a few minutes, though, they figure out the problem. They've entered an area where
there aren't any sounds.

 They try to talk, but nothing happens. Their car doesn't make any noise, nor does the
outside world. This is like a bad dream!

 But they keep going and end up finding some people who have figured out how to
communicate without sound. They use signs to show the three visitors what the problem
is.

 Here's the story: their leader, the Soundkeeper, took sound away from them.

 They used to have all kinds of sounds, but didn't treat these sounds with enough
respect. People paid less attention to good sounds and more attention to bad ones.

 Eventually, Dr. Dischord and the DYNNE showed up, but they only made things worse
instead of better.

 So, the Soundkeeper kicked Dischord and DYNNE out, and then took all the sounds
away. That means that the people who live in the Valley live in constant silence.

 The people ask Milo for some help. If he can go into the Soundkeeper's fortress and
bring out just one little noise, they will be able to win back the rest.

 Milo's up for the challenge, so he goes into the fortress to meet the Soundkeeper.
Immediately, he feels better, because within the fortress there are sounds. He's happy to
be back somewhere more normal.
 The Soundkeeper's a pretty weird lady. She values silence as much as the people
outside her fortress are tired of it. At least, she says she does.

 She helps Milo explore the collection of sounds in the fortress, explaining where sounds
come from and how they are recorded for all time. She says that the sounds are saved
in the fortress for the good of the world. They are all automatically categorized and put in
order.
 She explains what sounds look like. For example, each time you clap your hands you
produce a piece of paper. Each of the sounds turns into a tiny object.

 Milo thinks of various ways to take a sound outside the vault – like asking for one
straight up, or trying to hide one in his pockets. But the Soundkeeper is wise to his ways
and she doesn't let it happen.

 At the end of their meeting, Milo asks why the Soundkeeper hides all the sounds. She
says that she doesn't want to let them out because she can't control how they'll be used.

 Milo is about to argue with her some more, but he stops: he realizes that he's holding the
sound of the next word he was going to speak ("but") in his mouth.

 He keeps his mouth shut and leaves.

CHAPTER 12: THE SILENT VALLEY

“And one enormous banner stated simply: HEAR HERE”. Identify the language
device used here.

In the words on the banner “HEAR HERE”, the author uses homophones because the
two words have the same pronunciation, but different spellings and meanings.
What decree does the Soundkeeper issue? Why did she issue it?

Since people had stopped appreciating sound, the Soundkeeper issued a decree
abolishing all sound in the valley.

What must Milo do to free sound in the Silent Valley?

To free sound Milo must bring one sound from the fortress which the people can use to
load their cannon. If the sound from the cannon reached the walls of the fortress, the
walls would collapse releasing all the sound stored in the vaults.

Mention one hardship that was reported to the Soundkeeper.

The people said that every day many difficulties were reported because of the absence
of sound. The hardships reported to the Soundkeeper included a concert without the
music or a thunderstorm without thunder.

What was Milo’s first impression of the Soundkeeper?

Milo’s first impression of the Soundkeeper was that, for a person who loves silence, she
certainly talks a great deal.

Which is the Soundkeeper’s favourite program?

The Soundkeeper’s favourite program was fifteen minutes of silence.

“Not very well, I’m afraid”. What illness was the Soundkeeper suffering from?

The Soundkeeper tells Milo that she was suffering from a touch of static.

Mention any two types of silence.

Some kinds of silence were the wonderful silence just before the dawn or the quiet and
calm just as a storm ends.

Why does the Soundkeeper say the telephone may be ringing in the parlour?

The Soundkeeper says the telephone may be ringing in the parlour because, since it
gets very lonely with no sounds to distribute or collect, she often phones herself seven
or eight times a day.

What does the sound of a drum beat look like?

What does the sound of a hand clap look like?

The sound of a hand clap looked like a single sheet of clean white paper.

What does the sound of the songs we often sing look like?

The sound of the songs we often sing looked like brightly coloured handkerchiefs.

What does the sound of laughter look like?

The Soundkeeper tells Milo that the sound of laughter looked like tiny brightly coloured
bubbles.

What do the sound of symphonies and concertos look like?

The sound of symphonies looked like large beautiful carpets, and concertos looked like
tapestries.

How does Milo find a way to carry sound out of the fortress?

When the Soundkeeper stubbornly insisted that she would not release sound, Milo
began to argue and almost told the Soundkeeper that she wasn’t being very fair. He
stopped speaking quite abruptly and the sound of the word ‘but’ remained trapped in his
mouth. This is how Milo found a way to carry sound out of the fortress.

CHAPTER 12: THE SILENT VALLEY

CHAPTER SUMMARY

As they drove along the highway, Milo thought the valley they were passing through
was very pleasant. He thinks there couldn’t be anything unpleasant about the valley.
Then they passed through a heavy stone gateway and everything was suddenly
different. 

Even though everything looked the same and smelled the same, nothing sounded the
same. 

When Milo tries to speak, although his lips moved, no sound came from his mouth.
Then he realized that he was surrounded by complete silence. The Humbug was
singing in complete silence and Tock was no longer ticking. It felt as if all the sound in
the world had been turned off at the same time. 

By then, they had driven into the middle of a large crowd of people who were marching
along the road. Some of the people in the crowd were holding large signs that said,
DOWN WITH SILENCE or MORE SOUND FOR ALL. A large banner simply said HEAR
HERE. 

In the words on the banner “HEAR HERE”, the author uses homophones because the
two words have the same pronunciation but different spellings and meanings. 

When Milo’s car stopped, someone from the crowd held up a placard saying
WELCOME TO THE VALLEY OF SOUND. Another person in the crowd held up a
placard asking if Milo had come to help them. 

By writing on a large blackboard the people in the crowd tell Milo, Tock and the Humbug
about their terrible misfortune. They explained why there was nothing but silence in the
Valley of Sound. 

They say that there was a great stone fortress where the Soundkeeper, the ruler of this
land lived. The Soundkeeper was appointed by the old king of Wisdom, to be the
guardian of all sounds and noises. 

For years, she ruled wisely and well. Each morning, at sunrise she would release the
day’s new sounds throughout the kingdom and each night she would gather the old
sounds to be stored in the storage vaults below the fortress. The Soundkeeper was
generous with sound and provided all the sound that could possibly be used. 

Everyone lived in peace but after some time, things began to change. More people
came to settle in the Valley of Sound and brought new sounds with them. Not all the
new sounds were pleasant. Soon the people became so busy that they barely had time
to listen to sounds at all. 

The Soundkeeper grew worried because each day there were fewer sounds to be
collected and most of the sounds were not worth keeping. 

Since people had stopped appreciating sound, the Soundkeeper issued a decree
abolishing all sound in the valley. The people in the crowd tell Milo that the Valley of
Sound has been silent ever since.  

The people said that every day several difficulties were reported because of the
absence of sound. These hardships included a concert without the music or a
thunderstorm without thunder. 
The people ask Milo to help them attack the Soundkeeper’s fortress and free sound.
They tell Milo that he must bring one sound from the fortress which they can use to load
their cannon. If the sound from the cannon reaches the walls of the fortress, they would
collapse releasing all the sound stored in the vaults. 

Milo thought for a moment and then volunteered to go to the fortress. When he reached
the door of the fortress, he wrote the words “knock knock” on a piece of paper and
pushed it under the door. When the doors swung open, he entered and a gentle voice
invited him into the parlour. 

Milo was happy to be able to hear his own voice inside the fortress. He meets the
Soundkeeper who was sitting in the parlour listening to an enormous radio. She tells
Milo that she was listening to her favourite program, which was fifteen minutes of
silence. 

The Soundkeeper tells Milo that there were as many kinds of stillness as there were
sounds. Some kinds of stillness were the wonderful silence just before the dawn or the
quiet and calm just as a storm ends. 

Milo’s first impression of the Soundkeeper was that, for a person who loves silence, she
certainly talks a great deal. 

When Milo notices that the telephone was ringing in the parlour, the Soundkeeper tells
him that she wasn’t going to answer it because it wasn’t important. She tells Milo that
because it gets very lonely with no sounds to distribute or collect, she often phones
herself seven or eight times a day. 

When Milo asks the Soundkeeper how she was, she says she wasn’t very well. She
tells him that she was suffering from a touch of static. 

The Soundkeeper tells Milo that since he has travelled so far, she must allow him to see
the vaults and takes him on a tour. She tells him that every sound ever made was
stored in the vaults and shows him how the sounds were collected and stored. 

When Milo asks the Soundkeeper for a sound to keep as a souvenir, at first, she
proudly agrees to let him have one, but then quickly changes her mind and tells him that
he can’t take a sound because it was against the rules. 

The Soundkeeper warns him not to try taking any sound from the vaults and kept a
careful eye on him. Milo was disappointed because he had no idea how he was going to
steal a sound from the fortress. 
Then, the Soundkeeper takes him to look at the workshops. She tells Milo that the
sounds were invented in the laboratory. She tells him that every sound had its own
exact shape and size. 

The Soundkeeper shows Milo some sounds. He sees the sound of drum beats and that
looked like large woolly, fluffy cotton balls. Milo also sees what a handclap looks like.
Every time he clapped his hands, a single sheet of clean white paper fluttered to the
floor. 

The Soundkeeper tells Milo that the sound of laughter looked like tiny brightly coloured
bubbles. 

When Milo asked how the sound of music looked, the Soundkeeper told him that
symphonies looked like large beautiful carpets, and concertos looked like tapestries.
The sound of the songs we often sing looked like brightly coloured handkerchiefs. 

As the Soundkeeper showed Milo the different sounds, she remembered sadly that the
workshop was once such a happy place. 

They returned to the parlour and the Soundkeeper tells Milo that she is not happy about
holding back the sound. When Milo asks her to release the sound again, the
Soundkeeper does not agree to do that because she thinks people will just use sound to
make horrible noises. 

When the Soundkeeper stubbornly insisted that she would not release sound, Milo
began to argue and almost told the Soundkeeper that she wasn’t being very fair. He
stopped speaking quite abruptly and the sound of the word ‘but’ remained trapped in his
mouth. Milo realized that he had found a way to carry sound out of the fortress. 

When the Soundkeeper tells him that he must be going on his way, Milo simply nodded
in farewell and raced out of the fortress.