He paused for effect then continued, wagging his finger for emphasis: “Remember that you must never go further North without being accompanied by a teacher. Otherwise you may end up in serious trouble.”
Another pause, to let his words sink in.
“The courtyard where we are standing now is like a pass between the two mountains. In the middle please observe an artefact, which in truth you should not go near without a teacher either.”
The children were already gazing at the artefact, making little 'oohs' and 'aahs' of amazement. In the middle of the round courtyard, it rose as high as a tall tree. It had multiple moving gears - small ones driving larger ones - and it made a tremendous clanking and thumping noise.
Muko caught Amartia's eye but she couldn't tell what he meant. He also glanced at Paidia and Gelio but they were laughing and joking about whose snoring was as loud or louder than the noise made by the gears. So Muko turned back to Amartia, pointed at the artefact and said:
“This could be what the book was talking about.”