They are able to communicate telepathically. Butt, so Haroun names it Butt the Hoopoe. They climb on its back and accelerate into space. Haroun picks the Hoopoe and Iff throws it out the window and into the water where it balloons into a huge bird. He pulls out a handful of tiny magical creatures. The Genie tells Haroun to pick a bird and give it a name and it will materialize. Haroun demands that the Water Genie take him there, and Iff reluctantly concedes in order to get his wrench back from Haroun. When Haroun protests, Iff tells him to take it up with the Walrus in Gup City, Kahani. The old man materializes and tells Haroun he is Iff, the Water Genie, and he must have the wrench to turn off the Story Stream for his father, Rashid. The old man drops a wrench, which Haroun confiscates. He finds an old man with an onion shaped head, who disappears as soon as he sees Haroun. Just as Haroun dozes off, he hears a noise in his bedroom.

The yacht is very luxurious, but both Rashid and Haroun have difficulty sleeping.

Haroun and Rashid reach the yacht that will take them to their destination the next day.

When the sea begins to rock, Haroun tells everyone to think good thoughts, and when they do, the sea calms. The mist smells very bad and Haroun realizes that it is a Mist of Misery brought on by his father's foul mood. As they depart on the lake, they are engulfed in a thick mist. Buttoo, the politician, who takes them to his boat on the Dull Lake. When they reach K, Haroun and Rashid meet Mr. When they reach the beautiful sights of the Valley of K, Rashid tells Haroun that it all reminds him of 'khattam-shud,' an ancient concept that means silence. Butt drives dangerously and Haroun is worried that he will die. Rashid makes a deal with Butt to drive them on the dangerous road between the Land of G and the Valley of K. It is driven by a parrot-looking man named Butt who stutters and speaks in riddles. Haroun and Rashid board a mail bus bound for the Valley of K. When Rashid attempts to tell his stories, however, no words come out, and the politicos get very mad.

Haroun finds it difficult to concentrate on schoolwork and so his father decides to take him on a storytelling job he is performing for some politicos in the Land of G and the Valley of K. In anger, Haroun assails his father for the uselessness of his stories. This neighbor had often been critical of Haroun's father, Rashid, because he did not understand the usefulness of stories. One day, Haroun arrives home from school to learn that his mother has run off with his upstairs neighbor. The novel opens in the sad city in the country of Alifbay, where Haroun Khalifa lives with his father, a famous storyteller, and his mother.

Haroun and the sea of stories