Galaxy Express 999 Chapter 078

## *石の花*

**The Tale of the Stone Flower** (*Ishi no Hana*) is the seventy-eighth chapter of the manga series *Galaxy Express 999**.* The chapter was originally published in two parts, spanning two weeks, but is collected as one whole in the tankōbon release. This is the first chapter to not receive an anime adaptation.

## Summary

A daughter asks her old father why he stands still and no longer moves. He tells her that he counts raindrops and meditates. The daughter begins to suspect that he’s losing his memory. He remembers his name:  Hinemaios. His daughter, Enya, asks other things about him, such as his age and his job, but he doesn’t remember much else. They both notice the Galaxy Express 999 arriving overhead.

Tetsuro says that the planet reminds him of Mayan or Incan ruins. Maetel that this planet is special because it combines cultures of ancient times and of those the galactic times. The conductor announces: The planet Mosaic, Andromeda’s paradise..stop time 33 hours, 33 minutes, 33 seconds. Tetsuro doesn’t seem impressed with the layout, as all he sees are stones. Maetel tells him that these stones are important to Mosaic’s civilization. The station is also in ruins, but Maetel tells Tetsuro to stop complaining!

Even the hotel is out in the open, with just a bathtub and a faucet. Tetsuro washes himself off, though he doesn’t like being out where everyone can see him…Suddenly the blocks Tetsuro’s on fall down! He wakes up underground and feels that he’s not alone. A voice calls out, telling him indeed that “we” are here too. The voices in the stones tell him that he’s going to be their slave, and will obey all of their commands.

Enya approaches Maetel, and says that she must save someone. In exchange, she can save the small boy who fell into the hole. Elsewhere, Hinemaios is tied up before a riot, and he seems confused. The rioters tell him that they are sick of his speeches. A large stone is about to be dropped onto him to kill him, but the stone explodes and he is quickly pulled away by Maetel. When she tells him that Tetsuro is underneath the stones, Hinemaios says that it could be his grave.

Hinemaios leads Maetel and Enya down a hidden path and find Tetsuro! Maetel notices he placed stones in a certain position, and he says he was told to do it. Hinemaios slaps the stones away and they begin to fall, nearly crushing him. The four escape and take a different exit at one of the planets highest points. Tetsuro is shocked to find a giant stone structure.. Hinemaios says that  a giant stone circuit covers the surface of the entire planet. Tetsuro shoots the tallest stone, making all of them crumble and break. Hinemaios says that he and Enya will look after them now, and Maetel says it’s all up to him.

Back at the 999, Tetsuro asks Maetel what she said to Hinemaios. She says those who think too much daily find themselves thinking about overly abstract ideas. Wouldn’t Tetsuro dislike it hearing the same thing every day?

*“The Great Hinemaios is a genius with intelligence at least a thousand times superior to that of Einstein. This did not prevent him from losing his name in spatial history... as “The Greatest Idiot of All Time"... it is also said that travelers laugh out loud when they pass near the planet and that they notice the stone flower of the planet Mosaic. But Tetsuro cares too little about all of this. Indeed, he was one of those to whom too much thought inflicted headaches. Among all the creatures in the universe, whether evolved or not, there are a number of them that are truly detestable. As a punishment, they are locked in a prison from where it is impossible to escape…”*

## Notes

* The chapter title and the ending of the story are based off of the ballet *The Tale of the Stone Flower,* created by Sergei Prokofiev, and in and of itself inspired by a Russian Ural folk tale by Pavel Bazhov.