In Front of Sphinx
You are in the middle of a desert, standing in front of the colossal Sphinx of Jadidah. The air is stifling and oppressive. You may walk around the crouching leonine body of the sphinx to the southeast or southwest, or you may go between its immense paws to the south.

>GO SOUTH

Between Paws
You are between the immense stone paws of the colossal Sphinx of Jadidah. The air is noticably cooler here, as the stone walls tower
above you on either side and the huge head of the sphinx blocks out the sun entirely. The eyes of the sphinx seem to look down, staring at you. In front of you, directly beneath the sphinx's head, is a stone door leading south.

>OPEN THE DOOR

The door doesn't budge.

>PUSH THE DOOR

The door doesn't budge.

>KICK THE DOOR

You get a sore foot. The door doesn't budge.

>EXAMINE THE DOOR

The door stands eight feet tall and five feet wide, and is made of solid rock. Three hieroglyphic symbols are intricately carved onto the stone: a sun on top, a rodent's foot on the bottom, and an outline of a human hand in between.

>PUSH THE HIEROGLYPHIC SYMBOL

Which hieroglyphic symbol do you mean, the sun, the rodent's foot, or the outline of a human hand?

>OUTLINE

Nothing happens.

>INVENTORY:

You are carrying:
a walking stick
a box
The box contains:
a mirror
a rope
a box of matches
a pistol
two pieces of cheese
a canteen containing one sip of water

>NORTH

In Front of Sphinx

>TAKE THE MIRROR THEN EXAMINE IT

Taken.
The mirror is small, approximately four inches square and rests on a twilting, swivelling stand. The sun reflects brightly off the mirror onto your face.

>DROP THE MIRROR

Dropped.

>TILT THE MIRROR TOWARD THE SPHINX

The sun reflects brightly off the mirror onto the sphinx's face.

>TILT THE MIRROR TOWARD THE SUN HIEROGLYPH

The sun reflects brightly off the mirror onto the sun hieroglyph.

>SOUTH

Between Paws

>PUSH THE HUMAN HAND HIEROGLYPH

A small hole opens up next to the rodent's foot hieroglyph.

>LOOK INTO THE HOLE

It's as black as pitch in the hole; you can't see anything.

>LOOK AT THE DOOT

I don't know the word "doot".

>LOOK AT THE DOOR

The door stands eight feet tall and five feet wide, and is made of solid rock. Three hieroglyphic symbols are intricately carved onto the stone: a sun on top, a rodent's foot on the bottom, and an outline of a human hand in between. The sun's reflection from the mirror brightly illuminates the sun hierolyph. There's a small hole next to the rodent's foot hieroglyph.

>GO NORTH

As you step away, the small hole next to the rodent's foot hieroglyph closes.

In Front of Sphinx

There is a mirror here.

>SOUTHEAST

East of Sphinx's Head
You are in the middle of a desert, standing east of the head of the colossal Sphinx of Jadidah. The air is stifling and oppressive. The front of the sphinx is to the northwest, and its crouching leonine body continues to the south.

The sun is beating down on you.

>SOUTH

East of Sphinx
You are in the middle of a desert, standing east of the colossal Sphinx of Jadidah. The air is stifling and oppressive. The front of the sphinx is to the north, and the back of the sphinx is to the south.

The sun is getting hotter, making you very thirsty.

>FIND A RODENT

Find it yourself.

The sun is getting hotter, making you very thirsty.

>WHERE IS WATER?

There is one sip of water in your canteen. There's also nice, blue, cool lake to the east.

>RUN EAST

Edge of Oasis
There is a nice blue cool lake right in front of you.

>DRINK THE WATER FROM THE LAKE

You crouch down, put your face close to the edge of the lake, bring your lips right up to the cool water's surface... and the water disappears and turns into sand. The lake was a mirage.

You are very, very thirsty.

>LOOK AROUND

Desert
You are in the middle of the desert. The air is stifling and oppressive. The colossal Sphinx of Jadidah lies to the west.

You're so thirsty you may pass out...

>DRINK THE WATER FROM THE CANTEEN

You take the canteen from the box and open it. Gulp! Ahhh...
Your canteen is now empty.

>SOUTHWEST

East of Back Haunches
You are in the middle of a desert, standing east of the back haunches of the colossal Sphinx of Jadidah. The air is stifling and oppressive. The front of the sphinx is to the north, and the back of the sphinx is to the southwest. Part of the sphinx has cracked here, so there's a small crevice to the west.

The sun is beating down on you.

>WEST

Inside Crevice
You are in a small crevice on the eastern side of the sphinx.You're grateful to be out of the sun. You notice tiny animal tracks in the sand all over the floor of the crevice.

>I

You are carrying:
a walking stick
an empty canteen
a box
The box contains:
a rope
a pistol
a box of matches
two pieces of cheese

>TAKE ONE PIECE OF CHEESE AND THE PISTOL. DROP THE ONE PIECE OF CHEESE

one piece of chesses: Taken.
pistol: Taken.

Dropped.

>WAIT

Time passes...
After a moment, a mouselike rodent comes out of a small hole at the base of the wall. It sniffs the air, scampers to the cheese, and starts eating it.

>SHOOT THE MOUSELIKE RODENT WITH THE PISTOL

Fortunately for the mouselike rodent, your pistol isn't loaded.

>GRAB THE RODENT

You reach for the mouselike rodent, but you're too slow. It scampers back into its small hole, cheese in mouth.

>TAKE THE ROPE, ONE PIECE OF CHEESE, MATCHES

rope: Taken.
one piece of cheese: Taken.
box of matches: Taken.

>TIE THE ROPE TO THE WALKING STICK

The rope is now tied to the walking stick.

>LEAN THE WALKING STICK ON THE WALL

The walking stick is now leaning against the wall.

>LEAN THE BOX AGAINST THE WALKING STICK

The box is now leaning against the walking stick.

>PUT CHEESE UNDER THE BOX

The one piece of cheese is now lying under the box.

>Z

Time passes...
After a moment, a mouselike rodent comes out of a small hole at the base of the wall. It sniffs the air, scampers to the cheese, and starts eating it.

>BLOCK THE SMALL HOLE WITH THE CANTEEN

The canteen is now lying in front of the small hole.

>PULL THE ROPE

As you pull the rope, the walking stick falls down. Simultaneously, the box falls on top of the mouselike rodent, trapping it inside.

>TAKE THE RODENT

As you lift up the box, the mouselike rodent runs toward its small hole. However, when it sees the canteen in its way, it stops, obviously frightened and confused.

>TAKE THE RODENT

Taken.

>E.N.N.NW.S

East of Back Haunches

East of Sphinx

East of Sphinx's Head

In Front of Sphinx
There is a mirror here.

Between Paws

>TOUCH THE HAND HIEROGLYPH

A small hole opens up next to the rodent's foot hieroglyph.

>PUT THE RODENT INTO THE SMALL HOLE

As you put the rodent in the small hole, the ground starts to shake and rumble violently, and the face of the sphinx above you start to crumble.

>PUSH THE DOOR

The stone door slides open easily, revealing a huge stone stairway leading down. The ground is shaking and rumbling more violently now, and stones are crumbling down all around you.

>GO INTO THE SPHINX

Top of Stairs
As you step into the sphinx at the top of the stairway, the entire head of the sphinx crashes down outside, forever blocking that entrance (and, you realize, exit), and shutting off all outside light. You are in total darkness, trapped inside the sphinx.