It is the Silver City of Amarganth in
by Michael Ende.
Bastian, in his search for Atreyu, the boy who went through many struggles to save Fantastica from the "Nothing" learns that there is a tournament and finds the Silver City of Amarganth, a beautiful city in the middle of Moru, the Lake of Tears.
When Bastian enters Amarganth they tell him the history of the city. The people have always been the ballad singers and storytellers of Fantastica. Word has gone around that Bastian is famous for his stories. There are very few stories and none of the Amarganthians has the ability to make up any new ones, so they ask Bastian if he will tell them some new stories. He joyfully agrees to give them all the stories he has ever told, for he can always think up new ones. Chairs are gathered around and Bastian begins by telling them that since it would take weeks and months to tell all of his stories he will tell them a story that contains all the others in it.
It's called "The Story of the Library of Amarganth." He tells them the entire history of their city and how it came to be. They had always wondered about the locked building inthe center of their city and now they know it is their library. Bastian is the only one who can open it and he does by interpreting the inscription in the center of the door. As they enter, followed by attendants with lamps, they see that the walls of books are divided into sections, bearing signs such as "Funny Stories,"Exciting Stories," and so on. In the center of the circular chamber, the floor is inlaid mosaic with the inscription so large that no one could fail to see it:
Bastian Balthazar Bux
This is only a small part of one of the many unique and exciting stories in the twenty-six chapter book (a chapter for each letter of the alphabet). Nearly every chapter ends with:
Below are a few of the stories, but only the ones that are not in any of the movies. There is a large section of the book in the middle that was in neither movie and, I think, these are some of the best parts of the book!!!
