The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
lovely Lady I shall beg hard for a heart, for all ladies are themselves
said to be kindly hearted.”
But when the Woodman entered the great Throne Room he saw neither the
Head nor the Lady, for Oz had taken the shape of a most terrible Beast.
It was nearly as big as an elephant, and the green throne seemed hardly
strong enough to hold its weight. The Beast had a head like that of a
rhinoceros, only there were five eyes in its face. There were five long
arms growing out of its body, and it also had five long, slim legs.
Thick, woolly hair covered every part of it, and a more
dreadful-looking monster could not be imagined. It was fortunate the
Tin Woodman had no heart at that moment, for it would have beat loud
and fast from terror. But being only tin, the Woodman was not at all
afraid, although he was much disappointed.
“I am Oz, the Great and Terrible,” spoke the Beast, in a voice that was
one great roar. “Who are you, and why do you seek me?”
“I am a Woodman, and made of tin. Therefore I have no heart, and cannot
love. I pray you to give me a heart that I may be as other men are.”
“Why should I do this?” demanded the Beast.
“Because I ask it, and you alone can grant my request,” answered the
Woodman.
Oz gave a low growl at this, but said, gruffly: “If you indeed desire a
heart, you must earn it.”
“How?” asked the Woodman.
“Help Dorothy to kill the Wicked Witch of the West,” replied the Beast.
“When the Witch is dead, come to me, and I will then give you the
biggest and kindest and most loving heart in all the Land of Oz.”
So the Tin Woodman was forced to return sorrowfully to his friends and
tell them of the terrible Beast he had seen. They all wondered greatly
at the many forms the Great Wizard could take upon himself, and the
Lion said:
“If he is a Beast when I go to see him, I shall roar my loudest, and so
frighten him that he will grant all I ask. And if he is the lovely
Lady, I shall pretend to spring upon her, and so compel her to do my
bidding. And if he is the great Head, he will be at my mercy; for I
will roll this head all about the room until he promises to give us
what we desire. So be of good cheer, my friends, for all will yet be
well.”
The next morning the soldier with the green whiskers led the Lion to
the great Throne Room and bade him enter the presence of Oz.
The Lion at once passed through the door, and glancing around saw, to
his surprise, that before the throne was a Ball of Fire, so fierce and
glowing he could scarcely bear to gaze upon it. His first thought was
that Oz had by accident caught on fire and was burning up; but when he
tried to go nearer, the heat was so intense that it singed his
whiskers, and he crept back tremblingly to a spot nearer the door.
Then a low, quiet voice came from the Ball of Fire, and these were the
words it spoke:
“I am Oz, the Great and Terrible. Who are you, and why do you seek me?”
And the Lion answered, “I am a Cowardly Lion, afraid of everything. I
came to you to beg that you give me courage, so that in reality I may
become the King of Beasts, as men call me.”
“Why should I give you courage?” demanded Oz.
“Because of all Wizards you are the greatest, and alone have power to
grant my request,” answered the Lion.
The Ball of Fire burned fiercely for a time, and the voice said, “Bring
me proof that the Wicked Witch is dead, and that moment I will give you
courage. But as long as the Witch lives, you must remain a coward.”
The Lion was angry at this speech, but could say nothing in reply, and
while he stood silently gazing at the Ball of Fire it became so
furiously hot that he turned tail and rushed from the room. He was glad
to find his friends waiting for him, and told them of his terrible
interview with the Wizard.
“What shall we do now?” asked Dorothy sadly.
“There is only one thing we can do,” returned the Lion, “and that is to
go to the land of the Winkies, seek out the Wicked Witch, and destroy
her.”
“But suppose we cannot?” said the girl.
“Then I shall never have courage,” declared the Lion.
“And I shall never have brains,” added the Scarecrow.
“And I shall never have a heart,” spoke the Tin Woodman.
“And I shall never see Aunt Em and Uncle Henry,” said Dorothy,
beginning to cry.
“Be careful!” cried the green girl. “The tears will fall on your green
silk gown and spot it.”
So Dorothy dried her eyes and said, “I suppose we must try it; but I am
sure I do not want to kill anybody, even to see Aunt Em again.”
“I will go with you; but I’m too much of a coward to kill the Witch,”
said the Lion.
“I will go too,” declared the Scarecrow; “but I shall not be of much
help to you, I am such a fool.”
“I haven’t the heart to harm even a Witch,” remarked the Tin Woodman;
“but if you go I certainly shall go with you.”
Therefore it was decided to start upon their journey the next morning,
and the Woodman sharpened his axe on a green grindstone and had all his
joints properly oiled. The Scarecrow stuffed himself with fresh straw
and Dorothy put new paint on his eyes that he might see better. The
green girl, who was very kind to them, filled Dorothy’s basket with
good things to eat, and fastened a little bell around Toto’s neck with
a green ribbon.
They went to bed quite early and slept soundly until daylight, when
they were awakened by the crowing of a green cock that lived in the
back yard of the Palace, and the cackling of a hen that had laid a
green egg.
Chapter XII
The Search for the Wicked Witch
The soldier with the green whiskers led them through the streets of the
Emerald City until they reached the room where the Guardian of the
Gates lived. This officer unlocked their spectacles to put them back in
his great box, and then he politely opened the gate for our friends.
“Which road leads to the Wicked Witch of the West?” asked Dorothy.
“There is no road,” answered the Guardian of the Gates. “No one ever
wishes to go that way.”
“How, then, are we to find her?” inquired the girl.
“That will be easy,” replied the man, “for when she knows you are in
the country of the Winkies she will find you, and make you all her
slaves.”
“Perhaps not,” said the Scarecrow, “for we mean to destroy her.”
“Oh, that is different,” said the Guardian of the Gates. “No one has
ever destroyed her before, so I naturally thought she would make slaves
of you, as she has of the rest. But take care; for she is wicked and
fierce, and may not allow you to destroy her. Keep to the West, where
the sun sets, and you cannot fail to find her.”
They thanked him and bade him good-bye, and turned toward the West,
walking over fields of soft grass dotted here and there with daisies
and buttercups. Dorothy still wore the pretty silk dress she had put on
in the palace, but now, to her surprise, she found it was no longer
green, but pure white. The ribbon around Toto’s neck had also lost its
green color and was as white as Dorothy’s dress.
The Emerald City was soon left far behind. As they advanced the ground
became rougher and hillier, for there were no farms nor houses in this
country of the West, and the ground was untilled.
In the afternoon the sun shone hot in their faces, for there were no
trees to offer them shade; so that before night Dorothy and Toto and
the Lion were tired, and lay down upon the grass and fell asleep, with
the Woodman and the Scarecrow keeping watch.
Now the Wicked Witch of the West had but one eye, yet that was as
powerful as a telescope, and could see everywhere. So, as she sat in
the door of her castle, she happened to look around and saw Dorothy
lying asleep, with her friends all about her. They were a long distance
off, but the Wicked Witch was angry to find them in her country; so she
blew upon a silver whistle that hung around her neck.
At once there came running to her from all directions a pack of great
wolves. They had long legs and fierce eyes and sharp teeth.
“Go to those people,” said the Witch, “and tear them to pieces.”
“Are you not going to make them your slaves?” asked the leader of the
wolves.
“No,” she answered, “one is of tin, and one of straw; one is a girl and
another a Lion. None of them is fit to work, so you may tear them into
small pieces.”
“Very well,” said the wolf, and he dashed away at full speed, followed
by the others.
It was lucky the Scarecrow and the Woodman were wide awake and heard
the wolves coming.
“This is my fight,” said the Woodman, “so get behind me and I will meet
them as they come.”
He seized his axe, which he had made very sharp, and as the leader of
the wolves came on the Tin Woodman swung his arm and chopped the wolf’s
head from its body, so that it immediately died. As soon as he could
raise his axe another wolf came up, and he also fell under the sharp
edge of the Tin Woodman’s weapon. There were forty wolves, and forty
times a wolf was killed, so that at last they all lay dead in a heap
before the Woodman.
Then he put down his axe and sat beside the Scarecrow, who said, “It
was a good fight, friend.”
They waited until Dorothy awoke the next morning. The little girl was
quite frightened when she saw the great pile of shaggy wolves, but the
Tin Woodman told her all. She thanked him for saving them and sat down
to breakfast, after which they started again upon their journey.
Now this same morning the Wicked Witch came to the door of her castle
and looked out with her one eye that could see far off. She saw all her
wolves lying dead, and the strangers still traveling through her
country. This made her angrier than before, and she blew her silver
whistle twice.
Straightway a great flock of wild crows came flying toward her, enough
to darken the sky.
And the Wicked Witch said to the King Crow, “Fly at once to the
strangers; peck out their eyes and tear them to pieces.”
The wild crows flew in one great flock toward Dorothy and her
companions. When the little girl saw them coming she was afraid.
But the Scarecrow said, “This is my battle, so lie down beside me and
you will not be harmed.”
So they all lay upon the ground except the Scarecrow, and he stood up
and stretched out his arms. And when the crows saw him they were
frightened, as these birds always are by scarecrows, and did not dare
to come any nearer. But the King Crow said:
“It is only a stuffed man. I will peck his eyes out.”
The King Crow flew at the Scarecrow, who caught it by the head and
twisted its neck until it died. And then another crow flew at him, and
the Scarecrow twisted its neck also. There were forty crows, and forty
times the Scarecrow twisted a neck, until at last all were lying dead
beside him. Then he called to his companions to rise, and again they
went upon their journey.
When the Wicked Witch looked out again and saw all her crows lying in a
heap, she got into a terrible rage, and blew three times upon her
silver whistle.
Forthwith there was heard a great buzzing in the air, and a swarm of
black bees came flying toward her.
“Go to the strangers and sting them to death!” commanded the Witch, and
the bees turned and flew rapidly until they came to where Dorothy and
her friends were walking. But the Woodman had seen them coming, and the
Scarecrow had decided what to do.
“Take out my straw and scatter it over the little girl and the dog and
the Lion,” he said to the Woodman, “and the bees cannot sting them.”
This the Woodman did, and as Dorothy lay close beside the Lion and held
Toto in her arms, the straw covered them entirely.
The bees came and found no one but the Woodman to sting, so they flew
at him and broke off all their stings against the tin, without hurting
the Woodman at all. And as bees cannot live when their stings are