The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
glances over her shoulder at the clumsy strangers, holding her nicked
elbow close to her side.
Dorothy was quite grieved at this mishap.
“We must be very careful here,” said the kind-hearted Woodman, “or we
may hurt these pretty little people so they will never get over it.”
A little farther on Dorothy met a most beautifully dressed young
Princess, who stopped short as she saw the strangers and started to run
away.
Dorothy wanted to see more of the Princess, so she ran after her. But
the china girl cried out:
“Don’t chase me! Don’t chase me!”
She had such a frightened little voice that Dorothy stopped and said,
“Why not?”
“Because,” answered the Princess, also stopping, a safe distance away,
“if I run I may fall down and break myself.”
“But could you not be mended?” asked the girl.
“Oh, yes; but one is never so pretty after being mended, you know,”
replied the Princess.
“I suppose not,” said Dorothy.
“Now there is Mr. Joker, one of our clowns,” continued the china lady,
“who is always trying to stand upon his head. He has broken himself so
often that he is mended in a hundred places, and doesn’t look at all
pretty. Here he comes now, so you can see for yourself.”
Indeed, a jolly little clown came walking toward them, and Dorothy
could see that in spite of his pretty clothes of red and yellow and
green he was completely covered with cracks, running every which way
and showing plainly that he had been mended in many places.
The Clown put his hands in his pockets, and after puffing out his
cheeks and nodding his head at them saucily, he said:
“My lady fair,
Why do you stare
At poor old Mr. Joker?
You’re quite as stiff
And prim as if
You’d eaten up a poker!”
“Be quiet, sir!” said the Princess. “Can’t you see these are strangers,
and should be treated with respect?”
“Well, that’s respect, I expect,” declared the Clown, and immediately
stood upon his head.
“Don’t mind Mr. Joker,” said the Princess to Dorothy. “He is
considerably cracked in his head, and that makes him foolish.”
“Oh, I don’t mind him a bit,” said Dorothy. “But you are so beautiful,”
she continued, “that I am sure I could love you dearly. Won’t you let
me carry you back to Kansas, and stand you on Aunt Em’s mantel? I could
carry you in my basket.”
“That would make me very unhappy,” answered the china Princess. “You
see, here in our country we live contentedly, and can talk and move
around as we please. But whenever any of us are taken away our joints
at once stiffen, and we can only stand straight and look pretty. Of
course that is all that is expected of us when we are on mantels and
cabinets and drawing-room tables, but our lives are much pleasanter
here in our own country.”
“I would not make you unhappy for all the world!” exclaimed Dorothy.
“So I’ll just say good-bye.”
“Good-bye,” replied the Princess.
They walked carefully through the china country. The little animals and
all the people scampered out of their way, fearing the strangers would
break them, and after an hour or so the travelers reached the other
side of the country and came to another china wall.
It was not so high as the first, however, and by standing upon the
Lion’s back they all managed to scramble to the top. Then the Lion
gathered his legs under him and jumped on the wall; but just as he
jumped, he upset a china church with his tail and smashed it all to
pieces.
“That was too bad,” said Dorothy, “but really I think we were lucky in
not doing these little people more harm than breaking a cow’s leg and a
church. They are all so brittle!”
“They are, indeed,” said the Scarecrow, “and I am thankful I am made of
straw and cannot be easily damaged. There are worse things in the world
than being a Scarecrow.”
Chapter XXI
The Lion Becomes the King of Beasts
After climbing down from the china wall the travelers found themselves
in a disagreeable country, full of bogs and marshes and covered with
tall, rank grass. It was difficult to walk without falling into muddy
holes, for the grass was so thick that it hid them from sight. However,
by carefully picking their way, they got safely along until they
reached solid ground. But here the country seemed wilder than ever, and
after a long and tiresome walk through the underbrush they entered
another forest, where the trees were bigger and older than any they had
ever seen.
“This forest is perfectly delightful,” declared the Lion, looking
around him with joy. “Never have I seen a more beautiful place.”
“It seems gloomy,” said the Scarecrow.
“Not a bit of it,” answered the Lion. “I should like to live here all
my life. See how soft the dried leaves are under your feet and how rich
and green the moss is that clings to these old trees. Surely no wild
beast could wish a pleasanter home.”
“Perhaps there are wild beasts in the forest now,” said Dorothy.
“I suppose there are,” returned the Lion, “but I do not see any of them
about.”
They walked through the forest until it became too dark to go any
farther. Dorothy and Toto and the Lion lay down to sleep, while the
Woodman and the Scarecrow kept watch over them as usual.
When morning came, they started again. Before they had gone far they
heard a low rumble, as of the growling of many wild animals. Toto
whimpered a little, but none of the others was frightened, and they
kept along the well-trodden path until they came to an opening in the
wood, in which were gathered hundreds of beasts of every variety. There
were tigers and elephants and bears and wolves and foxes and all the
others in the natural history, and for a moment Dorothy was afraid. But
the Lion explained that the animals were holding a meeting, and he
judged by their snarling and growling that they were in great trouble.
As he spoke several of the beasts caught sight of him, and at once the
great assemblage hushed as if by magic. The biggest of the tigers came
up to the Lion and bowed, saying:
“Welcome, O King of Beasts! You have come in good time to fight our
enemy and bring peace to all the animals of the forest once more.”
“What is your trouble?” asked the Lion quietly.
“We are all threatened,” answered the tiger, “by a fierce enemy which
has lately come into this forest. It is a most tremendous monster, like
a great spider, with a body as big as an elephant and legs as long as a
tree trunk. It has eight of these long legs, and as the monster crawls
through the forest he seizes an animal with a leg and drags it to his
mouth, where he eats it as a spider does a fly. Not one of us is safe
while this fierce creature is alive, and we had called a meeting to
decide how to take care of ourselves when you came among us.”
The Lion thought for a moment.
“Are there any other lions in this forest?” he asked.
“No; there were some, but the monster has eaten them all. And, besides,
they were none of them nearly so large and brave as you.”
“If I put an end to your enemy, will you bow down to me and obey me as
King of the Forest?” inquired the Lion.
“We will do that gladly,” returned the tiger; and all the other beasts
roared with a mighty roar: “We will!”
“Where is this great spider of yours now?” asked the Lion.
“Yonder, among the oak trees,” said the tiger, pointing with his
forefoot.
“Take good care of these friends of mine,” said the Lion, “and I will
go at once to fight the monster.”
He bade his comrades good-bye and marched proudly away to do battle
with the enemy.
The great spider was lying asleep when the Lion found him, and it
looked so ugly that its foe turned up his nose in disgust. Its legs
were quite as long as the tiger had said, and its body covered with
coarse black hair. It had a great mouth, with a row of sharp teeth a
foot long; but its head was joined to the pudgy body by a neck as
slender as a wasp’s waist. This gave the Lion a hint of the best way to
attack the creature, and as he knew it was easier to fight it asleep
than awake, he gave a great spring and landed directly upon the
monster’s back. Then, with one blow of his heavy paw, all armed with
sharp claws, he knocked the spider’s head from its body. Jumping down,
he watched it until the long legs stopped wiggling, when he knew it was
quite dead.
The Lion went back to the opening where the beasts of the forest were
waiting for him and said proudly:
“You need fear your enemy no longer.”
Then the beasts bowed down to the Lion as their King, and he promised
to come back and rule over them as soon as Dorothy was safely on her
way to Kansas.
Chapter XXII
The Country of the Quadlings
The four travelers passed through the rest of the forest in safety, and
when they came out from its gloom saw before them a steep hill, covered
from top to bottom with great pieces of rock.
“That will be a hard climb,” said the Scarecrow, “but we must get over
the hill, nevertheless.”
So he led the way and the others followed. They had nearly reached the
first rock when they heard a rough voice cry out, “Keep back!”
“Who are you?” asked the Scarecrow.
Then a head showed itself over the rock and the same voice said, “This
hill belongs to us, and we don’t allow anyone to cross it.”
“But we must cross it,” said the Scarecrow. “We’re going to the country
of the Quadlings.”
“But you shall not!” replied the voice, and there stepped from behind
the rock the strangest man the travelers had ever seen.
He was quite short and stout and had a big head, which was flat at the
top and supported by a thick neck full of wrinkles. But he had no arms
at all, and, seeing this, the Scarecrow did not fear that so helpless a
creature could prevent them from climbing the hill. So he said, “I’m
sorry not to do as you wish, but we must pass over your hill whether
you like it or not,” and he walked boldly forward.
As quick as lightning the man’s head shot forward and his neck
stretched out until the top of the head, where it was flat, struck the
Scarecrow in the middle and sent him tumbling, over and over, down the
hill. Almost as quickly as it came the head went back to the body, and
the man laughed harshly as he said, “It isn’t as easy as you think!”
A chorus of boisterous laughter came from the other rocks, and Dorothy
saw hundreds of the armless Hammer-Heads upon the hillside, one behind
every rock.
The Lion became quite angry at the laughter caused by the Scarecrow’s
mishap, and giving a loud roar that echoed like thunder, he dashed up
the hill.
Again a head shot swiftly out, and the great Lion went rolling down the
hill as if he had been struck by a cannon ball.
Dorothy ran down and helped the Scarecrow to his feet, and the Lion
came up to her, feeling rather bruised and sore, and said, “It is
useless to fight people with shooting heads; no one can withstand
them.”
“What can we do, then?” she asked.
“Call the Winged Monkeys,” suggested the Tin Woodman. “You have still
the right to command them once more.”
“Very well,” she answered, and putting on the Golden Cap she uttered
the magic words. The Monkeys were as prompt as ever, and in a few
moments the entire band stood before her.
“What are your commands?” inquired the King of the Monkeys, bowing low.
“Carry us over the hill to the country of the Quadlings,” answered the
girl.
“It shall be done,” said the King, and at once the Winged Monkeys
caught the four travelers and Toto up in their arms and flew away with
them. As they passed over the hill the Hammer-Heads yelled with
vexation, and shot their heads high in the air, but they could not
reach the Winged Monkeys, which carried Dorothy and her comrades safely
over the hill and set them down in the beautiful country of the
Quadlings.
“This is the last time you can summon us,” said the leader to Dorothy;