The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Frank Baum
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Language: English
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ ***
by
L. Frank Baum
Contents
Introduction
1. The Cyclone
2. The Council with the Munchkins
3. How Dorothy Saved the Scarecrow
4. The Road Through the Forest
5. The Rescue of the Tin Woodman
6. The Cowardly Lion
7. The Journey to the Great Oz
8. The Deadly Poppy Field
9. The Queen of the Field Mice
10. The Guardian of the Gates
11. The Emerald City of Oz
12. The Search for the Wicked Witch
13. The Rescue
14. The Winged Monkeys
15. The Discovery of Oz, the Terrible
16. The Magic Art of the Great Humbug
17. How the Balloon Was Launched
18. Away to the South
19. Attacked by the Fighting Trees
20. The Dainty China Country
21. The Lion Becomes the King of Beasts
22. The Country of the Quadlings
23. Glinda The Good Witch Grants Dorothy's Wish
24. Home Again
Introduction
Folklore, legends, myths and fairy tales have followed childhood through the ages, for every
healthy youngster has a wholesome and instinctive love for stories fantastic, marvelous and
manifestly unreal. The winged fairies of Grimm and Andersen have brought more happiness to
childish hearts than all other human creations.
Yet the old time fairy tale, having served for generations, may now be classed as "historical" in the
children's library; for the time has come for a series of newer "wonder tales" in which the
stereotyped genie, dwarf and fairy are eliminated, together with all the horrible and blood-curdling
incidents devised by their authors to point a fearsome moral to each tale. Modern education includes
morality; therefore the modern child seeks only entertainment in its wonder tales and gladly
dispenses with all disagreeable incident.
Having this thought in mind, the story of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" was written solely to
please children of today. It aspires to being a modernized fairy tale, in which the wonderment and
joy are retained and the heartaches and nightmares are left out.
L. Frank Baum
Chicago, April, 1900.
1. The Cyclone
Dorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies, with Uncle Henry, who was a farmer, and
Aunt Em, who was the farmer's wife. Their house was small, for the lumber to build it had to be
carried by wagon many miles. There were four walls, a floor and a roof, which made one room; and
this room contained a rusty looking cookstove, a cupboard for the dishes, a table, three or four
chairs, and the beds. Uncle Henry and Aunt Em had a big bed in one corner, and Dorothy a little bed
in another corner. There was no garret at all, and no cellar--except a small hole dug in the ground,
called a cyclone cellar, where the family could go in case one of those great whirlwinds arose,
mighty enough to crush any building in its path. It was reached by a trap door in the middle of the
floor, from which a ladder led down into the small, dark hole.
When Dorothy stood in the doorway and looked around, she could see nothing but the great gray
prairie on every side. Not a tree nor a house broke the broad sweep of flat country that reached to
the edge of the sky in all directions. The sun had baked the plowed land into a gray mass, with little
cracks running through it. Even the grass was not green, for the sun had burned the tops of the long
blades until they were the same gray color to be seen everywhere. Once the house had been painted,
but the sun blistered the paint and the rains washed it away, and now the house was as dull and gray
as everything else.
When Aunt Em came there to live she was a young, pretty wife. The sun and wind had changed her,
too. They had taken the sparkle from her eyes and left them a sober gray; they had taken the red
from her cheeks and lips, and they were gray also. She was thin and gaunt, and never smiled now.
When Dorothy, who was an orphan, first came to her, Aunt Em had been so startled by the child's
laughter that she would scream and press her hand upon her heart whenever Dorothy's merry voice
reached her ears; and she still looked at the little girl with wonder that she could find anything to
laugh at.
Uncle Henry never laughed. He worked hard from morning till night and did not know what joy
was. He was gray also, from his long beard to his rough boots, and he looked stern and solemn, and
rarely spoke.
It was Toto that made Dorothy laugh, and saved her from growing as gray as her other
surroundings. Toto was not gray; he was a little black dog, with long silky hair and small black eyes
that twinkled merrily on either side of his funny, wee nose. Toto played all day long, and Dorothy
played with him, and loved him dearly.
Today, however, they were not playing. Uncle Henry sat upon the doorstep and looked anxiously at
the sky, which was even grayer than usual. Dorothy stood in the door with Toto in her arms, and
looked at the sky too. Aunt Em was washing the dishes.
From the far north they heard a low wail of the wind, and Uncle Henry and Dorothy could see
where the long grass bowed in waves before the coming storm. There now came a sharp whistling
in the air from the south, and as they turned their eyes that way they saw ripples in the grass coming
from that direction also.
Suddenly Uncle Henry stood up.
"There's a cyclone coming, Em," he called to his wife. "I'll go look after the stock." Then he ran
toward the sheds where the cows and horses were kept.
Aunt Em dropped her work and came to the door. One glance told her of the danger close at hand.
"Quick, Dorothy!" she screamed. "Run for the cellar!"
Toto jumped out of Dorothy's arms and hid under the bed, and the girl started to get him. Aunt Em,
badly frightened, threw open the trap door in the floor and climbed down the ladder into the small,
dark hole. Dorothy caught Toto at last and started to follow her aunt. When she was halfway across
the room there came a great shriek from the wind, and the house shook so hard that she lost her
footing and sat down suddenly upon the floor.
Then a strange thing happened.
The house whirled around two or three times and rose slowly through the air. Dorothy felt as if she
were going up in a balloon.
The north and south winds met where the house stood, and made it the exact center of the cyclone.
In the middle of a cyclone the air is generally still, but the great pressure of the wind on every side
of the house raised it up higher and higher, until it was at the very top of the cyclone; and there it
remained and was carried miles and miles away as easily as you could carry a feather.
It was very dark, and the wind howled horribly around her, but Dorothy found she was riding quite
easily. After the first few whirls around, and one other time when the house tipped badly, she felt as
if she were being rocked gently, like a baby in a cradle.
Toto did not like it. He ran about the room, now here, now there, barking loudly; but Dorothy sat
quite still on the floor and waited to see what would happen.
Once Toto got too near the open trap door, and fell in; and at first the little girl thought she had lost
him. But soon she saw one of his ears sticking up through the hole, for the strong pressure of the air
was keeping him up so that he could not fall. She crept to the hole, caught Toto by the ear, and
dragged him into the room again, afterward closing the trap door so that no more accidents could
happen.
Hour after hour passed away, and slowly Dorothy got over her fright; but she felt quite lonely, and
the wind shrieked so loudly all about her that she nearly became deaf. At first she had wondered if
she would be dashed to pieces when the house fell again; but as the hours passed and nothing
terrible happened, she stopped worrying and resolved to wait calmly and see what the future would
bring. At last she crawled over the swaying floor to her bed, and lay down upon it; and Toto
followed and lay down beside her.
In spite of the swaying of the house and the wailing of the wind, Dorothy soon closed her eyes and
fell fast asleep.
The little old woman took the slate from her nose, and having read the words on it, asked, "Is your
name Dorothy, my dear?"
"Yes," answered the child, looking up and drying her tears.
"Then you must go to the City of Emeralds. Perhaps Oz will help you."
"Where is this city?" asked Dorothy.
"It is exactly in the center of the country, and is ruled by Oz, the Great Wizard I told you of."
"Is he a good man?" inquired the girl anxiously.
"He is a good Wizard. Whether he is a man or not I cannot tell, for I have never seen him."
"How can I get there?" asked Dorothy.
"You must walk. It is a long journey, through a country that is sometimes pleasant and sometimes
dark and terrible. However, I will use all the magic arts I know of to keep you from harm."
"Won't you go with me?" pleaded the girl, who had begun to look upon the little old woman as her
only friend.
"No, I cannot do that," she replied, "but I will give you my kiss, and no one will dare injure a person
who has been kissed by the Witch of the North."
She came close to Dorothy and kissed her gently on the forehead. Where her lips touched the girl
they left a round, shining mark, as Dorothy found out soon after.
"The road to the City of Emeralds is paved with yellow brick," said the Witch, "so you cannot miss
it. When you get to Oz do not be afraid of him, but tell your story and ask him to help you. Good-
bye, my dear."
The three Munchkins bowed low to her and wished her a pleasant journey, after which they walked
away through the trees. The Witch gave Dorothy a friendly little nod, whirled around on her left
heel three times, and straightway disappeared, much to the surprise of little Toto, who barked after
her loudly enough when she had gone, because he had been afraid even to growl while she stood by.
But Dorothy, knowing her to be a witch, had expected her to disappear in just that way, and was not
surprised in the least.
"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."
*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ ***
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