Chapter 8 4

Hearing this, everyone turned their heads and looked in amazement at the scarecrow's head, which was lying on the back of the nest. "I am ruined!" said the Scarecrow, seeing their astonishment. "Because the straw that made my body went somewhere?" The dreaded question stunned them all.They looked into the nest tremblingly, but there was not even a straw.The crows stole it whole and dropped it in a ravine a few hundred feet below the nest. "My poor, poor friend!" said the Tin Woodman, taking up the Scarecrow's head, and stroking it gently. "Who would have thought that this would end to you?"

"I did it to save my friend," replied the head, "and I am glad to have died so noble and disinterested." "Why are you so discouraged?" asked the cockroach. "Aren't the scarecrow's clothes still in good condition?" "Yes," said the Tin Woodman, "but our friend's clothes are of no use without material." "Why not use money for materials?" Tip asked. "Money!" Everyone yelled in surprise. "Of course," said the boy. "On the bottom of the nest, there are thousands of bills--twos--fives--ten's and twenty-dollars, and fifty-dollar bills. There's enough material for more than a dozen scarecrows. Why don't you use banknotes?"

The Tin Woodman began to rummage through the rubbish with the handle of his axe; indeed, what they thought to be useless paper was at last found to be all kinds of banknotes from which the mischievous crows had been for years Stolen from villages and cities. There was indeed a great fortune in this nest which no one could get into, and with the permission of the Scarecrow they quickly picked out all the newest and cleanest notes and piled them up separately.The scarecrow's left leg and boot are full of five-dollar bills, his right leg is full of ten-dollar bills, and his body is full of fifty, hundred, and thousand-dollar bills, His tunic was barely buttonable.

"Now," said the cockroach with emotion when the task was completed, "you are the most valuable member of our team; however, you are among a group of very loyal friends, so there is no need to fear that you will be taken away. Spend it." "Thank you," said the Scarecrow gratefully. "I feel like a newcomer again, and though, at first glance, I might be mistaken for a safe, I ask you to remember, however, that my brain is still made of the same stuff. That's what works best thing." "Well, there's an emergency right now," said Tip, "and unless your brains help, we're going to have to spend the rest of our lives in this nest."

"How about these hope pills?" asked the Scarecrow, taking the box from his pocket. "Why don't we use it to escape?" "Unless we can count to seventeen two by two," said the Tin Woodman. "Our friend the cockroach claims to be fully educated, so he should know how to count." "It's not an educational question," replied the insect, "it's just a math question. I saw the professor do a lot of exercises on the blackboard, and he said that any number can be written with X'S and Y'S and A'S and some symbols like this instead, and then put them together for addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and so on.

But as far as I can remember, he never explained how to count the odd seventeen by two. " "Stop it! Stop it!" the Pumpkin Man yelled. "You just give me a headache." "My head hurts too," said the Scarecrow. "Your math looks to me like a messy jar of pickles—the more you try to get what you want, the less you end up getting it. I'm sure if this problem can be solved, it will It must be by a very simple method." "Yeah," said Tip, "old Moby couldn't use X'S and subtraction because she never went to school." "Why not cut it in half and count?" said the Trojan Horse suddenly. "Then anyone can easily count to seventeen by two."

Everyone looked at me and I looked at you in surprise. Everyone thought the Trojan horse was the stupidest one among them. "You make me feel very ashamed," said the Scarecrow, bowing low to the Horse. "It doesn't matter, what it said is right," said the cockroach, "because two and a half is one, as long as one is solved, it will be easy to count to seventeen with two and a half." "I wonder why I didn't think of that myself," said the Pumpkin Man. "Neither did I," said the Scarecrow. "You're not smarter than the rest of us, are you?

Now, let's make a wish come true right now.Who will take the first pill? " "How about you swallow it," said Tip. "I can't," said the Scarecrow. "Why not? You have a mouth, don't you?" the boy asked. "Yes, but I have a painted mouth so it can't swallow," replied the Scarecrow. "Actually, among us, only boys and cockroaches can swallow things." Since it is so, Tip said: "Then, I am willing to bear the first wish. Please give me a silver pill." The Scarecrow wanted to give him one, but his gloved hands were too clumsy to lift such a small thing, so he handed the box to the boy, and Tip picked one and swallowed it.

"Quickly count!" cried the Scarecrow. "Half one, one, three, five, seven, nine, eleven, thirteen, fifteen, seventeen!" Tip counted. "Now, say your wish!" said the Tin Woodman anxiously. But at that moment the boy began to feel terrible pain and he was terrified. "The pill has poisoned me!" he cried, "Ah-yo! Oo-oh...! Ooh! murder!Burn it!Ouch! "He rolled desperately in the bird's nest, and everyone was petrified by the scene. "What can we do for you? Speak cheerfully, I beg you!" said the Tin Woodman, weeping tears of sympathy.

"I...I don't know either!" Tip said. "Ouch! I wish I hadn't swallowed that pill!" Immediately, the pain stopped, and the boy stood up again, and he found the Scarecrow looking at the pepper box in amazement. "What's going on?" the boy asked, a little embarrassed by what he had just done. "Hey, there are three pills in the box again!" said the Scarecrow. "Of course it should be three," said the cockroach. "Didn't Tip just wish he'd never swallowed that pill? Well, wish granted, he didn't take that one. So all three pills are in the box."

"Maybe so, but the pill hurts me badly, all the same," said the boy. "It can't be the same!" said the cockroach. "If you never swallowed the pill, it can't hurt you. And if your wish comes true, it proves that you didn't swallow the pill, and it's clear that you don't feel pain." "Then it's a hypothetical pain," Tip said angrily. "Try the next one yourself if you don't believe me. We've already wasted a wish anyway." "Oh no, we didn't waste it!" retorted the Scarecrow. "There are still three pills in this box, and each pill can say a wish." "Now, you guys are giving me a headache," Tip said. "I don't have a clue what the hell is going on. But I won't take another pill again, I swear!" And he sat down. "Okay," said the roach, "now let me, the highly magnified and fully educated, save everyone, please give me a pill!" It swallowed the medicine without hesitation, and everyone stood aside admiring its courage, while the insects counted to seventeen two by two, as Tip had just done.But I don't know why, maybe the cockroach's stomach is stronger than the boy's, and the silver pill didn't make it feel pain. "I hope that the broken wings of the monster head will be repaired, as good as new ones!" The cockroach said slowly and in a touching voice. Everyone turned their heads to look at the thing, and sure enough, a wish came true soon. The completely repaired monster head stood in front of them, as if it had come to life on the roof of the palace for the first time and could fly in the sky. Scarecrow turns to kind Glinda "Wow!" the Scarecrow exclaimed happily. "Now, we can leave Crow's Nest whenever we want." "But it's getting dark again," said the Tin Woodman, "and we'd better wait until daylight, or we'll be in trouble again. I hate traveling at night, because no one knows what will happen." So they decided to wait until dawn.At this time, these adventurers took advantage of the twilight light to find treasure in the crow's nest for entertainment. The Cockroach found a pair of gold bracelets, which fitted just fine on his thin arms.Scarecrows love rings, and there are plenty of them in the den.After a while, he found a suitable one for each finger.If that wasn't enough, he put another one on each thumb.Now the scarecrow's hand looks golden because the rings he has carefully selected have shiny stones such as rubies, amethysts and sapphires. "This nest would be a good place for Queen Geyure," he said wryly, "for as far as I know, she and her girls overcame me only to rob my city of jewels." The Tin Woodman was so pleased with his diamond necklace that he wanted no other ornaments; and Tip found a fine gold watch with a chain, which Tip carried proudly in his pocket. He fastened several jeweled brooches to the pumpkin man's red vest, and tied a long-handled spectacles as a chain around the horse's neck. "It's beautiful," said the Trojan Horse approvingly. "What's it for?" None of them could answer the question, however, and the Trojan Horse, certain that it was a rare ornament, became very fond of it. They didn't forget the monster's head either, and in the end they put some big signet rings on the monster's antlers, though the monster wasn't interested in that. It was getting dark quickly, and Tip and the cockroaches went to bed, while the others sat down and waited patiently for daylight. At dawn the next day, a large flock of crows came to take back the nest. They scrambled into the sofa seat before the crow arrived, and Tip ordered the monster to go. It immediately flew into the air, with four big wings flapping regularly.In a few minutes they were far from the crow's nest, and a flock of chattering crows, having got their nest, gave up pursuing them. The thing was heading north, flying back in the direction it came from.At least, this is the opinion of the Scarecrow, and everyone else believes that the Scarecrow's judgment on the direction is the most correct.After flying over some cities and villages, the monster head took them over a great plain where the houses became rarer and finally disappeared altogether.Then they flew over the great desert that separated Oz from the rest of the world, and before noon they saw the cupolas, which proved that they had returned to their native land. "But the houses and the fences are blue," said the Tin Woodman, "which shows that we are in the country of Mankikan, which is far from good Glinda." "Then what shall we do?" the boys turned to their guide. "I don't know," answered the Scarecrow frankly. "If we were in the Emerald City, then we could fly directly to the south and reach our destination. But we dare not go to the Emerald City. The monster may fly farther and farther away." "Then the cockroach has to swallow another pill," Tip decided. "Hope we're going in the right direction." "Well," replied the highly magnified cockroach, "perfectly." But when the Scarecrow felt in his pocket for the pepper box containing the two silver pills, he realized that it was gone.All the travelers anxiously searched every nook and cranny of the seats, but there was not even a shadow of the treasure box. The monster continued to fly forward, leading them to places they didn't know. "I must have dropped the pepper-box in the crow's nest," said the Scarecrow at last. "That is very unfortunate," said the Tin Woodman. "Still, we're no worse off than we were before the Hope Pill was discovered." "We're better off now," said Tip, "because the pill got us out of that horrible nest." "Nevertheless, the loss of the other two is serious, and I should be scolded for my carelessness," said the Scarecrow regretfully. "Because, in our unusual company, accidents are always possible, and even now we may encounter new dangers." No one dared to deny this, and there was a melancholy silence. The monster head continued to fly smoothly. Suddenly Tip cried out in surprise. "We must be in the Southland," he cried, "because everything is red beneath us!" Immediately, everyone climbed on the back of the sofa and looked down—except Jack, who was afraid that his pumpkin head would fall off his neck and break.Verily, the red house, the red hedge, and the mangrove tree, all these testified that they had come to good Glinda's country; , the monster head reduced the flying speed, so that they could land in front of the great witch's palace. "Okay!" the Scarecrow yelled happily. "Now we don't need to hope for a pill because I've reached my destination." Slowly, slowly, the monster head descended, and finally, smoothly landed on a velvety green lawn in Glinda's beautiful garden.Next to the lawn there is a fountain that does not spray water, but sprays sparkling gems into the air. The gems make a soft and clear sound and fall into a basin made of marble. Everything was very beautiful in Glinda's garden.While our travelers were looking around in admiration, a group of female soldiers quietly appeared and surrounded them.However, the soldiers of the Great Witch are very different from the rebel Jiyul's army. They are well-trained, and they all wear neat military uniforms, with swords and spears. Commanding this army was Glinda's captain of the guard, and she recognized the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman at once, and greeted them with respect. "Hello!" The scarecrow took off his hat courteously, but the woodcutter saluted the soldier. "We have come to meet your beautiful ruler." "Glinda is waiting for you in the palace now," said the Captain, "and she saw you coming before you arrived." "That's very strange!" said Tip in amazement. "Not at all strange," said the Scarecrow, "for good Glinda is a capable witch, and nothing that happens in the land of Oz escapes her eyes. She also knows why we are here, I think." "Then what's the use of us coming here?" Jack asked foolishly. "To prove you're a Pumpkin!" said the Scarecrow. "But since the witch is expecting us, we shouldn't keep her waiting." So they all climbed out of the sofa, and followed the captain toward the palace—even the wooden horse joined the strange procession. Glinda sat on her golden throne, and could not help smiling as the curious visitors came in and bowed to her.She knew the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman and liked them; but the clumsy Pumpkin Man and the highly enlarged cockroach, which she had never seen before, seemed odder than the rest.As for the wooden horse, it was nothing more than a living, solid wooden horse, and it bowed so stiffly that it banged its head on the ground "Bang! Bang!" to the laughter of the soldiers, even Glinda. laugh it out. "I report to your lord," began the Scarecrow in a solemn voice, "that my Emerald City has been taken by impudent girls with knitting needles, who have enslaved all men and robbed streets and public buildings. all the gems on it, and took my throne." "I see," Glinda said. "And they threatened to kill me and these good friends you saw before you," went on the Scarecrow, "if we had not escaped their clutches, we would have perished long ago." "I see," Glinda said. "Therefore I come to you," said the Scarecrow, "for you are always ready to save the unfortunate and the downtrodden." "It is so," answered the Witch slowly. "However, Emerald City is now under the rule of General Jill, and she claims to be the queen. What right do I have against her?" "Oh, she took the throne from me," said the Scarecrow. "And how did you get the throne?" Glinda asked. "I got it from the Wizard of Oates, and was chosen by the people," said the Scarecrow uneasily. "And where did the wizard get the throne?" she continued gravely. "I heard he got it from Pastoril, the former king," said the Scarecrow, puzzled by the seriousness of the Witch's expression. "Then," said Glinda, "the throne of the Emerald City belongs neither to you nor to Jill, but to Pastoril." "It is so," admitted the Scarecrow humbly, "but Pastoril is dead, and someone must take care of his place." "Pastoreil has a daughter, and she is the rightful heir to the throne of the Emerald City. Did you know that?" the witch asked. "I don't know," replied the Scarecrow. "But if the girl is still alive, I won't hinder her. As long as such a fraudster as Jiul is driven out, I will be as satisfied as if I were restored to the throne.Actually, being king is no fun, but where is the girl?what is her name " "Her name is Otsma," Glinda said. "However, I couldn't find where she was. For, after the Wizard of Ots had stolen the throne from Otsma's father, he hid the girl in a secret place; and by a magic which I was not familiar with, no one could find her--even Even experienced witches like me couldn't find it. " "That's strange," interposed the cockroach. "I've heard that the great Wizard of Oates is nothing but a liar!" "Nonsense!" cried the Scarecrow, enraged by the words. "Isn't he giving me such a good brain?" "I have no liar in my heart," said the Tin Woodman, looking at the Cockroach with pride. "Maybe I misheard," the insect stammered, drawing back, "I never knew the wizard himself." "But we know each other," said the Scarecrow, "and, I assure you, he is a very great wizard. Of course, he has done some deceitful things, but if he is not a great wizard, how can he put Miss Otzma is so well hidden that no one can find her?" "I——I admit defeat!" the cockroach said gently. "That's the wisest thing you've ever said," said the Tin Woodman. "I have to try harder to find out where the girl is hiding," said the witch thoughtfully. "There is a book in my library, which records every action of the wizard in our land of Otzma. Tonight, I will read this book carefully to see if I can find clues to discover Otzma .Please play by yourself in my palace, and you can use my servants as you like. I will meet you again tomorrow." After saying this, Glinda invited the adventurers to leave.They just walked about in the beautiful gardens, and whiled away hours enjoying the many things that the Queen of the South had brought to decorate her palace. The next morning, they stood in front of Glinda again, and she said to them, "I went through the records of the wizard's actions carefully, and I found three suspicious signs. He ate beans with a knife and secretly visited Old Mo three times." Bi, my left foot is a little lame." "Ah! The last point is of course suspicious!" the pumpkin man shouted. "That's not certain," said the Scarecrow. "He may have corns. In my opinion, he eats beans with a knife most suspiciously." "That may be the way of Omaha, too, for wizards come from that great country," said the Tin Woodman. "Possibly," said the Scarecrow. "But," asked Glinda, "why did he visit old Moby secretly three times?" "Ah! Really! Why!" The cockroach said deeply. "We know that the wizard taught the old woman a lot of magic," said Glinda, "and he wouldn't have taught her if she hadn't done something for him. So we have reason to suspect that it was old Moby who helped him." Hiding the girl Otzma, who is the true heir to the throne of the Emerald City, is also a great threat to the occupants, because, if the people knew that she was alive, they would immediately make her theirs Queen, take back her rightful place." "That's right!" cried the Scarecrow. "I am convinced that Moby was involved in this dastardly business. How does knowing this help us? " "We have to find Moby," Glinda said, "and force her to tell us where the girl is hiding." "Moby is in the Emerald City with Queen Geyur now," Tip said. "She's the one who puts so many obstacles in our way, and made Gyulville want to ruin my friend and send me back to that old hag." "Then," Glinda resolved, "I will take my army to the Emerald City and arrest Moby. Then we may force her to tell the truth about Otsma." "She's a horrible old woman!" said Tip, shuddering at the thought of Moby's black pot, "and stubborn." "I'm also very stubborn," the witch said with a gentle smile, "so I'm not afraid of Moby at all. Today, I will make all preparations, and we will march towards the Emerald City at dawn tomorrow." The Tin Woodman picked a rose At daybreak, when Glinda's army assembled in front of the palace gate, everyone was valiant and high-spirited.The women's uniforms were gray, and their silver spears gleamed, and their long handles were studded with pearls. All the officers carried sharp swords with peacock feathers on the edges of their shields.It seemed that no enemy could defeat such a good army. The Witch sat in a beautiful litter, shaped like a carriage, with silk-curtained doors and windows, but without carriage wheels, and on two long, parallel poles, stretched by ten Two servants carried it on their shoulders. In order to catch up with the army, the Scarecrow and his companions decided to fly on the monster head.The strange head flew slowly above the sedan chair on which the witch sat. "Be careful," said the Tin Woodman to the Scarecrow, and he stretched half his body out to look at the army below. "You're going to fall." "It's all right," said the educated cockroach, "since he's full of money, he won't break it." "I didn't say you—" Tip said reproachfully. "You said so!" the cockroach replied immediately. "Please forgive me, I really want to restrain myself." "It's fine with you," said the boy. "Ah! I can't part with you now," said the Insect so affectionately that Tip said nothing more. The procession marched steadfastly, and it was dark before they reached the Emerald City.Under the faint moonlight, Glinda's army quietly surrounded the Emerald City, pitching bright red silk tents on the grass.The witch's tent was larger than the others', and was made of pure white silk, with bright red flags flying from it.They also pitched a tent for the Scarecrows, and when everything was ready, the whole army rested quickly. She was very surprised when soldiers ran in to tell Ji-jul the next morning.Immediately she climbed to the top of the tower and saw the four banners and Glinda's great white tent. "We are doomed!" said Gejuel despondently. "How shall our needles overcome the enemy's spears and dreadful short swords?" "Our best course of action," said one girl, "is to surrender as soon as possible before we are harmed." "It can't be," Jill said bravely. "The enemy is still outside the wall. We negotiate with them to buy time. Go, take a white flag to Glinda, and ask her why she dared to invade my territory and what her demands are." So the girl came out of the gate with a white flag, signifying that she was a messenger of peace, and came to Glinda's tent. "Tell your Queen," said the Witch to the girl, "that she must give me old Moby to be our prisoner. And when she does, I will not disturb her any more." When the queen heard the news, she was alarmed, for Moby was her chief advisor, and Jill was terribly afraid of the old hag.But she called old Moby anyway, and told her what Glinda had said. "I saw the trouble before you," said the old witch, taking a magic mirror out of her pocket and looking at it. "However, we can trick this witch to escape, of course we must use a more clever force than her." "Wouldn't it be safe for me to leave you to her?" Giul asked nervously. "If you do this, you will lose the throne of the Emerald City!" said the witch firmly. "But if you do what I say, I can get us both out easily." "Then do as you please," replied Jill. "It's so nice to be queen, and I don't want to go home and help mother make the bed and wash the dishes." So Moby called Gillia James and said a spell she was familiar with. As a result, Gillia became Moby, and Moby became the girl, and she became so Like, so that it is difficult for anyone to guess this illusion. "Now," said old Moby to the Queen, "have your soldiers take this girl to Glinda. She thought that if she caught the real Moby, she would immediately go back to her southern country. " Gillia, reeling like an old woman, was led out of the gate and sent to Glinda. "This is the man you want," said one of the guards. "Our Queen wishes you to keep your word and leave here, and let us enjoy peace." "Of course I would," Glinda Kune replied cheerfully, "if she was the one." "Of course it's old Moby," said the guard. Immediately the witch called the Scarecrow and his friends to her tent, and began to question the false Moby about the missing woman Otsma.Gillia, however, knew nothing of the matter, and now, under such inquiries, she grew more and more nervous, and at last, to her great amazement, she could not bear it, and burst into tears. "Tricking again!" said the Witch, with an angry gleam in her eyes. "It's not Moby at all, it's someone else pretending to be her! Tell me," she turned to the trembling girl, "what's your name?" Gillia dared not tell, because the old witch threatened to kill her if she told the truth.But for all her gentleness and fairness, Glinda knows more about magic than anyone in Oz.So, she just chanted a few spells and made a special gesture, and quickly changed the girl back to her original form, and at the same time, old Moby, who was far away in Jiul Palace, suddenly regained her ugly look. "Oh, isn't that Gillia James!" cried the Scarecrow, who recognized an old friend of his. "She is our translator!" said the Pumpkin Man happily. Later, Gillia was forced to tell old Moby's tricks, and she asked Glinda to protect her, and the witch happily agreed.But Glinda was really angry now, and she sent word to Jill that the deception had been exposed, and she must send the real Moby now, or she would suffer terrible consequences.Jiul had been prepared for this message, because the old witch's return to her true colors meant that Glinda had seen through her tricks.But the wretched old fellow had devised a new trick for Jill to execute.So the queen said to Glinda's messenger: "Tell your master, I can't find Moby anywhere, but I welcome Glinda to the city, and find the old woman herself, and she can take her with her if she wants." But, her friends, if she can't find Moby by sunset, she should go away and leave us alone." Glinda agreed to these terms because she knew Moby was hiding somewhere in the city.So Jill ordered the gates to be thrown open, and Glinda walked in front of a troop of soldiers, followed by the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, the Pumpkin Man on his wooden horse, and the educated, highly magnified cockroach with a The solemn expression followed.Tip walked beside the witch, because Glinda liked the boy very much. In order not to be found by Glinda, old Moby turned himself into a red rose and opened it on a bush in the palace garden.It never occurred to Glinda that after hours of searching they couldn't find Moby. When the sun was about to set, Glinda felt that she was defeated by the very cunning old hag, so she ordered her men to withdraw from the city and return to their tents. At this time, the Scarecrow and his friends happened to be searching the palace garden. The Tin Woodman loved flowers best. Just before they left the garden in disappointment, he happened to see a big red rose in the bushes. He took off the flower and tied it firmly in the buttonhole on his chest. As he did so, he heard a low moan from among the roses, which he paid no attention to, and Moby was thus led out of town into Glinda's camp.But no one knows, they have got what they want. Old Moby's Transformation At first the old Witch was terrified to find herself caught by her enemies, but presently she found herself as safe in the Tin Woodman's buttonhole as she was in the bushes, for no one knew that the rose was old Molby.Besides, now that she was out of the gates, she had more chances of escaping from Glinda. "Don't worry, though," thought Moby. "I'll wait a while to see how humiliated the witch will be when she finds out that I'm better than she is." So, the whole night, the rose lay quietly on the woodcutter's chest.The next morning, when Glinda called her friends to consult, Nick Chobo went into the white silk tent with his beautiful flowers. "For some reason," said Glinda, "we couldn't find the crafty old Moby, so I'm afraid our pass was a failure. I'm sorry because, without your help, little Otzma will never return to her throne as Queen of the Emerald City." "We can't just go away," said the Pumpkin Man. "We should be doing something else." "Yes, we should do something else," replied Glinda with a smile, "however, I still don't understand how I let the old hag win so easily, because she knows Magic is far inferior to me. "We should take the Emerald City for Princess Otzma, though, and then go to the girl," said the Scarecrow. "Until the girl is found, I am willing to manage it for her, because I know how to govern the country better than Jill." "But I've promised not to bother Jill any more," said Glinda. "How about you come with me to my empire, then," said the Tin Woodman, and politely waved his hands in a wide circle to include them all. "I will be more than happy to entertain you in my castle, where there are plenty of houses. If anyone wants to nickel-plate, my servant can give him a free favor." While the woodcutter was talking, Glinda's eyes caught the rose in his buttonhole.Moreover, she found that the big red petals were trembling slightly.This aroused her suspicion at once, and after a while the witch concluded that the rose was old Moby.At the same time, Moby also knew that she had been discovered and had to find a way to escape quickly.It was not difficult for her to change her appearance, and at once she became a shadow and slid along the wall towards the tent door, trying to escape in this way. Glinda was not only very clever, but also more experienced than the witch.So Lorinda got to the door before the shadows and swung it shut, and Moby couldn't find a gap wide enough to escape.The Scarecrow and his friends were astonished at Glinda's actions, for none of them could see the shadow.The witch said to them, "Keep quiet, everyone. The old witch is in my tent right now. I want to catch her." These words startled old Moby, and she quickly changed herself from a shadow into a black ant, so that she crawled slowly on the ground, trying to find a crack to hide her little body in. It so happened that the tent was being built in front of the city gate, and the ground here was hard and flat, and while the ant was still crawling, Glinda spotted it and ran to catch it.And just as she was about to catch it, the old witch did her last trick, and became a great griffin.冲出帐篷，把绸子都撕破了，一会儿，就以旋风般的速度跑走了。 格琳达毫不迟疑地跟了出去。她一下跳到木马背上，对它说道：“现在，是你证明自己有权活下去的时候了！跑—跑—跑！” 木马跑开了，像一道闪电，紧紧跟着那只怪兽，它的木腿动得那么快，以至看上去就像一束星光。在我们的朋友们还没明白过来这是怎么回事时，那只怪兽和木马就已经跑得无影无踪了。 “快！我们也去！”稻草人大叫着。 他们跑到怪头停的地方，马上都爬了进去。 “起飞！”蒂普大叫道。 “去哪里？”怪头平静地问道。 “我也不知道，”蒂普答道，他生怕迟延，非常着急；“如果你飞到空中，我们就可以发现格琳达往哪边去了。” “好吧，”怪头慢吞吞地回答，然后，它一展翅膀就飞上高高的空中。 在远远飞越草地之后，他们才看到两个小黑点，一个追着一个，他们知道，这两个黑点一定是巫婆和木马。于是，蒂普叫怪头注意他们，命令它尽快追上巫婆和格琳达。可是，尽管怪头飞得很快，可那巫婆他们跑得更快。 只一会儿功夫，他们就从灰蒙蒙的地平线上消失了。 “没关系，我们继续跟着他们，”稻草人说，“因为奥茨国土只是一小片，早晚他们总会跑到头的。” 老莫比对于自己变成一只鹰头狮身兽感到很得意，它的腿非常敏捷，而且，它比其它任何动物都更有耐力。可她没想到木马会有那不知疲倦的精力，它的木腿可以毫不减速地跑许多天。总之，经过一小时的艰苦奔跑，那只怪兽开始上气不接下气，它痛苦地喘着气，速度比以前也慢多了。这时，它到了沙漠边上，开始翻越沙漠。可它的腿深深地陷进沙中，不一会儿，怪兽就倒下去，彻底垮了，只好躺倒在荒沙中。 一会儿，格琳达就骑着仍然精力旺盛的木马赶到了；格琳达从腰带上解下一根金线，把它扔过去套在那喘着气，无能为力的怪兽头上，这样，就战胜了变魔法的莫比。 那怪兽经过一阵剧烈的颤抖就消失了，在它消失的地方出现了老巫婆，她用凶狠的目光看着格琳达那安详、美丽的脸。 奥茨的奥茨玛公主 “你是我的囚犯，你怎么挣扎也没有用，”格琳达用她那温柔而甜美的声音说道。“再躺一会儿，让你自己休息一下，我要把你带回我的帐篷去。” “你找我干什么”“莫比问道，她仍然有些喘不过气来。“我对你做了什么，你跟我这么过不去？ " “你对我什么也没做，”格琳达和蔼地答道：“不过，我怀疑你做过几件罪恶的事，如果我发现你滥用你的魔法，我就要严厉地惩罚你。” “我向你抗议！”那老家伙大叫道。“你不敢碰我！” 正在这时，怪头飞来了，降落在沙漠上。他们高兴地发现，莫比总算被抓注了。经过匆忙的会商之后，他们决定，大家一起骑着怪头回营房去。于是，木马被搬进沙发，格琳达也进去了，她手里攥着缠住莫比脖子的金线，强迫她也爬进沙发，其他的人都跟着爬了进去。蒂普命令怪头往回飞。 旅行安全地进行着，莫比阴沉地，闷闷了乐地坐在她的位子上，只要那条魔线缠住她的脖子，她就无能为力了。军队为格琳达的凯旋大声欢呼。一会儿，这群朋友就又聚集在格琳达的帐篷中，帐篷在他们不在时已经修好了。 “现在，”女巫对莫比说道，“我要你告诉我们，奥茨大巫师为什么到你那去了三次，奥茨玛那孩子怎么样了，她为什么奇怪地消失了。” 老巫婆不服气地看着格琳达，一句话也不说。 “回答我的问题！”格琳达说。 莫比仍然沉默不语。 “她可能真不知道，”杰克说。 “我请你保持安静，”蒂普说。“你这么愚蠢，会把任何事都搞糟了。” “好，亲爱的父亲！”南瓜人顺从地答道。 “我为自己是蟑螂而感到高兴！”高度放大的昆虫温和地说道。“谁能指望从南瓜里流出智慧呢。” “好啦，”稻草人说，“我们怎样才能让莫比说话呢？如果她不肯告诉我们，那我们抓住她又有什么用呢？” “让我们试着用好心来感化她，”铁皮樵夫说。“我听说，好心能战胜任何人，不管他们有多坏。” 听到这，老巫婆转过去狠狠地瞪了铁皮樵夫一眼，使他羞愧地退了回去。 格琳达仔细想了想该怎么办，然后，她转向莫比说道：“我告诉你，你拒绝回答我们，你什么也得不到。因为我已决心要弄清楚奥茨玛姑娘的下落，除非你把自己所知道的一切都告诉我们，否则，我一定要处死你。” “啊，不行！不能那么做！”铁皮樵夫大叫着。“杀死任何人都是可怕的，——即使是老莫比！” “可这只是吓唬吓唬她，”格琳达说。“我不会把她处死的，因为我相信她会对我讲实话的。” “噢，我明白了！”铁皮人松了一口气说道。 “假如我把我知道的一切都告诉你们，”莫比突然说话了，反倒把大家吓了一跳。“你们会对我怎么办呢？” “如果那样的话，”格琳达说，“我只要你喝一种很有力的药水，它可以使你忘掉你学过的一切魔法。” “那我就成了一个没用的老太婆了！” “可你总能活下去呀，”南瓜人安慰她道。 “请保持安静！”蒂普紧张地对他说。 “我一定做到，”杰克说，“不过，你总得承认，能活下去总是件好事吧。” “特别是对于一个受过完全教育的人来说，”蟑螂点头赞同道。 “两条路由你自己选择，”格琳达对老莫比说，“或者保持沉默而去死，或者把一切都告诉我而丢掉你所有的魔法。不过，我想你是愿意活的。” 莫比不安地看了一眼格琳达，发现她态度很认真，没有开玩笑的意思。 于是，她慢慢地答道： “我愿意回答你的问题。” “这才是我希望的，”格琳达高兴地说。“你选择了聪明的路，我给你保证。” 于是，她叫一个军官给她拿来一个美丽的金色的小匣子。格琳达从里面拿出一颗极好的白珍珠，上面还有一条小链子，她把链子挂在脖子上，珍珠正好垂在胸前，正在她的心脏之上。 “现在，”她说，“我要问第一个问题了：巫师为什么到你那里去了三次？” “因为我不到他那儿去，”莫比答道。 “这不是回答，”格琳达严厉地说道。“告诉我事情的真相。” “好吧，”莫比眼睛向下看着说道，“他到我那去是去向我学做甜饼干。” “抬起头来！”女巫命令道。 莫比抬起了头。 “我的珠子是什么颜色？”格琳达问。 “怎么——它是黑色的呀！”老巫婆奇怪地说。 “那么就是说，你说的都是假话！”格琳达气惯地说道。“只有说了真话，我的魔珠才是纯白色的。” 莫比现在明白了，想欺骗格琳达是不可能的。她只好皱着眉头认输，说道：“巫师把奥茨玛姑娘带到我那儿，她那时还是个婴儿，他让我把孩子藏起来。” “我就知道是这样的，”格琳达平静地说道。“你为他这样做，他给你点什么呢？” “他把自己知道的魔法都教给了我。有些魔法是真的，有些却是假的；不过，我一直遵守自己的诺言。” “你怎么处置那姑娘的？”格琳达问；所有的人都竖起耳朵认真地听着。 “我用魔法迷惑了她，”莫比答道。 “用什么方法？” “我把她变成，变成——” “变成什么了？”格琳达问，巫婆还在犹豫。 “变成个男孩！”莫比用低低的声音说道。 “一个男孩！”大家都叫了起来；因为他们都知道，这老太婆养育蒂普是从婴儿时就开始的，所有的眼睛都转向男孩站的地方。 “是的，”老巫婆点点头答道，“这就是奥茨玛公主——巫师把这孩子带给我，他偷走她父亲的宝座。这才是翡翠城合法的统治者！”她那瘦长的手指直直地指着男孩。 “我！”蒂普惊讶地大叫着。“怎么，我不是奥茨玛公主——我不是女孩！” 格琳达笑了，走过去把蒂普的棕色小手放在她白白的手里。 “你现在还不是个女孩，”她和蔼地说道，“因为莫比把你变成个男孩了。可你生下来是个女孩，还是个公主；所以，你应该回到你的本来模样，那你就可以成为翡翠城的女王了。” “啊，让吉尤尔当女王吧！”蒂普急得想哭了。“我还想当个男孩，和稻草人，铁皮樵夫，蟑螂，杰克，对了！还有我的朋友木马和怪头一起去旅行呢！我不想变成个女孩！” “没关系，老朋友，”铁皮樵夫安慰他道，“我听说，当女孩也没什么不好，我们大家同样是你的忠实的朋友。而且，实话对你说，我总认为女孩比男孩好些。” “无论如何，他们都一样好，”稻草人充满深情地拍着蒂普的头说道。 “他们同样是好学生，”蟑螂说道。“我愿意当你的教师，当你变成女孩以后。” “可是，”南瓜人喘口气说道：“如果你变成个女孩，你就不再是我的亲爱的父亲了！” “不，”蒂普虽然发愁，也破颜笑了，“我不想逃避这个亲戚关系。” 然后，他转向格琳达犹豫地说道：“我不妨试试看吧，——看看那是个什么样。可如果我不愿意当女孩，你要答应再把我变成男孩。” “真的，”女巫说，“那可超出了我的魔法。我从来不搞什么变形术，因为它们是不诚实的。受人尊敬的女巫，从来不愿干那种使事物失去它本来面目的把戏。只有不讲道德的巫婆才干这种事。现在，我要叫莫比把你从她的魔法中解脱出来，恢复你的本来面目。这将是她最后一次使用她的魔法了。” 现在，奥茨玛公主的真相已经弄清楚了，莫比对于蒂普变成什么并不在乎，可她怕格琳达生气，男孩答应，当莫比老了的时候，他将供养她。因此，巫婆同意施变形术，准备工作立刻就做完了。 格琳达命令把她自己的睡椅摆在帐篷中央，上面放着高高的玫瑰色绸垫子，从金色的围栏上垂挂着许多粉红色的薄纱，把里面的睡椅完全挡住了。 巫婆首先让男孩喝了一讨药，使他立刻沉沉睡去。然后，铁皮樵夫和蟑螂轻轻把他抱起，放在柔软的垫子上，用薄纱把他完全挡好。 巫婆坐在地上，从怀里取出一些干草药，点了一个小火堆。当火烧旺时，老莫比就在火苗上撒了一把魔粉，药粉立刻放出一般强大的烟雾，整个帐篷里都充满了它的香气，木马不禁打了个喷嚏——尽管他知道应当保持安静。 这时候其他的人都好奇地看着她，巫婆唱了句有节奏的诗，大家谁也听不懂她唱的是什么，而后又把她那瘦身子在火上忽前忽后地弯了七次。现在，她的妖术看来是完成了，因为巫婆站直了，叫了声“唷哇！” 烟雾散了，空气又变得清爽了；睡椅的粉红围帐在轻轻颤抖，好像谁在里面摇动它。 格琳达走到围帐前，分开下垂的绸纱。然后她弯下腰，伸出手去，从睡椅上坐起一个小姑娘，她像五月的早晨一样清新、美丽。她的眼睛像两颗钻石，她的嘴唇像红宝石。她背后飘动着金黄色的发辫，额头上戴着一个束发的细宝石圈，她的绸纱外衣像一片云彩飘在她的周围，脚上穿着一双精致的缎子拖鞋。 看到这个绝妙的美人，蒂普的老朋友们好奇地盯着她整整一分钟，然后，每个人都低下头向可爱的奥茨玛公主致敬。姑娘自己看了一眼格琳达因高兴和满意而容光焕发的笑脸，然后转向其他人。她用和悦而谦虚的音调说出这样的话：“我希望你们还像以前一样对待我。我还是那个蒂普，你们知道；只是..只是..”“只是你现在不同了！”南瓜人说；大家都认为，这是他有生以来说导最聪明的一句话。 满足的富有 当这个好消息传到吉尤尔将军耳朵里时——巫婆莫比怎样被抓；她怎样向格琳达承认了自己的罪行；那个长期失踪的奥茨玛公主怎样被发现了，而且不是别人正是男孩蒂普——她真的流出了痛苦和失望的眼泪。 “请想想，”她呻吟道，“当过女王，住过宫殿，现在，我又得回去擦地板，搅黄油！想起来真是太可怕了！我永远也不会同意！” 所以，当她那些整天在宫殿厨房里做软糖的士兵劝她反抗时，她竟接受了她们那些愚蠢的胡话，向好心的格琳达和奥茨玛公主送去了尖锐的拒绝令。结果只有宣战。第二天，格琳达的部队向翡翠城进军了，战旗飘扬，战鼓咚咚，长矛在阳光下闪闪发光。 可是当它来到城墙边时，这支勇敢的队伍突然停住了，因为吉尤尔关闭了所有的城门和通道，而翡翠城的城墙又高又厚，是用许多块绿色大理石砌成的。看到她的前进受阻，格琳边皱着眉头深思，这时，蟑螂用很自信的声调说道：“我们必须把城包围起来，饿得她们非投降不可。这是我们唯一能做的事。” “不能这样，”稻草人说。“我们还有怪头，他还能飞。” 听到这番话，格琳边迅速转过头来，脸上露出明朗的笑容。 “你说得对，”她说，“你真该为你的脑子感到自豪。我们现在就到怪头那里去。” 于是，他们穿过军队，来到稻草人的帐篷附近，怪头就停在那儿。格琳达和奥茨玛公主最先爬上去，坐在沙发上。然后，稻草人和他的朋友们也爬了进去，他们还留出位置让一个军官和三个士兵也上去。 在公主的命令下，怪头扇动起它的棕叶翅膀，飞向空中，带着这群冒险家门高高飞过城墙。他们在宫殿上空盘旋，很快就发现，吉尤尔正斜倚在院子里的一把帆布椅子上，一边读一本绿皮的小说，一边在吃绿色的巧克力。 她相信城墙足以保护她不受敌人攻击。怪头执行紧急命令，安全地降落在这个院子里，吉尤尔连叫一声的时间都没有，就被军官和三个士兵抓住了。这位前任女王于是成了囚犯，一副坚实的手铐锁住她的双手。 战争就这样结束了，因为，造反军一听说吉尤尔被抓，立刻就投降了。 那位军官打开城门，这时，乐队奏起了最激昂的乐曲。传令官宣布：放肆的吉尤尔被征服了，美丽的奥茨玛公主接受了她应得的宝座。 立刻，翡翠城的男人们丢掉了他们的围裙。女人们也为吉尤尔的失败而欢呼，因为她们已经吃够丈夫们做的饭菜。她们立刻一个个跑回厨房，为疲惫的丈夫准备了丰盛的饭菜，和睦的气氛又重新来到每个家庭。 奥茨玛的每一个行动就是命令吉尤尔的造反军把她们从大街上和公共建筑物上偷走的珍珠、宝石统统还回来。这些得意忘形的姑娘们拿走的珍宝实在太多了，以至皇家珠宝匠们干了一个多月的时间，才把它们安回原来的位置。 同时，造反军也被解散了，姑娘们都被送回到她们的母亲那里去。吉尤尔只要保证学好，大概也会被释放回家的。 奥茨玛成了翡翠城有史以来最好的女王，尽管她年轻、没有经验，但却用智慧与公正来管理她的人民。因为格琳达在各方面都给了她很好的忠告；蟑螂担任了重要的公共教育家的职务，他对奥茨玛帮助很大。 奥茨玛姑娘为了感激怪头，她答应酬谢他任何他想要的东西。 “那么，”怪头答道，“请把我拆了吧，我并不想成为活的，因为我为自己的这个怪样子感到害羞。过去，我是森林之王，我的鹿角可以作证。可我现在这个用沙发做成的怪样子，我只能在天上飞——我的腿对我一点用处都没有。所以，我请求把我拆了吧。” 于是，奥茨玛下令把怪头拆了。那有鹿角的头又挂在大厅里的壁炉上面，沙发被打开，放在接待室里，扫帚尾巴还是去执行它在厨房里的任务，最后，稻草人把所有的晾衣绳和粗绳又挂回到原来的地方。 你可以以为怪头从此完了吧，作为一个飞行工具它完了。可是，挂在壁炉台上的头，什么时候想说话，就什么时候说，而且它的突然提问，往往把在大厅里等候女王接见的人吓一大跳。 木马成为奥茨玛的私人财产，受到了小心的照顾，她经常骑着这个怪物在翡翠城的大街上走过。她为它的木腿包上了金子，防止它走坏了。它的金鞋子在路上发出的丁丁当当的声音，使女王的臣民感到畏俱，因为，他们认为这是她魔力的证据。 “伟大的巫师可从来也没有奥茨玛女王能干，”人们私下悄悄议论，“因为他宣布了许多他自己也干不了的事；可我们的新女王却做了许多谁也没想到她能做的事。” 杰克南瓜人一直和奥茨玛呆到他的未日，他并没有像自己害怕的那样马上就坏了，不过，他始终很笨。蟑螂曾尽力教他一些知识和科学，可杰克是个非常糟糕的学生，什么教育在他身上也不起作用。 格琳达的军队回去以后，翡翠城又恢复了平静，铁皮樵夫说，他也想回到他的温基斯国去了。 “那不是一个很大的王国，”他对奥茨玛说，“不过，这正是它更容易管理的原因；我称自己为皇帝，因为我是绝对的君主，没人能干涉我的公事或私事。当我回去以后，我要做一套新的镀镍外衣，因为，近来我的有些地方已经坏了；而且，我将非常高兴，如果你能来访问我的话。” “谢谢你，”奥茨玛答道。“我一定接受你的邀请。可是，稻草人怎么办呢？” “我和我的朋友，铁皮樵夫一起回去，”稻草人严肃地说道。“我们已经决定，将来永远也不分开了。” “我已经让稻草人当我的皇家财务主管，”铁皮樵夫答道。“因为，我认为，让一个由钱做成的人来当皇家财务主管是再合适不过的了。你认为怎么样？” “我想，”小女王笑着说，“你的朋友将是世界上最富的人。” “我是最富的人，”稻草人说，“不过，这不是指的钱。因为，我认为大脑远远比钱更重要，不管怎么说。你可能注意到，如果一个人有钱而没有大脑，他就不可能把钱用好；可是，如果一个人有大脑却没有钱，大脑却能使他舒服地度过自己的一生。” “在这一点上，”铁皮樵夫说道，“作得承认，大脑不能创造出一颗善良的心，而钱也买不来它。总之，也许我才是世界上最富有的人。” “你们都是富有的，我的朋友们，”奥茨玛温和地说道，“而且，你们的富有是唯一有价值的富有——满足的富有！”