The Emerald City
It was a long day. The yellow brick road went past fields and through trees, up hills and down hills. In the evening they began to see small green houses by the road. Sometimes little people in green clothes came out and looked at the friends. But they did not come near them, because they were afraid of the Cowardly Lion.
'Everything here is green. Perhaps we're near the Emerald City,' said Dorothy. 'Toto and I are hungry. Let's stop at the next house.'
A little woman opened the door, and Dorothy said, 'Please can we stay the night in your house?' The little woman looked at the Lion, and Dorothy said quickly, 'The Lion is my friend, and he never hurts anybody.'
'All right,' the little woman said. 'You can all come in.'
She put a wonderful dinner on the table. Dorothy and Toto ate a lot of it, and the Lion ate some of it. But the Scarecrow and the Tin Man ate nothing.
'Where are you all going?' asked the little woman.
'To the Emerald City,' said Dorothy. 'We want to see the Wizard of Oz.'
'That's not easy,' said the woman. 'The Wizard never goes out of his house, and nobody sees his face.'
'Is the Wizard a man?' asked the Scarecrow.
'Nobody knows,' said the woman. 'He's a wizard, so he can be a man, or an animal-or anything!'
'How strange!' said Dorothy. 'But we need his help, so we must see him.'
The next day they thanked the woman, left the house, and began walking again. Soon they saw a beautiful city in front of them-it was the Emerald City at last.
The friends went up the yellow brick road to a big green door, and stopped. Slowly, the door opened, and a little man in green clothes stood there.
'We want to see the Wizard, please,' said Dorothy.
'Nobody sees the Wizard,' he said. 'He is a very good and very famous Wizard, but nobody can see him.'
'We must see him,' said Dorothy. 'Please ask him.'
'All right,' said the green man. 'I can take you to his house. But first, you must all put glasses on.' He opened a big box. In it were lots of glasses. 'You must wear your glasses all the time,' he said. 'Everybody in the city must wear glasses. The Wizard says this.'
So they all put on glasses. The green man put on some glasses too, and then he took them through the Emerald City. Everything in the city was green-men, women, children, houses, shops, streets...
The green man took them to a very big house, and they went into a long green room. 'Wait here,' he said. After a short time he came back.
'You can see the Wizard,' he said. 'But you must go to him one by one. He wants to see the little girl first.'
Then he went away, and a green girl came in. She took Dorothy to a tall green door.
'The Wizard is in there,' said the green girl. 'He's waiting for you.' Dorothy went in. On a green chair was a very, very big head. There was no body, or arms, or legs-only a head. Its mouth opened and the Head said: 'I am Oz. Who are you, and what do you want?'
'I am Dorothy,' said the child bravely.
'Where did you get those red shoes?'
'From the bad Witch of the East,' said Dorothy. 'My house fell on her and killed her.'
'What is that thing on your face?'
'A kiss. The good Witch of the North kissed me,' said Dorothy. 'I need help, and she told me about you.'
'And what do you want?'
'I want to go home to Kansas,' answered Dorothy, 'but I don't know the way. Please help me to get home.'
The big eyes opened and closed, opened and closed. Then the mouth opened and the Head spoke again. 'Well,' it said. 'Perhaps I can help you. But first, you must do something for me.'
'What do you want me to do?' asked Dorothy.
'Kill the bad Witch of the West.'
'But I don't want to kill anybody!' said Dorothy.
'You killed her sister. And you are wearing her shoes. Go now, and kill the Witch of the West.'
The little girl began to cry. 'But how can I kill the Witch?' she said. The big eyes opened and looked at her, but the Head did not answer. Dorothy went away, and then her friends went into the Wizard's room-first the Scarecrow, then the Tin Man, and last the Lion.
Later, they all met in the long green room and talked. Dorothy told her friends about the Head.
'That's interesting,' said the Scarecrow. 'I didn't see a Head; I saw a beautiful woman. I asked her for some brains and she said, "Yes, but first you must help Dorothy to kill the Witch of the West." '
'I saw a big animal with two heads,' said the Tin Man. 'I asked for a heart. The animal said, "I can give you a heart; but first you must help Dorothy to kill the Witch of the West." What did you see, Lion?'
'I saw a ball of fire,' said the Cowardly Lion. 'I said, "I'm a coward; please make me brave." And the fire said, "When the Witch of the West is dead, I can help you. But not before." I was angry then,' said the Lion, 'but the ball of fire got bigger and bigger, so I ran away.'
'Oh, what are we going to do?' said Dorothy.
'Well,' said the Scarecrow. 'We must find the Witch of the West, and then we must kill her.'
又過了漫長的一天。他們沿著黃磚鋪的路穿越田地樹林,翻山越嶺。走到傍晚,他們看見路邊漸漸地有了一些綠色的小房子。有時會有身著綠衣的小矮人走出房子來,好奇地打量他們幾個,但是這些小人兒從不靠近他們,因為他們害怕膽小鬼獅子。
"這里的一切都是綠色的,我們可能離綠寶石城不遠(yuǎn)了。"多蘿西說,"我和托托餓了,到了下一個房子我們就停一下吧。"
一個矮小的婦人打開了房門,多蘿西對她說:"請問,我們能在您這兒過一夜嗎?"小婦人望著獅子,于是多蘿西連忙說:"這獅子是我的朋友,他從不傷人。"
"好的。"小婦人回答道,"請進(jìn)來吧。"
她準(zhǔn)備了一桌豐盛的晚餐。多蘿西和托托吃了許多,獅子吃了一些,而稻草人和錫人卻什么也沒吃。
"你們要去哪兒?"小婦人問。
"去綠寶石城,"多蘿西回答,"我們想見奧茲魔法師。"
"那可不容易。"小婦人說,"魔法師從不離開他的房子,也沒人見過他的臉。"
"魔法師是人嗎?"稻草人問。
"沒人知道,"小婦人說,"他是魔法師,所以他可以是人,也可以是動物或其他什么東西。"
"多奇怪啊!"多蘿西感嘆道,"可我們需要他的幫助,因而我們必須見他。"
第二天,他們謝過小婦人,離開她家繼續(xù)趕路。很快一座美麗的城市出現(xiàn)在他們面前--他們終于到達(dá)綠寶石城了。
他們沿著黃磚路走到一扇綠色大門前停了下來。緩緩地,大門開了,一個身著綠衣綠褲的小矮人站在門內(nèi)。
"我們求見魔法師。"多蘿西說。
"沒人見過魔法師。"他回答,"他是一位很好、很有名的法師,但沒有人見過他。"
"我們必須見他,"多蘿西說,"請轉(zhuǎn)告他。"
"好吧,"綠衣人回答,"我可以帶你們?nèi)ニ姆孔永?,不過,你們首先得戴上眼鏡。"他打開一個大匣子,里面裝著許多眼鏡。"你們得一直戴著眼鏡,"他說,"魔法師說過,這個城里的人都必須戴眼鏡。"
這樣,他們就戴上了眼鏡。綠衣人也戴了副眼鏡。他領(lǐng)他們在綠寶石城里穿行。城中一切都是綠色的--綠色的男女老少,綠色的房屋、店鋪、街道......
綠衣人把他們領(lǐng)到一幢高大的綠房子里,進(jìn)了一間長長的綠屋子。"你們在這兒等一下。"他說。過了一會兒,他回來了。
"你們可以見魔法師,"他說,"但必須一個一個地見他。他想先見這個小女孩。"
說完他就離開了,又進(jìn)來了一個綠衣姑娘。她將多蘿西領(lǐng)到一扇高大的綠門前。
"魔法師就在這里,"綠衣姑娘說,"他在等你。"
多蘿西走進(jìn)去。只見一把綠椅子上有一個非常非常大的腦袋。沒有身體,沒有胳膊和腿--只有一個腦袋。它張開了嘴,腦袋開始說話了:"我就是奧茲,你是誰?你想要什么?"
"我叫多蘿西。"小女孩勇敢地回答。
"你是從哪兒弄到那雙紅鞋的?"
"從邪惡的東方女巫那里。"多蘿西回答,"我的房子落在了她身上,壓死了她。"
"你的臉上是什么?"
"一個吻。善良的北方女巫吻了我一下。"多蘿西回答說,"我需要幫助,是她讓我來找你的。"
"你需要什么幫助?"
"我想回我的家鄉(xiāng)堪薩斯,"多蘿西回答,"但不知道怎么走。請幫我重返家園。"
腦袋上巨大的眼睛張開又閉上,張開又閉上。"噢,"它接著說,"或許我能夠幫你,但首先你得為我做點兒事。"
"你想讓我做什么呢?"多蘿西問。
"殺死邪惡的西方女巫。"
"我可不想殺人!"多蘿西說。
"可你殺了她的姐姐,還穿著她的鞋子。去吧,殺掉西方女巫。"
小女孩哭了起來。"但是我怎么殺得了那個巫婆呢?"她說。巨大的眼睛睜開了,望著她,可沒有做聲。多蘿西離開了。她的朋友們先后進(jìn)了魔法師的房間--先是稻草人,然后是錫人,最后是獅子。
其后,他們在長長的綠房子里碰頭,交談起來。多蘿西向她的朋友講了那個腦袋。
"真有意思,"稻草人說,"我沒看見什么腦袋,只見到了一個漂亮的女人。我請她賜予我一些頭腦,她說:'好,但首先你得幫多蘿西殺掉西方女巫。'"
"我見到的是一個長了兩個腦袋的動物。"錫人說,"我請它給我一顆心。那動物說:'我可以給你一顆心,但首先你必須幫多蘿西殺掉西方女巫。'獅子,你見到的是什么?"
"我見到的是一團(tuán)火,"膽小鬼獅子說,"我對它說:'我是個懦夫,請讓我變成勇敢者。'那團(tuán)火說:'只有西方女巫死了,我才能幫你?,F(xiàn)在不行。'我聽了很生氣。"獅子說,"但那團(tuán)火變得越來越大,我便逃了出來。"
"哦,那我們現(xiàn)在怎么辦?"多蘿西問。
"嗯,"稻草人說,"我們必須先找到西方女巫,然后殺死她。"