The Emerald City of Oz
The Emerald City of Oz Author's Note1. How the Nome King Became Angry2. How Uncle Henry Got Into Trouble3. How Ozma Granted Dorothy's Request4. How The Nome King Planned Revenge5. How Dorothy Became a Princess6. How Guph Visited the Whimsies7. How Aunt Em Conquered the Lion8. How the Grand Gallipoot Joined The Nomes9. How the Wogglebug Taught Athletics10. How the Cuttenclips Lived11. How the General Met the First and Foremost12. How they Matched the Fuddles13. How the General Talked to the King14. How the Wizard Practiced Sorcery15. How Dorothy Happened to Get Lost16. How Dorothy Visited Utensia17. How They Came to Bunbury18. How Ozma Looked into the Magic Picture19. How Bunnybury Welcomed the Strangers20. How Dorothy Lunched With a King21. How the King Changed His Mind22. How the Wizard Found Dorothy23. How They Encountered the Flutterbudgets24. How the Tin Woodman Told the Sad News25. How the Scarecrow Displayed His Wisdom26. How Ozma Refused to Fight for Her Kingdom27. How the Fierce Warriors Invaded Oz28. How They Drank at the Forbidden Fountain29. How Glinda Worked a Magic Spell30. How the Story of Oz Came to an EndCopyright
The Emerald City of Oz
L. Frank Baum
Author's Note
Perhaps I should admit on the title page that this book is
"By L. Frank Baum and his correspondents," for I have used many
suggestions conveyed to me in letters from children. Once on a time
I really imagined myself "an author of fairy tales," but now I am
merely an editor or private secretary for a host of youngsters
whose ideas I am requestsed to weave into the thread of my
stories.These ideas are often clever. They are also logical and
interesting. So I have used them whenever I could find an
opportunity, and it is but just that I acknowledge my indebtedness
to my little friends.My, what imaginations these children have developed!
Sometimes I am fairly astounded by their daring and genius. There
will be no lack of fairy-tale authors in the future, I am sure. My
readers have told me what to do with Dorothy, and Aunt Em and Uncle
Henry, and I have obeyed their mandates. They have also given me a
variety of subjects to write about in the future: enough, in fact,
to keep me busy for some time. I am very proud of this alliance.
Children love these stories because children have helped to create
them. My readers know what they want and realize that I try to
please them. The result is very satisfactory to the publishers, to
me, and (I am quite sure) to the children.I hope, my dears, it will be a long time before we are
obliged to dissolve partnership.L. FRANK BAUM.
1. How the Nome King Became Angry
The Nome King was in an angry mood, and at such times he was
very disagreeable. Every one kept away from him, even his Chief
Steward Kaliko.Therefore the King stormed and raved all by himself, walking
up and down in his jewel-studded cavern and getting angrier all the
time. Then he remembered that it was no fun being angry unless he
had some one to frighten and make miserable, and he rushed to his
big gong and made it clatter as loud as he could.In came the Chief Steward, trying not to show the Nome King
how frightened he was."Send the Chief Counselor here!" shouted the angry
monarch.Kaliko ran out as fast as his spindle legs could carry his
fat, round body, and soon the Chief Counselor entered the cavern.
The King scowled and said to him:"I'm in great trouble over the loss of my Magic Belt. Every
little while I want to do something magical, and find I can't
because the Belt is gone. That makes me angry, and when I'm angry I
can't have a good time. Now, what do you advise?""Some people," said the Chief Counselor, "enjoy getting
angry.""But not all the time," declared the King. "To be angry once
in a while is really good fun, because it makes others so
miserable. But to be angry morning, noon and night, as I am, grows
monotonous and prevents my gaining any other pleasure in life. Now
what do you advise?""Why, if you are angry because you want to do magical things
and can't, and if you don't want to get angry at all, my advice is
not to want to do magical things."Hearing this, the King glared at his Counselor with a furious
expression and tugged at his own long white whiskers until he
pulled them so hard that he yelled with pain."You are a fool!" he exclaimed."I share that honor with your Majesty," said the Chief
Counselor.The King roared with rage and stamped his foot."Ho, there, my guards!" he cried. "Ho" is a royal way of
saying, "Come here." So, when the guards had hoed, the King said to
them:"Take this Chief Counselor and throw him away."Then the guards took the Chief Counselor, and bound him with
chains to prevent his struggling, and threw him away. And the King
paced up and down his cavern more angry than before.Finally he rushed to his big gong and made it clatter like a
fire alarm. Kaliko appeared again, trembling and white with
fear."Fetch my pipe!" yelled the King."Your pipe is already here, your Majesty," replied
Kaliko."Then get my tobacco!" roared the King."The tobacco is in your pipe, your Majesty," returned the
Steward."Then bring a live coal from the furnace!" commanded the
King."The tobacco is lighted, and your Majesty is already smoking
your pipe," answered the Steward."Why, so I am!" said the King, who had forgotten this fact;
"but you are very rude to remind me of it.""I am a lowborn, miserable villain," declared the Chief
Steward, humbly.The Nome King could think of nothing to say next, so he
puffed away at his pipe and paced up and down the room. Finally, he
remembered how angry he was, and cried out:"What do you mean, Kaliko, by being so contented when your
monarch is unhappy?""What makes you unhappy?" asked the Steward."I've lost my Magic Belt. A little girl named Dorothy, who
was here with Ozma of Oz, stole my Belt and carried it away with
her," said the King, grinding his teeth with rage."She captured it in a fair fight," Kaliko ventured to
say."But I want it! I must have it! Half my power is gone with
that Belt!" roared the King."You will have to go to the Land of Oz to recover it, and
your Majesty can't get to the Land of Oz in any possible way," said
the Steward, yawning because he had been on duty ninety-six hours,
and was sleepy."Why not?" asked the King."Because there is a deadly desert all around that fairy
country, which no one is able to cross. You know that fact as well
as I do, your Majesty. Never mind the lost Belt. You have plenty of
power left, for you rule this underground kingdom like a tyrant,
and thousands of Nomes obey your commands. I advise you to drink a
glass of melted silver, to quiet your nerves, and then go to
bed."The King grabbed a big ruby and threw it at Kaliko's head.
The Steward ducked to escape the heavy jewel, which crashed against
the door just over his left ear."Get out of my sight! Vanish! Go away--and send General Blug
here," screamed the Nome King.Kaliko hastily withdrew, and the Nome King stamped up and
down until the General of his armies appeared.This Nome was known far and wide as a terrible fighter and a
cruel, desperate commander. He had fifty thousand Nome soldiers,
all well drilled, who feared nothing but their stern master. Yet
General Blug was a trifle uneasy when he arrived and saw how angry
the Nome King was."Ha! So you're here!" cried the King."So I am," said the General."March your army at once to the Land of Oz, capture and
destroy the Emerald City, and bring back to me my Magic Belt!"
roared the King."You're crazy," calmly remarked the General."What's that? What's that? What's that?" And the Nome King
danced around on his pointed toes, he was so enraged."You don't know what you're talking about," continued the
General, seating himself upon a large cut diamond. "I advise you to
stand in a corner and count sixty before you speak again. By that
time you may be more sensible."The King looked around for something to throw at General
Blug, but as nothing was handy he began to consider that perhaps
the man was right and he had been talking foolishly. So he merely
threw himself into his glittering throne and tipped his crown over
his ear and curled his feet up under him and glared wickedly at
Blug."In the first place," said the General, "we cannot march
across the deadly desert to the Land of Oz. And if we could, the
Ruler of that country, Princess Ozma, has certain fairy powers that
would render my army helpless. Had you not lost your Magic Belt we
might have some chance of defeating Ozma; but the Belt is
gone.""I want it!" screamed the King. "I must have
it.""Well, then, let us try in a sensible way to get it," replied
the General. "The Belt was captured by a little girl named Dorothy,
who lives in Kansas, in the United States of America.""But she left it in the Emerald City, with Ozma," declared
the King."How do you know that?" asked the General."One of my spies, who is a Blackbird, flew over the desert to
the Land of Oz, and saw the Magic Belt in Ozma's palace," replied
the King with a groan."Now that gives me an idea," said General Blug, thoughtfully.
"There are two ways to get to the Land of Oz without traveling
across the sandy desert.""What are they?" demanded the King, eagerly."One way is OVER the desert, through the air; and the other
way is UNDER the desert, through the earth."Hearing this the Nome King uttered a yell of joy and leaped
from his throne, to resume his wild walk up and down the
cavern."That's it, Blug!" he shouted. "That's the idea, General! I'm
King of the Under World, and my subjects are all miners. I'll make
a secret tunnel under the desert to the Land of Oz--yes! right up
to the Emerald City--and you will march your armies there and
capture the whole country!""Softly, softly, your Majesty. Don't go too fast," warned the
General. "My Nomes are good fighters, but they are not strong
enough to conquer the Emerald City.""Are you sure?" asked the King."Absolutely certain, your Majesty.""Then what am I to do?""Give up the idea and mind your own business," advised the
General. "You have plenty to do trying to rule your underground
kingdom.""But I want the Magic Belt--and I'm going to have it!" roared
the Nome King."I'd like to see you get it," replied the General, laughing
maliciously.The King was by this time so exasperated that he picked up
his scepter, which had a heavy ball, made from a sapphire, at the
end of it, and threw it with all his force at General Blug. The
sapphire hit the General upon his forehead and knocked him flat
upon the ground, where he lay motionless. Then the King rang his
gong and told his guards to drag out the General and throw him
away; which they did.This Nome King was named Roquat the Red, and no one loved
him. He was a bad man and a powerful monarch, and he had resolved
to destroy the Land of Oz and its magnificent Emerald City, to
enslave Princess Ozma and little Dorothy and all the Oz people, and
recover his Magic Belt. This same Belt had once enabled Roquat the
Red to carry out many wicked plans; but that was before Ozma and
her people marched to the underground cavern and captured it. The
Nome King could not forgive Dorothy or Princess Ozma, and he had
determined to be revenged upon them.But they, for their part, did not know they had so dangerous
an enemy. Indeed, Ozma and Dorothy had both almost forgotten that
such a person as the Nome King yet lived under the mountains of the
Land of Ev--which lay just across the deadly desert to the south of
the Land of Oz.An unsuspected enemy is doubly dangerous.
2. How Uncle Henry Got Into Trouble
Dorothy Gale lived on a farm in Kansas, with her Aunt Em and
her Uncle Henry. It was not a big farm, nor a very good one,
because sometimes the rain did not come when the crops needed it,
and then everything withered and dried up. Once a cyclone had
carried away Uncle Henry's house, so that he was obliged to build
another; and as he was a poor man he had to mortgage his farm to
get the money to pay for the new house. Then his health became bad
and he was too feeble to work. The doctor ordered him to take a sea
voyage and he went to Australia and took Dorothy with him. That
cost a lot of money, too.
Uncle Henry grew poorer every year, and the crops raised on
the farm only bought food for the family. Therefore the mortgage
could not be paid. At last the banker who had loaned him the money
said that if he did not pay on a certain day, his farm would be
taken away from him.
This worried Uncle Henry a good deal, for without the farm he
would have no way to earn a living. He was a good man, and worked
in the field as hard as he could; and Aunt Em did all the
housework, with Dorothy's help. Yet they did not seem to get
along.
This little girl, Dorothy, was like dozens of little girls
you know. She was loving and usually sweet-tempered, and had a
round rosy face and earnest eyes. Life was a serious thing to
Dorothy, and a wonderful thing, too, for she had encountered more
strange adventures in her short life than many other girls of her
age.
Aunt Em once said she thought the fairies must have marked
Dorothy at her birth, because she had wandered into strange places
and had always been protected by some unseen power. As for Uncle
Henry, he thought his little niece merely a dreamer, as her dead
mother had been, for he could not quite believe all the curious
stories Dorothy told them of the Land of Oz, which she had several
times visited. He did not think that she tried to deceive her uncle
and aunt, but he imagined that she had dreamed all of those
astonishing adventures, and that the dreams had been so real to her
that she had come to believe them true.
Whatever the explanation might be, it was certain that
Dorothy had been absent from her Kansas home for several long
periods, always disappearing unexpectedly, yet always coming back
safe and sound, with amazing tales of where she had been and the
unusual people she had met. Her uncle and aunt listened to her
stories eagerly and in spite of their doubts began to feel that the
little girl had gained a lot of experience and wisdom that were
unaccountable in this age, when fairies are supposed no longer to
exist.
Most of Dorothy's stories were about the Land of Oz, with its
beautiful Emerald City and a lovely girl Ruler named Ozma, who was
the most faithful friend of the little Kansas girl. When Dorothy
told about the riches of this fairy country Uncle Henry would sigh,
for he knew that a single one of the great emeralds that were so
common there would pay all his debts and leave his farm free. But
Dorothy never brought any jewels home with her, so their poverty
became greater every year.
When the banker told Uncle Henry that he must pay the money
in thirty days or leave the farm, the poor man was in despair, as
he knew he could not possibly get the money. So he told his wife,
Aunt Em, of his trouble, and she first cried a little and then said
that they must be brave and do the best they could, and go away
somewhere and try to earn an honest living. But they were getting
old and feeble and she feared that they could not take care of
Dorothy as well as they had formerly done. Probably the little girl
would also be obliged to go to work.
They did not tell their niece the sad news for several days,
not wishing to make her unhappy; but one morning the little girl
found Aunt Em softly crying while Uncle Henry tried to comfort her.
Then Dorothy asked them to tell her what was the matter.
"We must give up the farm, my dear," replied her uncle sadly,
"and wander away into the world to work for our living."
The girl listened quite seriously, for she had not known
before how desperately poor they were.
"We don't mind for ourselves," said her aunt, stroking the
little girl's head tenderly; "but we love you as if you were our
own child, and we are heart-broken to think that you must also
endure poverty, and work for a living before you have grown big and
strong."
"What could I do to earn money?" asked Dorothy.
"You might do housework for some one, dear, you are so handy;
or perhaps you could be a nurse-maid to little children. I'm sure I
don't know exactly what you CAN do to earn money, but if your uncle
and I are able to support you we will do it willingly, and send you
to school. We fear, though, that we shall have much trouble in
earning a living for ourselves. No one wants to employ old people
who are broken down in health, as we are."
Dorothy smiled.
"Wouldn't it be funny," she said, "for me to do housework in
Kansas, when I'm a Princess in the Land of Oz?"
"A Princess!" they both exclaimed, astonished.
"Yes; Ozma made me a Princess some time ago, and she has
often begged me to come and live always in the Emerald City," said
the child.
Her uncle and aunt looked at her in amazement. Then the man
said:
"Do you suppose you could manage to return to your fairyland,
my dear?"
"Oh yes," replied Dorothy; "I could do that easily."
"How?" asked Aunt Em.
"Ozma sees me every day at four o'clock, in her Magic
Picture. She can see me wherever I am, no matter what I am doing.
And at that time, if I make a certain secret sign, she will send
for me by means of the Magic Belt, which I once captured from the
Nome King. Then, in the wink of an eye, I shall be with Ozma in her
palace."
The elder people remained silent for some time after Dorothy
had spoken. Finally, Aunt Em said, with another sigh of
regret:
"If that is the case, Dorothy, perhaps you'd better go and
live in the Emerald City. It will break our hearts to lose you from
our lives, but you will be so much better off with your fairy
friends that it seems wisest and best for you to go."
"I'm not so sure about that," remarked Uncle Henry, shaking
his gray head doubtfully. "These things all seem real to Dorothy, I
know; but I'm afraid our little girl won't find her fairyland just
what she had dreamed it to be. It would make me very unhappy to
think that she was wandering among strangers who might be unkind to
her."
Dorothy laughed merrily at this speech, and then she became
very sober again, for she could see how all this trouble was
worrying her aunt and uncle, and knew that unless she found a way
to help them their future lives would be quite miserable and
unhappy. She knew that she COULD help them. She had thought of a
way already. Yet she did not tell them at once what it was, because
she must ask Ozma's consent before she would be able to carry out
her plans.
So she only said:
"If you will promise not to worry a bit about me, I'll go to
the Land of Oz this very afternoon. And I'll make a promise, too;
that you shall both see me again before the day comes when you must
leave this farm."
"The day isn't far away, now," her uncle sadly replied. "I
did not tell you of our trouble until I was obliged to, dear
Dorothy, so the evil time is near at hand. But if you are quite
sure your fairy friends will give you a home, it will be best for
you to go to them, as your aunt says."
That was why Dorothy went to her little room in the attic
that afternoon, taking with her a small dog named Toto. The dog had
curly black hair and big brown eyes and loved Dorothy very
dearly.
The child had kissed her uncle and aunt affectionately before
she went upstairs, and now she looked around her little room rather
wistfully, gazing at the simple trinkets and worn calico and
gingham dresses, as if they were old friends. She was tempted at
first to make a bundle of them, yet she knew very well that they
would be of no use to her in her future life.
She sat down upon a broken-backed chair--the only one the
room contained--and holding Toto in her arms waited patiently until
the clock struck four.
Then she made the secret signal that had been agreed upon
between her and Ozma.
Uncle Henry and Aunt Em waited downstairs. They were uneasy
and a good deal excited, for this is a practical humdrum world, and
it seemed to them quite impossible that their little niece could
vanish from her home and travel instantly to fairyland.
So they watched the stairs, which seemed to be the only way
that Dorothy could get out of the farmhouse, and they watched them
a long time. They heard the clock strike four but there was no
sound from above.
Half-past four came, and now they were too impatient to wait
any longer. Softly, they crept up the stairs to the door of the
little girl's room.
"Dorothy! Dorothy!" they called.
There was no answer.
They opened the door and looked in.
The room was empty.
3. How Ozma Granted Dorothy's Request
I suppose you have read so much about the magnificent Emerald
City that there is little need for me to describe it here. It is
the Capital City of the Land of Oz, which is justly considered the
most attractive and delightful fairyland in all the
world.The Emerald City is built all of beautiful marbles in which
are set a profusion of emeralds, every one exquisitely cut and of
very great size. There are other jewels used in the decorations
inside the houses and palaces, such as rubies, diamonds, sapphires,
amethysts and turquoises. But in the streets and upon the outside
of the buildings only emeralds appear, from which circumstance the
place is named the Emerald City of Oz. It has nine thousand, six
hundred and fifty-four buildings, in which lived fifty-seven
thousand three hundred and eighteen people, up to the time my story
opens.All the surrounding country, extending to the borders of the
desert which enclosed it upon every side, was full of pretty and
comfortable farmhouses, in which resided those inhabitants of Oz
who preferred country to city life.Altogether there were more than half a million people in the
Land of Oz--although some of them, as you will soon learn, were not
made of flesh and blood as we are--and every inhabitant of that
favored country was happy and prosperous.No disease of any sort was ever known among the Ozites, and
so no one ever died unless he met with an accident that prevented
him from living. This happened very seldom, indeed. There were no
poor people in the Land of Oz, because there was no such thing as
money, and all property of every sort belonged to the Ruler. The
people were her children, and she cared for them. Each person was
given freely by his neighbors whatever he required for his use,
which is as much as any one may reasonably desire. Some tilled the
lands and raised great crops of grain, which was divided equally
among the entire population, so that all had enough. There were
many tailors and dressmakers and shoemakers and the like, who made
things that any who desired them might wear. Likewise there were
jewelers who made ornaments for the person, which pleased and
beautified the people, and these ornaments also were free to those
who asked for them. Each man and woman, no matter what he or she
produced for the good of the community, was supplied by the
neighbors with food and clothing and a house and furniture and
ornaments and games. If by chance the supply ever ran short, more
was taken from the great storehouses of the Ruler, which were
afterward filled up again when there was more of any article than
the people needed.Every one worked half the time and played half the time, and
the people enjoyed the work as much as they did the play, because
it is good to be occupied and to have something to do. There were
no cruel overseers set to watch them, and no one to rebuke them or
to find fault with them. So each one was proud to do all he could
for his friends and neighbors, and was glad when they would accept
the things he produced.You will know by what I have here told you, that the Land of
Oz was a remarkable country. I do not suppose such an arrangement
would be practical with us, but Dorothy assures me that it works
finely with the Oz people.Oz being a fairy country, the people were, of course, fairy
people; but that does not mean that all of them were very unlike
the people of our own world. There were all sorts of queer
characters among them, but not a single one who was evil, or who
possessed a selfish or violent nature. They were peaceful, kind
hearted, loving and merry, and every inhabitant adored the
beautiful girl who ruled them and delighted to obey her every
command.In spite of all I have said in a general way, there were some
parts of the Land of Oz not quite so pleasant as the farming
country and the Emerald City which was its center. Far away in the
South Country there lived in the mountains a band of strange people
called Hammer-Heads, because they had no arms and used their flat
heads to pound any one who came near them. Their necks were like
rubber, so that they could shoot out their heads to quite a
distance, and afterward draw them back again to their shoulders.
The Hammer-Heads were called the "Wild People," but never harmed
any but those who disturbed them in the mountains where they
lived.In some of the dense forests there lived great beasts of
every sort; yet these were for the most part harmless and even
sociable, and conversed agreeably with those who visited their
haunts. The Kalidahs--beasts with bodies like bears and heads like
tigers--had once been fierce and bloodthirsty, but even they were
now nearly all tamed, although at times one or another of them
would get cross and disagreeable.Not so tame were the Fighting Trees, which had a forest of
their own. If any one approached them these curious trees would
bend down their branches, twine them around the intruders, and hurl
them away.But these unpleasant things existed only in a few remote
parts of the Land of Oz. I suppose every country has some
drawbacks, so even this almost perfect fairyland could not be quite
perfect. Once there had been wicked witches in the land, too; but
now these had all been destroyed; so, as I said, only peace and
happiness reigned in Oz.For some time Ozma had ruled over this fair country, and
never was Ruler more popular or beloved. She is said to be the most
beautiful girl the world has ever known, and her heart and mind are
as lovely as her person.Dorothy Gale had several times visited the Emerald City and
experienced adventures in the Land of Oz, so that she and Ozma had
now become firm friends. The girl Ruler had even made Dorothy a
Princess of Oz, and had often implored her to come to Ozma's
stately palace and live there always; but Dorothy had been loyal to
her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry, who had cared for her since she was a
baby, and she had refused to leave them because she knew they would
be lonely without her.However, Dorothy now realized that things were going to be
different with her uncle and aunt from this time forth, so after
giving the matter deep thought she decided to ask Ozma to grant her
a very great favor.A few seconds after she had made the secret signal in her
little bedchamber, the Kansas girl was seated in a lovely room in
Ozma's palace in the Emerald City of Oz. When the first loving
kisses and embraces had been exchanged, the fair Ruler
inquired:"What is the matter, dear? I know something unpleasant has
happened to you, for your face was very sober when I saw it in my
Magic Picture. And whenever you signal me to transport you to this
safe place, where you are always welcome, I know you are in danger
or in trouble."Dorothy sighed."This time, Ozma, it isn't I," she replied. "But it's worse,
I guess, for Uncle Henry and Aunt Em are in a heap of trouble, and
there seems no way for them to get out of it--anyhow, not while
they live in Kansas.""Tell me about it, Dorothy," said Ozma, with ready
sympathy."Why, you see Uncle Henry is poor; for the farm in Kansas
doesn't 'mount to much, as farms go. So one day Uncle Henry
borrowed some money, and wrote a letter saying that if he didn't
pay the money back they could take his farm for pay. Course he
'spected to pay by making money from the farm; but he just
couldn't. An' so they're going to take the farm, and Uncle Henry
and Aunt Em won't have any place to live. They're pretty old to do
much hard work, Ozma; so I'll have to work for them,
unless--"Ozma had been thoughtful during the story, but now she smiled
and pressed her little friend's hand."Unless what, dear?" she asked.Dorothy hesitated, because her request meant so much to them
all."Well," said she, "I'd like to live here in the Land of Oz,
where you've often 'vited me to live. But I can't, you know, unless
Uncle Henry and Aunt Em could live here too.""Of course not," exclaimed the Ruler of Oz, laughing gaily.
"So, in order to get you, little friend, we must invite your Uncle
and Aunt to live in Oz, also."
