While the Woodman was making
a ladder from wood which he found
in the forest Dorothy lay down
and slept, for she was tired
by the long walk. The Lion also
curled himself up to sleep and
Toto lay
beside him.
The Scarecrow watched the Woodman
while he worked, and said to
him:
"I cannot think
why this wall is here, nor
what it is made
of."
"Rest your brains and do not
worry about the wall," replied
the Woodman. "When we have climbed
over it, we shall know what is
on the other side."
After a time
the ladder was finished. It
looked clumsy, but
the Tin Woodman was sure it was
strong and would answer their
purpose. The Scarecrow waked
Dorothy and the Lion and Toto,
and told them that the ladder
was ready. The Scarecrow climbed
up the ladder first, but he was
so awkward that Dorothy had to
follow close behind and keep
him from falling off. When he
got his head over the top of
the wall the Scarecrow said, "Oh,
my!"
"Go on," exclaimed
Dorothy.
So the Scarecrow
climbed farther up and sat
down on the top of
the wall, and Dorothy put her
head over and cried, "Oh, my!" just
as the Scarecrow had done.
Then Toto came up, and immediately
began to bark, but Dorothy made
him be still.
The Lion climbed
the ladder next, and the Tin
Woodman came
last; but both of them cried, "Oh,
my!" as soon as they looked over
the wall. When they were all
sitting in a row on the top of
the wall, they looked down and
saw a strange sight.
Before them was a great stretch
of country having a floor as
smooth and shining and white
as the bottom of a big platter.
Scattered around were many houses
made entirely of china and painted
in the brightest colors. These
houses were quite small, the
biggest of them reaching only
as high as Dorothy's waist. There
were also pretty little barns,
with china fences around them;
and many cows and sheep and horses
and pigs and chickens, all made
of china, were standing about
in groups.
But the strangest of all were
the people who lived in this
queer country. There were milkmaids
and shepherdesses, with brightly
colored bodices and golden spots
all over their gowns; and princesses
with most gorgeous frocks of
silver and gold and purple; and
shepherds dressed in knee breeches
with pink and yellow and blue
stripes down them, and golden
buckles on their shoes; and princes
with jeweled crowns upon their
heads, wearing ermine robes and
satin doublets; and funny clowns
in ruffled gowns, with round
red spots upon their cheeks and
tall, pointed caps. And, strangest
of all, these people were all
made of china, even to their
clothes, and were so small that
the tallest of them was no higher
than Dorothy's knee.
No one did so much as look
at the travelers at first, except
one little purple china dog with
an extra-large head, which came
to the wall and barked at them
in a tiny voice, afterwards running
away again.
"How shall we get down?" asked
Dorothy.
They found the ladder so heavy
they could not pull it up, so
the Scarecrow fell off the wall
and the others jumped down upon
him so that the hard floor would
not hurt their feet. Of course
they took pains not to light
on his head and get the pins
in their feet. When all were
safely down they picked up the
Scarecrow, whose body was quite
flattened out, and patted his
straw into shape again.
"We must cross this strange
place in order to get to the
other side," said Dorothy, "for
it would be unwise for us to
go any other way except due South."
They began walking through
the country of the china people,
and the first thing they came
to was a china milkmaid milking
a china cow. As they drew near,
the cow suddenly gave a kick
and kicked over the stool, the
pail, and even the milkmaid herself,
and all fell on the china ground
with a great clatter.
Dorothy was shocked to see
that the cow had broken her leg
off, and that the pail was lying
in several small pieces, while
the poor milkmaid had a nick
in her left elbow.
"There!" cried the milkmaid
angrily. "See what you have done!
My cow has broken her leg, and
I must take her to the mender's
shop and have it glued on again.
What do you mean by coming here
and frightening my cow?"
"I'm very sorry," returned
Dorothy. "Please forgive us."
But the pretty milkmaid was
much too vexed to make any answer.
She picked up the leg sulkily
and led her cow away, the poor
animal limping on three legs.
As she left them the milkmaid
cast many reproachful 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."
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