The Magic of the Great Oz

Chapter-8

Dorothy and her friends walked up to the gate of the Emerald City and rang the bell. After they had rung many times, the Guardian of the Gate answered the bell.
“What! Are you back already?” he asked in surprise.
“We certainly are,” answered the Scarecrow.
“But I thought you had gone to find the wicked witch of the West,” said the Guardian of the Gate.
“We did find her,” said the Scarecrow, “and Dorothy melted her away.”
“Melted! Well, that is good news,” said the Guardian of the Gate.
He led them into his little room and gave them all green eyeglasses just as he had done before. Then they passed through the big gates into the Emerald City. When the Guardian of the Gate told the people that Dorothy had melted the wicked witch of the West, they all gathered around the travellers and followed them in a great crowd to the Palace of Oz.
Once they reached the Palace gates, the soldier with the green beard greeted them and carried the news of their arrival to the Great Oz. Dorothy thought that once he heard the news, the Great Oz would send for her at once, but he did not. Dorothy and her friends waited for many days, but still heard nothing from the Great Oz.
The waiting was tiresome, and at last they grew angry at Oz for treating them so badly. So, the Scarecrow sent a message to Oz which said that if he did not see them at once, they would call the Winged Monkeys to help them and find out whether he kept his promises or not. When the Wizard was given this message, he was so frightened that he sent word for them to come to the Throne Room at four minutes after nine o’clock the next morning. Oz had met the Winged Monkeys once, and he knew their power. He was very afraid of meeting them again.
The four travellers found it difficult to sleep that night. Each thought of the gift Oz had promised to give them. Dorothy fell asleep dreaming of Kansas and her Aunt Em.
At nine o’clock the next morning, the soldier with the green beard came to escort them to the Throne Room.
Dorothy, the Tinman, the Scarecrow and the lion all expected to see the Wizard in the shape he had taken before. They were all surprised when they saw that the room was empty.
Soon they heard a voice that seemed to come from somewhere near the top of the great dome, and it said solemnly, “I am Oz the Great and Terrible. Why do you seek me?”
They looked again in every part of the room and still saw no one. Dorothy asked, “Where are you?”
“I am everywhere,” answered the voice, “but if you wish to talk with me, walk near the Throne.”
So they walked towards the Throne and Dorothy said, “We have come to claim our promises.”
“What promises?” asked Oz.
Dorothy repeated the Wizard’s promise to send her back to Kansas, and to give the Tinman a heart, the Scarecrow brains, and the lion courage.
“Is the wicked witch really destroyed?” asked the voice.
“Yes,” answered Dorothy, “I melted her with a bucket of water.”
“Dear me,” said the voice, “how sudden! Well, come to me tomorrow, for I must have time to think it over.”

This made the Scarecrow and the Tinman very angry, and they began to shout at the Great Oz, and they demanded that he should keep his promises to them. The lion thought that he might as well frighten the Wizard, so he gave a large, loud roar. This was so frightening that Toto jumped away from him and tipped over a screen that stood in the corner of the room. As it fell with a crash, they looked and saw a very strange thing. For, standing in just the spot the screen had hidden, was a little old man with a bald head and a wrinkled face. The man seemed just as surprised as Dorothy and her friends. The Tinman raised his axe and rushed towards the little man and shouted, “Who are you?”
“I am Oz the Great and Terrible,” said the little man in a trembling voice, “but please don’t hit me, please don’t hit me, and I will do anything you want.”
Dorothy and her friends were surprised and upset.
“We thought Oz was a Great Head, a Ball of Fire, a Terrible Beast, or a Beautiful Woman,” said the Scarecrow.
“No, you are wrong,” said the little man, “I have been making believe.”
“Making believe!” cried the Tinman, “Are you not a great Wizard?”
The little man hung his head in shame and confessed that he was only a common man who was able to perform some clever magic tricks. He asked Dorothy and her friends to sit down while he told them his strange story. Dorothy and her friends sat down in some comfortable chairs while the Wizards told them this story—
“I was born in Omaha. When I grew up, I became a ventriloquist (a person who speaks without moving his lips and makes it look as if his voice were coming from another person) and learnt how to throw my voice, so it seemed to come from many places at once. I was well trained by a great master. I can imitate any kind of bird or beast.” Then he mewed like a kitten, and Toto pricked up his ears and looked everywhere to see where the sound was coming from.
“After a while, I got tired of doing that and decided to become a balloonist. A balloonist is someone who goes up in a balloon on circus day and attracts a crowd of people who pay to see the performance. Well, one day, I went up in a balloon, and the ropes got so twisted that I couldn’t come down again. The balloon went way up above the clouds, and a current of air struck it and carried it many, many miles away. For a day and a night, I travelled through the air, and on the morning of the second day I awoke and found the balloon floating over a strange and beautiful country.”
“My balloon came down gradually, and I was not hurt. But I found myself among strange people. They had seen me come out of the clouds and thought I was a great and powerful Wizard. Of course, I let them think this, because they were afraid of me and promised to do anything I asked them to.”
“So I ordered them to build this City and to construct this Palace. They did it all willingly. Then, I thought that since everything in this country was so green and beautiful, I would call it the Emerald City. To make the name fit even better, I put green eyeglasses on all the people. This way everything they saw was green.”
“But isn’t everything here green?” asked Dorothy.
“No more than in any other city,” answered Oz, “But when you wear green glasses, of course, everything looks green to you. The Emerald City was built many years ago when I was a young man. I am very old now. But the people here have worn green glasses for so long that most of them think this really is an Emerald City. I have been good to the people here, and they have been good to me. But since this palace was built I have shut myself up, and I have refused to see anyone.”
“One of the things I have fared most is the evil power of the Witches. Since I have no magical powers at all, I knew that their powers could destroy me. I have lived in deadly fear of them for many years. I was very happy when I heard that your house fell on the wicked witch of the East. When you came to me, I was willing to promise anything if you would only do away with the wicked witch of the West. Now that you have melted her, I am ashamed to say that I cannot keep my promises.”
“I think you are a very bad man,” said Dorothy.
“Oh no, I am really a very good man, but I will admit that I am a very bad Wizard,” said Oz.

“Can’t you give me some brains?” asked the Scarecrow.
“You don’t need them. You learn something every day. Experience is the only thing that brings knowledge.”
“That may be true,” said the Scarecrow, “but I will be very unhappy unless you give me brains.”
“Well,” Oz said with a sigh, “I am not much of a magician, as I said, but if you come to me tomorrow morning I will stuff your head with brains.”
“Oh, thank you; thank you,” cried the Scarecrow.
“But how about my courage?” asked the lion anxiously.
“You have plenty of courage. All you really need is some confidence in yourself. Every living thing is afraid when it faces danger. True courage is facing danger even when you are afraid, and you already have that kind of courage.”
“Maybe I have,” answered the lion, “but I am scared just the same. I would like you to give me the sort of courage that makes me forget to be afraid.”
“Very well, I will give you that sort of courage tomorrow,” said Oz.
“What about my heart?” asked the Tinman. The heart is what makes most people unhappy,” said Oz.
“That is your opinion,” said the Tinman, “For my part, I will bear all the unhappiness without a word if you will give me the heart.”
“Very well,” answered Oz meekly, “Come to me tomorrow and you will have your heart. I have played Wizard long enough. I may as well continue for a little while longer.”
Then Dorothy asked Oz how he would get her back to Kansas. The Wizard confessed that her request would take a little longer to fulfil. He asked them all to stay in the Palace for a few more days while he thought of a way to get Dorothy back to Kansas. In the meantime, he asked them to keep his secret.
They all agreed to say nothing about what they had learnt and went back to their rooms in high spirits, for they were all sure their wishes would be granted.

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