Hello there,
It's Mandy here.
Thanks for joining me tonight and welcome back to The Wizard of Oz by L.
Frank Baum.
Many writers have suggested that Baum intentionally used allegory and symbolism in The Wizard of Oz to convey concepts that are central to spiritual teachings such as Theosophy and Buddhism.
They postulate that the main character's experiences in Oz represent the soul's journey toward enlightenment.
In fact,
Baum's own writings suggest that he believed the story may have been divinely inspired.
It was pure inspiration,
He said.
It came to me right out of the blue.
I think that sometimes the great author had a message to get across and he was to use the instrument at hand.
Anyway,
We've reached chapters 20 and 21.
But before I go ahead,
Please feel free to make yourself really comfortable.
Settle down into your chair or your bed.
Relax your hands.
Release your shoulders.
And soften your jaw.
That's great.
So if you're ready,
Then I shall begin.
Chapters 20 and 21.
The Dainty China Country.
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 the ladder was ready.
The scarecrow climbed up the ladder first,
But he was so awkward that Dorothy had to follow close behind to keep him 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 further up and sat down on the top of the wall and Dorothy put her head over and cried,
Oh my!
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,
They looked down at 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 dish.
Scattered around were many houses made entirely of china and painted in the brightest colours.
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 strange country.
There were milkmaids and shepherdesses with bright coloured 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 ruffle gowns with round red spots on their cheeks and tall pointed caps.
And strangest of all,
These people were all made of china,
Even 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 travellers 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 couldn't pull it up,
So the scarecrow fell off the wall and the others jumped down on him so that the hard floor would not hurt their feet.
Of course they took pains not to light on his head and get pins in their feet.
When all was safely down they picked up the scarecrow whose body was flattened out and they 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,
All falling 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've 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 further 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 towards 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 sorcely,
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 on his head.
Don't mind Mr Joker,
Said the princess to Dorothy.
He is considerably cracked in the 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'm sure I could love you dearly.
Won't you let me carry you back to Kansas and stand you on Aunt Em's mantel shelf?
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's all that's expected of us when we're on mantel shelves 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,
Cried Dorothy,
So I'll just say goodbye.
Goodbye,
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 travellers reached the other side of the country and came to another China wall.
It was not so high as the first,
And by standing on the lion's back,
They all managed to scramble to the top.
Then the lion gathered his legs under him and jumped onto 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'm made of straw and cannot be easily damaged.
There are worse things in the world than being a scarecrow.
After climbing down from the China wall,
The travellers found themselves in a disagreeable country,
Full of bogs and marshes and covered with tall,
Rank grass.
It was difficult to walk without falling into muddy holes,
For the grass was so thick that it hid them from sight.
However,
By carefully picking their way,
They got safely along until they reached solid ground.
But here the country seemed wilder than ever,
And after a long and tiresome walk through the underbrush,
They entered another forest,
Where the trees were bigger and older than any they had ever seen.
This forest is perfectly delightful,
Declared the lion,
Looking around him with joy.
Never have I seen a more beautiful place.
It seems gloomy,
Said the scarecrow.
Not a bit of it,
Answered the lion.
I should like to live here all my life.
See how soft the dried leaves are under your feet,
And how rich and green the moss is that clings to these old trees.
Surely no wild beast could wish a pleasanter home.
Perhaps there are wild beasts in the forest now,
Said Dorothy.
I suppose there are,
Returned the lion,
But I don't see any of them about.
They walked through the forest until it became too dark to go any further.
Dorothy and Toto and the lion lay down to sleep,
While the woodman and the scarecrow kept watch over them,
As usual.
When morning came,
They started again.
Before they'd gone far,
They heard a low rumble,
As of the growling of many wild animals.
Toto whimpered a little,
But none of the others was frightened,
And they kept along the well-trodden path until they came to an opening in the wood,
In which were gathered hundreds of beasts of every variety.
There were tigers and elephants and bears and wolves and foxes and all the others in the natural history,
And for a moment Dorothy was afraid.
But the lion explained that the animals were holding a meeting,
And he judged by their snarling and growling that they were in great trouble.
As he spoke,
Several of the beasts caught sight of him,
And at once the great assemblage hushed as if by magic.
The biggest of the tigers came up to the lion and bowed,
Saying,
Welcome,
O King of Beasts!
You have come in good time to fight our enemy and bring peace to all the animals of the forest once more.
What is your trouble?
Asked the lion quietly.
We are all threatened,
Answered the tiger,
By a fierce enemy which has lately come into this forest.
It is a most tremendous monster,
Like a great spider,
With a body as big as an elephant and legs as long as a tree trunk.
It has eight of these long legs,
And as the monster crawls through the forest,
He seizes an animal with a leg and drags it to his mouth,
Where he eats it as a spider does a fly.
Not one of us is safe while this fierce creature is alive,
And we have called a meeting to decide how to take care of ourselves when you came among us.
The lion thought for a moment.
Are there any other lions in this forest?
He asked.
No,
There were some,
But the monster has eaten them all,
And besides,
They were none of them nearly so large and brave as you.
If I put an end to your enemy,
Will you bow down to me and obey me as king of the forest?
Inquired the lion.
We will do that gladly,
Returned the tiger,
And all the other beasts roared with a mighty roar.
We will!
Where is this great spider of yours now?
Asked the lion.
Yonder,
Among the oak trees,
Said the tiger,
Pointing with his forefoot.
Take good care of these friends of mine,
Said the lion,
And I will go at once to fight the monster.
He bowed his comrades goodbye and marched proudly away to do battle with the enemy.
The great spider was lying asleep when the lion found him,
And it looked so ugly that its foe turned up his nose in disgust.
Its legs were quite as long as the tiger had said.
And its body covered with coarse black hair.
It had a great mouth with a row of sharp teeth a foot long,
But its head was joined to the pudgy body by a neck as slender as a wasp's waist.
This gave the lion a hint of the best way to attack the creature,
And as he knew it was easier to fight it asleep than awake,
He gave a great spring and landed directly on the monster's back.
Then,
With one blow of his heavy paw,
All armed with sharp claws,
He knocked the spider's head from its body.
Jumping down,
He watched it until the long legs stopped wiggling,
And then he knew it was quite dead.
The lion went back to the opening where the beasts of the forest were waiting for him and said proudly,
You need fear your enemy no longer.
The beasts bowed down to the lion as their king,
And he promised to come back and rule over them as soon as Dorothy was safely on her way to Kansas.
To be continued.
