The Oz Series
Chapter 10
Part of the Dorothy's Journey to the Wizard and Back to Kansas arc.
What happens
It is some time before the Cowardly Lion awakens from the poppies' deadly fragrance, but he is glad to find himself alive. Told how the field mice generously saved him from death, the Lion laughs at the strangeness of being nearly killed by little flowers and saved by small mice, then asks what they should do. Dorothy answers they must journey on to find the yellow brick road and continue to the Emerald City. The refreshed Lion joins them, and they soon reach the road and turn again toward the Emerald City where the Great Oz dwells.
The road is now smooth and well paved, and the country is beautiful; the travelers rejoice at leaving the dangerous forest behind. Fences beside the road appear again, but these are painted green, as is a small farmer's house, and the people they pass are dressed in emerald-green clothing and wear peaked hats like the Munchkins. No one approaches or speaks because they fear the great Lion. Dorothy concludes this must be the Land of Oz and that they are nearing the Emerald City. The Scarecrow observes everything is green here whereas blue was the Munchkins' color, but the people seem less friendly.
Wanting food beyond fruit and worried Toto is nearly starved, Dorothy knocks boldly at a good-sized farmhouse. A woman opens the door warily, asking about the great Lion; Dorothy explains he is her friend, a great coward more afraid of the woman than she of him. Reassured, the woman admits them and offers supper and a place to sleep. Inside are the woman, two children, and a man lying on a couch with a hurt leg. Asked where they are going, Dorothy says they go to the Emerald City to see the Great Oz. The man expresses doubt that Oz will see them, saying Oz never lets anyone into his presence and that in his many visits to the beautiful Emerald City he has never seen the Great Oz, nor known anyone who has.
The man explains Oz sits day after day in the great Throne Room of his Palace and even his attendants do not see him face to face. He describes Oz as a Great Wizard who can take any form he wishes—a bird, an elephant, a cat, a beautiful fairy, a brownie, or any other—so no living person knows his real form. Dorothy insists they must try to see him or their journey is wasted. The travelers state their wishes: the Scarecrow wants brains, which the man says Oz could give easily since he has more than he needs; the Tin Woodman wants a heart, and the man says Oz has a large collection of hearts; the Cowardly Lion wants courage, which the man says Oz keeps as a great pot in his Throne Room covered with a golden plate; and Dorothy wants to return to Kansas, which the man supposes Oz can find, though seeing him first will be the hard task. Toto only wags his tail, unable to speak.
The woman serves supper; Dorothy eats porridge, scrambled eggs, and white bread, while the Lion eats some porridge but dislikes the oats as horse food, and the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman eat nothing. The woman gives Dorothy a bed with Toto beside her, the Lion guards her door, and the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman keep quiet in a corner all night. The next morning they set out and see a beautiful green glow in the sky, which Dorothy identifies as the Emerald City. By afternoon they reach the high, thick, bright-green wall surrounding the City, at the end of the yellow brick road, where a big gate is studded with dazzling emeralds. Dorothy rings the bell; the gate opens onto a high arched room glistening with emeralds, where a little green-clothed, green-skinned man with a large green box stands. Identifying himself as the Guardian of the Gates, he warns that Oz is powerful and terrible but is a good Wizard who rules wisely, and agrees to take them to the Palace, but first requires them to wear locked-on green spectacles so the City's brilliancy will not blind them, since Oz ordered all inhabitants to wear them. He fits and locks spectacles on Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, the Lion, and Toto, dons his own, takes a golden key, opens another gate, and leads them into the streets of the Emerald City.
Who is in play
- Dorothy
- Cowardly Lion
- Tin Woodman
- Scarecrow
- Dorothy's Traveling Party
- City of Emeralds
- Kansas
- Land of Oz
- Munchkins
- Oz
- Toto
- Field Mice
- Guardian of the Gates
- Palace of Oz
- poppy field
- green spectacles