The Oz Series
Chapter 11
Part of the Dorothy's Journey to the Wizard and Back to Kansas arc.
What happens
Even with green spectacles, Dorothy and her friends are dazzled by the Emerald City, whose streets are lined with green marble houses studded with sparkling emeralds; the pavement is green marble joined with rows of emeralds, the window panes are green glass, and even the sky and sun's rays appear green. Men, women, and children dressed in green with greenish skins look on with wonder, and children hide from the Lion. Shops sell only green goods—green candy, green pop-corn, green shoes, hats, clothes, and green lemonade paid for with green pennies. There are no horses or animals; men push little green carts, and everyone seems happy, contented, and prosperous.
The Guardian of the Gates leads them to the Palace of Oz in the middle of the City, where a soldier in a green uniform with a long green beard guards the door. The soldier agrees to carry their message to Oz and leads them into a big room with green carpet and emerald-set furniture, making them wipe their feet on a green mat. After a long wait, the soldier returns and reports that, though he has never seen Oz himself, he spoke to him behind his screen and delivered the message; Oz will grant an audience but will admit only one visitor each day, so they must remain in the Palace several days and will be shown to rooms.
The soldier blows a green whistle, and a young girl in a green silk gown with green hair and eyes leads Dorothy through seven passages and up three flights of stairs to a lovely room at the front of the Palace, with a green silk bed, a fountain spraying green perfume, green flowers, a shelf of little green books full of funny green pictures, and a wardrobe of green dresses that all fit Dorothy exactly. The green girl tells Dorothy to make herself at home and ring for anything, and that Oz will send for her the next morning. The green maiden similarly lodges the others: the Scarecrow stands staring at a spider's web all night, the Tin Woodman lies down and moves his joints to keep them working, and the Lion curls up like a cat and purrs himself asleep on the bed.
The next morning the green maiden dresses Dorothy in a green brocaded satin gown, adds a green silk apron and a green ribbon on Toto's neck, and they go toward the Throne Room. They first pass a great hall of court ladies and gentlemen in rich costumes who wait outside the Throne Room daily though never permitted to see Oz; one whispers, asking if Dorothy will really look upon the face of Oz the Terrible. The soldier who took her message explains Oz was at first angry and wished to send her back, but became interested when told of her silver shoes and decided to admit her after hearing of the mark on her forehead.
A bell rings, and the green girl tells Dorothy to enter the Throne Room alone. Dorothy walks into a big round room with a high arched roof, its walls, ceiling, and floor covered with emeralds, and a great light bright as the sun in the center of the roof. In the middle stands a big green marble throne shaped like a chair and sparkling with gems, and in its center is an enormous Head without body, arms, or legs—hairless, with eyes, nose, and mouth, bigger than the head of the biggest giant. The eyes turn and look at Dorothy, and a voice declares, "I am Oz, the Great and Terrible. Who are you, and why do you seek me?"
Dorothy answers that she is Dorothy, the Small and Meek, come for help. Oz questions her about the silver shoes and the mark on her forehead; she explains she got the shoes from the Wicked Witch of the East when her house killed her, and the mark from the Good Witch of the North's farewell kiss. The eyes see she tells the truth. When Dorothy asks to be sent back to Kansas to Aunt Em and Uncle Henry, Oz declares that in his country everyone must pay for what he gets, and that he will send her home only if she does something for him first: kill the Wicked Witch of the West.
Dorothy protests she cannot and never killed anything willingly, but Oz insists that she killed the Witch of the East and wears the powerful charmed silver shoes, and that she will not see Kansas again until the last Wicked Witch is dead. He orders her to go and not return until the task is done. Sorrowfully, Dorothy reports to her friends that Oz will not send her home until she kills the Wicked Witch of the West, which she believes she can never do, and cries herself to sleep.
The next morning the soldier with green whiskers fetches the Scarecrow, who finds Oz in the throne as a lovely Lady in green silk gauze with a jeweled crown and gorgeous fluttering wings. She repeats the same greeting. The Scarecrow asks for brains; Oz promises to bestow the wisest brains in the Land of Oz if he kills the Wicked Witch of the West, saying she does not care who kills the Witch. The Scarecrow reports back, and Dorothy is surprised the Wizard appeared as a Lady rather than a Head. The next morning the Tin Woodman is summoned, hoping for the lovely Lady, but finds Oz as a terrible Beast nearly as big as an elephant, with a rhinoceros-like head bearing five eyes, five long arms, five slim legs, and thick woolly hair. The Beast, in a roaring voice, promises the biggest, kindest, most loving heart in the Land of Oz if the Woodman helps Dorothy kill the Wicked Witch of the West.
The Tin Woodman reports the Beast to his friends, who marvel at Oz's many forms. The Lion boasts he will roar, spring, or roll whichever form Oz takes to compel his wish. Summoned next, the Lion finds Oz as a fierce, glowing Ball of Fire whose heat singes his whiskers and drives him back toward the door. The voice from the Ball of Fire promises courage only when the Lion brings proof the Wicked Witch is dead, and that he must remain a coward as long as she lives; the furiously hot fire drives the angry Lion from the room. Gathered again, the companions realize their only course is to go to the land of the Winkies, seek out the Wicked Witch, and destroy her, since none of their wishes—courage, brains, a heart, or Kansas—will be granted otherwise. The green girl warns Dorothy's tears will spot her green silk gown. Though each protests being too cowardly, foolish, or heartless to kill even a Witch, they resolve to go together the next morning. In preparation, the Woodman sharpens his axe on a green grindstone and oils his joints, the Scarecrow is restuffed with fresh straw and has his eyes repainted by Dorothy, and the kind green girl fills Dorothy's basket with food and fastens a green-ribboned bell around Toto's neck. They sleep soundly and are awakened at daylight by the crowing of a green cock and the cackling of a hen that has laid a green egg.
Who is in play
- Dorothy
- Cowardly Lion
- Tin Woodman
- Scarecrow
- Dorothy's Traveling Party
- Witch of the North
- Aunt Em
- City of Emeralds
- Kansas
- Land of Oz
- Oz
- Silver Shoes
- Toto
- Uncle Henry
- Wicked Witch of the East
- Guardian of the Gates