The Oz Series
Chapter 84
Part of the Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz: The Underground World arc.
What happens
Many servants in handsome uniforms welcome the new arrivals, and when the Wizard steps out of the buggy a pretty green-gowned girl cries that it is Oz the Wonderful Wizard come back again. The Wizard recognizes her as little Jellia Jamb, as pert and pretty as ever. Jellia warns that he cannot rule the Emerald City as before because they now have a beloved beautiful Princess, and a tall soldier in a Captain-General's uniform adds the people will not part with her. The Wizard recognizes the soldier as one who once wore green whiskers; the soldier confirms he shaved them off long ago and has risen from private to Chief General of the Royal Armies. The Wizard earnestly assures them he does not wish to rule the Emerald City, and the servants welcome him warmly, bowing with respect, for his fame has not been forgotten in the Land of Oz.
Zeb anxiously asks where Dorothy is; Jellia Jamb replies she is with Princess Ozma in the private rooms of the palace but has ordered Jellia to welcome Zeb and show him to his apartments. Zeb marvels at the magnificence and wealth, scarcely believing it real. Jim uneasily asks what will become of him, knowing a regal palace is no place for a horse. Jellia is perplexed and astonished at the unusual creature, since horses are unknown in Oz, but noting his mild eyes she decides not to fear him. The Wizard notes there are no stables unless some were built since he left; Jellia says none were needed because the Sawhorse lives in a room of the palace, being smaller and more natural in appearance. Jim, offended at being called a freak, is mollified when Jellia says horses are merely unusual in Oz, and she decides to give the cab-horse his own large room in the many-roomed palace. Zeb unharnesses Jim, and servants lead the horse to a nice large apartment at the rear.
Jellia offers the Wizard his old room behind the great Throne Room, vacant since he left; he gladly accepts, and a servant follows carrying his satchel. Zeb is escorted to a grand, beautiful room whose splendor he almost fears to disturb; in the closets he finds fancy costumes of rich velvets and brocades, and an attendant invites him to dress in any clothes he pleases and dine with the Princess and Dorothy in an hour. Zeb bathes in a marble tub of perfumed water in the fine bathroom, then selects a maroon velvet costume with silver buttons, silk stockings, and soft leather slippers with diamond buckles, looking more dignified than ever before. An attendant escorts him bashfully to the Princess's presence, into a room more dainty and attractive than splendid, where he finds Dorothy seated beside a marvelously beautiful young girl, stopping short with a gasp of admiration.
Dorothy springs up, seizes Zeb's hand, and draws him toward the lovely Princess, who smiles graciously. The Wizard enters, clothed in black velvet with sparkling emerald ornaments, his bald head and wrinkled features making him more amusing than impressive, relieving Zeb's embarrassment. Ozma, curious to meet the famous man who built the Emerald City and united the Munchkins, Gillikins, Quadlings, and Winkies into one people, asks over dinner whether he named himself Oz after the country or whether the country was named after him, noting he is of a strange race while her own name is Ozma.
The Wizard explains his connection: he was born in Omaha, and his politician father named him Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs, a dreadfully long name whose remembering was one of his hardest lessons. Grown up, he called himself O. Z., because the other initials spelled "pinhead," a reflection on his intelligence. Ozma sympathizes but wonders if he cut it too short. The Wizard continues that as a young man he ran away from home to join a circus, called himself a Wizard, and did tricks of ventriloquism, which he defines as throwing his voice into any object to make it seem to speak. He also made balloon ascensions, painting the initials O. Z. on his balloon and articles to mark his property.
One day his balloon ran away with him across the deserts to this country; the people, seeing him come from the sky, thought him a superior creature and bowed down. He told them he was a Wizard, showed easy tricks, and seeing the initials on the balloon they called him Oz. At that time four separate countries in the Land were each ruled by a Witch, but the people (and perhaps the Witches) thought his power greater, so the Witches never opposed him. He ordered the Emerald City built where the four countries cornered together, then announced himself Ruler of the Land of Oz, comprising the Munchkins, Gillikins, Winkies, and Quadlings, ruling in peace for many years until he grew old and longed for his native city. When Dorothy was blown to Oz by a cyclone he arranged to leave with her in a balloon, but it escaped too soon and carried him back alone; after many adventures he reached Omaha to find his old friends dead or moved away, so he rejoined a circus and made balloon ascensions until the earthquake caught him.
Ozma adds history the Wizard did not know: many years before he came, the Land was united under one Ruler always named "Oz," meaning "Great and Good" in their language, or "Ozma" if the Ruler was a woman. Once four Witches leagued to depose the king and rule the four parts; a Wicked Witch named Mombi stole and imprisoned the Ruler, Ozma's grandfather, while the Witches divided the kingdom until the Wizard came, which is why the people, seeing his initials, thought him their rightful ruler. The Wizard notes that at that time there were two Good Witches and two Wicked Witches; Ozma explains a good Witch had conquered Mombi in the North and Glinda the Good had conquered the evil Witch in the South, but Mombi remained jailor of Ozma's grandfather and then her father. When Ozma was born, Mombi transformed her into a boy so no one would recognize the rightful Princess, but Ozma escaped and now rules.
The Wizard is glad and hopes to be counted a faithful subject. Ozma credits him with building the splendid Emerald City; he modestly says the people built it and he only "bossed the job." Ozma offers him a permanent home as the Official Wizard of her kingdom, treated with respect, since he is too old to wander and work in a circus. The Wizard accepts gratefully with tears in his old eyes, as securing such a home means much to him. Dorothy notes he is only a humbug Wizard, and Ozma replies that is the safest kind to have; Zeb, now more at ease, says Oz can do some good tricks regardless, and Ozma promises he shall amuse them with tricks the next day. She reveals she has summoned all of Dorothy's old friends to welcome her.
No sooner is dinner finished than the Scarecrow rushes in to hug Dorothy in his padded arms, and the straw man, an important personage in Oz, heartily welcomes the Wizard. The Wizard asks about his brains; the Scarecrow says they work finely, the best in the world, thinking day and night. He recounts ruling the Emerald City awhile after the Wizard left until conquered by a girl named General Jinjur, whom Ozma soon conquered with Glinda the Good's help, after which the Scarecrow went to live with Nick Chopper, the Tin Woodman. A loud cackling heralds a yellow hen; Dorothy catches Billina joyfully, admiring how fat and sleek she has grown, and Billina, wearing a string of pearls and emerald leg-bracelets, says she lives on the fat of the land. Billina nestles in Dorothy's lap until Eureka snarls in jealous anger and leaps with bared claw to strike, but Dorothy cuffs the kitten severely so it jumps down without daring to scratch, and rebukes Eureka for mistreating her friends. When Eureka and Billina exchange scornful insults, Dorothy sternly forbids quarrelling in the Land of Oz, threatening to use her Magic Belt to wish them both home again; both are frightened and promise meekly to be good, though they never become warm friends.
The Tin Woodman arrives, beautifully nickle-plated and shining, loving Dorothy tenderly and joyfully welcoming the little old Wizard, thanking him for the excellent heart he once gave, which has made many friends and still beats kindly, preserved in his air-tight chest. Zeb, at first shy of these queer people, soon admires them and finds some good in the yellow hen, but grows nervous at the next announced visitor. Princess Ozma introduces her friend Mr. H. M. Woggle-Bug, T. E., who once assisted her in great distress and is now Dean of the Royal College of Athletic Science. The Woggle-Bug pompously explains H. M. means Highly Magnified and T. E. means Thoroughly Educated, boasting he is a very big bug and doubtless the most intelligent being in the domain. The Wizard responds wryly. The Woggle-Bug then draws a book from its pocket, turns its back on the company, and sits in a corner to read; nobody minds this rudeness, forgetting him and joining a merry conversation until bed-time.
Who is in play
- Dorothy
- Ozma
- Tin Woodman
- Billina
- General Jinjur
- Glinda
- Mombi
- Saw-Horse
- Scarecrow
- Woggle-Bug
- underground_traveling_party
- Witch of the North
- Zeb
- City of Emeralds
- Jellia Jamb
- Jim