Talking animal in The Oz Series
Eureka
Also known as my kitten, a pink kitten, her pet, the small animal, my pet, the angry kitten, that beastly cat, Dorothy's white kitten.
Dorothy's small white kitten (appearing pink in the colored light of the glass city), previously carried in a covered bird-cage; the cage overturned during the fall and she now walks and talks freely, complaining of hunger and demanding milk.
Appears in 17 chapters, first in chapter 70, last in chapter 89.
This encyclopedia covers chapters 1 to 100 of the story and shows the world as it stands at chapter 100, so it contains spoilers up to that point. To read it spoiler free, one chapter at a time, open the interactive codex.
What the story establishes
| Acquired speech account | Eureka gained the power of human speech only after entering the fairy regions beneath the earth's surface; like Jim the cab-horse she can talk and understand human language there, a condition the characters themselves regard as 'unnatural' rather than innate. |
| Affiliation | Belongs to Dorothy. (as of ch. 1) |
| Age | kitten (as of ch. 70) |
| Animal kind | Domestic cat (a small kitten). |
| Appearance | A small kitten, described here as a small animal that reminded the Valley of Voe children of the bears they fear. (as of ch. 78) |
| Being nature | An ordinary kitten (cat). |
| Body conditions | Her little heart was still beating rapidly from fright after her narrow escape from the pursuing Mangaboos. |
| Conflict | The murder accusation is resolved: Eureka is proved innocent (the piglet is recovered alive) and set at liberty, ending her legal jeopardy. (as of ch. 88) |
| Current goal | Fulfilled: she wanted to be free of her confinement and disgrace in Oz and sent somewhere else, and by the story's end that wish is granted — the Magic Belt carries her home with Dorothy to Kansas, ending both her captivity and her time in the fairy land. (as of ch. 89) |
| Dialogue style | Speaks in short, blunt, self-interested demands and offhand exclamations, quick to notice and comment on the novelty of her own talking without alarm. (as of ch. 71) |
| Gender identity | woman (as of ch. 71) |
| Health condition | Physically sound and unharmed; the battle-fatigue from fighting the Mangaboos is long past. Through her trial and disgrace she remains lively, alert and combative, and she is finally returned home to Kansas whole and in good health. (as of ch. 89) |
| Is alive | yes (as of ch. 1) |
| Maturation stage | Kitten |
| Motive | Driven by her predatory feline nature and a long-standing craving to eat one of the tiny piglets, a temptation she is believed to have finally acted upon. (as of ch. 87) |
| Personality | Feisty and combative; quick to urge violent resistance and unafraid to fight much larger foes, fiercely protective of the piglets despite her small size. (as of ch. 75) |
| Quirks | Snarls and bites at the thorns pushed toward her while trying to protect the tiny piglets from injury, even flying into the faces of the enemy to scratch and bite furiously. (as of ch. 75) |
| Referential profile | feminine (as of ch. 1) |
| Sex profile | female (as of ch. 70) |
| Skills | Able to scratch and bite furiously in a fight, and to fly into an opponent's face as an attack. (as of ch. 75) |
| Social status | In social disgrace despite her acquittal: the folk of Oz, even the Hungry Tiger, refuse to associate with her because they know she tried to eat the piglet; then removed from Oz and taken home to Kansas as Dorothy's pet. (as of ch. 89) |
| Special capabilities | Able to leap through a gap in a blocked cave entrance and fly/float through open air, rising nearly two hundred feet above the ground — higher than the pursuing Mangaboos, who could only reach about a hundred feet — allowing her to outdistance them and reach the city. |
| Status | Her disgrace and confinement in Oz are now behind her: after being proved innocent she is sent home at the adventure's close. Ozma uses the Magic Belt to grant Dorothy's wish, and Eureka the kitten vanishes together with Dorothy, arriving back in Kansas with Dorothy's uncle and aunt — no longer a palace prisoner but restored to ordinary life as Dorothy's pet. (as of ch. 89) |
Relationships
- located in → Kansas ch. 89Eureka the kitten is transported along with Dorothy from Oz to the Kansas farm at the chapter's end.
- oath bound ← Dorothy ch. 75fulfillment_status: fulfilled. Dorothy promised Eureka she would do all she could to save her from being cast into the Black Pit; she has now used Ozma's Magic Belt to wish herself and Eureka safely away to the Land of Oz.
- possesses ← Dorothy ch. 80Dorothy still owns Eureka, her small white kitten. At the public trial before Ozma's throne Eureka was caged and accused of eating Ozma's piglet, but was proved innocent when the missing piglet was produced; Ozma ordered her let out of the cage ('she is no longer a prisoner, but our good friend') and Dorothy hugged the kitten, delighted to know she was innocent.
- accuses ← Ozma (ended) ch. 87Ozma accuses Eureka of stealing into her dressing-room and eating her pet white piglet, declaring that the kitten's own actions accuse her.
- captures ← Omby Amby (ended) ch. 87The Captain-General (Omby Amby) takes Eureka from Dorothy's arms and, despite the kitten's snarls and scratches, carries her away to prison to await trial.
- imprisoned by → Omby Amby (ended) ch. 87–88[CASCADE] Created by CAPTURES(omby_amby→eureka)
- frees ← Ozma (ended) ch. 88Once the piglet is produced, Ozma orders Eureka released from the cage, declaring her no longer a prisoner but a good friend.
- located in → the glass city (ended) ch. 71–72Eureka tumbles out of her overturned bird-cage onto a rooftop in the glass city and walks in the air near the roof's edge.
- accuses ← Woggle-Bug (ended) ch. 88As Public Accuser at the trial, the Woggle-Bug charges Eureka with murdering and eating Ozma's fat piglet and demands that the death penalty be inflicted nine times.
- communicates with → Dorothy (ended) ch. 76Eureka flew to the House of the Sorcerer, entered Dorothy's window, and woke her to tell her that Jim and the piglets had been captured and imprisoned by the Mangaboos.
- threatens ← Jim (ended) ch. 80Jim the horse warns Eureka that if she harms any of the piglets he will chew her up instantly, glaring at her with his big round eyes until she backs down.
- injures → Mangaboos (ended) ch. 75Eureka flies into the faces of the Mangaboos, scratching and biting furiously and ruining many of their vegetable complexions.
- defies → Mangaboos (ended) ch. 76Eureka refused to be trapped with the others and leapt through the narrowing gap in the sealed cave entrance to escape and seek help, defying the Mangaboos' attempt to imprison her.
- imprisoned by → Mangaboos (ended) ch. 76[CASCADE] Created by CAPTURES(mangaboos→eureka)
- banishes ← Mangaboos (ended) ch. 75Armed with thorn branches, the Mangaboos surround Eureka and drive her out of the House of the Sorcerer toward the Black Pit in the mountain.
- captures ← Mangaboos (ended) ch. 76The Mangaboos drove Eureka the kitten into the dark cave along with Jim and the piglets and sealed the entrance with glass rocks, though Eureka soon escaped through a remaining gap.
- confesses to → Ozma (ended) ch. 88Eureka confesses before the court that she intended to eat the piglet and reveals it actually fell into a vase and was never eaten.
- threatens → the nine tiny piglets (ended) ch. 80Now able to see the nine tiny piglets again after leaving the Valley of Voe, Eureka the kitten declares she is hungry and asks the Wizard if she may eat just one of the fat little piglets, frightening and offending them.
- threatens ← the Royal Princess (ended) ch. 75The Princess decrees that Eureka must be driven into the Black Pit in the mountain along with the other animals.
- discovers → the wooden wings (ended) ch. 81While prowling the sleeping wooden city, Eureka observed that the Gargoyles unhook and remove their wings before resting, and reported this to the others, revealing that the wings can be detached.
- protects ← Tin Woodman (ended) ch. 88The Tin Woodman defends the accused kitten Eureka before the jury, pleading her innocence, and saves her from execution by producing a substitute white piglet from under his hat.
- includes ← underground_traveling_party (ended) ch. 71–89Eureka the kitten, carried in Dorothy's bird-cage, is a member of the fellowship stranded underground.
- located in → Valley of Voe (ended) ch. 77–83Eureka runs frolicking over the grass in the Valley of Voe and tries unsuccessfully to walk in the air as she had done in the Mangaboo country.
- communicates with → Dorothy (ended) ch. 71Eureka speaks for the first time, asking Dorothy for milk and marveling that she can talk, then encourages Dorothy and Zeb to walk down through the air.
- accuses ← immense Tiger (ended) ch. 88As the jury's appointed spokesman, the Hungry Tiger declares Eureka guilty of eating Ozma's piglet and recommends she be put to death.
- communicates with ← Jim (ended) ch. 75Eureka suggests to Jim that he fight the Mangaboos by kicking with his hoofs, and Jim agrees and follows through by kicking the crowd.
- confesses to ← Oz (ended) ch. 74The Wizard admits to Eureka and the children that he is not really a wizard but only a humbug, and that the piglet trick was mere sleight-of-hand deception used to fool the Sorcerer and the Prince.
- defies → Ozma (ended) ch. 87Eureka defiantly refuses to answer Ozma's questions about the missing piglet, snarling and challenging anyone to prove the accusation.
- located in → Palace of Oz (ended) ch. 83–87Eureka the kitten vanishes from the cave with Dorothy and, by implication of Dorothy's arrival, ends up at the royal palace in the Emerald City.
- member of → underground_traveling_party (ended) ch. 89Eureka the kitten is a member of the surface-world party; disgraced after the piglet trial, she departs the Land of Oz together with Dorothy for Kansas as the party breaks up.
- confronts → Billina (ended) ch. 84The kitten Eureka snarls with jealous anger and leaps up with a claw bared to strike Billina after the hen settles into Dorothy's lap, provoking a mutual exchange of scornful insults between the two animals.
- warns ← Dorothy (ended) ch. 80Dorothy reprovingly tells Eureka that she is making herself disliked by threatening to eat the piglets, and warns her that eating them would be as improper as Jim eating her.
- punishes ← Dorothy (ended) ch. 84Dorothy gives the angry kitten Eureka a severe cuff for trying to claw Billina, making it jump down without scratching, and scolds it for treating her friend so horridly.
- threatens ← Dorothy (ended) ch. 84Dorothy sternly warns Billina and Eureka that she will not allow quarrelling, and threatens that unless the two make up and become friends she will use her Magic Belt to wish them both back home immediately.
- threatens ← Dorothy (ended) ch. 87Dorothy threatens to use her Magic Belt to wish Eureka into the Country of the Gurgles if the kitten will not come out and obey.
- expresses love ← Dorothy (ended) ch. 88Dorothy embraces Eureka, telling her how delighted she is to know the kitten is innocent.
- injures → Gargoyles (ended) ch. 81Eureka leapt bodily onto the attacking Gargoyles, scratching and biting at them like a wild-cat during the melee.
- communicates with → Jim (ended) ch. 76Before escaping the sealed cave, Eureka reassured Jim and the piglets that she would fetch the Wizard and Dorothy to rescue them.
- threatens ← Mangaboos (ended) ch. 76Several Mangaboos armed with thorns chased after the escaping Eureka through the air in an attempt to stop her.
- communicates with → Oz (ended) ch. 74Eureka needles the Wizard about not really being a wizard, then pleads with him for food, and he explains the fish plan and forbids her from eating the piglets.
- defies → Oz (ended) ch. 88Defying the Wizard's whispered hush, Eureka publicly exposes his substitution trick, insisting the produced piglet is not the one that was lost.
- witnesses ← the glass people (ended) ch. 71The glass city people, who have never seen a cat before, pay close attention to Eureka among the strange arrivals.
- located in → the House of the Sorcerer (ended) ch. 76Eureka stayed asleep on the buggy seat inside the House of the Sorcerer while the crowd went out to watch the descending balloon.
- threatens → the nine tiny piglets (ended) ch. 74The hungry kitten Eureka asks to eat one of the tiny piglets, frightening them, and continues eyeing them as potential food.
- communicates with → the nine tiny piglets (ended) ch. 76Before escaping the sealed cave, Eureka reassured the piglets, who were sobbing bitterly, that she would fetch the Wizard and Dorothy to rescue them.
- insults → Woggle-Bug (ended) ch. 88Eureka mocks the Woggle-Bug from the prisoner's cage, declaring his 'mind's eye' is no proof because he has no mind to see with.
- communicates with → Zeb (ended) ch. 71Eureka responds to Zeb's remark about her walking on air, telling him it doesn't matter that it's strange because it's fun.
- persuades → Dorothy (ended) ch. 89Confined to Dorothy's room in disgrace, Eureka begs her mistress to send her elsewhere, and Dorothy, herself eager to leave, promises they will not stay in Oz much longer.
- threatens → Jellia Jamb (ended) ch. 87Eureka threatens to scratch Jellia Jamb's eyes out if the maid tries to touch her, refusing to be fetched.
- warns ← Oz (ended) ch. 88The Wizard warns Eureka to stay quiet as she begins to question the authenticity of the produced piglet.
- fears → the bears of the Valley of Voe (ended) ch. 78Amid the group's flight from the bears attacking near the riverbank, Eureka is caught up in the panic and danger surrounding the invisible bears alongside the rest of the party.
- communicates with → the nine tiny piglets (ended) ch. 75Eureka plays and frisks with the piglets when they wander into the dome, occasionally knocking one over with her paw, prompting Jim to warn her not to be rough.
- threatens → the nine tiny piglets (ended) ch. 83Eureka the kitten remarks she may end up eating the nine tiny piglets after all, an implied threat amid their dire situation.
- fears ← the nine tiny piglets (ended) ch. 74The tiny piglets watch fearfully as Eureka eats a fish, calling cats dreadful creatures and expressing relief they are not fishes themselves.
- fears → the people of Voe (ended) ch. 78When an unseen hand suddenly clutches and suspends her in the air after she jumps on the dinner table, Eureka is frantic with terror and tries to scratch and bite before being dropped.
- warns ← Tin Woodman (ended) ch. 88The Tin Woodman warns Eureka not to be foolish and expose the trick, cautioning she may be sorry for it.
- located in → Jim (ended) ch. 75Eureka lies beside Jim in the dome while the piglets play with her, before both are driven out together by the Mangaboos.
From the text
"It would have spoiled the fun," replied the kitten, yawning.Chapter 88
"I named my kitten that because I found it," she explained. "Uncle Henry says 'Eureka' means 'I have found it.'"Chapter 1
"Where's my milk?" asked the kitten, looking up into Dorothy's face. "I'm 'most starved to death."Chapter 71
"I have nine lives," said the kitten, purring softly as it walked around in a circle and then came back to the roof; "but I can't lose even one of them by falling in this country, because I really couldn't manage to fall if I wanted to."Chapter 71
"He won't need to destroy ME, for if I don't get something to eat pretty soon I shall starve to death, and so save him the trouble."Chapter 73
"But won't they be veg'table, like everything else here?" asked the kitten.Chapter 74