The Wizard of Oz (Part 2)

Author: Frank Baum (USA), translated by Yang Ziwu and others
Translator: Yang Ziwu and others / Country:
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-01-01
Features: Nick Buttercup is perfectly aware of all this, but he always has good luck; he passes through the forest safely, though he occasionally encounters beasts and has to fight them with his sharp axe. Until now, he has never faced the terrible Kebra Dragon. He travels alone and has never thought about the wild beasts. But suddenly, he hears a crack as a tree breaks, feels the ground shake, and sees the Kebra Dragon with its huge mouth right in front of him. Nick Buttercup feels trapped and his heart almost stops beating. He thinks he can't escape. No one has ever dared to fight the Kebra Dragon. But Nick Buttercup refuses to die in vain. He wants this giant to see that he was only eaten out of necessity. So he raises his axe and cuts down the Kebra Dragon's bright red tongue—the axe cuts through it! The Woodcutter can hardly believe what he sees. He has pearls in his pocket, and their magic helps him, but he doesn't know about it. However, seeing that he is so skilled, he strikes again with the axe. This time, the Kebra Dragon's long, scaly mouth is split in two, and the beast roars in fury. Nick Buttercup takes off his shirt, making his movements more agile, and focuses entirely on fighting again. But when the axe falls on the tough scales, it dulls and leaves no mark. The beast advances with fierce eyes, and Nick Buttercup grabs his shirt, tucks it under his arm, and runs away. The Kebra Dragon is as fast as lightning, and trying to escape is foolish. In no time, it catches up to the Woodcutter, its four rows of sharp teeth gnashing. But it doesn't touch Nick Buttercup because he still holds the shirt tightly. His body is close to it, and Inga's shoes are in the shirt pocket, with the magic pearl hidden in the toe. Seeing that he is unharmed, Nick Buttercup puts on his shirt, picks up the axe, and soon splits the Kebra Dragon into pieces—a tough job that turns out to be easy and even enjoyable. "I must be the strongest person in the world!" the Woodcutter thinks, and he walks proudly, thinking, "Since the world began, the Kebra Dragon has terrified the people of Oz, and I alone can defeat this beast. I never realized I was so strong—what a strange thing!" He encounters no more danger on his way and returns to a small clearing in the forest at noon, where his simple cabin is located. "A wonder of the world! I'll tell you a wonder of the world," he calls out when his wife and daughter come out to greet him. "The King of Goss has been conquered by a small prince from the distant island of Binkie, and today—I, without help—I defeated the Kebra Dragon with my great strength." This is indeed a wonder of the world. The mother and daughter push Nick Buttercup into the house and sit him in a comfortable chair, urging him to tell them everything about the prince of Binkie, the fat King of Gilder, and the thrilling battle with the giant Kebra Dragon. "Well, my girl," the Woodcutter says after telling his news at least the third time, "I brought you a beautiful gift from the city." He takes the shoes from his shirt pocket and gives them to Zara, who kisses him gratefully and loves the gift. The parents are poor and cannot afford such fine things, so the little girl has never worn shoes before. Now, these new, unworn shoes belong to her, and the child is overjoyed. The red leather uppers, with their slightly pointed toes, look light and elegant. She keeps exclaiming how beautiful they are. When she tries them on, they fit perfectly, as if they were made for her. All afternoon, she helps her mother with household chores while thinking about the beautiful shoes. Thus, she seems to think it's nothing special that the prince of Binkie comes to conquer the city or that the Kebra Dragon is dead. Zara and her mother, if they are not sorting things or cooking in the small cabin, go to the nearby forest to gather honey. The bees are clever at hiding their hives in hollow tree trunks. The next day after Nick Buttercup returns, the mother and daughter plan to go out to gather honey. Zara decides to wear her new shoes so that the thorny branches won't hurt her little feet. Of course, she is used to walking through piles of branches, but if she won't wear the comfortable, beautiful shoes, what's the point of having them? She jumps and skips around happily, while her mother falls behind slowly. Unknowingly, they reach a large tree with most of its trunk hollowed out. Zara sticks her whole hand and arm into it and finds it full of beehives. She picks up a wooden ladle and scoops them out bit by bit. Her mother, holding a small bucket, suddenly shouts, "Be careful, Zara; the bees are flying out!" The kind woman flees home in terror.
Being allowed to serve the sorceress is considered a great honor, as her magic is only used to benefit the people of Oz. Glinda is the most important servant of the Emerald City, and she possesses magical powers that can almost accomplish anything her mistress, the ruler of Oz, the lovely girl, wishes her to do: in the castle. Among all the magical things around Glinda, the most magical is her great ledger. In this ledger, each page records—day by day, hour by hour—important events happening anywhere in the known world, as they happen. Every adventure in the land of Oz, in the vast world outside, or even in places you and I have never heard of will be recorded in the ledger with perfect accuracy. It never makes a mistake; it only records facts. Therefore, nothing can be hidden from Glinda. She only needs to look at the ledger to know what has happened. This is also one reason why she is a great sorceress, because the ledger makes her smarter than anyone else: the great ledger is placed in the center of Glinda's living room on a large golden table: the legs of the table are covered with precious gems, firmly fixed to the brick floor, and the ledger is chained to the table, locked with six sturdy golden padlocks, the keys of which are hung on a necklace around Glinda's neck. The ledger is larger than a newspaper, though the paper is extremely thin, but because there are so many pages, it is still a thick book when closed. Adding the golden padlocks and clasps, the entire ledger is so heavy that it takes three men to lift it. However, that morning, after Glinda finished breakfast and entered the living room, she was surprised to find her great ledger mysteriously missing: when she approaches the table, she discovers that the chain has been cut by something sharp. This must have happened when the entire castle fell asleep. Glinda feels shocked and sad. Who would dare to do such an evil and bold thing? Who would want to take the ledger from her? The sorceress thinks for a long time about the consequences of this loss. Then she enters the magic room to cast a spell that will tell her who stole the ledger. But when she opens the cabinet lock and opens the door, she finds that all her magic tools and precious chemical mixtures are gone from the shelves. The sorceress feels angry and surprised. She sits in a chair and thinks hard about this strange theft. Clearly, the thief must be extremely skilled, otherwise she would have discovered it. But in all the land of Oz, who has such powerful and skillful abilities to do such a great thing? And he has the ability to deliberately oppose the world's most recognized smart and capable sorceress? When our friends enter the audience room and stand before the king, the ruler is combing his eyebrows. He puts the comb in his pocket and looks at the strangers with a clear sense of curiosity. Then he says, "Good heavens! I never expected this! You really take me by surprise. Because foreigners have never come to our city of Hunchback, I can't imagine why you would risk coming here." "We are looking for the Emerald City, the highest ruler of Oz," the sorceress replies. "Have you seen her around here?" the king asks. "Not yet, Your Majesty; but perhaps you can tell us where she is." "No, I am too busy attending to my subjects. I find them difficult to manage because they are incredibly strong." "They don't look very strong," Dorothy says. "If it weren't for the walls, a strong wind might blow them out of the city." "Yes—yes," the king admits. "They do look like that, don't they? But you mustn't believe appearances, or it will fool you. You may have noticed that I don't let you meet my subjects. On your way from the city gate to the palace, I had giants protect you, so no Hunchback could get close to you." "Are your subjects so dangerous?" the sorceress asks. "They are dangerous to strangers; but only because they are too friendly. Because if they shake your hand, they might break your arm or crush your fingers." "Why?" the boy asks. "Because they are the strongest people in the world." "Pah!" the boy exclaims. "That's nonsense! You probably don't know how strong others are. Well, I knew a man in Philadelphia who could bend an iron rod with both hands!" "But—oh!—bending an iron rod isn't anything," the king says. "Could he break a large stone with his bare hands?" "No one can do that," the boy says. "If I had a stone, I could show you," the king says, looking around the room. "Ah, that's my throne. Anyway, the back of this chair is too high, so I'll break off a piece now."