Chapter 15 - The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - L. Frank Baum

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Episode Transcript

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Chapter fifteen, The Discovery of Ozthe Terrible. The four travelers walked up
to the great gate of Emerald Cityand rang at the bell. After ringing
several times, it was opened bythe same guardian of the Gates they had
met before. What are you backagain, he asked, in surprise.

(00:20):
Do you not see us, answeredthe scarecrow, But I thought you had
gone to visit the Wicked Witch ofthe West. We did visit her,
said the scarecrow, and she letyou go again, asked the man in
wonder. She could not help it, for she has melted, explained the
scarecrow. Melted. Well, thatis good news, indeed, said the

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man who melted her. It wasDorothy, said the lion. Gravely good
gracious, exclaimed the man, andhe bowed very low indeed before her.
Then he led them into his littleroom and locked the spectacles from the great
box on all their eyes, justas he had done before. Afterward,
they passed on through the gate intothe Emerald City. When the people heard

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from the Guardian of the Gates thatDorothy had melted the wicked Witch of the
West, they all gathered around thetravelers and followed them in a great crowd
to the palace of Oz. Thesoldier with the green whiskers was still on
guard before the door, but helet them in at once, and they
were again met by the beautiful GreenGirl, who showed each of them to

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their old rooms at once so theymight rest until the Great Wizard was ready
to receive them. The soldier hadthe news carried straight to Oz that Dorothy
and the other travelers had come backagain after destroying the wicked Witch, but
Oz made no reply. They thoughtthe Great Wizard would send for them at
once, but he did not.They had no word from him the next

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day, nor the next, northe next. The waiting was tiresome and
wearing, and at last they grewvexed that Oz should treat them in so
poor a fashion after sending them toundergo hardships in slavery. So the Scarecrow
at last asked the Green Girl totake another message to Oz, saying if
he did not let them in tosee him at once, they would call

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the wing monkeys to help them andfind out whether he kept his promises or
not. When the Wizard was giventhis message, he was so frightened that
he sent word for them to cometo the throne room at four minutes after
nine o'clock the next morning. Hehad once met the wing monkeys in the
land of the West, and hedid not wish to meet them again.

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The four travelers passed a sleepless night, each thinking of the gift Oz had
promised to bestow on him. Dorothyfell asleep only once, and then she
dreamed she was in Kansas, whereAunt em was telling her how glad she
was to have her little girl homeagain. Promptly, at nine o'clock the
next morning, the green whiskered soldiercame to them, and four minutes later

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they all went into the throne roomof the Great Oz. Of course,
each one of them expected to seethe wizard in the shape he had taken
before, and all were greatly prizedwhen they looked about and saw no one
at all in the room. Theykept close to the door and closer to
one another, for the stillness ofthe empty room was more dreadful than any

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of the forms they had seen Oztake. Presently, they heard a solemn
voice that seemed to come somewhere nearthe top of the great dome, and
it said, I am Oz theGreat and Terrible. Why do you seek
me. They looked again in everypart of the room, and then,
seeing no one, Dorothy asked,where are you. I am everywhere,

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answered the voice, but to theeyes of the common mortals, I am
invisible. I will now seat myselfupon my throne that you may converse with
me. Indeed, the voice seemedjust then to come straight from the throne
itself, so they walked toward itand stood in a row while Dorothy said,
we have come to claim our promise. O Oz, what promise?

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Asked Oz. You promised to sendme back to Kansas when the Wicked Witch
was destroyed, said the girl.And you promised to give me brains,
said the scarecrow. And you promisedto give me a heart, said the
tin Woodman. And you promised togive me courage, said the cowardly lion.
Is the Wicked Witch really destroyed?Asked the voice, And Dorothy thought

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it trembled a little, Yes,she answered, I melted her with a
bucket of water. Dear me,said the voice, How sudden, Well
come to me tomorrow, for Imust have time to think it over.
You've had plenty of time already,said the tin woodman angrily. We shan't
wait a day longer, said thescarecrow. You must keep your promise to

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us, exclaimed Dorothy. The lionthought it might be as well to frighten
the wizard, so he gave alarge, loud roar, which was so
fierce and dreadful that Toto jumped awayfrom him in alarm and tipped over the
screen that stood in the corner.As it fell with a crash. They
looked that way, and the nextmoment all of them were filled with wonder,
for they saw standing in just thespot the screen had hidden, a

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little old man with a bald headand a wrinkled face, who seemed to
be as much surprised as they were. The tin woodman, raising his axe,
rushed toward the little man and criedout, who are you? I
am Oz the Great and Terrible,said the little man, in a trembling
voice. But don't strike me,please don't, and I'll do anything you

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want me to. Our friends lookedat him in surprise and dismay. I
thought Oz was a great head,said Dorothy. And I thought Oz was
a lovely lady, said the Scarecrow. And I thought Oz was a terrible
beast, said the tin woodman,and I thought Oz was a ball of
fire, exclaimed the lion. No, you are all wrong, said the

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little man meekly. I have beenmaking believe, making believe, cried Dorothy.
Are you not a great wizard?Hush, my dear, don't speak
so loud, or you will beoverheard and I should be ruined. I'm
supposed to be a great wizard,and you aren't, she asked. Not
a bit of it, my dear, just a common man. You're more

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than that, said the scarecrow ina grieved tone. You're a humbug.
Exactly so, declared the little man, rubbing his hands together as if it
pleased him. I am a humbug, but this is terrible, said the
tin woodman. How shall I everget my heart? Or I my courage,
asked the lion, or I mybrains, wailed the scarecrow, wiping

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the tears from his eyes with hiscoat sleeve. My dear friends, said
Oz, I pray you not speakof these little things. Think of me
and the terrible trouble I am inat being found out. Doesn't anyone else
know you're a humbug, asked Dorothy. No one knows it, but you
for and myself replied Oz, Ihave fooled everyone so long that I thought

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I should never be found out.It was a great mistake my ever letting
you into the throne room. UsuallyI will not see even my subjects,
and so they believe I am somethingterrible. But I don't understand, said
Dorothy in bewilderment. How was itthat you appeared to me as a great
head? That was one of mytricks? Answered Oz. Step this way

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please, and I will tell youall about it. He led the way
to a small chamber in the rearof the throne room, and they all
followed him. He pointed to onecorner in which lay the great head,
made out of many thicknesses of paperand with a carefully painted face. This
I hung from the ceiling by awire, said Oz. I stood behind
the screen and pulled a thread tomake the eyes move in the mouth open.

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But how about the voice, sheinquired. Oh, I'm a ventriloquist,
said the little man. I canthrow the sound of my voice wherever
I wish, so that you thoughtit was coming out of the head.
Here are the other things I usedto deceive you. He showed the scarecrow
the dress and the mask he hadworn when he seemed to be the lovely
lady, and the tin woodman sawthat his terrible beast was nothing but a

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lot of skins sewn together with slatsto keep their sides out. As for
the ball of fire, the falsewizard had hung that also from the ceiling.
It was really a ball of cotton, but when oil was poured upon
it, the ball burned fiercely.Really, said the scarecrow. You ought
to be ashamed of yourself for beingsuch a humbug. I am. I

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certainly am, answered the little mansorrowfully. But it was the only thing
I could do. Sit down,please, there are plenty of chairs,
and I will tell you my story. So they sat down and listened while
he told the following tale. Iwas born in Omaha. Why that isn't
very far from Kansas, cried Dorothy. No, but it's farther from here,
he said, shaking his head ather sadly. When I grew up,

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I became a ventriloquist, and atthat I was very well trained by
a great master. I can imitateany kind of bird or beast. Here,
he mewed so like a kitten thatToto pricked up his ears and looked
everywhere to see where she was.After a time, continued oz. I
tired of that and became a balloonist. What is that, asked Dorothy,

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a man who goes up in aballoon on circus day so as to draw
a crowd of people together and getthem to pay to see the circus.
He explained, Oh, she said, I know. Well, one day
I went up in a balloon andthe ropes got twisted so that I couldn't
come down again. It went wayup above the clouds, so far that
a current of air struck it andcarried it many many miles away. For

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a day and the night I traveledthrough the air, And on the morning
of the second day, I awokeand found the balloon floating over a strange
and beautiful country. It came downgradually, and I was not hurt a
bit, But I found myself inthe midst of a strange people, who,
seeing me come from the clouds,thought I was a great wizard.
Of course, I let them thinkso, because they were afraid of me

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and promised to do anything I wishedthem to do, just to amuse myself
and keep the good people busy.I ordered them to build the city and
my palace, and they did itall willingly and well. Then I thought,
as the country was so green andbeautiful, I would call it the
Emerald City. And to make thename fit her better, I put green
spectacles on all the people, sothat everything they saw was green. But

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isn't everything here green, asked Dorothy. No more than in any other city,
replied Oz. But when you weargreen spectacles, why of course everything
you see looks green to you.The Emerald City was built a great many
years ago. For I was ayoung man when the balloon brought me here,
and I am a very old mannow. But my people have worn

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green glasses on their eyes so longthat most of them think it really is
an emerald city. And it certainlyis a beautiful place, abounding in jewels
and precious metals and every good thingthat is needed to make one happy.
I have been good to the people, and they like me. But ever
since this palace was built, Ihave shut myself up and would not see

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any of them. One of mygreatest fears was the witches. For while
I had no magical powers at all, I soon found out that the witches
were really able to do wonderful things. There were four of them in this
country, and they ruled the peoplewho lived in the north and South,
and east and west. Fortunately,the witches of the north and South were

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good, and I knew they woulddo me no harm. But the witches
of the East and the West wereterribly wicked, and had they not thought
I was more powerful than they themselves, they would surely have destroyed me.
As it was, I lived indeadly fear of them for many years,
so you can imagine how pleased Iwas when I heard your house had fallen
on the wicked witch of the east. When you came to me, I

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was willing to promise you anything ifyou would only do away with the other
witch. But now that you havemelted her, I'm ashamed to say that
I cannot keep my promises. Ithink you are a very bad man,
said Dorothy. Oh no, mydear, I'm really a very good man.
But I'm a very bad wizard,I must admit. Can't you give

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me brains, asked the scarecrow.You don't need them. You are learning
something every day. A baby hasbrains, but it doesn't know much experience
is the only thing that brings knowledge, and the longer you are on earth,
the more experience you are sure toget. That may all be true,
said the scarecrow. But I shallbe very unhappy unless you give me

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brains. The false wizard looked athim carefully. Well, he said,
with a sigh. I'm not muchof a magician, as I said,
but if you will come to metomorrow morning, I will stuff your head
with brains. I cannot tell youhow to use them, however, you
must find that out for yourself.Oh thank you, thank you, cried
the scarecrow. I'll find a wayto use them. Never fear. But

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how about my courage, asked thelion anxiously. You have plenty of courage,
I'm sure, answered Oz. Allyou need is confidence in yourself.
There is no living thing that isnot afraid when it faces danger. The
true courage is in facing danger whenyou are afraid. And that kind of
courage you have in plenty, perhapsI have. But I'm scared just the

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same, said the lion. Ishall really be very unhappy unless you give
me the sort of courage that makesone forget he is afraid. Very well,
I will give you that sort ofcourage tomorrow, replied Oz. How
about my heart, asked the tinWoodman. Why as for that? Answered
Oz, I think you are wrongto want a heart. It makes most

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people unhappy. If you only knewit. You are in luck not to
have a heart. That must bea matter of opinion, said the tin
Woodman. For my part, Iwill bear all the unhappiness without a murmur
if you will give me the heart. Very well, answered Oz. Meekly,
come to me tomorrow and you shallhave a heart. I have played

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wizard for so many years that Imay as well continue the part a little
longer. And now, said Dorothy, how am I to get back to
Kansas. We shall have to thinkabout that, replied the little man.
Give me two or three days toconsider the matter, and I'll try to
find a way to carry you overthe desert. In the meantime, you
shall all be treated as my guests, and while you live in the palace,

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my people will wait upon you andobey your slightest wish. There is
only one thing I ask in returnfor my help, such that it is
you must keep my secret and tellno one I am a humbug. They
agreed to say nothing of what theyhad learned, and went back to their
rooms in high spirits. Even Dorothyhad hoped that the Great and terrible Humbug,
as she had called him, wouldfind a way to send her back

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to Kansas, and if he did, she was willing to forgive him everything.
End of Chapter fifteen.