THE WIZARD OF OZ AUDIO BOOK :CHAPTER 14: THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ
THE WIZARD OF OZ
CHAPTER 1 – CHAPTER 2 – CHAPTER 3 – CHAPTER 4 – CHAPTER 5 – CHAPTER 6 – CHAPTER 7 – CHAPTER 8 – CHAPTER 9 – CHAPTER 10 – CHAPTER 11 – CHAPTER 12 – CHAPTER 13 – CHAPTER 14 – CHAPTER 15 – CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 14 : THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ
The four friends walked up to the gate and Dorothy rang the bell. Soon, the Guardian of the Gate came out.
“So you have come back,” he said. “I thought that you went to see the Wicked Witch of the West.”
“We did,” the Scarecrow said. “And now we are back.”
“How did you get away from the Wicked Witch of the West?” the Guardian asked.
“Dorothy threw water over her and she melted,” the Scarecrow explained. “That was the end of her.”
“The Wicked Witch of the West is dead? That is wonderful news! Oz will be very pleased,” the Guardian said.
“The soldier will take you to the Palace.”
As the friends walked through the Emerald City, a great crowd of people came into the streets to watch them. The
people had learned that the Wicked Witch of the West was dead. They knew that Dorothy had melted her and they wanted to see the girl.
The friends were taken to their rooms in the Palace. The news about the Wicked Witch was sent to the Great Oz.
Dorothy and her friends waited for several days, but Oz did not send for them. Then the Scarecrow became tired of waiting.
“Tell Oz this,” the Scarecrow said to the green girl.
“Dorothy has the Golden Cap. If Oz does not see us tomorrow, Dorothy will call the Winged Monkeys. They will know what to do.”
Oz was very frightened of the Winged Monkeys. He promised to see the four friends at nine o’clock the next morning.
This time, they all went into the Throne Room together.
They looked around, but they could not see the Great Oz anywhere. In the room was a throne, a few chairs and a screen. Then they heard a Voice.
“I am Oz, the Great and the Terrible,” the Voice said.
“Where are you, Great Oz?” Dorothy asked.
“I am everywhere,” the Voice said. “What do you want?”
“You wanted me to kill the Wicked Witch,” Dorothy said bravely. “Well, I have killed her. Now you must send me back to Kansas, as you promised.”
“You promised me brains,” said the Scarecrow.
“You promised me a heart,” said the Tin Man.
“I was promised courage,” said the Cowardly Lion.
“Did I make all those promises?” the Voice said. “Well, the Wicked Witch is dead! I must have time to think.”
“But I want my courage NOW!” the Cowardly Lion said,
“And I WILL have it!”
He was so angry that he gave a great roar. The roar was so frightening that Toto jumped away from him. The little dog
knocked over the screen. Behind the screen was a little old man.
The Tin Man ran towards the man and raised his axe.
“Who are you?” the Tin Man cried. “Where is Oz?”
“I am Oz,” the little old man said. “Please don’t hit me.
People think that I am a Great Wizard, but I’m only a man.”
“Then you are a HUMBUG ,” the Tin Man said. “You have told lies and deceived everyone for years.”
“Yes, that’s right. I am a humbug,” the little old man said.
“But you are the only people who know that. I know lots of tricks. I tricked you, didn’t I?”
“Are you sorry that you tricked us?” the Scarecrow said.
“Are you sorry that you are a humbug?”
“Of course I am,” Oz began. “But I can’t help it. Sit down and I will tell you my story. I was born in Omaha—”
“That isn’t far from Kansas!” Dorothy cried.
“That’s true,” Oz said. “But Omaha and Kansas are both a very long way from here. When I was young, I was a balloonist.”
“What’s a balloonist?” Dorothy asked.
“He’s a man who goes up in a balloon on the day of a circus,” replied Oz. “People see the balloon and then they pay money to watch the animals and other things in the circus.”
“Oh, yes,” Dorothy said. “I saw a circus in Kansas.”
“One day, I was in the balloon and the rope broke,” the little man went on. “The balloon went up and up, above the clouds. It flew on for a night and a day and then the balloon came down in a beautiful country. The people were afraid of me, because I had come down from the sky. They thought that 1 was a Great Wizard.”
“But you couldn’t do any magic at all,” the Scarecrow said slowly. “You were a humbug from the beginning.”
“You are right,” Oz said. “I told the people to build this city and they did. They built me a palace and I lived inside it.
I did not want to see anyone, because I was afraid of the Witches. Two of them were good, but two of them were very
bad. I was afraid of the bad Witches so I was very happy when the Wicked Witch of the East was killed.”
“Then you sent us to kill the Wicked Witch of the West for you,” Dorothy said.
“You promised to help us if we did,” the Scarecrow said.
“That’s true. But I can’t keep those promises. I’m sorry.”
“Then you are a very bad man,” Dorothy said.
“No, I’m a good man, but a very bad Wizard,” Oz replied.
“But what about my brains?” asked the Scarecrow.
“What about my heart?” asked the Tin Man.
“And what about my courage?” asked the Cowardly Lion.
“I don’t think that you need these things,” the Great Oz said. “But if you come to me tomorrow, I will help you.”
“How am I to get back to Kansas?” Dorothy asked.
“I must think about that,” Oz said. “I will try to help you too. But please don’t tell anyone that I am a humbug.”
The friends agreed and they went back to their rooms feeling hopeful.
The Scarecrow was the first to be called to the Great Oz.
“When I come back, I shall have brains like you,” he said to Dorothy. Then he went happily into the Throne Room.
Oz was ready for the Scarecrow.
“First, I must take some straw from your head,” Oz said.
“Then I will give you your new brains. Sit down, please.”
He took out the straw and mixed it up with pins and needles and glue. Then he put it all back into the Scarecrow’s head.
“There you are,” Oz said. “You’re as clever as anyone now.”
“Thank you,” the Scarecrow said. “I feel quite different.”
Then it was the Tin Man’s turn to see Oz.
“I’ve come for my heart,” he said. “It will be a kind one, I hope.”
“Of course. Here it is,” Oz said. “First, I must cut a hole in your body, but I promise I won’t hurt you.”
Oz cut a piece of tin from the Tin Man’s body. Then he put a big, red, silk heart inside, and closed up the hole.
“That is a good, kind heart,” Oz said. “Look after it well.”
“Yes, I will and thank you very much,” the Tin Man said.
Then he went back to his friends, smiling happily.
“Now it is my turn,” the Lion said.
Inside the Throne Room, Oz was waiting for him.
“I have come for my courage,” the Cowardly Lion said. Oz went to a cupboard and took out a square green bottle. There was green liquid inside the bottle. Oz poured the liquid into a dish and gave it to the Lion.
“Here it is,” Oz said. “You must drink it.”
“It’s green. What is it?” the Lion asked.
“When it’s inside you, it will be courage,” Oz said. “You must drink it quickly!” So the Lion drank it all.
“How do you feel now?” Oz asked.
“Full of courage!” the Lion replied, and he went happily back to his friends.
Oz sat alone in his Throne Room and he thought very carefully.
“Am I a humbug?” he asked himself. “I’m not a Wizard, because I can’t do magic. But people believe that I can. I have made the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Lion very happy. Is there anything wrong in that? But how can I get
Dorothy back to Kansas? That will be much more difficult.”
Oz thought for three days and then he sent for Dorothy.
“Sit down, my dear,” the little old man said to the girl. “I have found a way to get you out of the Land of Oz.”
“And back to Kansas, Î Great Humbug?” Dorothy asked.
“Well, I’m not sure about that,” Oz replied. “You will have to cross the desert first.”
“How can I do that?” Dorothy asked. “I can’t fly!”
“I came here in a balloon,” Oz said. “I think that we can leave in a balloon too.”
“We?” Dorothy cried. “Are you coming with me?”
“Yes,” Oz said. “I’ll make a balloon of silk and fill it with hot air. You must help me, my dear. I am sure that you can sew very well.”
“Aunt Em taught me to sew, back in Kansas,” Dorothy said.
“I would like to meet your Aunt Em,” the little old man said. “I will fly back with you to Kansas and get work in a circus there. I am tired of being a humbug.”
So Dorothy and Oz began to make a balloon from pieces of green silk. Oz cut the silk and the girl sewed the pieces together. Next, Oz covered the balloon with glue. The glue
would help to keep the air inside.
A big basket was fixed to the balloon with rope. Then the balloon was carried outside the Palace of the Great Oz. All the people of the Emerald City came to look at it.
The Tin Man cut some wood and made a fire under the balloon’s basket. The air inside the balloon began to get hot and it started to rise. But there was a rope holding the balloon to the ground, so it could not go up.
Oz got inside the basket and spoke to his people.
“I am going to make a visit. I will be away for a time,” he said in a loud voice. “I have asked the Scarecrow to look after you. Please obey him.”
The air inside the balloon was very hot now.
“Get in quickly, Dorothy!” Oz called. “It’s time to go!”
“I can’t find Toto!” the girl cried. “Toto, where are you?”
The little dog ran up to her but it was too late! The rope had broken and the balloon was rising into the air.
“Come back! I want to go too!” Dorothy cried.
“I can’t come back, my dear,” shouted Oz. “Goodbye!
Goodbye everyone!”
And so the Great Wizard of Oz left the Emerald City.
His people never knew that he was a Great Humbug. They were very sorry to see him go.
THE WIZARD OF OZ
CHAPTER 1 – CHAPTER 2 – CHAPTER 3 – CHAPTER 4 – CHAPTER 5 – CHAPTER 6 – CHAPTER 7 – CHAPTER 8 – CHAPTER 9 – CHAPTER 10 – CHAPTER 11 – CHAPTER 12 – CHAPTER 13 – CHAPTER 14 – CHAPTER 15 – CHAPTER 16