THE WIZARD OF OZ AUDIO BOOK :CHAPTER 6: THE RIVER
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 6 : THE RIVER
In the afternoon, they came to the end of the forest. There was a wide river in front of them. On the other side of the river were beautiful green fields which were covered with flowers. The yellow brick road went on through the fields. On each side of the road there were trees too, with many kinds of fruit.
“Oh dear, how can we cross this river?” Dorothy asked.
“That’s easy,” the Scarecrow replied. “The Tin Man must make us a raft. Then we can all float across it.”
The Tin Man started work. He chopped down some small trees and joined pieces of wood together. The Tin Man was a good woodman and he worked very hard. But night came before the raft was finished. So they all went to sleep under the trees. Dorothy dreamed of the Emerald City and of the Great Wizard of Oz. She dreamed that Oz was sending her home to Kansas.
When Dorothy woke up, she immediately saw that she was not in Kansas. But she felt happy now, because the dark forest was behind them. The girl picked some fruit for her breakfast and washed her face. Then she was ready.
The Tin Man had finished the raft and they were ready to start. When the raft was in the water, Dorothy sat down on it, with Toto in her arms. Then, very carefully, the Lion got on too. He was very heavy and the raft moved up and down. The Scarecrow and the Tin Man had long poles. They stood at the end of the raft and they held it steady. Then they slowly began to push the raft along with their poles.
At first, everything went well. But in the middle of the river the water was moving very fast. It was deeper there too. The water carried them further and further away from the yellow brick road.
“This is very bad,” said the Tin Man. “The river is carrying us into the country of the Wicked Witch of the West. She might catch us!”
“Then I will never have brains,” said the Scarecrow sadly.
“And I will never have courage,” said the Cowardly Lion.
“And I will never have a heart,” said the Tin Man.
“And Toto and I will never get back to Kansas,” said Dorothy, and she began to cry.
“Please don’t cry, my dear,” the Scarecrow said kindly.
“We must try to get to the Wizard, if we can.”
Then he pushed very hard on his long pole. The raft moved very fast, but without the poor Scarecrow. He was left holding his pole, in the middle of the river!
“Goodbye,” the Scarecrow shouted to his friends on the raft. “Good luck!” Then he thought to himself, “I will neverhave any brains now. When Dorothy found me, I was on a pole in a field. Now I am on a pole in the middle of the river and no one can help me.”
The raft floated on. Soon the Scarecrow was left far behind.
“I have an idea,” the Cowardly Lion said to the Tin Man.
“I think that I can swim to the river bank . Hold onto my tail. Then I will pull the raft after me.”
So the Lion jumped into the water and started to swim.
The Tin Man stood on the raft and held onto the Lion’s tail.
Dorothy pushed with the Tin Man’s long pole. Very slowly, the raft moved nearer to the land.
At last they were on the river bank and they sat on the green grass to rest.
“What must we do now?” the Tin Man asked Dorothy.
“We must get back to the yellow brick road,” the girl replied. “If we don’t, we’ll never find the Emerald City.”
“If we walk back along the river bank, we’ll come to the road again,” the Lion said. “Let me get dry under the sun. Then we can start.”
So they all rested and looked at the beautiful country around them. Dorothy was almost happy again. But then she thought of the poor Scarecrow and she felt very sad.
“Let’s go,” the Tin Man said at last and they started off. Soon they saw the Scarecrow in the middle of the river.
“We can’t leave him standing there. How can we save him?” Dorothy asked her friends. But no one knew how to save the poor Scarecrow.
At that moment, a big bird called a Stork flew by. When the Stork saw the friends, he stopped.
“Hello,” he said to them. “Who are you and where are you going? I have never seen people like you before.”
“I am Dorothy,” the girl said. “This is my dog, Toto. This Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion are my friends. We are all going to the Emerald City, to see the Wizard of Oz.”
“You should be on the yellow brick road,” the Stork said.
“Yes, we know,” Dorothy replied. “But that Scarecrow in the river is our friend. He wants to go with us, but we can’t
reach him.”
The Stork looked across at the Scarecrow.
“I can carry things,” he said. “But he is too heavy for me.”
“Oh, no, he is not heavy at all,” Dorothy said quickly. “He is made of straw. Oh, please do try to help him!”
“Well,” the Stork said, “I will try.”
So the Stork flew slowly across the water and picked up the Scarecrow easily. Then he flew back to the bank.
The Scarecrow was so happy that he hugged everyone.
“Thank you for helping me,” the Scarecrow said to the Stork. “If I ever get brains, I’ll come back and help you too.”
“That’s all right,” the Stork said. “I hope that you find the Emerald City. Get back to the yellow brick road as soon as you can.”
“Yes, we will,” Dorothy said. Then the Stork flew slowly away.
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