The cyclone
Dorothy lived in a small house in Kansas, with Uncle Henry, Aunt Em, and a little black dog called Toto.
There were no trees and no hills in Kansas, and it was often very windy. Sometimes the wind came very fast and very suddenly. That was a cyclone, and it could blow trees and people and buildings away. There were cellars under all the houses. And when a cyclone came, people went down into their cellars and stayed there.
One day Uncle Henry came out and looked up at the sky. Then he ran quickly back into the house.
'There's a cyclone coming,' he called to Aunt Em and Dorothy. 'We must go down into the cellar!'
They ran to the door of the cellar, but Toto was afraid, and he ran under the bed. Dorothy ran after him.
'Quick!' shouted Aunt Em from the cellar. 'Leave the dog and come down into the cellar!'
Dorothy picked up Toto and ran to the cellar door. But before she got there, the cyclone hit the house.
And then a very strange thing happened.
The house moved, and then it went slowly up, up, up into the sky. Aunt Em and Uncle Henry were down in the cellar under the ground, but the house, Dorothy, and Toto went up to the top of the cyclone. Dorothy looked through the open cellar door and saw hills and houses, a long way down. She closed the cellar door quickly.
The wind blew the house along for many hours. At first Dorothy was afraid.
'But we can't do anything about it,' she said to Toto. 'So let's wait and see.' And after two or three hours, she and Toto went to sleep.
When Dorothy opened her eyes again, the house was on the ground and everything was quiet. She picked up Toto, opened the door, and went out. They saw tall trees and beautiful flowers, and little houses with blue doors.
Dorothy gave a little cry. 'This isn't Kansas, Toto! And who are these people?'
There were three very short men in blue hats, coats and trousers, and a little old woman in a beautiful white dress. The woman walked up to Dorothy and said, 'Thank you, thank you! Now the people are free!'
'Why are you thanking me?' Dorothy asked.
'You killed the Witch of the East,' said the woman. 'She was a bad witch, and her people, the Munchkins, were very afraid of her. Now she is dead, and we and the Munchkins want to thank you.'
The little old woman and the three little men all smiled happily at Dorothy, but Dorothy did not understand.
'But I didn't kill anybody!' she said.
'Your house fell on the Witch,' laughed the little woman. 'Look! You can see her feet!'
Dorothy looked, and saw two feet, with red shoes, under the house. Suddenly, one of the Munchkins gave a shout. 'Look! Her feet are disappearing in the hot sun.'
A second later, there were only the red shoes.
'Good,' said the little woman. She picked up the shoes and gave them to Dorothy. 'They're your shoes now. You must wear them, because a witch's shoes can sometimes do wonderful things.'
'Thank you,' said Dorothy. 'But who are you? Are you a Munchkin?'
'No, but I'm their friend. I'm the Witch of the North, and I came to see the dead Witch of the East. But don't be afraid-I'm a good witch.'
'But Aunt Em says there aren't any witches.'
'Oh yes, there are!' said the Witch. 'Here in the country of Oz we have four witches. The witches of the North and the South are good witches, but those of the East and the West are bad witches. Now the Witch of the East is dead, so there is only one bad witch. We have a famous wizard, too. We call him the Wizard of Oz, and he lives in the Emerald City. How many witches and wizards do you have in your country?'
'We don't have any,' said Dorothy. Suddenly she remembered Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. 'How can I get back home to Kansas?' she asked.
'Where is Kansas?' asked the good Witch. 'I don't know a country called Kansas, so I can't tell you the way.'
Dorothy began to cry. 'Oh dear! What can I do?'
'Please don't cry!' said the Witch. 'Go and see the Wizard of Oz. He's a good wizard, and perhaps he can help you. It's a long way, and you must walk there. I can't go with you, but I can give you my kiss.'
She gave Dorothy a little kiss. It looked like a small red flower on Dorothy's face.
'Now nothing can hurt you,' she said. 'Look-there is the road to the Emerald City. It is made of yellow bricks, so you cannot lose your way... Goodbye.'
'Goodbye!' said the three little Munchkins.
In the house Dorothy found some bread and some apples, and she put them all in a bag. Then she put on her blue and white dress. 'Now I look nice,' she said. She looked down at her old shoes. Then she remembered the bad Witch's red shoes, and put them on.
She picked up her bag of food. 'Come on, Toto!' she called. 'We're going to find the Wizard of Oz.'
多蘿西和她的舅舅亨利、舅媽埃姆以及小黑狗托托住在堪薩斯州的一幢小房子里。
堪薩斯沒有樹也沒有山,卻常常刮風(fēng)。有時候會突然刮起風(fēng)速極大的風(fēng),這就是龍卷風(fēng),它能將樹木和人甚至房屋卷走,因而每幢房屋都有地下室。當(dāng)龍卷風(fēng)刮起時,人們就鉆進地下室躲起來。
一天,亨利舅舅走出房子,抬頭看了看天空。然后他飛快地跑進屋去。
"龍卷風(fēng)就要來了,"他沖埃姆舅媽和多蘿西喊道,"我們得進地下室!"
他們跑向地下室的門口,可托托受了驚嚇,鉆到了床底下。于是多蘿西追了過去。
"快點兒!"埃姆舅媽在地下室里大喊,"別管狗了,下地下室來!"
多蘿西抱起托托,跑向地下室的門口。可還沒有跑到跟前,龍卷風(fēng)就刮來了。
接著,一件非常奇怪的事發(fā)生了。
房子開始移動,然后慢慢升高,升高,升高,一直升到了半空中。埃姆舅媽和亨利舅舅在地底下的地下室里,但房子、多蘿西和托托卻升到了龍卷風(fēng)的頂端。透過地板上那敞開的地下室門口,多蘿西遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)地看到了地面上的山巒和房屋,她迅速地關(guān)上了地下室的門。
龍卷風(fēng)卷著房子刮了好幾個小時。一開始多蘿西很害怕。
"可是我們也無能為力呀,"她對托托說,"我們只有等著瞧了。"兩三個鐘頭過去了,她和托托都睡著了。
當(dāng)多蘿西再次睜開眼睛時,房子已經(jīng)落在地面上了,四周靜悄悄的。她抱起托托,推開房門走了出去。她們看到高大的樹木、美麗的花朵以及一些有著藍色屋門的小房子。
多蘿西輕聲驚叫:"托托,這兒不是堪薩斯!這些人是誰呀?"
這里有三個非常矮小的男子,穿著藍色的外套和褲子,戴著藍帽子。還有一個矮小的老婆婆,穿著漂亮的白色衣裙。老婆婆向多蘿西走來,對她說:"謝謝你,謝謝!現(xiàn)在我們的人民自由了。"
"你為什么要感謝我呢?"多蘿西問道。
"因為你殺死了東方女巫,"老婆婆回答,"她是個壞巫婆,而她的人民--芒奇金人--以前都很怕她?,F(xiàn)在她死了,我們和芒奇金人都要感謝你。"
矮小的老婆婆和三個小矮人一起朝多蘿西快樂地微笑著,可多蘿西還是不明白。
"我可沒有殺任何人!"她說。
"你的房子落在了那巫婆身上,"老婆婆大笑起來,"瞧!你還能看見她的兩只腳呢!"
多蘿西看見了房子下面兩只穿著紅鞋的腳。突然,一個芒奇金人大叫起來:"看吶!她的腳在烈日下正慢慢消失。"
一眨眼的工夫,地上只剩下紅鞋子了。
"很好,"老婆婆說。她拾起鞋子,把它們遞給多蘿西,說:"從現(xiàn)在起,這就是你的了。你必須穿著它們,因為一雙女巫的鞋子有時會做出神奇的事來。"
"謝謝,"多蘿西說,"可你是誰?是芒奇金人嗎?"
"不,但我是他們的朋友。我是北方女巫,到這兒來看東方女巫的尸體。別害怕,我是個好巫婆。"
"可埃姆舅媽說世上沒有巫婆。"
"哦,不!有巫婆。"女巫說,"在奧茲國共有四個女巫,其中南方和北方的女巫是好的,而東方和西方的女巫是壞的?,F(xiàn)在東方女巫已死,所以就剩下一個壞巫婆了。這里還有一個著名的魔法師,我們叫他奧茲魔法師,他住在綠寶石城。你們那里有多少巫婆和魔法師?"
"我們那兒可沒有,"多蘿西回答。她忽然想起了埃姆舅媽和亨利舅舅。"我怎樣才能返回堪薩斯呢?"她問。
"堪薩斯是什么地方?"好心的巫婆問她,"我從不知道一個叫堪薩斯的國家,因此我沒法給你指路。"
多蘿西哭了起來,"天哪,我該怎么辦?"
"別哭,"女巫說,"去見奧茲魔法師吧,他是個好法師,或許能幫你。路途遙遠(yuǎn),但你必須走著去。我不能陪你去,不過我可以給你一個吻。"
她輕輕吻了多蘿西一下,那個吻就像貼在多蘿西臉頰上的一朵小紅花。
"從現(xiàn)在起沒有什么能傷害你了,"女巫說,"看,這就是通向綠寶石城的路。它是用黃磚鋪成的,所以你不會迷路......再見。"
"再見了!"三個矮小的芒奇金人齊聲說。
多蘿西在房子里找到了一些面包和幾個蘋果,她把它們裝進了一個包里。然后她換上了她那條藍白花色的裙子。"現(xiàn)在我可漂亮了。"她自言自語道??戳丝醋约旱呐f鞋子,她想起壞女巫的那雙紅鞋,于是就換上了。
她拿起裝食物的包。"走,托托!"她喊道,"我們?nèi)フ見W茲魔法師。"