章节正文
asked: "May I go with Ojo, to help him?"
"Would you like to?" returned Ozma.
"Yes. I know Oz pretty well, but Ojo doesn't
know it at all. I'm sorry for his uncle and poor
Margolotte and I'd like to help save them. May
I go?"
"If you wish to," replied Ozma.
"If Dorothy goes, then I must go to take care of
her," said the Scarecrow, decidedly" target="_blank" title="ad.坚决地，果断地">decidedly. "A dark well
can only be discovered in some out-of-the-way
place, and there may be dangers there."
"You have my permission to accompany Dorothy,"
said Ozma. "And while you are gone I will take
care of the Patchwork Girl."
"I'll take care of myself," announced Scraps,
"for I'm going with the Scarecrow and Dorothy.
I promised Ojo to help him find the things he
wants and I'll stick to my promise."
"Very well," replied Ozma. "But I see no need
for Ojo to take the Glass Cat and the Woozy."
"I prefer to remain here," said the cat. "I've
nearly been nicked half a dozen times, already,
and if they're going into dangers it's best for me
to keep away from them."
"Let Jellia Jamb keep her till Ojo returns,"
suggested Dorothy. "We won't need to take the
Woozy, either, but he ought to be saved because
of the three hairs in his tail."
"Better take me along," said the Woozy. "My eyes
can flash fire, you know, and I can growl--a
little."
"I'm sure you'll be safer here," Ozma decided,
and the Woozy made no further objection to the
plan.
After consulting together they decided that Ojo
and his party should leave the very next day to
search for the gill of water from a dark well, so
they now separated to make preparations for the
journey.
Ozma gave the Munchkin boy a room in the palace
for that night and the afternoon he passed with
Dorothy--getting acquainted, as she said--and
receiving advice from the Shaggy Man as to where
they must go. The Shaggy Man had wandered in many
parts of Oz, and so had Dorothy, for that matter,
yet neither of them knew where a dark well was to
be found.
"If such a thing is anywhere in the settled
parts of Oz," said Dorothy, "we'd prob'ly have
heard of it long ago. If it's in the wild parts of
the country, no one there would need a dark
well. P'raps there isn't such a thing."
"Oh, there must he!" returned Ojo, positively;
"or else the recipe of Dr. Pipt wouldn't call
for it."
"That's true," agreed Dorothy; "and, if it's
anywhere in the Land of Oz, we're bound to find
it."
"Well, we're bound to search for it, anyhow,"
said the Scarecrow. "As for finding it, we must
trust to luck."
"Don't do that," begged Ojo, earnestly. "I'm
called Ojo the Unlucky, you know."
Chapter Nineteen
Trouble with the Tottenhots
A day's journey from the Emerald City brought the
little band of adventurers to the home of Jack
Pumpkinhead, which was a house formed from the
shell of an immensepumpkin. Jack had made it
himself and was very proud of it. There was a
door, and several windows, and through the top was
stuck a stovepipe that led from a small stove
inside. The door was reached by a flight of three
steps and there was a good floor on which was
arranged some furniture that was quite
comfortable.
It is certain that Jack Pumpkinhead might
have had a much finer house to live in bad he
wanted it, for Ozma loved the stupid fellow,
who had been her earliest companion; but Jack
preferred his pumpkin house, as it matched
himself very well, and in this he was not so
stupid, after all.
The body of this remarkable person was made of
wood, branches of trees of various sizes having
been used for the purpose. This wooden framework
was covered by a red shirt--with white spots in
it--blue trousers, a yellow vest, a jacket of
green-and-gold and stout leather shoes. The neck
was a sharpened stick on which the pumpkin head
was set, and the eyes, ears, nose and mouth were
carved on the skin of the pumpkin, very like a
child's jack-o'-lantern.
The house of this interesting creation stood
in the center of a vast pumpkin-field, where the
vines grew in profusion and bore pumpkins of
extraordinary size as well as those which were
smaller. Some of the pumpkins now ripening
on the vines were almost as large as Jack's house,
and he told Dorothy he intended to add another
pumpkin to his mansion.
The travelers were cordially welcomed to this
quaint domicile and invited to pass the night
there, which they had planned to do. The
Patchwork Girl was greatly interested in Jack
and examined him admiringly.
"You are quite handsome," she said; "but not
as really beautiful as the Scarecrow."
Jack turned, at this, to examine the Scarecrow
critically, and his old friend slyly winked one
painted eye at him.
"There is no accounting for tastes," remarked
the Pumpkinhead, with a sigh. "An old crow
once told me I was very fascinating, but of
course the bird might have been mistaken. Yet
I have noticed that the crows usually avoid the
Scarecrow, who is a very honest fellow, in his
way, but stuffed. I am not stuffed, you will
observe; my body is good solid hickory."
"I adore stuffing," said the Patchwork Girl.
"Well, as for that, my head is stuffed with
pumpkin-seeds," declared Jack. "I use them for
brains, and when they are fresh I am intellectual.
Just now, I regret to say, my seeds are rattling a
bit, so I must soon get another head."
"Oh; do you change your head?" asked Ojo.
"To be sure. Pumpkins are not permanent, more's
the pity, and in time they spoil. That is why I
grow such a great field of pumpkins--that I may
select a new head whenever necessary."
"Who carves the faces on them?" inquired the
boy.
"I do that myself. I lift off my old head, place
it on a table before me, and use the face for a
pattern to go by. Sometimes the faces I carve are
better than others--more expressive and cheerful,
you know--but I think they average very well."
Before she had started on the journey Dorothy
had packed a knapsack with the things she might
need, and this knapsack the Scarecrow carried
strapped to his back. The little girl wore a plain
gingham dress and a checked sunbonnet, as she knew
they were best fitted for travel. Ojo also had
brought along his basket, to which Ozma had added
a bottle of "Square Meal Tablets" and some fruit.
But Jack Pumpkinhead grew a lot of things in his
garden besides pumpkins, so he cooked for them a
fine vegetable soup and gave Dorothy, Ojo and
Toto, the only ones who found it necessary to eat,
a pumpkin pie and some green cheese. For beds they
must use the sweet dried grasses which Jack had
strewn along one side of the room, but that
satisfied Dorothy and Ojo very well. Toto, of
course, slept beside his little mistress.
The Scarecrow, Scraps and the Pumpkinhead
were tireless and had no need to sleep, so they
sat up and talked together all night; but they
stayed outside the house, under the bright stars,
and talked in low tones so as not to disturb the
sleepers. During the conversation the Scarecrow
explained their quest for a dark well, and asked
Jack's advice where to find it.
The Pumpkinhead considered the matter gravely.
"That is going to be a difficult task," said he,
"and if I were you I'd take any ordinary well
and enclose it, so as to make it dark."
"I fear that wouldn't do," replied the
Scarecrow. "The well must be naturally dark, and
the water must never have seen the light of day,
for otherwise the magic charm might not work at
all."
"How much of the water do you need?" asked Jack.
"A gill."
"How much is a gill?"
"Why--a gill is a gill, of course," answered
the Scarecrow, who did not wish to display his
ignorance.
"I know!" cried Scraps. "Jack and Jill went up
the hill to fetch--"
"No, no; that's wrong," interrupted the
Scarecrow. "There are two kinds of gills, I think;
one is a girl, and the other is--"
"A gillyflower," said Jack.
"No; a measure."
"How big a measure?"
"Well, I'll ask Dorothy."
So next morning they asked Dorothy, and she
said:
"I don't just know how much a gill is, but I've
brought along a gold flask that holds a pint.
That's more than a gill, I'm sure, and the Crooked
Magician may measure it to suit himself. But the
thing that's bothering us most, Jack, is to find
the well."
Jack gazed around the landscape, for he was
standing in the doorway of his house.
"This is a flat country, so you won t find any
dark wells here," said he. "You must go into the
mountains, where rocks and caverns are.
"And where is that?" asked Ojo.
"In the Quadling Country, which lies south
"Would you like to?" returned Ozma.
"Yes. I know Oz pretty well, but Ojo doesn't
know it at all. I'm sorry for his uncle and poor
Margolotte and I'd like to help save them. May
I go?"
"If you wish to," replied Ozma.
"If Dorothy goes, then I must go to take care of
her," said the Scarecrow, decidedly" target="_blank" title="ad.坚决地，果断地">decidedly. "A dark well
can only be discovered in some out-of-the-way
place, and there may be dangers there."
"You have my permission to accompany Dorothy,"
said Ozma. "And while you are gone I will take
care of the Patchwork Girl."
"I'll take care of myself," announced Scraps,
"for I'm going with the Scarecrow and Dorothy.
I promised Ojo to help him find the things he
wants and I'll stick to my promise."
"Very well," replied Ozma. "But I see no need
for Ojo to take the Glass Cat and the Woozy."
"I prefer to remain here," said the cat. "I've
nearly been nicked half a dozen times, already,
and if they're going into dangers it's best for me
to keep away from them."
"Let Jellia Jamb keep her till Ojo returns,"
suggested Dorothy. "We won't need to take the
Woozy, either, but he ought to be saved because
of the three hairs in his tail."
"Better take me along," said the Woozy. "My eyes
can flash fire, you know, and I can growl--a
little."
"I'm sure you'll be safer here," Ozma decided,
and the Woozy made no further objection to the
plan.
After consulting together they decided that Ojo
and his party should leave the very next day to
search for the gill of water from a dark well, so
they now separated to make preparations for the
journey.
Ozma gave the Munchkin boy a room in the palace
for that night and the afternoon he passed with
Dorothy--getting acquainted, as she said--and
receiving advice from the Shaggy Man as to where
they must go. The Shaggy Man had wandered in many
parts of Oz, and so had Dorothy, for that matter,
yet neither of them knew where a dark well was to
be found.
"If such a thing is anywhere in the settled
parts of Oz," said Dorothy, "we'd prob'ly have
heard of it long ago. If it's in the wild parts of
the country, no one there would need a dark
well. P'raps there isn't such a thing."
"Oh, there must he!" returned Ojo, positively;
"or else the recipe of Dr. Pipt wouldn't call
for it."
"That's true," agreed Dorothy; "and, if it's
anywhere in the Land of Oz, we're bound to find
it."
"Well, we're bound to search for it, anyhow,"
said the Scarecrow. "As for finding it, we must
trust to luck."
"Don't do that," begged Ojo, earnestly. "I'm
called Ojo the Unlucky, you know."
Chapter Nineteen
Trouble with the Tottenhots
A day's journey from the Emerald City brought the
little band of adventurers to the home of Jack
Pumpkinhead, which was a house formed from the
shell of an immensepumpkin. Jack had made it
himself and was very proud of it. There was a
door, and several windows, and through the top was
stuck a stovepipe that led from a small stove
inside. The door was reached by a flight of three
steps and there was a good floor on which was
arranged some furniture that was quite
comfortable.
It is certain that Jack Pumpkinhead might
have had a much finer house to live in bad he
wanted it, for Ozma loved the stupid fellow,
who had been her earliest companion; but Jack
preferred his pumpkin house, as it matched
himself very well, and in this he was not so
stupid, after all.
The body of this remarkable person was made of
wood, branches of trees of various sizes having
been used for the purpose. This wooden framework
was covered by a red shirt--with white spots in
it--blue trousers, a yellow vest, a jacket of
green-and-gold and stout leather shoes. The neck
was a sharpened stick on which the pumpkin head
was set, and the eyes, ears, nose and mouth were
carved on the skin of the pumpkin, very like a
child's jack-o'-lantern.
The house of this interesting creation stood
in the center of a vast pumpkin-field, where the
vines grew in profusion and bore pumpkins of
extraordinary size as well as those which were
smaller. Some of the pumpkins now ripening
on the vines were almost as large as Jack's house,
and he told Dorothy he intended to add another
pumpkin to his mansion.
The travelers were cordially welcomed to this
quaint domicile and invited to pass the night
there, which they had planned to do. The
Patchwork Girl was greatly interested in Jack
and examined him admiringly.
"You are quite handsome," she said; "but not
as really beautiful as the Scarecrow."
Jack turned, at this, to examine the Scarecrow
critically, and his old friend slyly winked one
painted eye at him.
"There is no accounting for tastes," remarked
the Pumpkinhead, with a sigh. "An old crow
once told me I was very fascinating, but of
course the bird might have been mistaken. Yet
I have noticed that the crows usually avoid the
Scarecrow, who is a very honest fellow, in his
way, but stuffed. I am not stuffed, you will
observe; my body is good solid hickory."
"I adore stuffing," said the Patchwork Girl.
"Well, as for that, my head is stuffed with
pumpkin-seeds," declared Jack. "I use them for
brains, and when they are fresh I am intellectual.
Just now, I regret to say, my seeds are rattling a
bit, so I must soon get another head."
"Oh; do you change your head?" asked Ojo.
"To be sure. Pumpkins are not permanent, more's
the pity, and in time they spoil. That is why I
grow such a great field of pumpkins--that I may
select a new head whenever necessary."
"Who carves the faces on them?" inquired the
boy.
"I do that myself. I lift off my old head, place
it on a table before me, and use the face for a
pattern to go by. Sometimes the faces I carve are
better than others--more expressive and cheerful,
you know--but I think they average very well."
Before she had started on the journey Dorothy
had packed a knapsack with the things she might
need, and this knapsack the Scarecrow carried
strapped to his back. The little girl wore a plain
gingham dress and a checked sunbonnet, as she knew
they were best fitted for travel. Ojo also had
brought along his basket, to which Ozma had added
a bottle of "Square Meal Tablets" and some fruit.
But Jack Pumpkinhead grew a lot of things in his
garden besides pumpkins, so he cooked for them a
fine vegetable soup and gave Dorothy, Ojo and
Toto, the only ones who found it necessary to eat,
a pumpkin pie and some green cheese. For beds they
must use the sweet dried grasses which Jack had
strewn along one side of the room, but that
satisfied Dorothy and Ojo very well. Toto, of
course, slept beside his little mistress.
The Scarecrow, Scraps and the Pumpkinhead
were tireless and had no need to sleep, so they
sat up and talked together all night; but they
stayed outside the house, under the bright stars,
and talked in low tones so as not to disturb the
sleepers. During the conversation the Scarecrow
explained their quest for a dark well, and asked
Jack's advice where to find it.
The Pumpkinhead considered the matter gravely.
"That is going to be a difficult task," said he,
"and if I were you I'd take any ordinary well
and enclose it, so as to make it dark."
"I fear that wouldn't do," replied the
Scarecrow. "The well must be naturally dark, and
the water must never have seen the light of day,
for otherwise the magic charm might not work at
all."
"How much of the water do you need?" asked Jack.
"A gill."
"How much is a gill?"
"Why--a gill is a gill, of course," answered
the Scarecrow, who did not wish to display his
ignorance.
"I know!" cried Scraps. "Jack and Jill went up
the hill to fetch--"
"No, no; that's wrong," interrupted the
Scarecrow. "There are two kinds of gills, I think;
one is a girl, and the other is--"
"A gillyflower," said Jack.
"No; a measure."
"How big a measure?"
"Well, I'll ask Dorothy."
So next morning they asked Dorothy, and she
said:
"I don't just know how much a gill is, but I've
brought along a gold flask that holds a pint.
That's more than a gill, I'm sure, and the Crooked
Magician may measure it to suit himself. But the
thing that's bothering us most, Jack, is to find
the well."
Jack gazed around the landscape, for he was
standing in the doorway of his house.
"This is a flat country, so you won t find any
dark wells here," said he. "You must go into the
mountains, where rocks and caverns are.
"And where is that?" asked Ojo.
"In the Quadling Country, which lies south
- permission [pə´miʃən]
n.允许；同意；许可 (初中英语单词) - objection [əb´dʒekʃən] n.反对；异议；缺点 (初中英语单词)
- anywhere [´eniweə] ad.无论何处；任何地方 (初中英语单词)
- immense [i´mens] a.广大的，无限的 (初中英语单词)
- flight [flait] n.逃走；飞行；班机 (初中英语单词)
- stupid [´stju:pid] a.愚蠢的；糊涂的 (初中英语单词)
- companion [kəm´pæniən] n.同伴；同事；伴侣 (初中英语单词)
- remarkable [ri´mɑ:kəbl] a.值得注意的；显著的 (初中英语单词)
- wooden [´wudn] a.木制的；呆板的 (初中英语单词)
- trousers [´trauzəz] n.裤子，长裤 (初中英语单词)
- jacket [´dʒækit] n.茄克衫；外套 (初中英语单词)
- creation [kri´eiʃən] n.创作；作品；创造 (初中英语单词)
- fascinating [´fæsineitiŋ] a.迷人，使神魂颠倒的 (初中英语单词)
- permanent [´pə:mənənt] a.永久的；不变的 (初中英语单词)
- whenever [wen´evə] conj.&ad.无论何时 (初中英语单词)
- vegetable [´vedʒtəbəl] a.&n.蔬菜(的)；植物 (初中英语单词)
- cheese [tʃi:z] n.干酪，乳酪 (初中英语单词)
- disturb [di´stə:b] vt.扰乱；使不安；打乱 (初中英语单词)
- otherwise [´ʌðəwaiz] ad.另外 conj.否则 (初中英语单词)
- measure [´meʒə] n.量度；范围 vt.测量 (初中英语单词)
- doorway [´dɔ:wei] n.门口 (初中英语单词)
- decidedly [di´saididli] ad.坚决地，果断地 (高中英语单词)
- decided [di´saidid] a.明显的；决定的 (高中英语单词)
- recipe [´resipi] n.食谱；决窍；处方 (高中英语单词)
- finding [´faindiŋ] n.发现物；判断；结果 (高中英语单词)
- earnestly [´ə:nistli] ad.认真地；急切地 (高中英语单词)
- pumpkin [´pʌmpkin] n.南瓜 (高中英语单词)
- mistaken [mis´teikən] mistake的过去分词 (高中英语单词)
- enclose [in´kləuz] vt.围住，圈起；附上 (高中英语单词)
- landscape [´lændskeip] n.风景；景色；风景画 (高中英语单词)
- shaggy [´ʃægi] a.蓬乱的；多粗毛的 (英语四级单词)
- unlucky [ʌn´lʌki] a.倒霉的，不幸的 (英语四级单词)
- emerald [´emərəld] n.纯绿宝石；翠绿色 (英语四级单词)
- cordially [´kɔ:djəli] ad.热诚地；亲切地 (英语四级单词)
- expressive [ik´spresiv] a.有表现力的 (英语六级单词)
- tireless [´taiələs] a.不疲倦的；无轮胎的 (英语六级单词)
文章标签:名著
章节正文
京公网安备 11011202003401号
