章节正文
should touch him, and then she walked up the path a way
and hesitated, as if uncertain where to go next.
Trot was grieved by Pon's sobs and indignant because
Gloria treated him so badly. But she remembered why.
"I guess your heart is frozen, all right," she said to
the Princess. Gloria nodded gravely, in reply, and then
turned her back upon the little girl. "Can't you like
even me?" asked Trot, half pleadingly.
"No," said Gloria.
"Your voice sounds like a refrig'rator," sighed the
little girl. "I'm awful sorry for you, 'cause you were
sweet an' nice to me before this happened. You can't help
it, of course; but it's a dreadful thing, jus' the same."
"My heart is frozen to all mortal loves," announced
Gloria, calmly. "I do not love even myself."
"That's too bad," said Trot, "for, if you can't love
anybody, you can't expect anybody to love you."
"I do!" cried Pon. "I shall always love her."
"Well, you're just a gardener's boy," replied Trot,
"and I didn't think you 'mounted to much, from the first.
I can love the old Princess Gloria, with a warm heart an'
nice manners, but this one gives me the shivers."
"It's her icy heart, that's all," said Pon.
"That's enough," insisted Trot. "Seeing her heart isn't
big enough to skate on, I can't see that she's of any use
to anyone. For my part, I'm goin' to try to find Button-
Bright an' Cap'n Bill."
"I will go with you," decided Pon. "It is evident that
Gloria no longer loves me and that her heart is frozen
too stiff for me to melt it with my own love; therefore I
may as well help you to find your friends."
As Trot started off, Pon cast one more imploring look
at the Princess, who returned it with a chilly stare. So
he followed after the little girl.
As for the Princess, she hesitated a moment and then
turned in the same direction the others had taken, but
going far more slowly. Soon she heard footsteps pattering
behind her, and up came Googly-Goo. a little out of
breath with running.
"Stop, Gloria!" he cried. "I have come to take you back
to my mansion, where we are to be married."
She looked at him wonderingly a moment, then tossed her
head disdainfully and walked on. But Googly-Goo kept
beside her.
"What does this mean?" he demanded. "Haven't you
discovered that you no longer love that gardener's boy,
who stood in my way?"
"Yes; I have discovered it," she replied. "My heart is
frozen to all mortal loves. I cannot love you, or Pon, or
the cruel King my uncle, or even myself. Go your way,
Googly-Goo, for I will wed no one at all."
He stopped in dismay when he heard this, but in another
minute he exclaimed angrily:
"You must wed me, Princess Gloria, whether you want to
or not! I paid to have your heart frozen; I also paid the
King to permit our marriage. If you now refuse me it will
mean that I have been robbed -- robbed -- robbed of my
precious money and jewels!"
He almost wept with despair, but she laughed a cold,
bitter laugh and passed on. Googly-Goo caught at her arm,
as if to restrain her, but she whirled and dealt him a
blow that sent him reeling into a ditch beside the path.
Here he lay for a long time, half covered by muddy water,
dazed with surprise.
Finally the old courtier arose, dripping, and climbed
from the ditch. The Princess had gone; so, muttering
threats of vengeance upon her, upon the King and upon
Blinkie, old Googly-Goo hobbled back to his mansion to
have the mud removed from his costlyvelvet clothes.
Chapter Fifteen
Trot Meets the Scarecrow
Trot and Pon covered many leagues of ground, searching
through forests, in fields and in many of the little
villages of Jinxland, but could find no trace of either
Cap'n Bill or Button-Bright. Finally they paused beside a
cornfield and sat upon a stile to rest. Pon took some
apples from his pocket and gave one to Trot. Then he
began eating another himself, for this was their time for
luncheon. When his apple was finished Pon tossed the core
into the field.
"Tchuk-tchuk!" said a strange voice. "what do you mean
by hitting me in the eye with an apple-core?"
Then rose up the form of the Scarecrow, who had hidden
himself in the cornfield while he examined Pon and Trot
and decided whether they were worthy to be helped.
"Excuse me," said Pon. "I didn't know you were there."
"How did you happen to be there, anyhow?" asked Trot.
The Scarecrow came forward with awkward steps and stood
beside them.
"Ah, you are the gardener's boy," he said to Pon. Then
he turned to Trot. "And you are the little girl who came
to Jinxland riding on a big bird, and who has had the
misfortune to lose her friend, Cap'n Bill, and her chum,
Button-Bright."
"Why, how did you know all that?" she inquired.
"I know a lot of things," replied the Scarecrow,
winking at her comically. "My brains are the Carefully-
Assorted, Double-Distilled, High-Efficiency sort that the
Wizard of Oz makes. He admits, himself, that my brains
are the best he ever manufactured."
"I think I've heard of you," said Trot slowly, as she
looked the Scarecrow over with much interest; "but you
used to live in the Land of Oz."
"Oh, I do now," he replied cheerfully. "I've just come
over the mountains from the Quadling Country to see if I
can be of any help to you."
"Who, me?" asked Pon.
"No, the strangers from the big world. It seems they
need looking after."
"I'm doing that myself," said Pon, a little
ungraciously. "If you will pardon me for saying so, I
don't see how a Scarecrow with painted eyes can look
after anyone."
"If you don't see that, you are more blind than the
Scarecrow," asserted Trot. "He's a fairy man, Pon, and
comes from the fairyland of Oz, so he can do 'most
anything. I hope," she added, turning to the Scarecrow,
"you can find Cap'n Bill for me."
"I will try, anyhow," he promised. "But who is that old
woman who is running toward us and shaking her stick at
us?"
Trot and Pon turned around and both uttered an
exclamation of fear. The next instant they took to their
heels and ran fast up the path. For it was old Blinkie,
the Wicked Witch, who had at last traced them to this
place. Her anger was so great that she was determined not
to abandon the chase of Pon and Trot until she had caught
and punished them. The Scarecrow understood at once that
the old woman meant harm to his new friends, so as she
drew near he stepped before her. His appearance was so
sudden and unexpected that Blinkie ran into him and
toppled him over, but she tripped on his straw body and
went rolling in the path beside him.
The Scarecrow sat up and said: "I beg your pardon!" but
she whacked him with her stick and knocked him flat
again. Then, furious with rage, the old witch sprang upon
her victim and began pulling the straw out of his body.
The poor Scarecrow was helpless to resist and in a few
moments all that was left of him was an empty suit of
clothes and a heap of straw beside it. Fortunately,
Blinkie did not harm his head, for it rolled into a
little hollow and escaped her notice. Fearing that Pon
and Trot would escape her, she quickly resumed the chase
and disappeared over the brow of a hill, following the
direction in which she had seen them go.
Only a short time elapsed before a gray grasshopper
with a wooden leg came hopping along and lit directly on
the upturned face of the Scarecrow's head.
"Pardon me, but you are resting yourself upon my nose,"
remarked the Scarecrow
"Oh! are you alive?" asked the grasshopper.
"That is a question I have never been able to decide,"
said the Scarecrow's head. "When my body is properly
stuffed I have animation and can move around as well as
any live person. The brains in the head you are now
occupying as a throne, are of very superior quality and
do a lot of very clever thinking. But whether that is
being alive, or not, I cannot prove to you; for one who
lives is liable to death, while I am only liable to
destruction."
"Seems to me," said the grasshopper, rubbing his nose
with his front legs, "that in your case it doesn't matter
-- unless you're destroyed already."
"I am not; all I need is re-stuffing," declared the
Scarecrow; "and if Pon and Trot escape the witch, and
come back here, I am sure they will do me that favor."
"Tell me! Are Trot and Pon around here?" inquired the
grasshopper, its small voice trembling with excitement.
The Scarecrow did not answer at once, for both his eyes
were staring straight upward at a beautiful face that was
slightly bent over his head. It was, indeed, Princess
Gloria, who had wandered to this spot, very much
surprised when she heard the Scarecrow's head talk and
the tiny gray grasshopper answer it.
"This," said the Scarecrow, still staring at her, "must
be the Princess who loves Pon, the gardener's boy."
"Oh, indeed!" exclaimed the grasshopper -- who of
course was Cap'n Bill -- as he examined the young lady
curiously.
"No," said Gloria frigidly, "I do not love Pon, or
anyone else, for the Wicked Witch has frozen my heart."
"What a shame!" cried the Scarecrow. "One so lovely
should be able to love. But would you mind, my dear,
stuffing that straw into my body again?"
The dainty Princess glanced at the straw and at the
well-worn blue Munchkin clothes and shrank back in
disdain. But she was spared from refusing the Scarecrow's
request by the appearance of Trot and Pon, who had hidden
in some bushes just over the brow of the hill and waited
until old Blinkie had passed them by. Their hiding place
was on the same side as the witch's blind eye, and she
rushed on in the chase of the girl and the youth without
being aware that they had tricked her.
Trot was shocked at the Scarecrow's sad condition and
at once began putting the straw back into his body. Pon,
at sight of Gloria, again appealed to her to take pity on
him, but the frozen-hearted Princess turned coldly away
and with a sigh the gardener's boy began to assist Trot.
Neither of them at first noticed the small grasshopper,
which at their appearance had skipped off the Scarecrow's
nose and was now clinging to a wisp of grass beside the
and hesitated, as if uncertain where to go next.
Trot was grieved by Pon's sobs and indignant because
Gloria treated him so badly. But she remembered why.
"I guess your heart is frozen, all right," she said to
the Princess. Gloria nodded gravely, in reply, and then
turned her back upon the little girl. "Can't you like
even me?" asked Trot, half pleadingly.
"No," said Gloria.
"Your voice sounds like a refrig'rator," sighed the
little girl. "I'm awful sorry for you, 'cause you were
sweet an' nice to me before this happened. You can't help
it, of course; but it's a dreadful thing, jus' the same."
"My heart is frozen to all mortal loves," announced
Gloria, calmly. "I do not love even myself."
"That's too bad," said Trot, "for, if you can't love
anybody, you can't expect anybody to love you."
"I do!" cried Pon. "I shall always love her."
"Well, you're just a gardener's boy," replied Trot,
"and I didn't think you 'mounted to much, from the first.
I can love the old Princess Gloria, with a warm heart an'
nice manners, but this one gives me the shivers."
"It's her icy heart, that's all," said Pon.
"That's enough," insisted Trot. "Seeing her heart isn't
big enough to skate on, I can't see that she's of any use
to anyone. For my part, I'm goin' to try to find Button-
Bright an' Cap'n Bill."
"I will go with you," decided Pon. "It is evident that
Gloria no longer loves me and that her heart is frozen
too stiff for me to melt it with my own love; therefore I
may as well help you to find your friends."
As Trot started off, Pon cast one more imploring look
at the Princess, who returned it with a chilly stare. So
he followed after the little girl.
As for the Princess, she hesitated a moment and then
turned in the same direction the others had taken, but
going far more slowly. Soon she heard footsteps pattering
behind her, and up came Googly-Goo. a little out of
breath with running.
"Stop, Gloria!" he cried. "I have come to take you back
to my mansion, where we are to be married."
She looked at him wonderingly a moment, then tossed her
head disdainfully and walked on. But Googly-Goo kept
beside her.
"What does this mean?" he demanded. "Haven't you
discovered that you no longer love that gardener's boy,
who stood in my way?"
"Yes; I have discovered it," she replied. "My heart is
frozen to all mortal loves. I cannot love you, or Pon, or
the cruel King my uncle, or even myself. Go your way,
Googly-Goo, for I will wed no one at all."
He stopped in dismay when he heard this, but in another
minute he exclaimed angrily:
"You must wed me, Princess Gloria, whether you want to
or not! I paid to have your heart frozen; I also paid the
King to permit our marriage. If you now refuse me it will
mean that I have been robbed -- robbed -- robbed of my
precious money and jewels!"
He almost wept with despair, but she laughed a cold,
bitter laugh and passed on. Googly-Goo caught at her arm,
as if to restrain her, but she whirled and dealt him a
blow that sent him reeling into a ditch beside the path.
Here he lay for a long time, half covered by muddy water,
dazed with surprise.
Finally the old courtier arose, dripping, and climbed
from the ditch. The Princess had gone; so, muttering
threats of vengeance upon her, upon the King and upon
Blinkie, old Googly-Goo hobbled back to his mansion to
have the mud removed from his costlyvelvet clothes.
Chapter Fifteen
Trot Meets the Scarecrow
Trot and Pon covered many leagues of ground, searching
through forests, in fields and in many of the little
villages of Jinxland, but could find no trace of either
Cap'n Bill or Button-Bright. Finally they paused beside a
cornfield and sat upon a stile to rest. Pon took some
apples from his pocket and gave one to Trot. Then he
began eating another himself, for this was their time for
luncheon. When his apple was finished Pon tossed the core
into the field.
"Tchuk-tchuk!" said a strange voice. "what do you mean
by hitting me in the eye with an apple-core?"
Then rose up the form of the Scarecrow, who had hidden
himself in the cornfield while he examined Pon and Trot
and decided whether they were worthy to be helped.
"Excuse me," said Pon. "I didn't know you were there."
"How did you happen to be there, anyhow?" asked Trot.
The Scarecrow came forward with awkward steps and stood
beside them.
"Ah, you are the gardener's boy," he said to Pon. Then
he turned to Trot. "And you are the little girl who came
to Jinxland riding on a big bird, and who has had the
misfortune to lose her friend, Cap'n Bill, and her chum,
Button-Bright."
"Why, how did you know all that?" she inquired.
"I know a lot of things," replied the Scarecrow,
winking at her comically. "My brains are the Carefully-
Assorted, Double-Distilled, High-Efficiency sort that the
Wizard of Oz makes. He admits, himself, that my brains
are the best he ever manufactured."
"I think I've heard of you," said Trot slowly, as she
looked the Scarecrow over with much interest; "but you
used to live in the Land of Oz."
"Oh, I do now," he replied cheerfully. "I've just come
over the mountains from the Quadling Country to see if I
can be of any help to you."
"Who, me?" asked Pon.
"No, the strangers from the big world. It seems they
need looking after."
"I'm doing that myself," said Pon, a little
ungraciously. "If you will pardon me for saying so, I
don't see how a Scarecrow with painted eyes can look
after anyone."
"If you don't see that, you are more blind than the
Scarecrow," asserted Trot. "He's a fairy man, Pon, and
comes from the fairyland of Oz, so he can do 'most
anything. I hope," she added, turning to the Scarecrow,
"you can find Cap'n Bill for me."
"I will try, anyhow," he promised. "But who is that old
woman who is running toward us and shaking her stick at
us?"
Trot and Pon turned around and both uttered an
exclamation of fear. The next instant they took to their
heels and ran fast up the path. For it was old Blinkie,
the Wicked Witch, who had at last traced them to this
place. Her anger was so great that she was determined not
to abandon the chase of Pon and Trot until she had caught
and punished them. The Scarecrow understood at once that
the old woman meant harm to his new friends, so as she
drew near he stepped before her. His appearance was so
sudden and unexpected that Blinkie ran into him and
toppled him over, but she tripped on his straw body and
went rolling in the path beside him.
The Scarecrow sat up and said: "I beg your pardon!" but
she whacked him with her stick and knocked him flat
again. Then, furious with rage, the old witch sprang upon
her victim and began pulling the straw out of his body.
The poor Scarecrow was helpless to resist and in a few
moments all that was left of him was an empty suit of
clothes and a heap of straw beside it. Fortunately,
Blinkie did not harm his head, for it rolled into a
little hollow and escaped her notice. Fearing that Pon
and Trot would escape her, she quickly resumed the chase
and disappeared over the brow of a hill, following the
direction in which she had seen them go.
Only a short time elapsed before a gray grasshopper
with a wooden leg came hopping along and lit directly on
the upturned face of the Scarecrow's head.
"Pardon me, but you are resting yourself upon my nose,"
remarked the Scarecrow
"Oh! are you alive?" asked the grasshopper.
"That is a question I have never been able to decide,"
said the Scarecrow's head. "When my body is properly
stuffed I have animation and can move around as well as
any live person. The brains in the head you are now
occupying as a throne, are of very superior quality and
do a lot of very clever thinking. But whether that is
being alive, or not, I cannot prove to you; for one who
lives is liable to death, while I am only liable to
destruction."
"Seems to me," said the grasshopper, rubbing his nose
with his front legs, "that in your case it doesn't matter
-- unless you're destroyed already."
"I am not; all I need is re-stuffing," declared the
Scarecrow; "and if Pon and Trot escape the witch, and
come back here, I am sure they will do me that favor."
"Tell me! Are Trot and Pon around here?" inquired the
grasshopper, its small voice trembling with excitement.
The Scarecrow did not answer at once, for both his eyes
were staring straight upward at a beautiful face that was
slightly bent over his head. It was, indeed, Princess
Gloria, who had wandered to this spot, very much
surprised when she heard the Scarecrow's head talk and
the tiny gray grasshopper answer it.
"This," said the Scarecrow, still staring at her, "must
be the Princess who loves Pon, the gardener's boy."
"Oh, indeed!" exclaimed the grasshopper -- who of
course was Cap'n Bill -- as he examined the young lady
curiously.
"No," said Gloria frigidly, "I do not love Pon, or
anyone else, for the Wicked Witch has frozen my heart."
"What a shame!" cried the Scarecrow. "One so lovely
should be able to love. But would you mind, my dear,
stuffing that straw into my body again?"
The dainty Princess glanced at the straw and at the
well-worn blue Munchkin clothes and shrank back in
disdain. But she was spared from refusing the Scarecrow's
request by the appearance of Trot and Pon, who had hidden
in some bushes just over the brow of the hill and waited
until old Blinkie had passed them by. Their hiding place
was on the same side as the witch's blind eye, and she
rushed on in the chase of the girl and the youth without
being aware that they had tricked her.
Trot was shocked at the Scarecrow's sad condition and
at once began putting the straw back into his body. Pon,
at sight of Gloria, again appealed to her to take pity on
him, but the frozen-hearted Princess turned coldly away
and with a sigh the gardener's boy began to assist Trot.
Neither of them at first noticed the small grasshopper,
which at their appearance had skipped off the Scarecrow's
nose and was now clinging to a wisp of grass beside the
- uncertain [ʌn´sə:tn]
a.不定的；不可靠的 (初中英语单词) - frozen [´frəuzn] freeze 的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
- princess [,prin´ses] n.公主；王妃；亲王夫人 (初中英语单词)
- gravely [´greivli] ad.庄重地，严肃地 (初中英语单词)
- dreadful [´dredful] a.可怕的；讨厌的 (初中英语单词)
- calmly [´kɑ:mli] ad.平静地；无风浪地 (初中英语单词)
- evident [´evidənt] a.明显的，明白的 (初中英语单词)
- therefore [´ðeəfɔ:] ad.&conj.因此；所以 (初中英语单词)
- chilly [´tʃili] a.凉飕飕的 (初中英语单词)
- dismay [dis´mei] n.惊慌 vt.使惊慌 (初中英语单词)
- despair [di´speə] vi.&n.绝望 (初中英语单词)
- costly [´kɔstli] a.昂贵的；费用大的 (初中英语单词)
- velvet [´velvit] n.&a.天鹅绒(般的) (初中英语单词)
- worthy [´wə:ði] a.有价值的；值得的 (初中英语单词)
- pardon [´pɑ:dən] n.&vt.原谅；饶恕；赦免 (初中英语单词)
- running [´rʌniŋ] a.奔跑的；流动的 (初中英语单词)
- instant [´instənt] a.立即的 n.紧迫；瞬间 (初中英语单词)
- wicked [´wikid] a.邪恶的；不道德的 (初中英语单词)
- abandon [ə´bændən] vt.抛弃，放弃，离弃 (初中英语单词)
- furious [´fjuəriəs] a.狂怒的；猛烈的 (初中英语单词)
- sprang [spræŋ] spring 的过去式 (初中英语单词)
- victim [´viktim] n.牺牲者；受害者 (初中英语单词)
- helpless [´helpləs] a.无助的，无依靠的 (初中英语单词)
- resist [ri´zist] v.抵抗；对抗；抵制 (初中英语单词)
- wooden [´wudn] a.木制的；呆板的 (初中英语单词)
- upward [´ʌpwəd] a.&ad.向上(的)；以上 (初中英语单词)
- coldly [´kəuldli] ad.冷淡地 (初中英语单词)
- assist [ə´sist] v.协助；援助；搀扶 (初中英语单词)
- mortal [´mɔ:tl] a.致命的 n.凡人 (高中英语单词)
- decided [di´saidid] a.明显的；决定的 (高中英语单词)
- mansion [´mænʃən] n.大厦；宅第；官邸 (高中英语单词)
- restrain [ri´strein] vt.抑制；管束；限制 (高中英语单词)
- courtier [´kɔ:tiə] n.朝臣；奉承者 (高中英语单词)
- vengeance [´vendʒəns] n.报复，复仇 (高中英语单词)
- awkward [´ɔ:kwəd] a.笨拙的；为难的 (高中英语单词)
- cheerfully [´tʃiəfuli] ad.高兴地，愉快地 (高中英语单词)
- saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中英语单词)
- unexpected [ʌniks´pektid] a.突然的；意外的 (高中英语单词)
- throne [θrəun] n.宝座；王位 (高中英语单词)
- liable [´laiəbəl] a.易于...的；有责任的 (高中英语单词)
- grasshopper [´grɑ:s,hɔpə] n.蚱蜢，蝗虫 (高中英语单词)
- dainty [´deinti] a.秀丽的 n.美味 (高中英语单词)
- indignant [in´dignənt] a.义愤的，愤慨的 (英语四级单词)
- fairyland [´fɛərilænd] n.仙境，奇境 (英语四级单词)
- cornfield [´kɔ:nfi:ld] n.稻田；麦田；玉米田 (英语六级单词)
- shrank [ʃræŋk] shrink的过去式 (英语六级单词)
文章标签:名著
章节正文
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