酷兔英语

章节正文

THE SCARECROW of OZ

Dedicated to
"The uplifters" of Los Angeles, California, in

gratefulappreciation of the pleasure I have derived
from association with them, and in recognition of

their sincere endeavor to uplifthumanity through
kindness, consideration and good-fellowship. They are

big men--all of them--and all with the generous
hearts of little children.

L. Frank Baum
THE SCARECROW of OZ

by L. Frank Baum
"TWIXT YOU AND ME

The Army of Children which besieged the Postoffice,
conquered the Postmen and delivered to me its imperious

Commands, insisted that Trot and Cap'n Bill be admitted
to the Land of Oz, where Trot could enjoy the society

of Dorothy, Betsy Bobbin and Ozma, while the one-
legged sailor-man might become a comrade of the Tin

Woodman, the Shaggy Man, Tik-Tok and all the other
quaint people who inhabit this wonderful fairyland.

It was no easy task to obey this order and land Trot
and Cap'n Bill safely in Oz, as you will discover by

reading this book. Indeed, it required the best efforts
of our dear old friend, the Scarecrow, to save them

from a dreadful fate on the journey; but the story
leaves them happily located in Ozma's splendid palace

and Dorothy has promised me that Button-Bright and the
three girls are sure to encounter, in the near future,

some marvelous adventures in the Land of Oz, which I
hope to be permitted to relate to you in the next Oz

Book.
Meantime, I am deeply grateful to my little readers

for their continued enthusiasm over the Oz stories, as
evinced in the many letters they send me, all of which

are lovingly cherished. It takes more and more Oz Books
every year to satisfy the demands of old and new

readers, and there have been formed many "Oz Reading
Societies," where the Oz Books owned by different

members are read aloud. All this is very gratifying to
me and encourages me to write more stories. When the

children have had enough of them, I hope they will let
me know, and then I'll try to write something

different.
L. Frank Baum

"Royal Historian of Oz."
"OZCOT"

at HOLLYWOOD
in CALIFORNIA, 1915.

LIST OF CHAPTERS
1 - The Great Whirlpool

2 - The Cavern Under the Sea
3 - Daylight at Last:

4 - The Little Old Man of the Island
5 - The Flight of the Midgets

6 - The Dumpy Man
7 - Button-Bright is Lost, and Found Again

8 - The Kingdom of Jinxland
9 - Pan, the Gardener's Boy

10 - The Wicked King and Googly-Goo
11 - The Wooden-Legged Grasshopper

12 - Glinda the Good and the Scarecrow of Oz
13 - The Frozen Heart

14 - Trot Meets the Scarecrow
15 - Pon Summons the King to Surrender

16 - The Ork Rescues Button-Bright
17 - The Scarecrow Meets an Enemy

18 - The Conquest of the Witch
19 - Queen Gloria

20 - Dorothy, Betsy and Ozma
21 - The Waterfall

22 - The Land of Oz
23 - The Royal Reception

Chapter One
The Great Whirlpool

"Seems to me," said Cap'n Bill, as he sat beside Trot
under the big acacia tree, looking out over the blue

ocean, "seems to me, Trot, as how the more we know, the
more we find we don't know."

"I can't quite make that out, Cap'n Bill," answered
the little girl in a serious voice, after a moment's

thought, during which her eyes followed those of the
old sailor-man across the glassy surface of the sea.

"Seems to me that all we learn is jus' so much gained."
"I know; it looks that way at first sight," said the

sailor, nodding his head; "but those as knows the least
have a habit of thinkin' they know all there is to

know, while them as knows the most admits what a
turr'ble big world this is. It's the knowing ones that

realize one lifetime ain't long enough to git more'n a
few dips o' the oars of knowledge."

Trot didn't answer. She was a very little girl, with
big, solemn eyes and an earnest, simple manner.

Cap'n Bill had been her faithfulcompanion for years
and had taught her almost everything she knew.

He was a wonderful man, this Cap'n Bill. Not so
very old, although his hair was grizzled -- what there

was of it. Most of his head was bald as an egg and
as shiny as oilcloth, and this made his big ears stick

out in a funny way. His eyes had a gentle look and
were pale blue in color, and his round face was rugged

and bronzed. Cap'n Bill's left leg was missing, from
the knee down, and that was why the sailor no longer

sailed the seas. The wooden leg he wore was good
enough to stump around with on land, or even to take

Trot out for a row or a sail on the ocean, but when it
came to "runnin' up aloft" or performing active

duties on shipboard, the old sailor was not equal to
the task. The loss of his leg had ruined his career

and the old sailor found comfort in devoting himself
to the education and companionship of the little girl.

The accident to Cap'n Bill's leg bad happened at
about the time Trot was born, and ever since that he

had lived with Trot's mother as "a star boarder,"
having enough money saved up to pay for his weekly

"keep." He loved the baby and often held her on
his lap; her first ride was on Cap'n Bill's shoulders,

for she had no baby-carriage; and when she began
to toddle around, the child and the sailor became

close comrades and enjoyed many strange adventures
together. It is said the fairies had been present at

Trot's birth and had marked her forehead with their
invisible mystic signs, so that she was able to see and

do many wonderful things.
The acacia tree was on top of a high bluff, but a

path ran down the bank in a zigzag way to the water's
edge, where Cap'n Bill's boat was moored to a rock

by means of a stout cable. It had been a hot, sultry
afternoon, with scarcely a breath of air stirring, so

Cap'n Bill and Trot had been quietly sitting beneath
the shade of the tree, waiting for the sun to get low

enough for them to take a row.
They had decided to visit one of the great caves

which the waves had washed out of the rocky coast
during many years of steady effort. The caves were

a source of continual delight to both the girl and the
sailor, who loved to explore their awesome depths.

"I b'lieve, Cap'n," remarked Trot, at last, "that
it's time for us to start."

The old man cast a shrewd glance at the sky, the
sea and the motionless boat. Then he shook his head.

"Mebbe it's time, Trot," he answered, "but I don't
jes' like the looks o' things this afternoon."

"What's wrong?" she asked wonderingly.
"Can't say as to that. Things is too quiet to suit

me, that's all. No breeze, not a ripple a-top the water,
nary a gull a-flyin' anywhere, an' the end o' the hottest

day o' the year. I ain't no weather-prophet, Trot, but
any sailor would know the signs is ominous."

"There's nothing wrong that I can see," said Trot.
"If there was a cloud in the sky even as big as my

thumb, we might worry about it; but -- look, Cap'n! --
the sky is as clear as can be."

He looked again and nodded.
"P'r'aps we can make the cave, all right," he agreed,

not wishing to disappoint her. "It's only a little way
out, an' we'll be on the watch; so come along, Trot."

Together they descended the winding path to the
beach. It was no trouble for the girl to keep her

footing on the steep way, but Cap'n Bill, because of
his wooden leg, had to hold on to rocks and roots now

and then to save himself from tumbling. On a level path
he was as spry as anyone, but to climb up hill or down

required some care.
They reached the boat safely and while Trot was

untying the rope Cap'n Bill reached into a crevice of
the rock and drew out several tallow candles and a box

of wax matches, which he thrust into the capacious
pockets of his "sou'wester." This sou'wester was a

short coat of oilskin which the old sailor wore on all
occasions -- when he wore a coat at all -- and the

pockets always contained a variety of objects, useful
and ornamental, which made even Trot wonder where they

all came from and why Cap'n Bill should treasure them.
The jackknives -- a big one and a little one -- the bits

of cord, the fishhooks, the nails: these were handy to
have on certain occasions. But bits of shell, and tin

boxes with unknown contents, buttons, pincers, bottles
of curious stones and the like, seemed quite

unnecessary to carry around. That was Cap'n Bill's
business, however, and now that he added the candles

and the matches to his collection Trot made no comment,
for she knew these last were to light their way through

the caves. The sailor always rowed the boat, for he
handled the oars with strength and skill. Trot sat in

the stern and steered. The place where they embarked
was a little bight or circular bay, and the boat cut

across a much larger bay toward a distant headland
where the caves were located, right at the water's

edge. They were nearly a mile from shore and about
halfway across the bay when Trot suddenly sat up

straight and exclaimed: "What's that, Cap'n?"
He stopped rowing and turned half around to look.

"That, Trot," he slowly replied, "looks to me mighty
like a whirlpool."

"What makes it, Cap'n?"
"A whirl in the air makes the whirl in the water. I

was afraid as we'd meet with trouble, Trot. Things
didn't look right. The air was too still."

"It's coming closer," said the girl.
The old man grabbed the oars and began rowing with



文章标签:名著  

章节正文