5. Dorothy Picks the Princess

Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz

by L. Frank Baum

The words of the cold and moist vegetable Prince were not very
comforting, and as he spoke them he turned away and left the
enclosure. The children, feeling sad and despondent, were about to
follow him when the Wizard touched Dorothy softly on her shoulder.

"Wait!" he whispered.

"What for?" asked the girl.

"Suppose we pick the Royal Princess," said the Wizard. "I'm
quite sure she's ripe, and as soon as she comes to life she will be
the Ruler, and may treat us better than that heartless Prince intends
to."

"All right!" exclaimed Dorothy, eagerly. "Let's pick her while
we have the chance, before the man with the star comes back."

So together they leaned over the great bush and each of them
seized one hand of the lovely Princess.

"Pull!" cried Dorothy, and as they did so the royal lady leaned
toward them and the stems snapped and separated from her feet. She
was not at all heavy, so the Wizard and Dorothy managed to lift her
gently to the ground.

The beautiful creature passed her hands over her eyes an
instant, tucked in a stray lock of hair that had become disarranged,
and after a look around the garden made those present a gracious bow
and said, in a sweet but even toned voice:

"I thank you very much."

"We salute your Royal Highness!" cried the Wizard, kneeling and
kissing her hand.

Just then the voice of the Prince was heard calling upon them to
hasten, and a moment later he returned to the enclosure, followed by
a number of his people.

Instantly the Princess turned and faced him, and when he saw
that she was picked the Prince stood still and began to tremble.

"Sir," said the Royal Lady, with much dignity, "you have wronged
me greatly, and would have wronged me still more had not these
strangers come to my rescue. I have been ready for picking all the
past week, but because you were selfish and desired to continue your
unlawful rule, you left me to stand silent upon my bush."

"I did not know that you were ripe," answered the Prince, in a
low voice.

"Give me the Star of Royalty!" she commanded.

Slowly he took the shining star from his own brow and placed it
upon that of the Princess. Then all the people bowed low to her, and
the Prince turned and walked away alone. What became of him
afterward our friends never knew.

The people of Mangaboo now formed themselves into a procession
and marched toward the glass city to escort their new ruler to her
palace and to perform those ceremonies proper to the occasion. But
while the people in the procession walked upon the ground the
Princess walked in the air just above their heads, to show that she
was a superior being and more exalted than her subjects.

No one now seemed to pay any attention to the strangers, so
Dorothy and Zeb and the Wizard let the train pass on and then
wandered by themselves into the vegetable gardens. They did not
bother to cross the bridges over the brooks, but when they came to a
stream they stepped high and walked in the air to the other side.
This was a very interesting experience to them, and Dorothy said:

"I wonder why it is that we can walk so easily in the air."

"Perhaps," answered the Wizard, "it is because we are close to
the center of the earth, where the attraction of gravitation is very
slight. But I've noticed that many queer things happen in fairy
countries."

"Is this a fairy country?" asked the boy.

"Of course it is," returned Dorothy promptly. "Only a fairy
country could have veg'table people; and only in a fairy country
could Eureka and Jim talk as we do."

"That's true," said Zeb, thoughtfully.

In the vegetable gardens they found the strawberries and melons,
and several other unknown but delicious fruits, of which they ate
heartily. But the kitten bothered them constantly by demanding milk
or meat, and called the Wizard names because he could not bring her a
dish of milk by means of his magical arts.

As they sat upon the grass watching Jim, who was still busily
eating, Eureka said:

"I don't believe you are a Wizard at all!"

"No," answered the little man, "you are quite right. In the
strict sense of the word I am not a Wizard, but only a humbug."

"The Wizard of Oz has always been a humbug," agreed Dorothy.
"I've known him for a long time."

"If that is so," said the boy, "how could he do that wonderful
trick with the nine tiny piglets?"

"Don't know," said Dorothy, "but it must have been humbug."

"Very true," declared the Wizard, nodding at her. "It was
necessary to deceive that ugly Sorcerer and the Prince, as well as
their stupid people; but I don't mind telling you, who are my
friends, that the thing was only a trick."

"But I saw the little pigs with my own eyes!" exclaimed Zeb.

"So did I," purred the kitten.

"To be sure," answered the Wizard. "You saw them because they
were there. They are in my inside pocket now. But the pulling of
them apart and pushing them together again was only a sleight-of-hand
trick."

"Let's see the pigs," said Eureka, eagerly.

The little man felt carefully in his pocket and pulled out the
tiny piglets, setting them upon the grass one by one, where they ran
around and nibbled the tender blades.

"They're hungry, too," he said.

"Oh, what cunning things!" cried Dorothy, catching up one and
petting it.

"Be careful!" said the piglet, with a squeal, "you're squeezing
me!"

"Dear me!" murmured the Wizard, looking at his pets in
astonishment. "They can actually talk!"

"May I eat one of them?" asked the kitten, in a pleading voice.
"I'm awfully hungry."

"Why, Eureka," said Dorothy, reproachfully, "what a cruel
question! It would be dreadful to eat these dear little things."

"I should say so!" grunted another of the piglets, looking
uneasily at the kitten; "cats are cruel things."

"I'm not cruel," replied the kitten, yawning. "I'm just
hungry."

"You cannot eat my piglets, even if you are starving," declared
the little man, in a stern voice. "They are the only things I have
to prove I'm a wizard."

"How did they happen to be so little?" asked Dorothy. "I never
saw such small pigs before."

"They are from the Island of Teenty-Weent," said the Wizard,
"where everything is small because it's a small island. A sailor
brought them to Los Angeles and I gave him nine tickets to the circus
for them."

"But what am I going to eat?" wailed the kitten, sitting in
front of Dorothy and looking pleadingly into her face. "There are no
cows here to give milk; or any mice, or even grasshoppers. And if I
can't eat the piglets you may as well plant me at once and raise
catsup."

"I have an idea," said the Wizard, "that there are fishes in
these brooks. Do you like fish?"

"Fish!" cried the kitten. "Do I like fish? Why, they're better
than piglets--or even milk!"

"Then I'll try to catch you some," said he.

"But won't they be veg'table, like everything else here?" asked
the kitten.

"I think not. Fishes are not animals, and they are as cold and
moist as the vegetables themselves. There is no reason, that I can
see, why they may not exist in the waters of this strange
country."

Then the Wizard bent a pin for a hook and took a long piece of
string from his pocket for a fish-line. The only bait he could find
was a bright red blossom from a flower; but he knew fishes are easy
to fool if anything bright attracts their attention, so he decided to
try the blossom. Having thrown the end of his line in the water of a
nearby brook he soon felt a sharp tug that told him a fish had bitten
and was caught on the bent pin; so the little man drew in the string
and, sure enough, the fish came with it and was landed safely on the
shore, where it began to flop around in great excitement.

The fish was fat and round, and its scales glistened like
beautifully cut jewels set close together; but there was no time to
examine it closely, for Eureka made a jump and caught it between her
claws, and in a few moments it had entirely disappeared.

"Oh, Eureka!" cried Dorothy, "did you eat the bones?"

"If it had any bones, I ate them," replied the kitten,
composedly, as it washed its face after the meal. "But I don't think
that fish had any bones, because I didn't feel them scratch my
throat."

"You were very greedy," said the girl.

"I was very hungry," replied the kitten.

The little pigs had stood huddled in a group, watching this
scene with frightened eyes.

"Cats are dreadful creatures!" said one of them.

"I'm glad we are not fishes!" said another.

"Don't worry," Dorothy murmured, soothingly, "I'll not let the
kitten hurt you."

Then she happened to remember that in a corner of her suit-case
were one or two crackers that were left over from her luncheon on the
train, and she went to the buggy and brought them. Eureka stuck up
her nose at such food, but the tiny piglets squealed delightedly at
the sight of the crackers and ate them up in a jiffy.

"Now let us go back to the city," suggested the Wizard. "That
is, if Jim has had enough of the pink grass."

The cab-horse, who was browsing near, lifted his head with a
sigh.

"I've tried to eat a lot while I had the chance," said he, "for
it's likely to be a long while between meals in this strange country.
But I'm ready to go, now, at any time you wish."

So, after the Wizard had put the piglets back into his inside
pocket, where they cuddled up and went to sleep, the three climbed
into the buggy and Jim started back to the town.

"Where shall we stay?" asked the girl.

"I think I shall take possession of the House of the Sorcerer,"
replied the Wizard; "for the Prince said in the presence of his
people that he would keep me until they picked another Sorcerer, and
the new Princess won't know but that we belong there."

They agreed to this plan, and when they reached the great square
Jim drew the buggy into the big door of the domed hall.

"It doesn't look very homelike," said Dorothy, gazing around at
the bare room. "But it's a place to stay, anyhow."

"What are those holes up there?" enquired the boy, pointing to
some openings that appeared near the top of the dome.

"They look like doorways," said Dorothy; "only there are no
stairs to get to them."

"You forget that stairs are unnecessary," observed the Wizard.
"Let us walk up, and see where the doors lead to."

With this he began walking in the air toward the high openings,
and Dorothy and Zeb followed him. It was the same sort of climb one
experiences when walking up a hill, and they were nearly out of
breath when they came to the row of openings, which they perceived to
be doorways leading into halls in the upper part of the house.
Following these halls they discovered many small rooms opening from
them, and some were furnished with glass benches, tables and chairs.
But there were no beds at all.

"I wonder if these people never sleep," said the girl.

"Why, there seems to be no night at all in this country," Zeb
replied. "Those colored suns are exactly in the same place they were
when we came, and if there is no sunset there can be no night."

"Very true," agreed the Wizard. "But it is a long time since I
have had any sleep, and I'm tired. So I think I shall lie down upon
one of these hard glass benches and take a nap."

"I will, too," said Dorothy, and chose a little room at the end
of the hall.

Zeb walked down again to unharness Jim, who, when he found
himself free, rolled over a few times and then settled down to sleep,
with Eureka nestling comfortably beside his big, boney body. Then
the boy returned to one of the upper rooms, and in spite of the
hardness of the glass bench was soon deep in slumberland.