8. The Valley of Voices

Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz

by L. Frank Baum

By journeying through the glass mountain they had reached a
delightful valley that was shaped like the hollow of a great cup,
with another rugged mountain showing on the other side of it, and
soft and pretty green hills at the ends. It was all laid out into
lovely lawns and gardens, with pebble paths leading through them and
groves of beautiful and stately trees dotting the landscape here and
there. There were orchards, too, bearing luscious fruits that are all
unknown in our world. Alluring brooks of crystal water flowed
sparkling between their flower-strewn banks, while scattered over the
valley were dozens of the quaintest and most picturesque cottages our
travelers had ever beheld. None of them were in clusters, such as
villages or towns, but each had ample grounds of its own, with
orchards and gardens surrounding it.

As the new arrivals gazed upon this exquisite scene they were
enraptured by its beauties and the fragrance that permeated the soft
air, which they breathed so gratefully after the confined atmosphere
of the tunnel. Several minutes were consumed in silent admiration
before they noticed two very singular and unusual facts about this
valley. One was that it was lighted from some unseen source; for no
sun or moon was in the arched blue sky, although every object was
flooded with a clear and perfect light. The second and even more
singular fact was the absence of any inhabitant of this splendid
place. From their elevated position they could overlook the entire
valley, but not a single moving object could they see. All appeared
mysteriously deserted.

The mountain on this side was not glass, but made of a stone
similar to granite. With some difficulty and danger Jim drew the
buggy over the loose rocks until he reached the green lawns below,
where the paths and orchards and gardens began. The nearest cottage
was still some distance away.

"Isn't it fine?" cried Dorothy, in a joyous voice, as she sprang
out of the buggy and let Eureka run frolicking over the velvety
grass.

"Yes, indeed!" answered Zeb. "We were lucky to get away from
those dreadful vegetable people."

"It wouldn't be so bad," remarked the Wizard, gazing around him,
"if we were obliged to live here always. We couldn't find a prettier
place, I'm sure."

He took the piglets from his pocket and let them run on the
grass, and Jim tasted a mouthful of the green blades and declared he
was very contented in his new surroundings.

"We can't walk in the air here, though," called Eureka, who had
tried it and failed; but the others were satisfied to walk on the
ground, and the Wizard said they must be nearer the surface of the
earth then they had been in the Mangaboo country, for everything was
more homelike and natural.

"But where are the people?" asked Dorothy.

The little man shook his bald head.

"Can't imagine, my dear," he replied.

They heard the sudden twittering of a bird, but could not find
the creature anywhere. Slowly they walked along the path toward the
nearest cottage, the piglets racing and gambolling beside them and
Jim pausing at every step for another mouthful of grass.

Presently they came to a low plant which had broad, spreading
leaves, in the center of which grew a single fruit about as large as
a peach. The fruit was so daintily colored and so fragrant, and
looked so appetizing and delicious that Dorothy stopped and
exclaimed:

"What is it, do you s'pose?"

The piglets had smelled the fruit quickly, and before the girl
could reach out her hand to pluck it every one of the nine tiny ones
had rushed in and commenced to devour it with great eagerness.

"It's good, anyway," said Zeb, "or those little rascals wouldn't
have gobbled it up so greedily."

"Where are they?" asked Dorothy, in astonishment.

They all looked around, but the piglets had disappeared.

"Dear me!" cried the Wizard; "they must have run away. But I
didn't see them go; did you?"

"No!" replied the boy and the girl, together.

"Here,--piggy, piggy, piggy!" called their master, anxiously.

Several squeals and grunts were instantly heard at his feet, but
the Wizard could not discover a single piglet.

"Where are you?" he asked.

"Why, right beside you," spoke a tiny voice. "Can't you see
us?"

"No," answered the little man, in a puzzled tone.

"We can see you," said another of the piglets.

The Wizard stooped down and put out his hand, and at once felt
the small fat body of one of his pets. He picked it up, but could
not see what he held.

"It is very strange," said he, soberly. "The piglets have
become invisible, in some curious way."

"I'll bet it's because they ate that peach!" cried the
kitten.

"It wasn't a peach, Eureka," said Dorothy. "I only hope it
wasn't poison."

"It was fine, Dorothy," called one of the piglets.

"We'll eat all we can find of them," said another.

"But we mus'n't eat them," the Wizard warned the children, "or
we too may become invisible, and lose each other. If we come across
another of the strange fruit we must avoid it."

Calling the piglets to him he picked them all up, one by one,
and put them away in his pocket; for although he could not see them
he could feel them, and when he had buttoned his coat he knew they
were safe for the present.

The travellers now resumed their walk toward the cottage, which
they presently reached. It was a pretty place, with vines growing
thickly over the broad front porch. The door stood open and a table
was set in the front room, with four chairs drawn up to it. On the
table were plates, knives and forks, and dishes of bread, meat and
fruits. The meat was smoking hot and the knives and forks were
performing strange antics and jumping here and there in quite a
puzzling way. But not a single person appeared to be in the room.

"How funny!" exclaimed Dorothy, who with Zeb and the Wizard now
stood in the doorway.

A peal of merry laughter answered her, and the knives and forks
fell to the plates with a clatter. One of the chairs pushed back
from the table, and this was so astonishing and mysterious that
Dorothy was almost tempted to run away in fright.

"Here are strangers, mama!" cried the shrill and childish voice
of some unseen person.

"So I see, my dear," answered another voice, soft and
womanly.

"What do you want?" demanded a third voice, in a stern, gruff
accent.

"Well, well!" said the Wizard; "are there really people in this
room?"

"Of course," replied the man's voice.

"And--pardon me for the foolish question--but, are you all
invisible?"

"Surely," the woman answered, repeating her low, rippling
laughter. "Are you surprised that you are unable to see the people of
Voe?"

"Why, yes," stammered the Wizard. "All the people I have ever
met before were very plain to see."

"Where do you come from, then?" asked the woman, in a curious
tone.

"We belong upon the face of the earth," explained the Wizard,
"but recently, during an earthquake, we fell down a crack and landed
in the Country of the Mangaboos."

"Dreadful creatures!" exclaimed the woman's voice. "I've heard
of them."

"They walled us up in a mountain," continued the Wizard; "but we
found there was a tunnel through to this side, so we came here. It
is a beautiful place. What do you call it?"

"It is the Valley of Voe."

"Thank you. We have seen no people since we arrived, so we came
to this house to enquire our way."

"Are you hungry?" asked the woman's voice.

"I could eat something," said Dorothy.

"So could I," added Zeb.

"But we do not wish to intrude, I assure you," the Wizard
hastened to say.

"That's all right," returned the man's voice, more pleasantly
than before. "You are welcome to what we have."

As he spoke the voice came so near to Zeb that he jumped back in
alarm. Two childish voices laughed merrily at this action, and
Dorothy was sure they were in no danger among such light-hearted
folks, even if those folks couldn't be seen.

"What curious animal is that which is eating the grass on my
lawn?" enquired the man's voice.

"That's Jim," said the girl. "He's a horse."

"What is he good for?" was the next question.

"He draws the buggy you see fastened to him, and we ride in the
buggy instead of walking," she explained.

"Can he fight?" asked the man's voice.

"No! he can kick pretty hard with his heels, and bite a little;
but Jim can't 'zactly fight," she replied.

"Then the bears will get him," said one of the children's
voices.

"Bears!" exclaimed Dorothy. "Are these bears here?"

"That is the one evil of our country," answered the invisible
man. "Many large and fierce bears roam in the Valley of Voe, and when
they can catch any of us they eat us up; but as they cannot see us,
we seldom get caught."

"Are the bears invis'ble, too?" asked the girl.

"Yes; for they eat of the dama-fruit, as we all do, and that
keeps them from being seen by any eye, whether human or animal."

"Does the dama-fruit grow on a low bush, and look something like
a peach?" asked the Wizard.

"Yes," was the reply.

"If it makes you invis'ble, why do you eat it?" Dorothy
enquired.

"For two reasons, my dear," the woman's voice answered. "The
dama-fruit is the most delicious thing that grows, and when it makes
us invisible the bears cannot find us to eat us up. But now, good
wanderers, your luncheon is on the table, so please sit down and eat
as much as you like."