“Is there anything we can do,” itasked, “to repay you for /ˈseɪvɪŋ/ the life of our Queen?”

“Nothing that I know of,”answered the Woodman; but the Scarecrow, who had been trying to think, butcould not because his head was stuffed with straw, said, quickly, “Oh, yes; youcan save our friend, the Cowardly Lion, who is asleep in the poppy bed.”

“A Lion!” cried the little Queen.“Why, he would eat us all up.”

“Oh, no,” declared the Scarecrow;“this Lion is a coward.”

“Really?” asked the Mouse.

“He says so himself,” answeredthe Scarecrow, “and he would never hurt anyone who is our friend. If you willhelp us to save him I promise that he shall treat you all with kindness.”

有声英语少儿童话故事 绿野仙踪 第9卷 第4章

But the Tin Woodman caught thedog in his arms and held him tight, while he called to the mice, “Come back!Come back! Toto shall not hurt you.”

At this the Queen of the Micestuck her head out from underneath a clump of grass and asked, in a timidvoice, “Are you sure he will not bite us?”

“I will not let him,” said theWoodman; “so do not be afraid.”

One by one the mice came creepingback, and Toto did not bark again, although he tried to get out of theWoodman’s arms, and would have bitten him had he not known very well he wasmade of tin. Finally one of the biggest mice spoke.

有声英语少儿童话故事 绿野仙踪 第9卷 第3章

“Therefore you have done a greatdeed, as well as a brave one, in /ˈsevɪŋ/ my life,” added the Queen.

At that moment several mice wereseen running up as fast as their little legs could carry them, and when theysaw their Queen they exclaimed:

“Oh, your Majesty, we thought youwould be killed! How did you manage to escape the great Wildcat?” They allbowed so low to the little Queen that they almost stood upon their heads.

“This funny tin man,” sheanswered, “killed the Wildcat and saved my life. So hereafter you must allserve him, and obey his slightest wish.”

“We will!” cried all the mice, ina shrill chorus. And then they scampered in all directions, for Toto hadawakened from his sleep, and seeing all these mice around him he gave one barkof delight and jumped right into the middle of the group. Toto had always lovedto chase mice when he lived in Kansas, and he saw no harm in it.

有声英语少儿童话故事 绿野仙踪 第9卷 第2章

So the Woodman raised his axe,and as the Wildcat ran by he gave it a quick blow that cut the beast’s headclean off from its body, and it rolled over at his feet in two pieces.

The field mouse, now that it wasfreed from its enemy, stopped short; and coming slowly up to the Woodman itsaid, in a squeaky little voice:

“Oh, thank you! Thank you ever somuch for /ˈsevɪŋ/ my life.”

“Don’t speak of it, I beg ofyou,” replied the Woodman. “I have no heart, you know, so I am careful to helpall those who may need a friend, even if it happens to be only a mouse.”

“Only a mouse!” cried the littleanimal, indignantly. “Why, I am a Queen–the Queen of all the Field Mice!”

“Oh, indeed,” said the Woodman,making a bow.

有声英语少儿童话故事 绿野仙踪 第9卷 第1章

“We cannot be far from the roadof yellow brick, now,” remarked the Scarecrow, as he stood beside the girl,“for we have come nearly as far as the river carried us away.”

The Tin Woodman was about toreply when he heard a low growl, and turning his head (which worked beautifullyon hinges) he saw a strange beast come bounding over the grass toward them. Itwas, indeed, a great yellow Wildcat, and the Woodman thought it must be chasingsomething, for its ears were lying close to its head and its mouth was wideopen, showing two rows of ugly teeth, while its red eyes glowed like balls offire. As it came nearer the Tin Woodman saw that running before the beast was alittle gray field mouse, and although he had no heart he knew it was wrong forthe Wildcat to try to kill such a pretty, harmless creature.

有声英语少儿童话故事 绿野仙踪 第8卷 第15章

“I’m sorry,” said the Scarecrow.“The Lion was a very good comrade for one so cowardly. But let us go on.”

They carried the sleeping girl toa pretty spot beside the river, far enough from the poppy field to prevent herbreathing any more of the poison of the flowers, and here they laid her gentlyon the soft grass and waited for the fresh breeze to waken her.

有声英语少儿童话故事 绿野仙踪 第8卷 第14章

On and on they walked, and itseemed that the great carpet of deadly flowers that surrounded them would neverend. They followed the bend of the river, and at last came upon their friendthe Lion, lying fast asleep among the poppies. The flowers had been too strongfor the huge beast and he had given up at last, and fallen only a short distancefrom the end of the poppy bed, where the sweet grass spread in beautiful greenfields before them.

“We can do nothing for him,” saidthe Tin Woodman, sadly; “for he is much too heavy to lift. We must leave himhere to sleep on forever, and perhaps he will dream that he has found courageat last.”

有声英语少儿童话故事 绿野仙踪 第8卷 第13章

“Run fast,” said the Scarecrow tothe Lion, “and get out of this deadly flower bed as soon as you can. We willbring the little girl with us, but if you should fall asleep you are too big tobe carried.”

So the Lion aroused himself andbounded forward as fast as he could go. In a moment he was out of sight.

“Let us make a chair with ourhands and carry her,” said the Scarecrow. So they picked up Toto and put thedog in Dorothy’s lap, and then they made a chair with their hands for the seatand their arms for the arms and carried the sleeping girl between them throughthe flowers.

有声少儿英语童话故事 绿野仙踪 第8卷 第12章

“We must hurry and get back tothe road of yellow brick before dark,” he said; and the Scarecrow agreed withhim. So they kept walking until Dorothy could stand no longer. Her eyes closedin spite of herself and she forgot where she was and fell among the poppies,fast asleep.

“What shall we do?” asked the TinWoodman.

“If we leave her here she willdie,” said the Lion. “The smell of the flowers is killing us all. I myself canscarcely keep my eyes open, and the dog is asleep already.”

It was true; Toto had fallen downbeside his little mistress. But the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, not beingmade of flesh, were not troubled by the scent of the flowers.

有声少儿英语童话故事 绿野仙踪 第8卷 第11章

They now came upon more and moreof the big scarlet poppies, and fewer and fewer of the other flowers; and soonthey found themselves in the midst of a great meadow of poppies. Now it is wellknown that when there are many of these flowers together their odor is sopowerful that anyone who breathes it falls asleep, and if the sleeper is notcarried away from the scent of the flowers, he sleeps on and on forever. ButDorothy did not know this, nor could she get away from the bright red flowersthat were everywhere about; so presently her eyes grew heavy and she felt shemust sit down to rest and to sleep.

But the Tin Woodman would not lether do this.