有声英语少儿童话故事 绿野仙踪 第21卷 第3章

When morningcame, they started again. Before they had gone far they heard a low rumble, asof the growling of many wild animals. Toto whimpered a little, but none of theothers was frightened, and they kept along the well-trodden path until theycame to an opening in the wood, in which were gathered hundreds of beasts ofevery variety. There were tigers and elephants and bears and wolves and foxesand all the others in the natural history, and for a moment Dorothy was afraid.But the Lion explained that the animals were holding a meeting, and he judgedby their snarling and growling that they were in great trouble.

As he spokeseveral of the beasts caught sight of him, and at once the great assemblagehushed as if by magic. The biggest of the tigers came up to the Lion and bowed,saying:

“Welcome, O Kingof Beasts! You have come in good time to fight our enemy and bring peace to allthe animals of the forest once more.”

有声英语少儿童话故事 绿野仙踪 第21卷 第2章

“Not a bit ofit,” answered the Lion. “I should like to live here all my life. See how softthe dried leaves are under your feet and how rich and green the moss is thatclings to these old trees. Surely no wild beast could wish a pleasanter home.”

“Perhaps there arewild beasts in the forest now,” said Dorothy.

“I suppose thereare,” returned the Lion, “but I do not see any of them about.”

They walkedthrough the forest until it became too dark to go any farther. Dorothy and Totoand the Lion lay down to sleep, while the Woodman and the Scarecrow kept watchover them as usual.

有声英语少儿童话故事 绿野仙踪 第21卷 第1章

After climbingdown from the china wall the travelers found themselves in a disagreeablecountry, full of bogs and marshes and covered with tall, rank grass. It wasdifficult to walk without falling into muddy holes, for the grass was so thick thatit hid them from sight. However, by carefully picking their way, they gotsafely along until they reached solid ground. But here the country seemedwilder than ever, and after a long and tiresome walk through the underbrushthey entered another forest, where the trees were bigger and older than anythey had ever seen.

“This forest isperfectly delightful,” declared the Lion, looking around him with joy. “Neverhave I seen a more beautiful place.”

“It seemsgloomy,” said the Scarecrow.

有声英语少儿童话故事 绿野仙踪 第20卷 第10章

They walked carefully through the chinacountry. The little animals and all the people scampered out of their way,fearing the strangers would break them, and after an hour or so the travelersreached the other side of the country and came to another china wall.

It was not so high as the first, however,and by standing upon the Lion’s back they all managed to scramble to the top.

Then the Lion gathered his legs under himand jumped on the wall; but just as he jumped, he upset a china church with histail and smashed it all to pieces.

“That was too bad,” said Dorothy, “butreally I think we were lucky in not doing these little people more harm thanbreaking a cow’s leg and a church. They are all so brittle!”

“They are, indeed,” said the Scarecrow,“and I am thankful I am made of straw and cannot be easily damaged. There areworse things in the world than being a Scarecrow.”

有声英语少儿童话故事 绿野仙踪 第20卷 第9章

“Oh, I don’t mind him a bit,” said Dorothy.“But you are so beautiful,” she continued, “that I am sure I could love youdearly. Won’t you let me carry you back to Kansas, and stand you on Aunt Em’smantel? I could carry you in my basket.”

“That would make me very unhappy,” answeredthe china Princess. “You see, here in our country we live contentedly, and cantalk and move around as we please. But whenever any of us are taken away ourjoints at once stiffen, and we can only stand straight and look pretty. Ofcourse that is all that is expected of us when we are on mantels and cabinetsand drawing-room tables, but our lives are much pleasanter here in our owncountry.”

“I would not make you unhappy for all theworld!” exclaimed Dorothy. “So I’ll just say good-bye.”

“Good-bye,” replied the Princess.

有声英语少儿童话故事 绿野仙踪 第20卷 第8章

Indeed, a jolly little clown came walkingtoward them, and Dorothy could see that in spite of his pretty clothes of redand yellow and green he was completely covered with cracks, running every whichway and showing plainly that he had been mended in many places.

The Clown put his hands in his pockets, andafter puffing out his cheeks and nodding his head at them saucily, he said:

“My lady fair,
Why do you stare
At poor old Mr. Joker?
You’re quite as stiff
And prim as if
You’d eaten up a poker!”

“Be quiet, sir!” said the Princess. “Can’tyou see these are strangers, and should be treated with respect?”

“Well, that’s respect, I expect,” declaredthe Clown, and immediately stood upon his head.

“Don’t mind Mr. Joker,” said the Princessto Dorothy. “He is considerably cracked in his head, and that makes himfoolish.”

有声英语少儿童话故事 绿野仙踪 第20卷 第7章

Dorothy wanted to see more of the Princess,so she ran after her. But the china girl cried out:

“Don’t chase me! Don’t chase me!”

She had such a frightened little voice thatDorothy stopped and said, “Why not?”

“Because,” answered the Princess, alsostopping, a safe distance away, “if I run I may fall down and break myself.”

“But could you not be mended?” asked thegirl.

“Oh, yes; but one is never so pretty afterbeing mended, you know,” replied the Princess.

“I suppose not,” said Dorothy.

“Now there is Mr. Joker, one of ourclowns,” continued the china lady, “who is always trying to stand upon his head.He has broken himself so often that he is mended in a hundred places, anddoesn’t look at all pretty. Here he comes now, so you can see for yourself.”

有声英语少儿童话故事 绿野仙踪 第20卷 第6章

But the pretty milkmaid was much too vexedto make any answer. She picked up the leg sulkily and led her cow away, thepoor animal limping on three legs. As she left them the milkmaid cast manyreproachful glances over her shoulder at the clumsy strangers, holding hernicked elbow close to her side.

Dorothy was quite grieved at this mishap.

“We must be very careful here,” said thekind-hearted Woodman, “or we may hurt these pretty little people so they willnever get over it.”

A little farther on Dorothy met a mostbeautifully dressed young Princess, who stopped short as she saw the strangersand started to run away.

有声英语少儿童话故事 绿野仙踪 第20卷 第5章

They began walking through the country ofthe china people, and the first thing they came to was a china milkmaid milkinga china cow. As they drew near, the cow suddenly gave a kick and kicked overthe stool, the pail, and even the milkmaid herself, and all fell on the chinaground with a great clatter.

Dorothy was shocked to see that the cow hadbroken her leg off, and that the pail was lying in several small pieces, whilethe poor milkmaid had a nick in her left elbow.

“There!” cried the milkmaid angrily. “Seewhat you have done! My cow has broken her leg, and I must take her to themender’s shop and have it glued on again. What do you mean by coming here andfrightening my cow?”

“I’m very sorry,” returned Dorothy. “Pleaseforgive us.”

有声英语少儿童话故事 绿野仙踪 第20卷 第4章

No one did so much as look at the travelersat first, except one little purple china dog with an extra-large head, whichcame to the wall and barked at them in a tiny voice, afterwards running awayagain.

“How shall we get down?” asked Dorothy.

They found the ladder so heavy they couldnot pull it up, so the Scarecrow fell off the wall and the others jumped downupon him so that the hard floor would not hurt their feet. Of course they tookpains not to light on his head and get the pins in their feet. When all weresafely down they picked up the Scarecrow, whose body was quite flattened out,and patted his straw into shape again.

“We must cross this strange place in orderto get to the other side,” said Dorothy, “for it would be unwise for us to goany other way except due South.”