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The Essential Works of L. Frank Baum. L. Frank Baum
Читать онлайн.Название The Essential Works of L. Frank Baum
Год выпуска 0
isbn 9788075831712
Автор произведения L. Frank Baum
Жанр Языкознание
Издательство Bookwire
While she worked, Toto sat by the hearth and growled low at Crinklink, and Crinklink sat in his chair and growled at Dorothy because she moved so slowly. He expected her to break a dish any minute, but as the hours passed away and this did not happen Crinklink began to grow sleepy. It was tiresome watching the girl wash dishes and often he glanced longingly at the tiny bed. Now he began to yawn, and he yawned and yawned until finally he said:
“I’m going to take a nap. But the buttons on my jacket will be wide awake and whenever you break a dish the crash will waken me. As I’m rather sleepy I hope you won’t interrupt my nap by breaking anything for a long time.”
Then Crinklink made himself grow smaller and smaller until he was three inches high and of a size to fit the tiny bed. At once he lay down and fell fast asleep.
Dorothy came close to the buttons and whispered: “Would you really warn Crinklink if I tried to escape?”
“You can’t escape,” growled the bear. “Crinklink would become a giant, and soon overtake you.”
“But you might kill him while he sleeps,” suggested the cat, in a soft voice.
“Oh!” cried Dorothy, drawing back; “I couldn’t poss’bly kill anything—even to save my life.”
But Toto had heard this conversation and was not so particular about killing monsters. Also the little dog knew he must try to save his mistress. In an instant he sprang upon the wee bed and was about to seize the sleeping Crinklink in his jaws when Dorothy heard a loud crash and a heap of dishes fell from the table to the floor. Then the girl saw Toto and the little man rolling on the floor together, like a fuzzy ball, and when the ball stopped rolling, behold! there was Toto wagging his tail joyfully and there sat the little Wizard of Oz, laughing merrily at the expression of surprise on Dorothy’s face.
“Yes, my dear, it’s me,” said he, “and I’ve been playing tricks on you—for your own good. I wanted to prove to you that it is really dangerous for a little girl to wander alone in a fairy country; so I took the form of Crinklink to teach you a lesson. There isn’t any Crinklink, to be sure; but if there had been you’d be severely whipped for breaking all those dishes.”
The Wizard now rose, took off the coat with the button heads, and spread it on the floor, wrong side up. At once there crept from beneath it a bear, a wolf, a cat, a weasel, and a field-mouse, who all rushed from the room and escaped into the mountains.
“Come on, Toto,” said Dorothy; “let’s go back to the Emerald City. You’ve given me a good scare, Wizard,” she added, with dignity, “and p’raps I’ll forgive you, by’n’by; but just now I’m mad to think how easily you fooled me.”
Tiktok and the Nome King
The Nome King was unpleasantly angry. He had carelessly bitten his tongue at breakfast and it still hurt; so he roared and raved and stamped around in his underground palace in a way that rendered him very disagreeable.
It so happened that on this unfortunate day Tiktok, the Clockwork Man, visited the Nome King to ask a favor. Tiktok lived in the Land of Oz, and although he was an active and important person, he was made entirely of metal. Machinery within him, something like the works of a clock, made him move; other machinery made him talk; still other machinery made him think.
Although so cleverly constructed, the Clockwork Man was far from perfect. Three separate keys wound up his motion machinery, his speech works, and his thoughts. One or more of these contrivances was likely to run down at a critical moment, leaving poor Tiktok helpless. Also some of his parts were wearing out, through much use, and just now his thought machinery needed repair. The skillful little Wizard of Oz had tinkered with Tiktok’s thoughts without being able to get them properly regulated, so he had advised the Clockwork Man to go to the Nome King and secure a new set of springs, which would render his thoughts more elastic and responsive.
“Be careful what you say to the Nome King,” warned the Wizard. “He has a bad temper and the least little thing makes him angry.”
Tiktok promised, and the Wizard wound his machinery and set him walking in the direction of the Nome King’s dominions, just across the desert from the Land of Oz. He ran down just as he reached the entrance to the underground palace, and there Kaliko, the Nome King’s Chief Steward, found him and wound him up again.
“I want to see the King,” said Tiktok, in his jerky voice.
“Well,” remarked Kaliko, “it may be safe for a castiron person like you to face his Majesty this morning; but you must announce yourself, for should I show my face inside the jewel-studded cavern where the King is now raving, I’d soon look like a dish of mashed potatoes, and be of no further use to anyone.”
“I’m not a-fraid,” said Tiktok.
“Then walk in and make yourself at home,” answered Kaliko, and threw open the door of the King’s cavern.
Tiktok promptly walked in and faced the astonished Nome King, to whom he said: “Good morning. I want two new steel springs for my thought-works and a new cogwheel for my speech-pro-du-cer. How a-bout it, your Maj-es-ty?”
The Nome King growled a menacing growl and his eyes were red with rage.
“How dare you enter my presence?” he shouted.
“I dare an-y-thing,” said Tiktok. “I’m not a-fraid of a fat Nome.”
This was true, yet an unwise speech. Had Tiktok’s thoughts been in good working order he would have said something else. The angry Nome King quickly caught up his heavy mace and hurled it straight at Tiktok. When it struck the metal man’s breast, the force of the blow burst the bolts which held the plates of his body together and they clattered to the floor in a score of pieces. Hundreds and hundreds of wheels, pins, cogs and springs filled the air like a cloud and then rattled like hail upon the floor.
Where Tiktok had stood was now only a scrap-heap and the Nome King was so amazed by the terrible effect of his blow that he stared in wonder.
His Majesty’s anger quickly cooled. He remembered that the Clockwork Man was a favorite subject of the powerful Princess, Ozma of Oz, who would be sure to resent Tiktok’s ruin.
“Too bad! too bad!” he muttered, regretfully. “I’m really sorry I made junk of the fellow. I didn’t know he’d break.”
“You’d better be,” remarked Kaliko, who now ventured to enter the room. “You’ll have a war on your hands when Ozma hears of this, and the chances are you will lose your throne and your kingdom.”
The Nome King turned pale, for he loved to rule the Nomes and did not know of any other way to earn a living in case Ozma fought and conquered him.
“Do—do you think Ozma will be angry?” he asked anxiously.
“I’m sure of it,” said Kaliko. “And she has the right to be. You’ve made scrap-iron of her favorite.”
The King groaned.
“Sweep him up and throw the rubbish into the black pit,” he commanded; and then he shut himself up in his private den and for days would see no one, because he was so ashamed of his unreasoning anger and so feared the results of his rash act.
Kaliko swept up the pieces, but he did not throw them into the black pit. Being a clever and skillful mechanic he determined to fit the pieces together again.
No man ever faced a greater puzzle; but it was interesting work and Kaliko succeeded. When he found a spring or wheel worn or imperfect, he made a new one.
Within two weeks, by working steadily night and day, the Chief Steward completed his task and put the three sets of clockworks and the last rivet into