The Emperor of the Winkies paused in his story to reach for an oil-can,
with which he carefully oiled the joints in his tin throat, for his
voice had begun to squeak a little. Woot the Wanderer, having satisfied
his hunger, watched this oiling process with much curiosity, but begged
the Tin Man to go on with his tale.
"The Witch with the Silver Shoes hated me for having defied her,"
resumed the Emperor, his voice now sounding clear as a bell, "and she
insisted that Nimmie Amee should never marry me. Therefore she made
the enchanted axe cut off my other arm, and the tinsmith also replaced
that member with tin, including these finely-jointed hands that you see
me using. But, alas! after that, the axe, still enchanted by the cruel
Witch, cut my body in two, so that I fell to the ground. Then the
Witch, who was watching from a near-by bush, rushed up and seized the
axe and chopped my body into several small pieces, after which,
thinking that at last she had destroyed me, she ran away laughing in
wicked glee.
"But Nimmie Amee found me. She picked up my arms and legs and head, and
made a bundle of them and carried them to the tinsmith, who set to work
and made me a fine body of pure tin. When he had joined the arms and
legs to the body, and set my head in the tin collar, I was a much
better man than ever, for my body could not ache or pain me, and I was
so beautiful and bright that I had no need of clothing. Clothing is
always a nuisance, because it soils and tears and has to be replaced;
but my tin body only needs to be oiled and polished.
"Nimmie Amee still declared she would marry me, as she still loved me
in spite of the Witch's evil deeds. The girl declared I would make the
brightest husband in all the world, which was quite true. However, the
Wicked Witch was not yet defeated. When I returned to my work the axe
slipped and cut off my head, which was the only meat part of me then
remaining. Moreover, the old woman grabbed up my severed head and
carried it away with her and hid it. But Nimmie Amee came into the
forest and found me wandering around helplessly, because I could not
see where to go, and she led me to my friend the tinsmith. The faithful
fellow at once set to work to make me a tin head, and he had just
completed it when Nimmie Amee came running up with my old head, which
she had stolen from the Witch. But, on reflection, I considered the tin
head far superior to the meat one--I am wearing it yet, so you can see
its beauty and grace of outline--and the girl agreed with me that a man
all made of tin was far more perfect than one formed of different
materials. The tinsmith was as proud of his workmanship as I was, and
for three whole days, all admired me and praised my beauty. Being now
completely formed of tin, I had no more fear of the Wicked Witch, for
she was powerless to injure me. Nimmie Amee said we must be married at
once, for then she could come to my cottage and live with me and keep
me bright and sparkling.
"'I am sure, my dear Nick,' said the brave and beautiful girl--my name
was then Nick Chopper, you should be told--'that you will make the best
husband any girl could have. I shall not be obliged to cook for you,
for now you do not eat; I shall not have to make your bed, for tin does
not tire or require sleep; when we go to a dance, you will not get
weary before the music stops and say you want to go home. All day long,
while you are chopping wood in the forest, I shall be able to amuse
myself in my own way--a privilege few wives enjoy. There is no temper
in your new head, so you will not get angry with me. Finally, I shall
take pride in being the wife of the only live Tin Woodman in all the
world!' Which shows that Nimmie Amee was as wise as she was brave and
beautiful."
"I think she was a very nice girl," said Woot the Wanderer. "But, tell
me, please, why were you not killed when you were chopped to pieces?"
"In the Land of Oz," replied the Emperor, "no one can ever be killed. A
man with a wooden leg or a tin leg is still the same man; and, as I
lost parts of my meat body by degrees, I always remained the same
person as in the beginning, even though in the end I was all tin and no
meat."
"I see," said the boy, thoughtfully. "And did you marry Nimmie Amee?"
"No," answered the Tin Woodman, "I did not. She said she still loved
me, but I found that I no longer loved her. My tin body contained no
heart, and without a heart no one can love. So the Wicked Witch
conquered in the end, and when I left the Munchkin Country of Oz, the
poor girl was still the slave of the Witch and had to do her bidding
day and night."
"Where did you go?" asked Woot.
"Well, I first started out to find a heart, so I could love Nimmie Amee
again; but hearts are more scarce than one would think. One day, in a
big forest that was strange to me, my joints suddenly became rusted,
because I had forgotten to oil them. There I stood, unable to move hand
or foot. And there I continued to stand--while days came and
went--until Dorothy and the Scarecrow came along and rescued me. They
oiled my joints and set me free, and I've taken good care never to rust
again."
"Who was this Dorothy?" questioned the Wanderer.
"A little girl who happened to be in a house when it was carried by a
cyclone all the way from Kansas to the Land of Oz. When the house fell,
in the Munchkin Country, it fortunately landed on the Wicked Witch and
smashed her flat. It was a big house, and I think the Witch is under it
yet."
"No," said the Scarecrow, correcting him, "Dorothy says the Witch
turned to dust, and the wind scattered the dust in every direction."
"Well," continued the Tin Woodman, "after meeting the Scarecrow and
Dorothy, I went with them to the Emerald City, where the Wizard of Oz
gave me a heart. But the Wizard's stock of hearts was low, and he gave
me a Kind Heart instead of a Loving Heart, so that I could not love
Nimmie Amee any more than I did when I was heartless."
"Couldn't the Wizard give you a heart that was both Kind and Loving?"
asked the boy.
"No; that was what I asked for, but he said he was so short on hearts,
just then, that there was but one in stock, and I could take that or
none at all. So I accepted it, and I must say that for its kind it is a
very good heart indeed."
"It seems to me," said Woot, musingly, "that the Wizard fooled you. It
can't be a very Kind Heart, you know."
"Why not?" demanded the Emperor.
"Because it was unkind of you to desert the girl who loved you, and who
had been faithful and true to you when you were in trouble. Had the
heart the Wizard gave you been a Kind Heart, you would have gone back
home and made the beautiful Munchkin girl your wife, and then brought
her here to be an Empress and live in your splendid tin castle."
The Tin Woodman was so surprised at this frank speech that for a time
he did nothing but stare hard at the boy Wanderer. But the Scarecrow
wagged his stuffed head and said in a positive tone:
"This boy is right. I've often wondered, myself, why you didn't go back
and find that poor Munchkin girl."
Then the Tin Woodman stared hard at his friend the Scarecrow. But
finally he said in a serious tone of voice:
"I must admit that never before have I thought of such a thing as
finding Nimmie Amee and making her Empress of the Winkies. But it is
surely not too late, even now, to do this, for the girl must still be
living in the Munchkin Country. And, since this strange Wanderer has
reminded me of Nimmie Amee, I believe it is my duty to set out and find
her. Surely it is not the girl's fault that I no longer love her, and
so, if I can make her happy, it is proper that I should do so, and in
this way reward her for her faithfulness."
"Quite right, my friend!" agreed the Scarecrow.
"Will you accompany me on this errand?" asked the Tin Emperor.
"Of course," said the Scarecrow.
"And will you take me along?" pleaded Woot the Wanderer in an eager
voice.
"To be sure," said the Tin Woodman, "if you care to join our party. It
was you who first told me it was my duty to find and marry Nimmie Amee,
and I'd like you to know that Nick Chopper, the Tin Emperor of the
Winkies, is a man who never shirks his duty, once it is pointed out to
him."
"It ought to be a pleasure, as well as a duty, if the girl is so
beautiful," said Woot, well pleased with the idea of the adventure.
"Beautiful things may be admired, if not loved," asserted the Tin Man.
"Flowers are beautiful, for instance, but we are not inclined to marry
them. Duty, on the contrary, is a bugle call to action, whether you are
inclined to act, or not. In this case, I obey the bugle call of duty."
"When shall we start?" inquired the Scarecrow, who was always glad to
embark upon a new adventure. "I don't hear any bugle, but when do we
go?"
"As soon as we can get ready," answered the Emperor. "I'll call my
servants at once and order them to make preparations for our journey."