On the east edge of the Land of Oz, in the Munchkin Country, is a big,
tall hill called Mount Munch. One one side, the bottom of this hill
just touches the Deadly Sandy Desert that separates the Fairyland of Oz
from all the rest of the world, but on the other side, the hill touches
the beautiful, fertile Country of the Munchkins.
The Munchkin folks, however, merely stand off and look at Mount Munch
and know very little about it; for, about a third of the way up, its
sides become too steep to climb, and if any people live upon the top of
that great towering peak that seems to reach nearly to the skies, the
Munchkins are not aware of the fact.
But people DO live there, just the same. The top of Mount Munch is
shaped like a saucer, broad and deep, and in the saucer are fields
where grains and vegetables grow, and flocks are fed, and brooks flow
and trees bear all sorts of things. There are houses scattered here
and there, each having its family of Hyups, as the people call
themselves. The Hyups seldom go down the mountain, for the same reason
that the Munchkins never climb up: the sides are too steep.
In one of the houses lived a wise old Hyup named Bini Aru, who used to
be a clever Sorcerer. But Ozma of Oz, who rules everyone in the Land
of Oz, had made a decree that no one should practice magic in her
dominions except Glinda the Good and the Wizard of Oz, and when Glinda
sent this royal command to the Hyups by means of a strong-winged Eagle,
old Bini Aru at once stopped performing magical arts. He destroyed
many of his magic powders and tools of magic, and afterward honestly
obeyed the law. He had never seen Ozma, but he knew she was his Ruler
and must be obeyed.
There was only one thing that grieved him. He had discovered a new and
secret method of transformations that was unknown to any other
Sorcerer. Glinda the Good did not know it, nor did the little Wizard
of Oz, nor Dr. Pipt nor old Mombi, nor anyone else who dealt in magic
arts. It was Bini Aru's own secret. By its means, it was the simplest
thing in the world to transform anyone into beast, bird or fish, or
anything else, and back again, once you know how to pronounce the
mystical word: "Pyrzqxgl."
Bini Aru had used this secret many times, but not to cause evil or
suffering to others. When he had wandered far from home and was
hungry, he would say: "I want to become a cow--Pyrzqxgl!" In an instant
he would be a cow, and then he would eat grass and satisfy his hunger.
All beasts and birds can talk in the Land of Oz, so when the cow was no
longer hungry, it would say: "I want to be Bini Aru again: Pyrzqxgl!"
and the magic word, properly pronounced, would instantly restore him to
his proper form.
Now, of course, I would not dare to write down this magic word so
plainly if I thought my readers would pronounce it properly and so be
able to transform themselves and others, but it is a fact that no one
in all the world except Bini Aru, had ever (up to the time this story
begins) been able to pronounce "Pyrzqxgl!" the right way, so I think it
is safe to give it to you. It might be well, however, in reading this
story aloud, to be careful not to pronounce Pyrzqxgl the proper way,
and thus avoid all danger of the secret being able to work mischief.
Bini Aru, having discovered the secret of instant transformation, which
required no tools or powders or other chemicals or herbs and always
worked perfectly, was reluctant to have such a wonderful discovery
entirely unknown or lost to all human knowledge. He decided not to use
it again, since Ozma had forbidden him to do so, but he reflected that
Ozma was a girl and some time might change her mind and allow her
subjects to practice magic, in which case Bini Aru could again
transform himself and others at will,--unless, of course, he forgot how
to pronounce Pyrzqxgl in the meantime.
After giving the matter careful thought, he decided to write the word,
and how it should be pronounced, in some secret place, so that he could
find it after many years, but where no one else could ever find it.
That was a clever idea, but what bothered the old Sorcerer was to find
a secret place. He wandered all over the Saucer at the top of Mount
Munch, but found no place in which to write the secret word where
others might not be likely to stumble upon it. So finally he decided
it must be written somewhere in his own house.
Bini Aru had a wife named Mopsi Aru who was famous for making fine
huckleberry pies, and he had a son named Kiki Aru who was not famous at
all. He was noted as being cross and disagreeable because he was not
happy, and he was not happy because he wanted to go down the mountain
and visit the big world below and his father would not let him. No one
paid any attention to Kiki Aru, because he didn't amount to anything,
anyway.
Once a year there was a festival on Mount Munch which all the Hyups
attended. It was held in the center of the saucer-shaped country, and
the day was given over to feasting and merry-making. The young folks
danced and sang songs; the women spread the tables with good things to
eat, and the men played on musical instruments and told fairy tales.
Kiki Aru usually went to these festivals with his parents, and then sat
sullenly outside the circle and would not dance or sing or even talk to
the other young people. So the festival did not make him any happier
than other days, and this time he told Bini Aru and Mopsi Aru that he
would not go. He would rather stay at home and be unhappy all by
himself, he said, and so they gladly let him stay.
But after he was left alone Kiki decided to enter his father's private
room, where he was forbidden to go, and see if he could find any of the
magic tools Bini Aru used to work with when he practiced sorcery. As
he went in Kiki stubbed his toe on one of the floor boards. He
searched everywhere but found no trace of his father's magic. All had
been destroyed.
Much disappointed, he started to go out again when he stubbed his toe
on the same floor board. That set him thinking. Examining the board
more closely, Kiki found it had been pried up and then nailed down
again in such a manner that it was a little higher than the other
boards. But why had his father taken up the board? Had he hidden some
of his magic tools underneath the floor?
Kiki got a chisel and pried up the board, but found nothing under it.
He was just about to replace the board when it slipped from his hand
and turned over, and he saw something written on the underside of it.
The light was rather dim, so he took the board to the window and
examined it, and found that the writing described exactly how to
pronounce the magic word Pyrzqxgl, which would transform anyone into
anything instantly, and back again when the word was repeated.
Now, at first, Kiki Aru didn't realize what a wonderful secret he had
discovered; but he thought it might be of use to him and so he took a
piece of paper and made on it an exact copy of the instructions for
pronouncing Pyrzqxgl. Then he folded the paper and put it in his
pocket, and replaced the board in the floor so that no one would
suspect it had been removed.
After this Kiki went into the garden and sitting beneath a tree made a
careful study of the paper. He had always wanted to get away from
Mount Munch and visit the big world--especially the Land of Oz--and the
idea now came to him that if he could transform himself into a bird, he
could fly to any place he wished to go and fly back again whenever he
cared to. It was necessary, however, to learn by heart the way to
pronounce the magic word, because a bird would have no way to carry a
paper with it, and Kiki would be unable to resume his proper shape if
he forgot the word or its pronunciation.
So he studied it a long time, repeating it a hundred times in his mind
until he was sure he would not forget it. But to make safety doubly
sure he placed the paper in a tin box in a neglected part of the garden
and covered the box with small stones.
By this time it was getting late in the day and Kiki wished to attempt
his first transformation before his parents returned from the festival.
So he stood on the front porch of his home and said:
"I want to become a big, strong bird, like a hawk--Pyrzqxgl!" He
pronounced it the right way, so in a flash he felt that he was
completely changed in form. He flapped his wings, hopped to the porch
railing and said: "Caw-oo! Caw-oo!"
Then he laughed and said half aloud: "I suppose that's the funny sound
this sort of a bird makes. But now let me try my wings and see if I'm
strong enough to fly across the desert."
For he had decided to make his first trip to the country outside the
Land of Oz. He had stolen this secret of transformation and he knew he
had disobeyed the law of Oz by working magic. Perhaps Glinda or the
Wizard of Oz would discover him and punish him, so it would be good
policy to keep away from Oz altogether.
Slowly Kiki rose into the air, and resting on his broad wings, floated
in graceful circles above the saucer-shaped mountain-top. From his
height, he could see, far across the burning sands of the Deadly
Desert, another country that might be pleasant to explore, so he headed
that way, and with strong, steady strokes of his wings, began the long
flight.