The Dainty
China Country.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
While the Woodman was making a ladder from wood which he found in the
forest Dorothy lay down and slept, for she was tired by the long walk.
The Lion also curled himself up to sleep and Toto lay beside him.
The Scarecrow watched the Woodman while he worked, and said to him:
"I cannot think why this wall is here, nor what it is made of."
"Rest your brains and do not worry about the wall," replied the
Woodman; "when we have climbed over it we shall know what is on the
other side."
After a time the ladder was finished. It looked clumsy, but the Tin
Woodman was sure it was strong and would answer their purpose. The
Scarecrow waked Dorothy and the Lion and Toto, and told them that the
ladder was ready. The Scarecrow climbed up the ladder first, but he
was so awkward that Dorothy had to follow close behind and keep him
from falling off. When he got his head over the top of the wall the
Scarecrow said,
"Oh, my!"
"Go on," exclaimed Dorothy.
So the Scarecrow climbed further up and sat down on the top of the
wall, and Dorothy put her head over and cried,
"Oh, my!" just as the Scarecrow had done.
Then Toto came up, and immediately began to bark, but Dorothy made
him be still.
The Lion climbed the ladder next, and the Tin Woodman came last; but
both of them cried, "Oh, my!" as soon as they looked over the wall.
When they were all sitting in a row on the top of the wall they
looked down and saw a strange sight.
[Illustration: "_These people were all made of china._"]
Before them was a great stretch of country having a floor as smooth
and shining and white as the bottom of a big platter. Scattered
around were many houses made entirely of china and painted in the
brightest colours. These houses were quite small, the biggest of them
reaching only as high as Dorothy's waist. There were also pretty
little barns, with china fences around them, and many cows and sheep
and horses and pigs and chickens, all made of china, were standing
about in groups.
But the strangest of all were the people who lived in this queer
country. There were milk-maids and shepherdesses, with bright-colored
bodices and golden spots all over their gowns; and princesses with
most gorgeous frocks of silver and gold and purple; and shepherds
dressed in knee-breeches with pink and yellow and blue stripes down
them, and golden buckles on their shoes; and princes with jewelled
crowns upon their heads, wearing ermine robes and satin doublets; and
funny clowns in ruffled gowns, with round red spots upon their cheeks
and tall, pointed caps. And, strangest of all, these people were all
made of china, even to their clothes, and were so small that the
tallest of them was no higher than Dorothy's knee.
No one did so much as look at the travellers at first, except one
little purple china dog with an extra-large head, which came to the
wall and barked at them in a tiny voice, afterwards running away again.
"How shall we get down?" asked Dorothy.
They found the ladder so heavy they could not pull it up, so the
Scarecrow fell off the wall and the others jumped down upon him so
that the hard floor would not hurt their feet. Of course they took
pains not to light on his head and get the pins in their feet. When
all were safely 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 order to get to the other side,"
said Dorothy; "for it would be unwise for us to go any other way
except due South."
They began walking through the country of the china people, and the
first thing they came to was a china milk-maid milking a china cow.
As they drew near the cow suddenly gave a kick and kicked over the
stool, the pail, and even the milk-maid herself, all falling on the
china ground with a great clatter.
Dorothy was shocked to see that the cow had broken her leg short off,
and that the pail was lying in several small pieces, while the poor
milk-maid had a nick in her left elbow.
"There!" cried the milk-maid, angrily; "see what you have done! My
cow has broken her leg, and I must take her to the mender's shop
and have it glued on again. What do you mean by coming here and
frightening my cow?"
"I'm very sorry," returned Dorothy; "please forgive us."
But the pretty milk-maid was much too vexed to make any answer. She
picked up the leg sulkily and led her cow away, the poor animal
limping on three legs. As she left them the milk-maid cast many
reproachful glances over her shoulder at the clumsy strangers,
holding her nicked elbow close to her side.
[Illustration]
Dorothy was quite grieved at this mishap.
"We must be very careful here," said the kind-hearted Woodman, "or we
may hurt these pretty little people so they will never get over it."
A little farther on Dorothy met a most beautiful dressed young
princess, who stopped short as she saw the strangers and started to
run away.
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 that Dorothy stopped and said,
"Why not?"
"Because," answered the princess, also stopping, a safe distance
away, "if I run I may fall down and break myself."
"But couldn't you be mended?" asked the girl.
"Oh, yes; but one is never so pretty after being mended, you know,"
replied the princess.
"I suppose not," said Dorothy.
"Now there is Mr. Joker, one of our clowns," 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, and doesn't
look at all pretty. Here he comes now, so you can see for yourself."
Indeed, a jolly little Clown now came walking toward them, and
Dorothy could see that in spite of his pretty clothes of red and
yellow and green he was completely covered with cracks, running every
which way and showing plainly that he had been mended in many places.
The Clown put his hands in his pockets, and after 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't you see these are
strangers, and should be treated with respect?"
"Well, that's respect, I expect," declared the Clown, and immediately
stood upon his head.
"Don't mind Mr. Joker," said the princess to Dorothy; "he is
considerably cracked in his head, and that makes him foolish."
[Illustration]
"Oh, I don't mind him a bit," said Dorothy. "But you are so
beautiful," she continued, "that I am sure I could love you dearly.
Won't you let me carry you back to Kansas and stand you on Aunt Em's
mantle-shelf? I could carry you in my basket."
"That would make me very unhappy," answered the china princess. "You
see, here in our own country we live contentedly, and can talk and
move around as we please. But whenever any of us are taken away
our joints at once stiffen, and we can only stand straight and look
pretty. Of course that is all that is expected of us when we are on
mantle-shelves and cabinets and drawing-room tables, but our lives
are much pleasanter here in our own country."
"I would not make you unhappy for all the world!" exclaimed Dorothy;
"so I'll just say good-bye."
"Good-bye," replied the princess.
They walked carefully through the china country. 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 travellers reached the
other side of the country and came to another china wall.
It was not as 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 him and jumped on the wall; but just as he
jumped he upset a china church with his tail and smashed it all to
pieces.
"That was too bad," said Dorothy, "but really I think we were lucky
in not doing these little people more harm than breaking 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 are worse things in the
world than being a Scarecrow."