When Dorothy was left alone she began to feel hungry. So she went to the cupboard and cut herself some bread, which she spread with butter. She gave some to Toto, and taking a pail from the shelf she carried it down to the little brook and filled it with clear, sparkling water.

Toto ran over to the trees and began to bark at the birds sitting there.

Dorothy went to get him, and saw such delicious fruit hanging from the branches that she gathered some of it, finding it just what she wanted to help out her breakfast.

Then she went back to the house, and having helped herself and Toto to a good drink of the cool, clear water, she set about making ready for the journey to the City of Emeralds.

Dorothy had only one other dress, but that happened to be clean and was hanging on a peg beside her bed. It was gingham, with checks of white and blue; and although the blue was somewhat faded with many washings, it was still a pretty frock. The girl washed herself carefully, dressed herself in the clean gingham, and tied her pink sunbonnet on her head. She took a little basket and filled it with bread from the cupboard, laying a white cloth over the top. Then she looked down at her feet and noticed how old and worn her shoes were.

“They surely will never do for a long journey, Toto,”she said.

And Toto looked up into her face with his little black eyes and wagged his tail to show he knew what she meant.

At that moment Dorothy saw lying on the table the silver shoes that had belonged to the Witch of the East.

“I wonder if they will fit me,”she said to Toto. “They would be just the thing to take a long walk in, for they could not wear out.”

She took off her old leather shoes and tried on the silver ones, which fitted her as well as if they had been made for her.

Finally she picked up her basket.

“Come along, Toto,”she said. “We will go to the Emerald City and ask the Great Oz how to get back to Kansas again.”

She closed the door, locked it, and put the key carefully in the pocket of her dress. And so, with Toto trotting along soberly behind her, she started on her journey.

There were several roads near by, but it did not take her long to find the one paved with yellow bricks. Within a short time she was walking briskly toward the Emerald City, her silver shoes tinkling merrily on the hard, yellow roadbed. The sun shone bright and the birds sang sweetly, and Dorothy did not feel nearly so bad as you might think a little girl would who had been suddenly whisked away from her own country and set down in the midst of a strange land.

She was surprised, as she walked along, to see how pretty the country was about her. There were neat fences at the sides of the road, painted a dainty blue color, and beyond them were fields of grain and vegetables in abundance. Evidently the Munchkins were good farmers and able to raise large crops. Once in a while she would pass a house, and the people came out to look at her and bow low as she went by; for everyone knew she had been the means of destroying the Wicked Witch and setting them free from bondage.

The houses of the Munchkins were odd-looking dwellings, for each was round, with a big dome for a roof. All were painted blue, for in this country of the East blue was the favorite color.

Toward evening, when Dorothy was tired with her long walk and began to wonder where she should pass the night, she came to a house rather larger than the rest. On the green lawn before it many men and women were dancing. Five little fiddlers played as loudly as possible, and the people were laughing and singing, while a big table near by was loaded with delicious fruits and nuts, pies and cakes, and many other good things to eat.

The people greeted Dorothy kindly, and invited her to supper and to pass the night with them; for this was the home of one of the richest Munchkins in the land, and his friends were gathered with him to celebrate their freedom from the bondage of the Wicked Witch.

Dorothy ate a hearty supper and was waited upon by the rich Munchkin himself, whose name was Boq. Then she sat upon a settee and watched the people dance.

When Boq saw her silver shoes he said, “You must be a great sorceress.”

“Why?”asked the girl.

“Because you wear silver shoes and have killed the Wicked Witch. Besides, you have white in your frock, and only witches and sorceresses wear white.”

“My dress is blue and white checked,”said Dorothy, smoothing out the wrinkles in it.

“It is kind of you to wear that,”said Boq. “Blue is the color of the Munchkins, and white is the witch color. So we know you are a friendly witch.”

Dorothy did not know what to say to this, for all the people seemed to think her a witch, and she knew very well she was only an ordinary little girl who had come by the chance of a cyclone into a strange land.

When she had tired watching the dancing, Boq led her into the house, where he gave her a room with a pretty bed in it. The sheets were made of blue cloth, and Dorothy slept soundly in them till morning, with Toto curled up on the blue rug beside her.

She ate a hearty breakfast, and watched a wee Munchkin baby, who played with Toto and pulled his tail and crowed and laughed in a way that greatly amused Dorothy.Toto was a fine curiosity to all the people, for they had never seen a dog before.

“How far is it to the Emerald City?”the girl asked.

“I do not know,”answered Boq gravely, “for I have never been there. It is better for people to keep away from Oz, unless they have business with him. But it is a long way to the Emerald City, and it will take you many days. The country here is rich and pleasant, but you must pass through rough and dangerous places before you reach the end of your journey.”

This worried Dorothy a little, but she knew that only the Great Oz could help her get to Kansas again, so she bravely resolved not to turn back.

She bade her friends good-bye, and again started along the road of yellow brick. When she had gone several miles she thought she would stop to rest, and so climbed to the top of the fence beside the road and sat down. There was a great cornfield beyond the fence, and not far away she saw a Scarecrow, placed high on a pole to keep the birds from the ripe corn.

Dorothy leaned her chin upon her hand and gazed thoughtfully at the Scarecrow. Its head was a small sack stuffed with straw, with eyes, nose, and mouth painted on it to represent a face. An old, pointed blue hat, that had belonged to some Munchkin, was perched on his head, and the rest of the figure was a blue suit of clothes, worn and faded, which had also been stuffed with straw. On the feet were some old boots with blue tops, such as every man wore in this country, and the figure was raised above the stalks of corn by means of the pole stuck up its back.

While Dorothy was looking earnestly into the queer, painted face of the Scarecrow, she was surprised to see one of the eyes slowly wink at her. She thought she must have been mistaken at first, for none of the scarecrows in Kansas ever wink; but presently the figure nodded its head to her in a friendly way. Then she climbed down from the fence and walked up to it, while Toto ran around the pole and barked.

“Good day,”said the Scarecrow, in a rather husky voice.

“Did you speak?”asked the girl, in wonder.

“Certainly,”answered the Scarecrow. “How do you do?”

“I'm pretty well, thank you,”replied Dorothy politely. “How do you do?”

“I'm not feeling well,”said the Scarecrow, with a smile, “for it is very tedious being perched up here night and day to scare away crows.”

“Can't you get down?”asked Dorothy.

“No, for this pole is stuck up my back. If you will please take away the pole I shall be greatly obliged to you.”

Dorothy reached up both arms and lifted the figure off the pole, for, being stuffed with straw, it was quite light.

“Thank you very much,”said the Scarecrow, when he had been set down on the ground. “I feel like a new man.”

Dorothy was puzzled at this, for it sounded queer to hear a stuffed man speak, and to see him bow and walk along beside her.

“Who are you?”asked the Scarecrow when he had stretched himself and yawned.“And where are you going?”

“My name is Dorothy,”said the girl, “and I am going to the Emerald City, to ask the Great Oz to send me back to Kansas.”

“Where is the Emerald City?”he inquired. “And who is Oz?”

“Why, don't you know?”she returned, in surprise.

“No, indeed. I don't know anything. You see, I am stuffed, so I have no brains at all,”he answered sadly.

“Oh,”said Dorothy, “I'm awfully sorry for you.”

“Do you think,”he asked, “if I go to the Emerald City with you, that Oz would give me some brains?”

“I cannot tell,”she returned, “but you may come with me, if you like. If Oz will not give you any brains you will be no worse off than you are now.”

“That is true,”said the Scarecrow. “You see,”he continued confidentially, “I don't mind my legs and arms and body being stuffed, because I cannot get hurt. If anyone treads on my toes or sticks a pin into me, it doesn't matter, for I can't feel it. But I do not want people to call me a fool, and if my head stays stuffed with straw instead of with brains, as yours is, how am I ever to know anything?”

“I understand how you feel,”said the little girl, who was truly sorry for him. “If you will come with me I'll ask Oz to do all he can for you.”

“Thank you,”he answered gratefully.

They walked back to the road. Dorothy helped him over the fence, and they started along the path of yellow brick for the Emerald City.

Toto did not like this addition to the party at first. He smelled around the stuffed man as if he suspected there might be a nest of rats in the straw, and he often growled in an unfriendly way at the Scarecrow.

“Don't mind Toto,”said Dorothy to her new friend. “He never bites.”

“Oh, I'm not afraid,”replied the Scarecrow. “He can't hurt the straw. Do let me carry that basket for you. I shall not mind it, for I can't get tired. I'll tell you a secret,”he continued, as he walked along. “There is only one thing in the world I am afraid of.”

“What is that?”asked Dorothy; “the Munchkin farmer who made you?”

“No,”answered the Scarecrow; “it's a lighted match.”

只剩下多蘿西一個(gè)人時(shí)，她開(kāi)始感到饑餓，所以就走到食櫥邊，為自己切了一些面包，涂上黃油。她給了透透幾片，又從架子上取下一只提桶，到小溪邊灌了一桶又清又亮的水。

透透跑到了樹林里，開(kāi)始向那些臥在樹上的小鳥吠叫。

多蘿西跑過(guò)去逮透透，看見(jiàn)樹枝上掛滿了鮮果，就摘了一些，正好幫自己解決了早飯問(wèn)題。

然后，她回到屋里，和透透一起痛痛快快地喝了一陣清涼的溪水，隨后開(kāi)始為翡翠城之行做準(zhǔn)備。

多蘿西只剩下另一件衣服了，就是那件方格花布、白藍(lán)相間的衣服，它剛好被洗干凈，掛在她床邊的木釘上；盡管洗過(guò)好多次，藍(lán)色有點(diǎn)兒褪色，但仍然是一件漂亮的上衣。小女孩小心地洗了洗身體，換上了這件干凈的方格花布上衣，并在頭上系了一頂粉紅色的太陽(yáng)帽。她提著一只小籃子，放滿了從食櫥里拿的面包，在上面蓋了一塊白布，隨后低頭看了看腳，注意到她的鞋又舊又破。

“舊鞋肯定走不了長(zhǎng)路，透透。”她說(shuō)。

透透抬起頭，用又小又黑的眼睛望著她的臉，搖了搖尾巴，表示它知道她說(shuō)的是什么意思。

這時(shí)，多蘿西看到了放在桌子上的東方女巫的那雙銀鞋。

“我不知道它們是不是合腳，”她對(duì)透透說(shuō)，“穿上它們?nèi)プ唛L(zhǎng)路正合適，因?yàn)樗鼈儾豢赡艽┢啤！?

于是，她脫下舊皮鞋，試了試那雙銀鞋，不大不小正合腳，好像是為她定做的一樣。

最后，她提起籃子。

“走吧，透透，”她說(shuō)，“我們要去翡翠城問(wèn)一下偉大的奧茲怎樣再回到堪薩斯州。”

她關(guān)上門，加上鎖，小心翼翼地把鑰匙放進(jìn)衣袋里，就動(dòng)身上路了。透透一路小跑，認(rèn)真地跟在她后面。

附近有好幾條路，但她沒(méi)用多久就找到了一條黃磚鋪的路。她馬上腳步輕快地向翡翠城走去，銀鞋在堅(jiān)硬的黃色路面上歡快地叮當(dāng)作響。陽(yáng)光燦爛，小鳥唱得悅耳動(dòng)聽(tīng)，多蘿西似乎并不像一般人想的那樣，因?yàn)橥蝗粡墓枢l(xiāng)被卷走落到一個(gè)陌生地方而感到不幸。

她一邊向前走，一邊吃驚地看到她四周都是非常漂亮的地方。路兩邊有整潔的圍墻，涂著雅致的藍(lán)色，墻兩邊滿是谷地和菜地。顯然，芒奇金人都是種地好手，有能力栽種大量莊稼。偶爾，她會(huì)經(jīng)過(guò)一座房子，人們會(huì)跑出來(lái)看她。她走過(guò)去時(shí)，他們都深鞠一躬，因?yàn)槿巳硕贾浪褪菤⑺缐呐祝阉麄儚呐壑薪饩瘸鰜?lái)的那個(gè)人。

芒奇金人的房子樣式古怪，每一座都是圓的，帶著大圓屋頂，全涂著藍(lán)色，因?yàn)樵谶@個(gè)東方國(guó)家，人們都喜歡藍(lán)色。

黃昏時(shí)分，多蘿西因?yàn)樽吡撕荛L(zhǎng)的路，感覺(jué)很累，開(kāi)始想知道她應(yīng)在哪里過(guò)夜，便來(lái)到一座比其他房子都大一點(diǎn)的房子前。在這座房子前的綠草地上，好多男女在翩翩起舞。五個(gè)小提琴手盡可能地大聲演奏，那些人又笑又唱。旁邊的一張大桌子上擺滿了鮮果、堅(jiān)果、餡餅、蛋糕，以及其他好多好吃的東西。

主人親切友好地歡迎多蘿西，請(qǐng)她吃晚飯，留她在這里過(guò)夜，因?yàn)樗麄兪沁@片土地上的芒奇金人中最富有的一家，而且主人還召集來(lái)了朋友們，共同慶祝從壞女巫的奴役下獲得自由。

由那個(gè)富有的主人親自招待，多蘿西吃了一頓豐盛的晚餐，主人名叫寶魁。隨后，她坐在一個(gè)有靠背的長(zhǎng)椅上，看人們跳舞。

寶魁看到她的銀鞋時(shí)，說(shuō)：“你一定是大魔法師。”

“為什么？”小女孩問(wèn)道。

“因?yàn)槟愦┲y鞋，殺死了壞女巫。而且，你穿的上衣是白色的，只有女巫和魔法師才穿白色的。”

“我的衣服是藍(lán)白格子的，”多蘿西壓平衣服上的褶皺說(shuō)。

“你那樣穿真是太好了，”寶魁說(shuō)，“藍(lán)色是芒奇金人的顏色，白色是女巫的顏色。所以，我們知道你是個(gè)友好的女巫。”

多蘿西對(duì)此真不知道該說(shuō)什么，因?yàn)樗腥撕孟穸颊J(rèn)為她是一個(gè)女巫，而她非常清楚自己不過(guò)是一個(gè)普通小女孩，碰巧一陣龍卷風(fēng)讓她偶爾來(lái)到了一個(gè)奇異的地方。

當(dāng)她看跳舞看累時(shí)，寶魁就把她領(lǐng)進(jìn)屋里，來(lái)到一個(gè)房間。房間里有一張漂亮的床，床單是藍(lán)布做的。多蘿西躺在上面，一直酣睡到了第二天早晨，透透蜷臥在她旁邊的藍(lán)色小地毯上。

她吃了一頓豐盛的早餐，望著一個(gè)小小的芒奇金幼兒正和透透玩耍，一邊拽它的尾巴，一邊咯咯笑著，這樣子使多蘿西大為開(kāi)心。透透對(duì)所有人來(lái)說(shuō)都是一個(gè)漂亮的寶貝，因?yàn)樗麄円郧皬膩?lái)沒(méi)有見(jiàn)過(guò)狗。

“到翡翠城有多遠(yuǎn)？”小女孩問(wèn)。

“我不知道，”寶魁聲音低沉地回答說(shuō)，“因?yàn)槲覐膩?lái)沒(méi)到過(guò)那里。如果人們沒(méi)有什么事和奧茲來(lái)往，還是遠(yuǎn)離他為好。不過(guò)，到翡翠城的路很長(zhǎng)，要花費(fèi)你好多天。那個(gè)地方富有、舒適，但是在到達(dá)旅程終點(diǎn)前，你必須經(jīng)過(guò)崎嶇危險(xiǎn)的地方。”

這讓多蘿西有點(diǎn)兒擔(dān)心，但她知道，只有偉大的奧茲能幫她再回到堪薩斯州，所以她勇敢決定絕不回頭。

她向朋友們告別，然后又沿著黃磚路出發(fā)了。走了好幾英里后，她想著要停下來(lái)休息一下，就爬到路邊的圍墻頂上坐下來(lái)。圍墻那邊有一大塊玉米田。隨后，她在不遠(yuǎn)處看到有一個(gè)稻草人高掛在稈子上，不讓那些小鳥靠近成熟的玉米。

多蘿西手托下巴，若有所思地凝視著稻草人。稻草人的頭是一只塞滿稻草的小布袋，上面畫著眼睛、鼻子和嘴巴代表一張臉。戴在他頭上的是芒奇金人都戴的那種藍(lán)色舊尖頂帽，他身上穿的是一套藍(lán)色衣服，已經(jīng)破舊褪色，里面也塞滿了稻草。他腳上是一雙藍(lán)布面舊靴。在這個(gè)國(guó)家，每個(gè)人都這樣穿。稻草人依靠一根稈子挺起后背，掛在玉米稈上。

多蘿西正在認(rèn)真地望著稻草人奇特的花臉時(shí)，吃驚地看到他的一只眼睛向她慢慢地眨著。起初，她還以為自己一定弄錯(cuò)了，因?yàn)榭八_斯州的稻草人沒(méi)有一個(gè)能眨眼的。可是，過(guò)了一會(huì)兒，稻草人又用友好的方式向她點(diǎn)了點(diǎn)頭。于是，她從圍墻上爬下來(lái)，走到稻草人身邊，這時(shí)透透圍著那個(gè)稈子又跑又叫。

“你好，”稻草人用有點(diǎn)兒沙啞的聲音說(shuō)。

“你原來(lái)會(huì)說(shuō)話？”小女孩吃驚地問(wèn)道。

“當(dāng)然會(huì)，”稻草人回答說(shuō)，“你好嗎？”

“我很好，謝謝你，”多蘿西禮貌地回答說(shuō)，“你好嗎？”

“我感覺(jué)不舒服，”稻草人微笑著說(shuō)，“因?yàn)檎煺贡坏踉谶@里嚇走烏鴉們，非常單調(diào)乏味。”

“你不能下來(lái)嗎？”多蘿西問(wèn)。

“不能，因?yàn)檫@稈子插在我的背上。你要是行行好取掉那根稈子，我就會(huì)非常感謝你。”

多蘿西舉起兩只手臂，把稻草人從稈子上拿了下來(lái)，因?yàn)槔锩嫒氖堑静荩缘静萑朔浅］p。

“非常感謝，”稻草人被放在地上后說(shuō)，“我感覺(jué)像一個(gè)新人似的。”

多蘿西對(duì)此迷惑不解，因?yàn)槁?tīng)到一個(gè)稻草人說(shuō)話，而且看到他鞠躬，在她身邊走動(dòng)，讓人感到奇怪。

“你是誰(shuí)？”稻草人伸伸腰，打了個(gè)哈欠后，問(wèn)道，“你要到哪里去？”

“我叫多蘿西，”小女孩說(shuō)，“我要到翡翠城去，請(qǐng)偉大的奧茲把我送回堪薩斯州。”

“翡翠城在哪里？”他問(wèn)，“奧茲又是誰(shuí)？”

“哎呀，你不知道？”她吃驚地反問(wèn)道。

“不，確實(shí)不知道。我什么也不知道。你是知道的，我是用稻草填的，所以我根本沒(méi)有腦子。”他傷心地回答說(shuō)。

“噢，”多蘿西說(shuō)，“非常抱歉。”

“你認(rèn)為，”他又問(wèn)道，“如果我和你一塊去翡翠城，那個(gè)奧茲會(huì)給我一些腦子嗎？”

“我說(shuō)不清楚，”她回答說(shuō)，“不過(guò)，如果你愿意，可以和我一起。即使奧茲不給你腦子，你也絕不會(huì)比現(xiàn)在糟。”

“那倒沒(méi)錯(cuò)，”稻草人說(shuō)，“要知道，”它繼續(xù)推心置腹地說(shuō)，“我不在乎自己的腿、手臂和身體塞滿稻草，因?yàn)槲也粫?huì)受傷。如果誰(shuí)踩我的腳趾或拿針扎我，那都不要緊，因?yàn)槲腋杏X(jué)不到。可我不想讓人叫我笨蛋，如果我的腦袋里塞滿稻草，而不是像你的一樣塞滿腦子，我怎么會(huì)知道什么事兒呢？”

“我明白你是什么感覺(jué)，”小女孩說(shuō)，真為他遺憾，“如果你和我一塊兒去，我就請(qǐng)求奧茲為你盡力。”

“謝謝你。”他感激地回答說(shuō)。

他們走回到路上，多蘿西幫他翻過(guò)圍墻。隨后，他們就沿著去翡翠城的黃磚路出發(fā)了。

起初，透透不喜歡這個(gè)稻草人加進(jìn)來(lái)。它四處嗅著這個(gè)稻草人，仿佛懷疑稻草里也許有一窩老鼠，所以常常不友好地對(duì)稻草人吼叫。

“別介意透透，”多蘿西對(duì)她的新朋友說(shuō)，“它絕不會(huì)咬人。”

“噢，我不怕，”稻草人回答說(shuō)，“它無(wú)法傷害稻草。請(qǐng)讓我替你提那只籃子。我不會(huì)在乎，因?yàn)槲也粫?huì)疲倦。我要告訴你一個(gè)秘密，”他一邊向前走，一邊繼續(xù)說(shuō)，“在這個(gè)世界上，只有一件東西會(huì)讓我害怕。”

“那是什么東西？”多蘿西問(wèn)，“是制造你的那個(gè)芒奇金農(nóng)民嗎？”

“不是，”稻草人回答說(shuō)，“是一根點(diǎn)燃的火柴。”