After a few hours the road began to be rough, and the walking grew so difficult that the Scarecrow often stumbled over the yellow bricks, which were here very uneven. Sometimes, indeed, they were broken or missing altogether, leaving holes that Toto jumped across and Dorothy walked around. As for the Scarecrow, having no brains, he walked straight ahead, and so stepped into the holes and fell at full length on the hard bricks. It never hurt him, however, and Dorothy would pick him up and set him upon his feet again, while he joined her in laughing merrily at his own mishap.

The farms were not nearly so well cared for here as they were farther back. There were fewer houses and fewer fruit trees, and the farther they went the more dismal and lonesome the country became.

At noon they sat down by the roadside, near a little brook, and Dorothy opened her basket and got out some bread. She offered a piece to the Scarecrow, but he refused.

“I am never hungry,”he said, “and it is a lucky thing I am not, for my mouth is only painted, and if I should cut a hole in it so I could eat, the straw I am stuffed with would come out, and that would spoil the shape of my head.”

Dorothy saw at once that this was true, so she only nodded and went on eating her bread.

“Tell me something about yourself and the country you came from,”said the Scarecrow, when she had finished her dinner.

So she told him all about Kansas, and how gray everything was there, and how the cyclone had carried her to this queer Land of Oz.

The Scarecrow listened carefully, and said, “I cannot understand why you should wish to leave this beautiful country and go back to the dry, gray place you call Kansas.”

“That is because you have no brains,”answered the girl. “No matter how dreary and gray our homes are, we people of flesh and blood would rather live there than in any other country, be it ever so beautiful. There is no place like home.”

The Scarecrow sighed.

“Of course I cannot understand it,”he said. “If your heads were stuffed with straw, like mine, you would probably all live in the beautiful places, and then Kansas would have no people at all. It is fortunate for Kansas that you have brains.”

“Won't you tell me a story, while we are resting?”asked the child.

The Scarecrow looked at her reproachfully, and answered: “My life has been so short that I really know nothing whatever. I was only made day before yesterday. What happened in the world before that time is all unknown to me. Luckily, when the farmer made my head, one of the first things he did was to paint my ears, so that I heard what was going on. There was another Munchkin with him, and the first thing I heard was the farmer saying, ‘How do you like those ears? ’

“‘They aren't straight, ' answered the other.

“‘Never mind, ' said the farmer. ‘They are ears just the same, ' which was true enough.

“‘Now I'll make the eyes, ' said the farmer. So he painted my right eye, and as soon as it was finished I found myself looking at him and at everything around me with a great deal of curiosity, for this was my first glimpse of the world.

“‘That's a rather pretty eye, ' remarked the Munchkin who was watching the farmer.‘Blue paint is just the color for eyes.’

“‘I think I'll make the other a little bigger, ' said the farmer. And when the second eye was done I could see much better than before. Then he made my nose and my mouth. But I did not speak, because at that time I didn't know what a mouth was for. I had the fun of watching them make my body and my arms and legs; and when they fastened on my head, at last, I felt very proud, for I thought I was just as good a man as anyone.

“‘This fellow will scare the crows fast enough, ' said the farmer. ‘He looks just like a man.’

“‘Why, he is a man, ' said the other, and I quite agreed with him. The farmer carried me under his arm to the cornfield, and set me up on a tall stick, where you found me. He and his friend soon after walked away and left me alone.

“I did not like to be deserted this way. So I tried to walk after them. But my feet would not touch the ground, and I was forced to stay on that pole. It was a lonely life to lead, for I had nothing to think of, having been made such a little while before. Many crows and other birds flew into the cornfield, but as soon as they saw me they flew away again, thinking I was a Munchkin; and this pleased me and made me feel that I was quite an important person. By and by an old crow flew near me, and after looking at me carefully he perched upon my shoulder and said: ‘I wonder if that farmer thought to fool me in this clumsy manner. Any crow of sense could see that you are only stuffed with straw.' Then he hopped down at my feet and ate all the corn he wanted. The other birds, seeing he was not harmed by me, came to eat the corn too, so in a short time there was a great flock of them about me.

“I felt sad at this, for it showed I was not such a good Scarecrow after all; but the old crow comforted me, saying,‘If you only had brains in your head you would be as good a man as any of them, and a better man than some of them. Brains are the only things worth having in this world, no matter whether one is a crow or a man.’

“After the crows had gone I thought this over, and decided I would try hard to get some brains. By good luck you came along and pulled me off the stake, and from what you say I am sure the Great Oz will give me brains as soon as we get to the Emerald City.”

“I hope so,”said Dorothy earnestly, “since you seem anxious to have them.”

“Oh, yes; I am anxious,”returned the Scarecrow. “It is such an uncomfortable feeling to know one is a fool.”

“Well,”said the girl, “let us go.”And she handed the basket to the Scarecrow.

There were no fences at all by the roadside now, and the land was rough and untilled. Toward evening they came to a great forest, where the trees grew so big and close together that their branches met over the road of yellow brick. It was almost dark under the trees, for the branches shut out the daylight; but the travelers did not stop, and went on into the forest.

“If this road goes in, it must come out,”said the Scarecrow, “and as the Emerald City is at the other end of the road, we must go wherever it leads us.”

“Anyone would know that,”said Dorothy.

“Certainly; that is why I know it,”returned the Scarecrow. “If it required brains to figure it out, I never should have said it.”

After an hour or so the light faded away, and they found themselves stumbling along in the darkness. Dorothy could not see at all, but Toto could, for some dogs see very well in the dark; and the Scarecrow declared he could see as well as by day. So she took hold of his arm and managed to get along fairly well.

“If you see any house, or any place where we can pass the night,”she said, “you must tell me; for it is very uncomfortable walking in the dark.”

Soon after the Scarecrow stopped.

“I see a little cottage at the right of us,”he said, “built of logs and branches. Shall we go there?”

“Yes, indeed,”answered the child. “I am all tired out.”

So the Scarecrow led her through the trees until they reached the cottage, and Dorothy entered and found a bed of dried leaves in one corner. She lay down at once, and with Toto beside her soon fell into a sound sleep. The Scarecrow, who was never tired, stood up in another corner and waited patiently until morning came.

幾小時后，路開始崎嶇不平，漸漸地難走起來。稻草人時常絆倒在黃磚上。因為這里很不平坦，有的地方的黃磚確實已經破碎或完全不見了，留下了坑坑洼洼，所以透透跳了過去，多蘿西則繞了過去，而稻草人沒有腦子，一直向前走，就踩進了坑里，全身都倒在了硬磚上。然而，那絕不會傷害他。隨后，多蘿西把他提起來，讓他重新站直。他趕上多蘿西時，對自己的不幸事故開心大笑。

他們往前走著，房子越來越少，果樹也越來越少，這里的農田幾乎沒有被好好耕種過。他們再向前走，這地方變得更加陰沉和寂寞。

中午時分，他們在靠近一條小溪的路邊坐下來，多蘿西打開籃子，拿出面包，遞給稻草人一片，但他沒有要。

“我永遠不會餓，”他說，“我不會餓是一件幸運事，因為我的嘴僅僅是畫的，我在那里開一個洞就能吃，但填塞在我里面的稻草卻會跑出來，那也會破壞我頭部的形狀。”

多蘿西馬上明白他說得沒錯，只是點了點頭，繼續吃著面包。

“把你自己和你所來國家的情況告訴我。”她吃完午飯后，稻草人說。

于是，她就把堪薩斯州的所有情況，包括那里所有的一切都灰蒙蒙的以及龍卷風是怎樣把她刮到這個奇異的奧茲國來的事兒，統統告訴了他。

稻草人仔細傾聽，然后說道：“我無法明白你為什么想離開這個美麗的國家，回到那個又干又灰、名叫堪薩斯州的地方。”

“那是因為你沒有腦子，”小女孩回答說，“無論我們的家怎樣凄涼和灰色，我們有血有肉的人寧愿住在那里，即使他鄉再美，也不愿住在他鄉。什么地方也比不上家。”

稻草人嘆了口氣。

“我當然不能理解，”他說，“如果你們的腦袋像我的一樣塞滿稻草，你們說不定就會住在這些美麗的地方了，那樣堪薩斯州就會完全沒有人住了。你們有腦子，那是堪薩斯州的運氣。”

“我們休息時，你給我講一個故事好嗎？”小女孩問。

稻草人面帶責備地看著她，回答說：“我的生命這樣短暫，我確實什么都不知道。我只是前天才被做成的。在那之前世界上發生的事兒，我一無所知。幸運的是，那個農民做成了我的頭，他最先做的一件事是畫我的耳朵，所以我就聽到了眼前發生的事兒。當時還有一個芒奇金人和他在一起，我聽到的第一件事是那個農民說：‘你覺得那些耳朵怎么樣？’

“‘它們不直。’另一個回答說。

“‘沒關系，’那個農民說，‘反正都是耳朵，’這夠像的了。

“‘現在我要畫眼睛了。’那個農民說。所以，他就畫了我的右眼，他一畫完，我就發現自己在看著他，并帶著極大的好奇心看著周圍的一切，因為這是我第一次看到世界。

“‘那是一只非常漂亮的眼睛，’那個芒奇金人目不轉睛地望著那個農民說，‘藍色正是眼睛的顏色。’

“‘我想我要把另一只眼睛畫大點兒。’那個農民說。當第二只眼睛畫成時，我就能比以前看得清楚多了。隨后，他畫了我的鼻子和嘴。可是，我不能說話，因為當時我還不知道嘴有什么用。我開心地望著他做我的身體、手臂和腿，當它們最后和我的頭接牢時，我非常自豪，因為我想我差不多像人一樣了。

“‘這個家伙一定會嚇住烏鴉，’那個農民說，‘他看上去真像個人。’

“‘哎呀，他就是一個人。’另一個說。我完全同意他的話。那個農民把我夾在手臂下，來到玉米田里，將我豎在一根高稈上，你就是在那里發現我的。過了一會兒，那個農民和他的朋友就走開了，把我獨自留在了那里。

“我不想這樣被遺棄，就想跟在他們后面走。可是，我的腳著不了地，我只好待在那個稈子上。因為我剛被做成，沒有什么事兒可想，所以過著孤獨的生活。好多烏鴉和別的小鳥飛進玉米田，但它們一看見我，便又飛走了，以為我是芒奇金人。這使我很高興，并使我感到自己是個非常重要的人。不久以后，一只老烏鴉飛近我，在仔細看過我后，落在我的肩上，說：‘我不知道那個農民是不是想用這種笨拙的方式來愚弄我。任何一只有判斷力的烏鴉都能看出你只不過是塞滿了稻草。’于是，它跳到我的腳邊，吃它想吃的所有玉米。別的小鳥看見它沒有受到我的傷害，也飛下來吃玉米，所以我的四周馬上便有了一大群烏鴉。

“我對這件事感到非常傷心，因為這畢竟表明我不是個好稻草人，但那只老烏鴉安慰我說：‘只要你的腦袋里有了腦子，你就會像其他所有的人一樣，而且比他們中的一些人還好。在這個世界上，無論是烏鴉還是人，腦子是唯一有價值的東西。’

“那些烏鴉飛走后，我仔細考慮這事兒，決定想得到一些腦子。僥幸的是，你走過來把我從稈子上拿了下來，從你說的話里，我相信，我們一到翡翠城，偉大的奧茲就會送給我腦子的。”

“我希望這樣，”多蘿西真誠地說，“因為你好像渴望得到它們。”

“噢，是的，我渴望，”稻草人回答說，“因為知道自己是個笨蛋，這樣的感覺讓人非常不舒服。”

“好，”小女孩說，“我們走吧。”說完，她把籃子遞給了稻草人。

現在路邊沒有任何圍墻，地面崎嶇不平，田野也沒有耕種。黃昏時分，他們來到了一大片森林前，那些樹木非常高大，靠在一起，樹枝交叉在黃磚路上空。樹枝遮天蔽日，樹下面幾乎一片黑暗。可這兩個旅行者沒有停步，繼續向森林里走去。

“這條路能進去，肯定能出來，”稻草人說，“翡翠城在路的另一端，我們必須順著這條路指引的地方走。”

“那誰都知道。”多蘿西說。

“當然，我也知道，”稻草人回答說，“如果需要腦子去想，我絕對不會說出來。”

大約一小時后，陽光漸漸地消失了，他們在黑暗中磕磕絆絆地向前走。多蘿西什么也看不見，但透透能看見，因為有些狗能在黑暗里看得一清二楚。稻草人說他也像白天一樣能看見。所以，她就拉住他的手臂，還能向前走。

“如果你看見什么房子或我們能過夜的什么地方，”她說，“就一定告訴我，因為在黑暗中走路很不舒服。”

過了一會兒，稻草人停住了腳步。

“我看見我們左邊有個小屋，”他說，“是用圓木和樹枝搭建的。我們去那里好嗎？”

“去，當然去，”小女孩回答說，“我一點勁兒也沒有了。”

于是，稻草人領她穿過樹林，一直走到那個小屋邊。隨后，多蘿西走進去，在一個角落發現了一張鋪有干樹葉的床。她馬上躺上去，很快就進入了甜美的夢鄉，透透臥在她身邊。稻草人永遠不會疲倦，他站在另一個角落，耐心地等到了第二天早晨。