Chapter XX
The Dainty China Country
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 farther 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.
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 colors. 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 milkmaids and shepherdesses, with brightly 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 jeweled 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 travelers 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 milkmaid milking a china cow. As they drew
near, the cow suddenly gave a kick and kicked over the stool, the pail, and
even the milkmaid herself, and all fell on the china ground with a great
clatter.
Dorothy was shocked to see that the cow had broken her leg off, and that
the pail was lying in several small pieces, while the poor milkmaid had a
nick in her left elbow.
“There!” cried the milkmaid 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 milkmaid 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 milkmaid cast many reproachful glances over
her shoulder at the clumsy strangers, holding her nicked elbow close to her
side.
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 beautifully 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 could you not 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 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.”
“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 mantel? I could carry you in my
basket.”
“That would make me very unhappy,” answered the china Princess. “You
see, here in our 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 mantels 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 travelers reached the other side of the
country and came to another china wall.
It was not so 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.”
