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Chapter 28 · The Emerald City of Oz

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  This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
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  For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. The Emerald
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  City of Oz by L. Frank Baum, Chapter twenty eight. How they
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  drank at the Forbidden Fountain. The scarecrow had no need to sleep, neither
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  had the tin Woodman, or tik Tok or Jack Pumpkinhead. So they all
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  wandered out into the palace grounds and stood beside the sparkling water of the Forbidden
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  fountain until daybreak. During this time they indulged in occasional conversation. Nothing could
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  make me forget what I know, remarked the scarecrow, gazing into the fountain.
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  For I cannot drink the water of oblivion, or water of any kind,
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  and I am glad that this is so, for I consider my wisdom
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  unexcelled. You are certainly very wise, agreed tik Tok. For my part,
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  I can only think by machinery, so I do not pretend to know
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  as much as you do. My tin brains are very bright, but that
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  is all I claim for them, said Nick Chopper modestly. Yet I do
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  not aspire to being very wise, for I have noticed that the happiest people
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  are those who do not let their brains oppress them. Mine never worry me.
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  Jack Pumpkinhead acknowledged, there are many seeds of thought in my head,
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  but they do not sprout easily. I am glad that it is so,
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  for if I occupied my days in thinking, I should have no time for
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  anything else. In this cheery mood, they passed the hours until the first
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  golden streaks of dawn appeared in the sky. Then Ozma joined them, as
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  fresh and lovely as ever, and robed in one of her prettiest gowns.
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  Our enemies have not yet arrived, said the scarecrow, after greeting affectionately the
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  sweet and girlish ruler. They will soon be here, she said, for
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  I have glanced at my magic picture and have seen them coughing and choking with
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  the dust in the tunnel. Oh is there dust in the tunnel? Asked
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  the tin woodman. Yes, Ozma placed it there by means of the magic
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  belt, explained the scarecrow with one of his broad smiles. Then Dorothy came
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  to them, Uncle Henry and Aunt em following close after her. The little
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  girl's eyes were heavy because she had had a sleepless and anxious night. Toto
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  walked by her side, but the little dog's spirits were very much subdued.
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  Billina, who was always up by daybreak, was not long in joining the
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  group by the fountain. The Wizard and the shaggy man next arrived, and
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  soon after appeared Omby Amby, dressed in his best uniform. There lies the
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  tunnel, said Ozma, pointing to a part of the ground just before the
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  forbidden fountain. And in a few moments the dreadful invaders will break through the
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  earth and swarm over the lake. And let us all stand on the other
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  side of the fountain and watched to see what happens. At once. They
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  followed her suggestion and moved around the fountain of the Water of Oblivion. There
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  they stood silent and expectant, until the earth beyond gave way with a sudden
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  crash, and up leaped the powerful form of the First and Foremost, followed
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  by all his grim warriors. As the leader sprang forward, his gleaming eyes
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  caught the play of the fountain, and he rushed toward it and drank eagerly
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  of the sparkling water. Many of the other phanfasms drank too, in order
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  to clear their dry and dusty throats. Then they stood around and looked at
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  one another with simple, wondering smiles. The first and foremost saw Ozma and
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  her companions beyond the fountain, but instead of making an effort to capture her,
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  he merely stared at her in pleased admiration of her beauty, for he
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  had forgotten where he was and why he had come there. But now the
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  grand Gallipoot arrived, rushing from the tunnel with a hoarse cry of mingled rage
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  and thirst. He too saw the fountain and hastened to drink of its forbidden
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  waters. The other growleywogs were not slow to follow suit, and even before
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  they had finished drinking, the chief of the Whimsies and his people came to
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  push them away, while they one and all cast off their false heads,
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  that they might slake their thirst at the fountain. When the Nome king and
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  General Guph arrived, they both made a dash to drink, but the general
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  was so mad with thirst that he knocked his king over, and while Roquat
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  lay sprawling upon the ground, the general drank heartily of the water of oblivion.
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  This rude act of his general made the Nome king so angry that for
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  a moment he forgot he was thirsty, and rose to his feet to glare
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  upon the group of terrible warriors he had brought here to assist him. He
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  saw Ozma and her people too, and yelled out, why don't you capture
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  them, Why don't you conquer oz you idiots? Why do you stand there
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  like a lot of dummies. But the great warriors had become like little children.
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  They had forgotten all their enmity against Ozma and against oz They had even
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  forgotten who they themselves were, or why they were in this strange and beautiful
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  country. As for the Nome King, they did not recognize him and wondered
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  who he was. The sun came up and sent its flood of silver rays
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  to light the faces of the invaders. The frowns and scowls and evil looks
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  were all gone. Even the most monstrous of the creatures there assembled smiled innocently
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  and seemed light hearted and content merely to be alive. Not so with Roquat,
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  the Nome King. He had not drunk from the forbidden fountain, and
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  all his former rage against Ozma and Dorothy now inflamed him as fiercely as ever.
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  The sight of General Guph babbling like a happy child and playing with his
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  hands in the cool waters of the fountain astonished and maddened Red Roquat. Seeing
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  that his terrible allies and his own general refused to act, the Nome King
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  turned to order his great army of Nomes to advance from the tunnel and seize
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  the helpless oz people. But the scarecrow suspected what was in the king's mind
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  and spoke a word to the tin woodman. Together they ran a Roquat,
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  and grabbing him up, tossed him into the great basin of the fountain.
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  The Nome King's body was round as a ball, and it bobbed up and
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  down in the water of oblivion, where he spluttered and screamed with fear lest
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  he should drown. And when he cried out, his mouth filled with water,
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  which ran down his throat, so that straightway he forgot all he had
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  formerly known, just as completely as had all the other invaders. Ozma and
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  Dorothy could not refrain from laughing to see their dreaded enemies become as harmless as
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  babes. There was no danger. Now that oz would best. The only
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  question remaining to solve was how to get rid of this horde of intruders.
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  The shaggy man kindly pulled the Nome king out of the fountain and set him
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  upon his thin legs. Roquat was dripping wet, but he chattered and laughed
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  and wanted to drink more of the water. No thought of injuring any person
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  was now in his mind. Before he left the tunnel, he had commanded
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  his fifty thousand Nomes to remain there until he ordered them to advance, as
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  he wished to give his allies time to conquer Oz before he appeared with his
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  own army. Ozma did not wish all these Nomes to overrun her land,
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  so she advanced to King Roquat, and taking his hand in her own,
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  said gently, who are you? What is your name? I don't know,
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  he replied, smiling at her. Who are you, my dear?
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  My name is Ozma, she said, and your name is Roquat. Oh
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  is it he replied, seeming pleased, Yes, you the king of the
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  Nomes. She said, Ah, I wonder what the Nomes are, returned
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  the king, as if puzzled. They are underground elves, and that tunnel
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  over there is full of them. She answered, you have a beautiful cavern
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  at the other end of the tunnel, so you must go to your nomes
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  and say, march home. Then follow after them, and in time you
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  will reach the pretty cavern where you live. The Nome king was much pleased
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  to learn this, for he had forgotten he had a cavern. So he
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  went to the tunnel and said to his army, march home. At once.
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  The Nomes turned and marched back through the tunnel, and the king followed
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  after them, laughing with delight to find his orders so readily obeyed. The
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  wizard went to General Guph, who was trying to count his fingers, and
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  told him to follow the Nome king, who was his master. Guph meekly
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  obeyed, and so all the Nomes quitted the land of Oz forever. But
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  there were still the phanfasms and whimsies and growleywogs standing around in groups. And
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  they were so many that they filled the gardens and trampled upon the flowers and
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  grass, because they did not know that the tender plants would be injured by
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  their clumsy feet. But in all other respects they were perfectly harmless, and
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  played together like children, or gazed with pleasure upon the pretty sights of the
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  royal gardens. After counseling with the scarecrow, Ozma sent omby Amby to the
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  palace for the magic belt, And when the Captain General returned with it,
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  the ruler of oz at once clasped the precious belt around her waist. I
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  wish all these strange people, the whimsies and the growleywogs and the phanfasms,
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  safe back in their own homes. She said. It all happened in a
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  twinkling, For of course the wish was no sooner spoken than it was granted.
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  All the hosts of the invaders were gone, and only the trampled grass
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  showed that they had ever been in the land of oz end of Chapter twenty eight.