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21 - The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - L Frank Baum · Adventure Books Collection

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  Chapter twenty one, the Lion becomes the King of Beasts. After climbing down
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  from the China Wall, the travelers found themselves in a disagreeable country, full
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  of bogs and marshes and covered with tall, rank grass. It was difficult
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  to walk without falling into money holes, for the grass was so thick that
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  it hid them from sight. However, by carefully picking their way, they
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  got safely along until they reached solid ground. But here the country seemed wilder
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  than ever, and after a long and tiresome walk through the underbrush, they
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  entered another forest, where the trees were bigger and older than any they had
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  ever seen. This forest is perfectly delightful, declared the lion, looking around
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  him with joy. Never have I seen a more beautiful place. It seems
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  gloomy, said the scarecrow. Not a bit of it, answered the lion.
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  I should like to live here all my life. See how soft the
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  dried leaves are under your feet, and how rich and green the mosses that
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  clean these old trees. Surely no wild beasts could wish a pleasanter home.
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  Perhaps there are wild beast in the forest now, said Dorothy. I suppose
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  there are returned the lion, but I do not see any of them about.
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  They walked through the forest until it became too dark to go any farther.
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  Dorothy and Toto and the lion lay down to sleep, while the woodmen
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  and the scarecrow kept watch over them as usual. When morning came, they
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  started again. Before they had gone far, they heard a low rumble,
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  as of the growling of many wild animals. Toto whimpered a little, but
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  none of the others was frightened, and they kept along the well trodden path
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  until they came to an opening in the wood, in which there were gathered
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  hundreds of beasts of every variety. There were tigers and elephants, and bears,
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  and wolves and foxes and all the others in the natural history, and
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  for a moment Dorothy was afraid, But the lion explained that the animals were
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  holding a meeting, and he judged by their snarling and growling that they were
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  in great troumble. As he spoke, several of the beasts caught sight of
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  him, and at once the great assemblage hushed, as if by magic.
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  The biggest of the tigers came up to the lion and bowed saying, welcome,
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  o king of beasts. You have come in good time to fight our
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  enemy and bring peace to all the animals of the forest once more. What
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  is your trouble, asked the lion quietly. We are all threatened, answered
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  the tiger, by a fierce enemy which has lately come into this forest.
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  It is a most tremendous monster, like a great spider, with a body
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  as big as an elephant, and legs as long as a tree trunk.
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  It has eight of these long legs, And as the monster crawls through the
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  forest, he seizes an animal with a leg and drags it into his mouth,
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  where it eats it as a spider does a fly. Not one of
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  us is safe while this fierce creature is alive. And we had called a
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  meeting to decide how to take care of ourselves when you came among us,
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  The lion thought for a moment, Are there any other lions in this forest?
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  He asked, No, there were some, but the monster has eaten
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  them all, And besides, there were none of them nearly so large and
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  brave as you. If I put an end to your enemy, will you
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  bow down to me and obey me? As king of the forest, inquired
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  the lion. We will do that, gladly, returned the tiger, and
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  all the other beast roared with a mighty roar. We will where is this
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  great spider of yours, now, asked the lion. Yonder among the oak
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  trees, said the tiger, pointing with his fore foot. Take good care
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  of these friends of mine, said the lion, and I will go at
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  once to fight the monster. He bade his comrades goodbye, and march proudly
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  away to do battle with the enemy. The great spider was lying asleep when
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  the lion found him, and it looked so ugly that its foe turned up
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  his nose in disgust. Its legs were quite as long as the tiger had
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  said, and its body covered with coarse black hair. It had a great
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  mouth with a row of sharp teeth a foot long, but its head was
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  joined to the pudgy body by a neck as slender as a wasp's waist.
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  This gave the lion a hint of the best way to attack the creature,
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  and as he knew it was easier to fight it asleep than awake, he
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  gave a great spring and landed directly upon the monster's back. Then, with
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  one blow of his heavy paw, all armed with sharp claws, he knocked
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  the spider's head from its body. Jumping down, he watched it until the
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  long legs stopped wiggling. When he knew that it was quite dead, the
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  lion went back to the opening where the beasts of the forest were waiting for
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  him, and said, proudly, you need fear your enemy no longer.
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  Then the beasts spowed down to the lion their king, and he promised to
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  come back and rule over them as soon as Dorothy was safely on her way
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  to Kansas. End of chapter twenty one.