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Chapter 20 · The Emerald City of Oz

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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, How Dorothy lunched
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  with a King. A line of rabbit soldiers was drawn up before the palace
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  entrance, and they wore green and gold uniforms with high shakos upon their heads,
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  and held tiny spears in their hands. The captain had a sword and
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  a white plume in his shako. Salute, cried the keeper of the wicket.
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  Salute, Princess Dorothy, who comes from Ozma of Oz Salute, yelled
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  the captain, and all the soldiers promptly saluted. They now entered the Great
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  Hall of the palace, where they met a gaily dressed attendant, from whom
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  the Keeper of the Wicket inquired if the King were at leisure. I think
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  so, was the reply. I he heard his Majesty blubbering and wailing as
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  usual only a few minutes ago. If he doesn't stop acting like a cry
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  baby, I'm going to resign my position here and go to work. What's
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  the matter with your King? Asked Dorothy, surprised to hear the rabbit attendant
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  speak so disrespectfully of his monarch. Oh he doesn't want to be king,
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  that's all, and he simply has to, was the reply. Come,
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  said the keeper of the wicket, sternly lead us to his majesty, and
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  do not air our troubles before strangers. I beg of you. Why,
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  if this girl is going to see the king, he'll air his own troubles,
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  returned the attendant. That is his royal privilege, declared the keeper.
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  So the attendant led them into a room all draped with cloth of gold and
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  furnished with satin covered gold furniture. There was a throne in this room,
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  set on a dais and having a big cushioned seat, And on this seat
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  reclined the rabbit King. He was lying on his back, with his paws
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  in the air and whining very like a puppy dog. Your majesty, your
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  majesty, get up, here's a visitor, called out the attendant. The
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  king rolled over and looked at Dorothy with one watery pink eye. Then he
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  sat up and wiped his eyes carefully with a silk handkerchief, and put on
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  his jeweled crown which had fallen off. Excuse my grief, fair stranger,
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  he said, in a sad voice. You behold in me the most miserable
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  monarch in all the world. What time is it, blinkem one o'clock,
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  your majesty, replied the attendant to whom the question was addressed. Serve Luncheon
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  at once commanded the king luncheon for two. That's for my visitor and me,
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  and see that the human has some sort of food she's accustomed to.
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  Yes, your majesty, answered the attendant, and went away. Tie my
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  shoe bristle, said the king to the keeper of the wicket. Ah me,
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  how unhappy I am? What seems to be worrying, your majesty,
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  asked Dorothy. Why it's this king business? Of course, he returned while
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  the keeper tied his shoe. I didn't want to be king of Bunnybury at
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  all, and the rabbits all knew it, so they elected me to save
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  themselves from such a dreadful fate, I suppose, And here I am,
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  shut up in a palace where I might be free and happy. Seems to
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  me, said Dorothy, it's a great thing to be a king. Were
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  you ever, a king, inquired the monarch. No, she answered,
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  laughing. Then you know nothing about it, he said, I haven't inquired
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  who you are, but it doesn't matter. While we're at luncheon, i'll
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  tell you all my troubles. They're a great deal more interesting than anything you
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  can say about yourself. Perhaps they are to you, replied Dorothy. Luncheon
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  is served, cried Blinkem, throwing open the door, and in came a
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  dozen rabbits in livery, all bearing trays, which they placed upon the table,
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  where they arranged the dishes in an orderly manner. Now clear out all
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  of you, exclaimed the King Bristol. Well you may wait outside in case
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  I want you. When they had gone and the King was alone with Dorothy,
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  he came down from his throne, tossed his crown into a corner,
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  and kicked his ermine robe under the table. Sit down, he said,
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  and try to be happy. It's useless for me to try, because I'm
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  always wretched and miserable. But I'm hungry, and I hope you are.
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  I am, said Dorothy. I've only eaten a wheelbarrow and a piano to
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  day, Oh yes, and a slice of bread. And butter. That
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  used to be a door mat. That sounds like a square meal, remarked
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  the King, seating himself opposite her. But perhaps it wasn't a square piano,
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  eh, Dorothy laughed. You don't seem so unhappy now, she said,
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  But I am protested the king, fresh tears gathering in his eyes.
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  Even my jokes are miserable. I'm wretched, woeful, afflicted, distressed and
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  dismal as an individual can be. Are you not sorry for me? No,
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  answered Dorothy. Honestly I can't say I am. Seems to me that
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  for a rabbit, you're right in Clover. This is the prettiest little city
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  I ever saw. Oh, the city is good enough, he admitted.
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  Glinda, the good Sorceress, made it for us because she was fond of
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  rabbits. I don't mind the city so much, although I wouldn't live here
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  if I had my choice. It is being king that has absolutely ruined my
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  happiness. Why wouldn't you live here by choice, she asked, because it
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  is all unnatural, My dear, rabbits are out of place in such luxury.
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  When I was young, I lived in a burrow in the forest.
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  I was surrounded by enemies and often had to run for my life. It
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  was hard getting enough to eat at times, and when I found a bunch
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  of clover, I had to listen and look for danger while I ate it.
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  Wolves prowled around the hole in which I lived, and sometimes I didn't
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  dare stir out for days at a time. Oh how happy and contented I
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  was. Then I was a real rabbit, as nature made me wild and
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  free, and I even enjoyed listening to the startled throbbing of my own heart.
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  I've often thought, said Dorothy, who was busily eating, that it
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  would be fun to be a rabbit. It is fun when you're the genuine
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  article, agreed his majesty. But look at me. Now I live in
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  a marble palace instead of a hole in the ground. I have all I
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  want to eat without the joy of hunting for it. Every day I must
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  dress in fine clothes and wear that horrible crown till it makes my head ache.
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  Rabbits come to me with all sorts of troubles, when my own troubles
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  are the only ones I care about. When I walk out, I can't
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  hop and run. I must strut on my rear legs and wear an ermine
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  robe, and the soldiers salute me, and the band plays, and the
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  other rabbits laugh and clap their paws and cry out hail to the king.
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  Now, let me ask you, as a friend and a young lady of
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  good judgment. Isn't all this pomp and foolishness enough to make a decent rabbit
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  miserable? Once, said Dorothy reflectively. Men were wild and unclothed, and
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  lived in caves and hunted for food as wild beasts do. But they got
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  civilized in time, and now they'd hate to go back to the old days.
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  That is an entirely different case, replied the king. None of you
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  humans were civilized in one lifetime. It came to you by degrees. But
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  I have known the forest and the free life, and that is why I
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  resent being civilized all at once against my will, and being made a king
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  with a crown and an ermine robe. Pah, if you don't like it,
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  why don't you resign? She asked? Impossible, wailed the rabbit,
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  wiping his eyes again with his handkerchief. There's a beastly law in this town
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  that forbids it. When one is elected a king, there's no getting out
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  of it, who made the laws, inquired Dorothy, the same sorceress who
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  made the town, Glinda the good She built the wall and fixed up the
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  city, and gave us several valuable enchantments, and made the laws. Then
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  she invited all the pink eyed white rabbits of the forest to come here,
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  after which she left us to our fate. What made you' scept the invitation
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  and come here, asked the child. I didn't know how dreadful city life
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  was, and i'd no idea I would be elected king, said he,
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  sobbing bitterly. And and now I'm it with a capital I and can't escape,
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  I know, Glinda remarked Dorothy, eating for dessert a dish of Charlotte
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  Rouss. And when I see her again, I'll ask her to put another
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  king in your place? Will you will you, indeed, asked the king
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  joyfully. I will if you want me to. She replied. Hooru hooray,
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  shouted the king, and then he jumped up from the table and danced
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  wildly about the room, waving his napkin like a flag and laughing with glee.
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  After a time, he managed to control his delight and returned to the
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  table. When are you likely to see Glinda, he inquired. Oh,
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  perhaps in a few days, said Dorothy. And you won't forget to ask
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  her. Of course, not, Princess, said the Rabbit King earnestly.
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  You have relieved me of a great unhappiness, and I am very grateful.
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  Therefore, I propose to entertain you, since you are my guest and I
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  am the King, as a slight mark of my appreciation, come with me
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  to my reception hall. He then summoned Bristle and said to him, assemble
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  all the nobility in the great reception hall, and also tell Blinkem that I
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  want him immediately. The keeper of the wicket bowed and hurried away, and
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  his Majesty turned to Dorothy and continued, we'll have time for a walk in
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  the gardens before the people get here. The gardens were back of the palace
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  and were filled with beautiful flowers and fragrant shrubs, with many shade and fruit
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  trees, and marble paved walks running in every direction. As they entered this
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  place, Blinkem came running to the King, who gave him several orders in
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  a low voice. Then his Majesty rejoined Dorothy and led her through the gardens,
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  which she admired. Care very much, what lovely clothes your majesty wears,
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  she said, glancing at the rich blue satin costume embroidered with pearls in
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  which the King was dressed. Yes, he returned, with an air of
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  pride. This is one of my favorite suits. But I have a good
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  many that are even more elaborate. We have excellent tailors and Bunnybury and Glinda
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  supplies all the material. By the way, you might ask the Sorceress when
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  you see her to permit me to keep my wardrobe. But if you go
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  back to the forest, you will not need clothes, she said, No,
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  he faltered. That may be so, but I've dressed up so long
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  that I'm used to it, and I don't imagine I'd care to run around
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  naked again. So perhaps the good Glinda will let me keep the costumes.
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  I'll ask her, agreed Dorothy. Then they left the gardens and went into
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  a fine, big reception hall, where rich rugs were spread upon the tiled
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  floors, and the furniture was exquisitely carved and studded with jewels. The king
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  each chair was an especially pretty piece of furniture being in the shape of a
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  silver lily, with one leaf bent over to form the seat. The silver
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  was everywhere, thickly encrusted with diamonds, and the seat was upholstered in white
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  satin. Oh what a splendid chair, cried Dorothy, clasping her hands admiringly.
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  Isn't it? Answered the King proudly. It's my favorite seat, and
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  I think it especially becoming to my complexion. While I think of it,
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  I wish you'd ask Glinda to let me keep this lily chair when I go
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  away. It wouldn't look very well in a hole in the ground, would
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  it, she suggested. Maybe not, but I'm used to sitting in it,
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  and I'd like to take it with me. He answered, But here
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  come the ladies and gentlemen of the court, so please sit beside me and
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  be presented. End of Chapter twenty