3. How Ozma Granted Dorothy's Request

The Emerald City of Oz

by L. Frank Baum

I suppose you have read so much about the magnificent Emerald
City that there is little need for me to describe it here. It is the
Capital City of the Land of Oz, which is justly considered the most
attractive and delightful fairyland in all the world.

The Emerald City is built all of beautiful marbles in which are
set a profusion of emeralds, every one exquisitely cut and of very
great size. There are other jewels used in the decorations inside
the houses and palaces, such as rubies, diamonds, sapphires,
amethysts and turquoises. But in the streets and upon the outside of
the buildings only emeralds appear, from which circumstance the place
is named the Emerald City of Oz. It has nine thousand, six hundred
and fifty-four buildings, in which lived fifty-seven thousand three
hundred and eighteen people, up to the time my story opens.

All the surrounding country, extending to the borders of the
desert which enclosed it upon every side, was full of pretty and
comfortable farmhouses, in which resided those inhabitants of Oz who
preferred country to city life.

Altogether there were more than half a million people in the
Land of Oz--although some of them, as you will soon learn, were not
made of flesh and blood as we are--and every inhabitant of that
favored country was happy and prosperous.

No disease of any sort was ever known among the Ozites, and so
no one ever died unless he met with an accident that prevented him
from living. This happened very seldom, indeed. There were no poor
people in the Land of Oz, because there was no such thing as money,
and all property of every sort belonged to the Ruler. The people
were her children, and she cared for them. Each person was given
freely by his neighbors whatever he required for his use, which is as
much as any one may reasonably desire. Some tilled the lands and
raised great crops of grain, which was divided equally among the
entire population, so that all had enough. There were many tailors
and dressmakers and shoemakers and the like, who made things that any
who desired them might wear. Likewise there were jewelers who made
ornaments for the person, which pleased and beautified the people,
and these ornaments also were free to those who asked for them. Each
man and woman, no matter what he or she produced for the good of the
community, was supplied by the neighbors with food and clothing and a
house and furniture and ornaments and games. If by chance the supply
ever ran short, more was taken from the great storehouses of the
Ruler, which were afterward filled up again when there was more of
any article than the people needed.

Every one worked half the time and played half the time, and the
people enjoyed the work as much as they did the play, because it is
good to be occupied and to have something to do. There were no cruel
overseers set to watch them, and no one to rebuke them or to find
fault with them. So each one was proud to do all he could for his
friends and neighbors, and was glad when they would accept the things
he produced.

You will know by what I have here told you, that the Land of Oz
was a remarkable country. I do not suppose such an arrangement would
be practical with us, but Dorothy assures me that it works finely
with the Oz people.

Oz being a fairy country, the people were, of course, fairy
people; but that does not mean that all of them were very unlike the
people of our own world. There were all sorts of queer characters
among them, but not a single one who was evil, or who possessed a
selfish or violent nature. They were peaceful, kind hearted, loving
and merry, and every inhabitant adored the beautiful girl who ruled
them and delighted to obey her every command.

In spite of all I have said in a general way, there were some
parts of the Land of Oz not quite so pleasant as the farming country
and the Emerald City which was its center. Far away in the South
Country there lived in the mountains a band of strange people called
Hammer-Heads, because they had no arms and used their flat heads to
pound any one who came near them. Their necks were like rubber, so
that they could shoot out their heads to quite a distance, and
afterward draw them back again to their shoulders. The Hammer-Heads
were called the "Wild People," but never harmed any but those who
disturbed them in the mountains where they lived.

In some of the dense forests there lived great beasts of every
sort; yet these were for the most part harmless and even sociable,
and conversed agreeably with those who visited their haunts. The
Kalidahs--beasts with bodies like bears and heads like tigers--had
once been fierce and bloodthirsty, but even they were now nearly all
tamed, although at times one or another of them would get cross and
disagreeable.

Not so tame were the Fighting Trees, which had a forest of their
own. If any one approached them these curious trees would bend down
their branches, twine them around the intruders, and hurl them
away.

But these unpleasant things existed only in a few remote parts
of the Land of Oz. I suppose every country has some drawbacks, so
even this almost perfect fairyland could not be quite perfect. Once
there had been wicked witches in the land, too; but now these had all
been destroyed; so, as I said, only peace and happiness reigned in
Oz.

For some time Ozma had ruled over this fair country, and never
was Ruler more popular or beloved. She is said to be the most
beautiful girl the world has ever known, and her heart and mind are
as lovely as her person.

Dorothy Gale had several times visited the Emerald City and
experienced adventures in the Land of Oz, so that she and Ozma had
now become firm friends. The girl Ruler had even made Dorothy a
Princess of Oz, and had often implored her to come to Ozma's stately
palace and live there always; but Dorothy had been loyal to her Aunt
Em and Uncle Henry, who had cared for her since she was a baby, and
she had refused to leave them because she knew they would be lonely
without her.

However, Dorothy now realized that things were going to be
different with her uncle and aunt from this time forth, so after
giving the matter deep thought she decided to ask Ozma to grant her a
very great favor.

A few seconds after she had made the secret signal in her little
bedchamber, the Kansas girl was seated in a lovely room in Ozma's
palace in the Emerald City of Oz. When the first loving kisses and
embraces had been exchanged, the fair Ruler inquired:

"What is the matter, dear? I know something unpleasant has
happened to you, for your face was very sober when I saw it in my
Magic Picture. And whenever you signal me to transport you to this
safe place, where you are always welcome, I know you are in danger or
in trouble."

Dorothy sighed.

"This time, Ozma, it isn't I," she replied. "But it's worse, I
guess, for Uncle Henry and Aunt Em are in a heap of trouble, and
there seems no way for them to get out of it--anyhow, not while they
live in Kansas."

"Tell me about it, Dorothy," said Ozma, with ready sympathy.

"Why, you see Uncle Henry is poor; for the farm in Kansas
doesn't 'mount to much, as farms go. So one day Uncle Henry borrowed
some money, and wrote a letter saying that if he didn't pay the money
back they could take his farm for pay. Course he 'spected to pay by
making money from the farm; but he just couldn't. An' so they're
going to take the farm, and Uncle Henry and Aunt Em won't have any
place to live. They're pretty old to do much hard work, Ozma; so
I'll have to work for them, unless--"

Ozma had been thoughtful during the story, but now she smiled
and pressed her little friend's hand.

"Unless what, dear?" she asked.

Dorothy hesitated, because her request meant so much to them
all.

"Well," said she, "I'd like to live here in the Land of Oz,
where you've often 'vited me to live. But I can't, you know, unless
Uncle Henry and Aunt Em could live here too."

"Of course not," exclaimed the Ruler of Oz, laughing gaily.
"So, in order to get you, little friend, we must invite your Uncle
and Aunt to live in Oz, also."

"Oh, will you, Ozma?" cried Dorothy, clasping her chubby little
hands eagerly. "Will you bring them here with the Magic Belt, and
give them a nice little farm in the Munchkin Country, or the Winkie
Country--or some other place?"

"To be sure," answered Ozma, full of joy at the chance to please
her little friend. "I have long been thinking of this very thing,
Dorothy dear, and often I have had it in my mind to propose it to
you. I am sure your uncle and aunt must be good and worthy people,
or you would not love them so much; and for your friends, Princess,
there is always room in the Land of Oz."

Dorothy was delighted, yet not altogether surprised, for she had
clung to the hope that Ozma would be kind enough to grant her
request. When, indeed, had her powerful and faithful friend refused
her anything?

"But you must not call me 'Princess'," she said; "for after this
I shall live on the little farm with Uncle Henry and Aunt Em, and
princesses ought not to live on farms."

"Princess Dorothy will not," replied Ozma with her sweet smile.
"You are going to live in your own rooms in this palace, and be my
constant companion."

"But Uncle Henry--" began Dorothy.

"Oh, he is old, and has worked enough in his lifetime,"
interrupted the girl Ruler; "so we must find a place for your uncle
and aunt where they will be comfortable and happy and need not work
more than they care to. When shall we transport them here,
Dorothy?"

"I promised to go and see them again before they were turned out
of the farmhouse," answered Dorothy; "so--perhaps next Saturday--"

"But why wait so long?" asked Ozma. "And why make the journey
back to Kansas again? Let us surprise them, and bring them here
without any warning."

"I'm not sure that they believe in the Land of Oz," said
Dorothy, "though I've told 'em 'bout it lots of times."

"They'll believe when they see it," declared Ozma; "and if they
are told they are to make a magical journey to our fairyland, it may
make them nervous. I think the best way will be to use the Magic
Belt without warning them, and when they have arrived you can explain
to them whatever they do not understand."

"Perhaps that's best," decided Dorothy. "There isn't much use
in their staying at the farm until they are put out, 'cause it's much
nicer here."

"Then to-morrow morning they shall come here," said Princess
Ozma. "I will order Jellia Jamb, who is the palace housekeeper, to
have rooms all prepared for them, and after breakfast we will get the
Magic Belt and by its aid transport your uncle and aunt to the
Emerald City."

"Thank you, Ozma!" cried Dorothy, kissing her friend
gratefully.

"And now," Ozma proposed, "let us take a walk in the gardens
before we dress for dinner. Come, Dorothy dear!"