OZMA AND THE LITTLE WIZARD
Once upon a time there lived in the beautiful Emerald City, which liesin the center of the fairy Land of Oz, a lovely girl called PrincessOzma, who was ruler of all that country. And among those who served thisgirlish Ruler and lived in a cozy suite of rooms in her splendid palace,was a little, withered old man known as the Wizard of Oz.
This little Wizard could do a good many queer things in magic; but hewas a kind man, with merry, twinkling eyes and a sweet smile; so,instead of fearing him because of his magic, everybody loved him.
Now, Ozma was very anxious that all her people who inhabited thepleasant Land of Oz should be happy and contented, and therefore shedecided one morning to make a journey to all parts of the country, thatshe might discover if anything was amiss, or anyone discontented, or ifthere was any wrong that ought to be righted. She asked the littleWizard to accompany her and he was glad to go.
"Shall I take my bag of magic tools with me?" he asked.
"Of course," said Ozma. "We may need a lot of magic before we return,for we are going into strange corners of the land, where we may meetwith unknown creatures and dangerous adventures."
So the Wizard took his bag of magic tools and the two left the EmeraldCity and wandered over the country for many days, at last reaching aplace far up in the mountains which neither of them had ever visitedbefore. Stopping one morning at a cottage, built beside the rocky pathwhich led into a pretty valley beyond, Ozma asked a man:
"Are you happy? Have you any complaint to make of your lot?"
And the man replied:
"We are happy except for three mischievous Imps that live in yondervalley and often come here to annoy us. If your Highness would onlydrive away those Imps, I and my family would be very happy and verygrateful to you."
"Who are these bad Imps?" inquired the girl Ruler.
"One is named Olite, and one Udent and one Ertinent, and they have norespect for anyone or anything. If strangers pass through the valley theImps jeer at them and make horrid faces and call names, and often theypush travelers out of the path or throw stones at them. Whenever ImpOlite or Imp Udent or Imp Ertinent comes here to bother us, I and myfamily run into the house and lock all the doors and windows, and wedare not venture out again until the Imps have gone away."
Princess Ozma was grieved to hear this report and the little Wizardshook his head gravely and said the naughty Imps deserved to bepunished. They told the good man they would see what could be done toprotect him and at once entered the valley to seek the dwelling place ofthe three mischievous creatures.
Before long they came upon three caves, hollowed from the rocks, and infront of each cave squatted a queer little dwarf. Ozma and the Wizardpaused to examine them and found them well-shaped, strong and lively.They had big round ears, flat noses and wide grinning mouths, andtheir jet-black hair came to points on top of their heads, muchresembling horns. Their clothing fitted snugly to their bodies and limbsand the Imps were so small in size that at first Ozma did not considerthem at all dangerous. But one of them suddenly reached out a hand andcaught the dress of the Princess, jerking it so sharply that she nearlyfell down, and a moment later another Imp pushed the little Wizard sohard that he bumped against Ozma and both unexpectedly sat down upon theground.
At this the Imps laughed boisterously and began running around in acircle and kicking dust upon the Royal Princess, who cried in a sharpvoice: "Wizard, do your duty!"
The Wizard promptly obeyed. Without rising from the ground he opened hisbag, got the tools he required and muttered a magic spell.
Instantly the three Imps became three bushes--of a thorny stubbykind--with their roots in the ground. As the bushes were at firstmotionless, perhaps through surprise at their sudden transformation, theWizard and the Princess found time to rise from the ground and brush thedust off their pretty clothes. Then Ozma turned to the bushes and said:
"The unhappy lot you now endure, my poor Imps, is due entirely to yournaughty actions. You can no longer annoy harmless travelers and youmust remain ugly bushes, covered with sharp thorns, until you repent ofyour bad ways and promise to be good Imps."
"They can't help being good now, your Highness," said the Wizard, whowas much pleased with his work, "and the safest plan will be to allowthem always to remain bushes."
But something must have been wrong with the Wizard's magic, or thecreatures had magic of their own, for no sooner were the words spokenthan the bushes began to move. At first they only waved their branchesat the girl and little man, but pretty soon they began to slide over theground, their roots dragging through the earth, and one pushed itselfagainst the Wizard and pricked him so sharply with its thorns that hecried out: "Ouch!" and started to run away.
Ozma followed, for the other bushes were trying to stick their thornsinto her legs and one actually got so near her that it tore a great rentin her beautiful dress. The girl Princess could run, however, and shefollowed the fleeing Wizard until he tumbled head first over a log androlled upon the ground. Then she sprang behind a tree and shouted:"Quick! Transform them into something else."
The Wizard heard, but he was much confused by his fall. Grabbing fromhis bag the first magical tool he could find he transformed the bushesinto three white pigs. That astonished the Imps. In the shape ofpigs--fat, roly-poly and cute--they scampered off a little distance andsat down to think about their new condition.
Ozma drew a long breath and coming from behind the tree she said:
"That is much better, Wiz, for such pigs as these must be quiteharmless. No one need now fear the mischievous Imps."
"I intended to transform them into mice," replied the Wizard, "but in myexcitement I worked the wrong magic. However, unless the horridcreatures behave themselves hereafter, they are liable to be killed andeaten. They would make good chops, sausages or roasts."
But the Imps were now angry and had no intention of behaving. As Ozmaand the little Wizard turned to resume their journey, the three pigsrushed forward, dashed between their legs, and tripped them up, so thatboth lost their balance and toppled over, clinging to one another. Asthe Wizard tried to get up he was tripped again and fell across the backof the third pig, which carried him on a run far down the valley untilit dumped the little man in the river. Ozma had been sprawled upon theground but found she was not hurt, so she picked herself up and ran tothe assistance of the Wizard, reaching him just as he was crawling outof the river, gasping for breath and dripping with water. The girl couldnot help laughing at his woeful appearance. But he had no sooner wipedthe wet from his eyes than one of the impish pigs tripped him again andsent him into the river for a second bath. The pigs tried to trip Ozma,too, but she ran around a stump and so managed to keep out of their way.So the Wizard scrambled out of the water again and picked up a sharpstick to defend himself. Then he mumbled a magic mutter which instantlydried his clothes, after which he hurried to assist Ozma. The pigs wereafraid of the sharp stick and kept away from it.
"This won't do," said the Princess. "We have accomplished nothing, forthe pig Imps would annoy travelers as much as the real Imps. Transformthem into something else, Wiz."
The Wizard took time to think. Then he transformed the white pigs intothree blue doves.
"Doves," said he, "are the most harmless things in the world."
But scarcely had he spoken when the doves flew at them and tried to peckout their eyes. When they endeavored to shield their eyes with theirhands, two of the doves bit the Wizard's fingers and another caught thepretty pink ear of the Princess in its bill and gave it such a crueltweak that she cried out in pain and threw her skirt over her head.
"These birds are worse than pigs, Wizard," she called to her companion."Nothing is harmless that is animated by impudent anger or impertinentmischief. You must transform the Imps into something that is not alive."
The Wizard was pretty busy, just then, driving off the birds, but hemanaged to open his bag of magic and find a charm which instantlytransformed the doves i
nto three buttons. As they fell to the ground hepicked them up and smiled with satisfaction. The tin button was ImpOlite, the brass button was Imp Udent and the lead button was ImpErtinent. These buttons the Wizard placed in a little box which he putin his jacket pocket.
"Now," said he, "the Imps cannot annoy travelers, for we shall carrythem back with us to the Emerald City."
"But we dare not use the buttons," said Ozma, smiling _once more_ nowthat the danger was over.
"Why not?" asked the Wizard. "I intend to sew them upon my coat andwatch them carefully. The spirits of the Imps are still in the buttons,and after a time they will repent and be sorry for their naughtiness.Then they will decide to be very good in the future. When they feel thatway, the tin button will turn to silver and the brass to gold, while thelead button will become aluminum. I shall then restore them to theirproper forms, changing their names to pretty names instead of the uglyones they used to bear. Thereafter the three Imps will become goodcitizens of the Land of Oz and I think you will find they will provefaithful subjects of our beloved Princess Ozma."
"Ah, that is magic well worthwhile," exclaimed Ozma, well pleased."There is no doubt, my friend, but that you are a very clever Wizard."
Little Wizard Stories of Oz Page 4
