The Truth Pond
CHAPTER 13
It seems a long time since we have heard anything of the Frogman andCayke the Cookie Cook, who had left the Yip Country in search of thediamond-studded gold dishpan which had been mysteriously stolen the samenight that Ozma had disappeared from the Emerald City. But you mustremember that while the Frogman and the Cookie Cook were preparing todescend from their mountain-top, and even while on their way to thefarmhouse of Wiljon the Winkie, Dorothy and the Wizard and their friendswere encountering the adventures we have just related.
So it was that on the very morning when the travelers from the EmeraldCity bade farewell to the Czarover of the City of Herku, Cayke and theFrogman awoke in a grove in which they had passed the night sleeping onbeds of leaves. There were plenty of farmhouses in the neighborhood, butno one seemed to welcome the puffy, haughty Frogman or the littledried-up Cookie Cook, and so they slept comfortably enough underneaththe trees of the grove.
The Frogman wakened first, on this morning, and after going to the treewhere Cayke slept and finding her still wrapt in slumber, he decided totake a little walk and seek some breakfast. Coming to the edge of thegrove he observed, half a mile away, a pretty yellow house that wassurrounded by a yellow picket fence, so he walked toward this house andon entering the yard found a Winkie woman picking up sticks with whichto build a fire to cook her morning meal.
"For goodness sakes!" she exclaimed on seeing the Frogman, "what are youdoing out of your frog-pond?"
"I am traveling in search of a jeweled gold dishpan, my good woman," hereplied, with an air of great dignity.
"You won't find it here, then," said she. "Our dishpans are tin, andthey're good enough for anybody. So go back to your pond and leave mealone."
She spoke rather crossly and with a lack of respect that greatly annoyedthe Frogman.
"Allow me to tell you, madam," he said, "that although I am a frog I amthe Greatest and Wisest Frog in all the world. I may add that I possessmuch more wisdom than any Winkie--man or woman--in this land. Wherever Igo, people fall on their knees before me and render homage to the GreatFrogman! No one else knows so much as I; no one else is so grand--somagnificent!"
"If you know so much," she retorted, "why don't you know where yourdishpan is, instead of chasing around the country after it?"
"Presently," he answered, "I am going where it is; but just now I amtraveling and have had no breakfast. Therefore I honor you by asking youfor something to eat."
"Oho! the Great Frogman is hungry as any tramp, is he? Then pick upthese sticks and help me to build the fire," said the womancontemptuously.
"Me! The Great Frogman pick up sticks?" he exclaimed in horror. "In theYip Country, where I am more honored and powerful than any King couldbe, people weep with joy when I ask them to feed me."
"Then that's the place to go for your breakfast," declared the woman.
"I fear you do not realize my importance," urged the Frogman. "Exceedingwisdom renders me superior to menial duties."
"It's a great wonder to me," remarked the woman, carrying her sticks tothe house, "that your wisdom doesn't inform you that you'll get nobreakfast here," and she went in and slammed the door behind her.
The Frogman felt he had been insulted, so he gave a loud croak ofindignation and turned away. After going a short distance he came upon afaint path which led across a meadow in the direction of a grove ofpretty trees, and thinking this circle of evergreens must surround ahouse--where perhaps he would be kindly received--he decided to followthe path. And by and by he came to the trees, which were set closetogether, and pushing aside some branches he found no house inside thecircle, but instead a very beautiful pond of clear water.
Now the Frogman, although he was so big and so well educated and nowaped the ways and customs of human beings, was still a frog. As he gazedat this solitary, deserted pond, his love for water returned to him withirresistible force.
"If I cannot get a breakfast I may at least have a fine swim," said he,and pushing his way between the trees he reached the bank. There he tookoff his fine clothing, laying his shiny purple hat and his gold-headedcane beside it. A moment later he sprang with one leap into the waterand dived to the very bottom of the pond.
The water was deliciously cool and grateful to his thick, rough skin,and the Frogman swam around the pond several times before he stopped torest. Then he floated upon the surface and examined the pond with somecuriosity. The bottom and sides were all lined with glossy tiles of alight pink color; just one place in the bottom, where the water bubbledup from a hidden spring, had been left free. On the banks the greengrass grew to the edge of the pink tiling.
And now, as the Frogman examined the place, he found that on one sidethe pool, just above the water line, had been set a golden plate onwhich some words were deeply engraved. He swam toward this plate and onreaching it read the following inscription:
_This is_THE TRUTH POND_Whoever bathes in thiswater must alwaysafterward tell_THE TRUTH
This statement startled the Frogman. It even worried him, so that heleaped upon the bank and hurriedly began to dress himself.
"A great misfortune has befallen me," he told himself, "for hereafter Icannot tell people I am wise, since it is not the truth. The truth isthat my boasted wisdom is all a sham, assumed by me to deceive peopleand make them defer to me. In truth, no living creature can know muchmore than his fellows, for one may know one thing, and another knowanother thing, so that wisdom is evenly scattered throughout the world.But--ah, me!--what a terrible fate will now be mine. Even Cayke theCookie Cook will soon discover that my knowledge is no greater than herown; for having bathed in the enchanted water of the Truth Pond, I canno longer deceive her or tell a lie."
More humbled than he had been for many years, the Frogman went back tothe grove where he had left Cayke and found the woman now awake andwashing her face in a tiny brook.
"Where has Your Honor been?" she asked.
"To a farmhouse to ask for something to eat," said he, "but the womanrefused me."
"How dreadful!" she exclaimed. "But never mind; there are other houses,where the people will be glad to feed the Wisest Creature in all theWorld."
"Do you mean yourself?" he asked.
"No, I mean you."
The Frogman felt strongly impelled to tell the truth, but struggled hardagainst it. His reason told him there was no use in letting Cayke knowhe was not wise, for then she would lose much respect for him, but eachtime he opened his mouth to speak he realized he was about to tell thetruth and shut it again as quickly as possible. He tried to talk aboutsomething else, but the words necessary to undeceive the woman wouldforce themselves to his lips in spite of all his struggles. Finally,knowing that he must either remain dumb or let the truth prevail, hegave a low groan of despair and said:
"Cayke, I am _not_ the Wisest Creature in all the World; I am not wiseat all."
"Oh, you must be!" she protested. "You told me so yourself, only lastevening."
"Then last evening I failed to tell you the truth," he admitted, lookingvery shamefaced, for a frog. "I am sorry I told you that lie, my goodCayke; but, if you must know the truth, the whole truth and nothing butthe truth, I am not really as wise as you are."
The Cookie Cook was greatly shocked to hear this, for it shattered oneof her most pleasing illusions. She looked at the gorgeously dressedFrogman in amazement.
"What has caused you to change your mind so suddenly?" she inquired.
"I have bathed in the Truth Pond," he said, "and whoever bathes in thatwater is ever afterward obliged to tell the truth."
"You were foolish to do that," declared the woman. "It is often veryembarrassing to tell the truth. I'm glad _I_ didn't bathe in thatdreadful water!"
The Frogman looked at his companion thoughtfully.
"Cayke," said he, "I want you to go to the Truth Pond and take a bath inits water. For, if we are to travel together and encounter unknownadventures, it would not be fair that I alone must a
lways tell you thetruth, while you could tell me whatever you pleased. If we both dip inthe enchanted water there will be no chance in the future of ourdeceiving one another."
"No," she asserted, shaking her head positively, "I won't do it, YourHonor. For, if I told you the truth, I'm sure you wouldn't like me. NoTruth Pond for me. I'll be just as I am, an honest woman who can saywhat she wants to without hurting anyone's feelings."
With this decision the Frogman was forced to be content, although he wassorry the Cookie Cook would not listen to his advice.
The Lost Princess of Oz Page 14
