Удивительный волшебник из Страны Оз / The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Toto put his cold little nose into her face and whined terribly.

Dorothy sat up and noticed that the house was not moving. Bright sunshine came in at the window. She got up from her bed and with Toto at her heels ran and opened the door.

The little girl gave a cry of amazement and looked about her. The cyclone had set the house down in the middle of a beautiful country. There were green plants and flowers everywhere, and trees with fruit on them.

While she was looking at the strange and beautiful sights, she noticed something.

Towards her was walking a group of the strangest people she had ever seen. They were all very small. In fact, they seemed about as tall as Dorothy, although they looked much older.

Three of them were men and one was a woman. They all wore tall pointy hats, with little bells around the brims that tinkled sweetly as they moved. The hats of the men were blue; the little woman’s hat was white, and she wore a white pleated dress. The men were dressed in blue, the same shade as their hats, and wore well-polished boots.

The men, Dorothy thought, were about as old as Uncle Henry, for two of them had beards. But the little woman was much older. Her face was covered with wrinkles and her hair was nearly white.

When they got near the house where Dorothy was standing in the doorway, they paused and whispered among themselves, as if afraid to come farther. But the little old woman walked up to Dorothy, made a low bow and said, in a sweet voice:

“You are welcome, most noble Sorceress, to the land of the Munchkins.

We are so grateful to you for having killed the Wicked Witch of the East, and for setting our people free.”

Dorothy didn’t understand. What could the little woman possibly mean by calling her a sorceress, and saying she had killed the Wicked Witch of the East?

The little woman evidently waited for her to answer; so Dorothy said, with hesitation, “You are very kind, but there must be some mistake. I have not killed anything.

”

“Your house did, anyway,” replied the little old woman, with a laugh, “and that is the same thing. See!” she continued, pointing to the corner of the house.

Dorothy looked, and gave a little cry of fright. There, just under the corner of the house, two feet were sticking out, with silver shoes with pointed toes.

“Oh, dear! Oh, dear!” cried Dorothy, clasping her hands together in dismay. “The house must have fallen on her.