The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. B1 / Удивительный волшебник из Страны Оз

The woman walked up to Dorothy and said, 'Thank you, thank you! Now the people are free!' Her face was covered with wrinkles, her hair was nearly white, and she walked rather stiffly.

'Why are you thanking me?' Dorothy asked.

'You killed the Witch of the East,' said the woman. 'She was bad, and her people, the Munchkins, were very afraid of her. Now she is killed, and we and the Munchkins want to say thank you.'

The little old woman and the three little men all smiled happily at Dorothy, but Dorothy did not understand anything.

Dorothy listened to this speech with wonder. What could the little woman possibly mean by saying she had killed the Wicked Witch of the East? Dorothy was an innocent, harmless little girl, who had been carried by a cyclone many miles from home; and she had never killed anything in her life.

'But I didn't kill her!' she 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. 'Your house fell on the Witch,' laughed the little woman. 'Look! You can see her feet!'

Dorothy looked and saw two feet, with silver shoes, under the house. Suddenly, one of the Munchkins cried. 'Look! Her feet are disappearing in the hot sun.'

'There is nothing to be done,' said the little woman calmly.

'But who was she?' asked Dorothy.

'She has held all the Munchkins in bondage for many years, making them slave for her night and day.

They are the people who live in this land of the East where the Wicked Witch ruled.'

A second later, there were only the silver shoes.

'Good,' said the little woman. She picked up the shoes and gave them to Dorothy. 'These are your shoes now. You must wear them, because witch's shoes can sometimes do wonderful things.'

'Thank you', said Dorothy. 'But who are you? Are you a Munchkin?'

'No, but I'm their friend. I'm the Witch of the North, and I came to see the dead Witch of the East.

But don't be afraid-I'm a good witch'.

'But Aunt Em says there aren't any witches.'

'Who is Aunt Em?' inquired the little old woman. 'Oh yes, there are!' said the Witch. 'Here in the country of Oz we have four witches. The witches of the North and the South are good witches, but those of the East and the West are bad witches. Now the Witch of the East is dead, so there is only one bad witch.