The Road to Oz / Путешествие в Страну Оз. Книга для чтения на английском языке

”

“Then I’ll go with you,” said the little maid; “for travel will help keep me warm, and father can find me in one part of the world as well as another – if he gets time to look for me.”

“Come along, then,” said the shaggy man, cheerfully; and they started on once more. Polly walked beside Dorothy a while, holding her new friend’s hand as if she feared to let it go; but her nature seemed as light and buoyant as her fleecy robes, for suddenly she darted ahead and whirled round in a giddy dance.

Then she tripped back to them with sparkling eyes and smiling cheeks, having regained her usual happy mood and forgotten all her worry about being lost.

They found her a charming companion, and her dancing and laughter – for she laughed at times like the tinkling of a silver bell – did much to enliven their journey and keep them contented.

6

The City of Beasts

When noon came they opened the Fox-King’s basket of luncheon, and found a nice roasted turkey with cranberry sauce and some slices of bread and butter.

As they sat on the grass by the roadside the shaggy man cut up the turkey with his pocket-knife and passed slices of it around.

“Haven’t you any dewdrops, or mist-cakes, or cloudbuns?” asked Polychrome, longingly.

“’course not,” replied Dorothy. “We eat solid things, down here on the earth. But there’s a bottle of cold tea. Try some, won’t you?”

The Rainbow’s Daughter watched Button-Bright devour one leg of the turkey.

“Is it good?” she asked.

He nodded.

“Do you think I could eat it?”

“Not this,” said Button-Bright.

“But I mean another piece?”

“Don’t know,” he replied.

“Well, I’m going to try, for I’m very hungry,” she decided, and took a thin slice of the white breast of turkey which the shaggy man cut for her, as well as a bit of bread and butter. When she tasted it Polychrome thought the turkey was good – better even than mist-cakes; but a little satisfied her hunger and she finished with a tiny sip of cold tea.

“That’s about as much as a fly would eat,” said Dorothy, who was making a good meal herself. “But I know some people in Oz who eat nothing at all.”

“Who are they?” inquired the shaggy man.

“One is a Scarecrow who’s stuffed with straw, and the other a Woodman made out of tin. They haven’t any appetites inside of ’em, you see; so they never eat anything at all.