The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Книга для чтения на английском языке

They turned and walked through the forest a few steps, when Dorothy discovered something shining in a ray of sunshine that fell between the trees. She ran to the place and then stopped short, with a little cry of surprise.

One of the big trees had been partly chopped through |частично порубленные|, and standing beside it, with an uplifted axe |поднятым топором| in his hands, was a man made entirely of tin |жесть или олово|. His head and arms and legs were jointed upon his body, but he stood perfectly motionless, as if he could not stir |пошевелиться| at all.

Dorothy looked at him in amazement, and so did the Scarecrow, while Toto barked sharply and made a snap |укусил| at the tin legs, which hurt his teeth.

“Did you groan?” asked Dorothy.

“Yes,” answered the tin man, “I did. I’ve been groaning for more than a year, and no one has ever heard me before or come to help me.”

“What can I do for you?” she inquired softly, for she was moved |была тронута| by the sad voice in which the man spoke.

“Get an oil-can and oil my joints,” he answered. “They are rusted |заржавели| so badly that I cannot move them at all; if I am well oiled I shall soon be all right again. You will find an oil-can on a shelf in my cottage.”

Dorothy at once ran back to the cottage and found the oil-can, and then she returned and asked anxiously, “Where are your joints?”

“Oil my neck, first,” replied the Tin Woodman. So she oiled it, and as it was quite badly rusted the Scarecrow took hold of the tin head and moved it gently from side to side until it worked freely, and then the man could turn it himself.

“Now oil the joints in my arms,” he said. And Dorothy oiled them and the Scarecrow bent them carefully until they were quite free from rust and as good as new.

The Tin Woodman gave a sigh of satisfaction and lowered his axe, which he leaned |опустил… прислонил| against the tree.

“This is a great comfort,” he said. “I have been holding that axe in the air ever since I rusted, and I’m glad to be able to put it down at last |наконец-то|.

So they oiled his legs until he could move them freely; and he thanked them again and again for his release, for he seemed a very polite creature, and very grateful.

“I might have stood there always if you had not come along,” he said; “so you have certainly saved my life.