AbdulHannanMujawar/ch_development · Datasets at Hugging Face

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"We have never needed them before," answered Jellia; "for the Sawhorse
lives in a room of the palace, being much smaller and more natural in
appearance than this great beast you have brought with you."

"Do you mean that I'm a freak?" asked Jim, angrily.

"Oh, no," she hastened to say, "there may be many more like you in the
place you came from, but in Oz any horse but a Sawhorse is unusual."

This mollified Jim a little, and after some thought the green maiden
decided to give the cab-horse a room in the palace, such a big building
having many rooms that were seldom in use.

So Zeb unharnessed Jim, and several of the servants then led the horse
around to the rear, where they selected a nice large apartment that he
could have all to himself.

Then Jellia said to the Wizard:

"Your own room--which was back of the great Throne Room--has been vacant
ever since you left us. Would you like it again?"

"Yes, indeed!" returned the little man. "It will seem like being at home
again, for I lived in that room for many, many years."

He knew the way to it, and a servant followed him, carrying his satchel.
Zeb was also escorted to a room--so grand and beautiful that he almost
feared to sit in the chairs or lie upon the bed, lest he might dim their
splendor. In the closets he discovered many fancy costumes of rich
velvets and brocades, and one of the attendants told him to dress
himself in any of the clothes that pleased him and to be prepared to
dine with the Princess and Dorothy in an hour's time.

Opening from the chamber was a fine bath-room having a marble tub with
perfumed water; so the boy, still dazed by the novelty of his
surroundings, indulged in a good bath and then selected a maroon velvet
costume with silver buttons to replace his own soiled and much worn
clothing. There were silk stockings and soft leather slippers with
diamond buckles to accompany his new costume, and when he was fully
dressed Zeb looked much more dignified and imposing than ever before in
his life.

He was all ready when an attendant came to escort him to the presence of
the Princess; he followed bashfully and was ushered into a room more
dainty and attractive than it was splendid. Here he found Dorothy seated
beside a young girl so marvelously beautiful that the boy stopped
suddenly with a gasp of admiration.

But Dorothy sprang up and ran to seize her friend's hand, drawing him
impulsively toward the lovely Princess, who smiled most graciously upon
her guest. Then the Wizard entered, and his presence relieved the boy's
embarrassment. The little man was clothed in black velvet, with many
sparkling emerald ornaments decorating his breast; but his bald head and
wrinkled features made him appear more amusing than impressive.

Ozma had been quite curious to meet the famous man who had built the
Emerald City and united the Munchkins, Gillikins, Quadlings and Winkies
into one people; so when they were all four seated at the dinner table
the Princess said:

"Please tell me, Mr. Wizard, whether you called yourself Oz after this
great country, or whether you believe my country is called Oz after you.
It is a matter that I have long wished to enquire about, because you are
of a strange race and my own name is Ozma. No one, I am sure, is better
able to explain this mystery than you."

"That is true," answered the little Wizard; "therefore it will give me
pleasure to explain my connection with your country. In the first place,
I must tell you that I was born in Omaha, and my father, who was a
politician, named me Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle
Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs, Diggs being the last name because he could
think of no more to go before it. Taken altogether, it was a dreadfully
long name to weigh down a poor innocent child, and one of the hardest
lessons I ever learned was to remember my own name. When I grew up I
just called myself O. Z., because the other initials were P-I-N-H-E-A-D;
and that spelled 'pinhead,' which was a reflection on my intelligence."

"Surely no one could blame you for cutting your name short," said Ozma,
sympathetically. "But didn't you cut it almost too short?"

"Perhaps so," replied the Wizard. "When a young man I ran away from home
and joined a circus. I used to call myself a Wizard, and do tricks of
ventriloquism."

"What does that mean?" asked the Princess.

"Throwing my voice into any object I pleased, to make it appear that the
object was speaking instead of me. Also I began to make balloon
ascensions. On my balloon and on all the other articles I used in the
circus I painted the two initials: 'O. Z.', to show that those things
belonged to me.

"One day my balloon ran away with me and brought me across the deserts
to this beautiful country. When the people saw me come from the sky they
naturally thought me some superior creature, and bowed down before me. I
told them I was a Wizard, and showed them some easy tricks that amazed
them; and when they saw the initials painted on the balloon they called
me Oz."

"We have never needed them before," answered Jellia; "for the Sawhorse

lives in a room of the palace, being much smaller and more natural in

appearance than this great beast you have brought with you."

"Do you mean that I'm a freak?" asked Jim, angrily.

"Oh, no," she hastened to say, "there may be many more like you in the

place you came from, but in Oz any horse but a Sawhorse is unusual."

This mollified Jim a little, and after some thought the green maiden

decided to give the cab-horse a room in the palace, such a big building

having many rooms that were seldom in use.

So Zeb unharnessed Jim, and several of the servants then led the horse

around to the rear, where they selected a nice large apartment that he

could have all to himself.

Then Jellia said to the Wizard:

"Your own room--which was back of the great Throne Room--has been vacant

ever since you left us. Would you like it again?"

"Yes, indeed!" returned the little man. "It will seem like being at home

again, for I lived in that room for many, many years."

He knew the way to it, and a servant followed him, carrying his satchel.

Zeb was also escorted to a room--so grand and beautiful that he almost

feared to sit in the chairs or lie upon the bed, lest he might dim their

splendor. In the closets he discovered many fancy costumes of rich

velvets and brocades, and one of the attendants told him to dress

himself in any of the clothes that pleased him and to be prepared to

dine with the Princess and Dorothy in an hour's time.

Opening from the chamber was a fine bath-room having a marble tub with

perfumed water; so the boy, still dazed by the novelty of his

surroundings, indulged in a good bath and then selected a maroon velvet

costume with silver buttons to replace his own soiled and much worn

clothing. There were silk stockings and soft leather slippers with

diamond buckles to accompany his new costume, and when he was fully

dressed Zeb looked much more dignified and imposing than ever before in

his life.

He was all ready when an attendant came to escort him to the presence of

the Princess; he followed bashfully and was ushered into a room more

dainty and attractive than it was splendid. Here he found Dorothy seated

beside a young girl so marvelously beautiful that the boy stopped

suddenly with a gasp of admiration.

But Dorothy sprang up and ran to seize her friend's hand, drawing him

impulsively toward the lovely Princess, who smiled most graciously upon

her guest. Then the Wizard entered, and his presence relieved the boy's

embarrassment. The little man was clothed in black velvet, with many

sparkling emerald ornaments decorating his breast; but his bald head and

wrinkled features made him appear more amusing than impressive.

Ozma had been quite curious to meet the famous man who had built the

Emerald City and united the Munchkins, Gillikins, Quadlings and Winkies

into one people; so when they were all four seated at the dinner table

the Princess said:

"Please tell me, Mr. Wizard, whether you called yourself Oz after this

great country, or whether you believe my country is called Oz after you.

It is a matter that I have long wished to enquire about, because you are

of a strange race and my own name is Ozma. No one, I am sure, is better

able to explain this mystery than you."

"That is true," answered the little Wizard; "therefore it will give me

pleasure to explain my connection with your country. In the first place,

I must tell you that I was born in Omaha, and my father, who was a

politician, named me Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle

Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs, Diggs being the last name because he could

think of no more to go before it. Taken altogether, it was a dreadfully

long name to weigh down a poor innocent child, and one of the hardest

lessons I ever learned was to remember my own name. When I grew up I

just called myself O. Z., because the other initials were P-I-N-H-E-A-D;

and that spelled 'pinhead,' which was a reflection on my intelligence."

"Surely no one could blame you for cutting your name short," said Ozma,

sympathetically. "But didn't you cut it almost too short?"

"Perhaps so," replied the Wizard. "When a young man I ran away from home

and joined a circus. I used to call myself a Wizard, and do tricks of

ventriloquism."

"What does that mean?" asked the Princess.

"Throwing my voice into any object I pleased, to make it appear that the

object was speaking instead of me. Also I began to make balloon

ascensions. On my balloon and on all the other articles I used in the

circus I painted the two initials: 'O. Z.', to show that those things

belonged to me.

"One day my balloon ran away with me and brought me across the deserts

to this beautiful country. When the people saw me come from the sky they

naturally thought me some superior creature, and bowed down before me. I

told them I was a Wizard, and showed them some easy tricks that amazed

them; and when they saw the initials painted on the balloon they called

me Oz."