登陆注册
5255700000019

第19章 Chapter Nine The High Coco-Lorum of Thi(1)

And now the Patchwork Girl came dancing out of the wall again. "Come on!" she called. "It isn't there. There isn't any wall at all.""What! No wall?" exclaimed the Wizard.

"Nothing like it," said Scraps. "It's a make-believe.

You see it, but it isn't. Come on into the city; we've been wasting time."With this she danced into the wall again and once more disappeared. Button-Bright, who was rather venturesome, dashed away after her and also became invisible to them. The others followed more cautiously, stretching out their hands to feel the wall and finding, to their astonishment, that they could feel nothing because nothing opposed them. They walked on a few steps and found themselves in the streets of a very beautiful city. Behind them they again saw the wall, grim and forbidding as ever; but now they knew it was merely an illusion, prepared to keep strangers from entering the city.

But the wall was soon forgotten, for in front of them were a number of quaint people who stared at them in amazement, as if wondering where they had come from.

Our friends forgot their good manners, for a time, and returned the stares with interest, for so remarkable a people had never before been discovered in all the remarkable Land of Oz.

Their heads were shaped like diamonds and their bodies like hearts. All the hair they had was a little bunch at the tip top of their diamond-shaped heads and their eyes were very large and round and their noses and mouths very small. Their clothing was tight-fitting and of brilliant colors, being handsomely embroidered in quaint designs with gold or silver threads; but on their feet they wore sandals, with no stockings whatever. The expression of their faces was pleasant enough, although they now showed surprise at the appearance of strangers so unlike themselves, and our friends thought they seemed quite harmless.

"I beg your pardon," said the Wizard, speaking for his party, "for intruding upon you uninvited, but we are traveling on important business and find it necessary to visit your city. Will you kindly tell us by what name your city is called?"They looked at one another uncertainly, each expecting some other to answer. Finally a short one whose heart-shaped body was very broad replied:

"We have no occasion to call our city anything. It is where we live, that is all.""But by what name do others call your city?" asked the Wizard.

"We know of no others, except yourselves," said the man. And then he inquired: "Were you born with those queer forms you have, or has some cruel magician transformed you to them from your natural shapes?""These are our natural shapes," declared the Wizard, "and we consider them very good shapes, too."The group of inhabitants was constantly being enlarged by others who joined it. All were evidently startled and uneasy at the arrival of strangers.

"Have you a King?" asked Dorothy, who knew it was better to speak with someone in authority. But the man shook his diamond-like head.

"What is a King?" he asked.

"Isn't there anyone who rules over you?" inquired the Wizard.

"No," was the reply, "each of us rules himself; or, at least, tries to do so. It is not an easy thing to do, as you probably know."The Wizard reflected.

"If you have disputes among you," said he, after a little thought, "who settles them?""The High Coco-Lorum," they answered in a chorus.

"And who is he?"

"The judge who enforces the laws," said the man who had first spoken.

"Then he is the principal person here?" continued the Wizard.

"Well, I would not say that," returned the man in a puzzled way. "The High Cocolorum is a public servant.

However, he represents the laws, which we must all obey.""I think," said the Wizard, "we ought to see your High Coco-Lorum and talk with him. Our mission here requires us to consult one high in authority, and the High Coco-Lorum ought to be high, whatever else he is."The inhabitants seemed to consider this proposition reasonable, for they nodded their diamond-shaped heads in approval. So the broad one who had been their spokesman said: "Follow me," and, turning, led the way along one of the streets.

The entire party followed him, the natives falling in behind. The dwellings they passed were quite nicely planned and seemed comfortable and convenient. After leading them a few blocks their conductor stopped before a house which was neither better nor worse than the others. The doorway was shaped to admit the strangely formed bodies of these people, being narrow at the top, broad in the middle and tapering at the bottom. The windows were made in much the same way, giving the house a most peculiar appearance. When their guide opened the gate a music-box concealed in the gate-post began to play, and the sound attracted the attention of the High Coco-Lorum, who appeared at an open window and inquired:

"What has happened now?"

But in the same moment his eyes fell upon the strangers and he hastened to open the door and admit them -- all but the animals, which were left outside with the throng of natives that had now gathered. For a small city there seemed to be a large number of inhabitants, but they did not try to enter the house and contented themselves with staring curiously at the strange animals. Toto followed Dorothy.

Our friends entered a large room at the front of the house, where the High Coco-Lorum asked them to be seated.

"I hope your mission here is a peaceful one," he said, looking a little worried, "for the Thists are not very good fighters and object to being conquered.""Are your people called Thists?" asked Dorothy.

"Yes. I thought you knew that. And we call our city Thi.""Oh!"

"We are Thists because we eat thistles, you know,"continued the High Coco-Lorum.

"Do you really eat those prickly things?" inquired Button-Bright wonderingly.

"Why not?" replied the other. "The sharp points of the thistles cannot hurt us, because all our insides are gold-lined.""Gold-lined!"

同类推荐
  • 菩提心义(海运)

    菩提心义(海运)

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 星阁史论

    星阁史论

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 成唯识宝生论

    成唯识宝生论

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 滇游日记

    滇游日记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 佛说四天王经

    佛说四天王经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 上仙独爱魔女

    上仙独爱魔女

    他是高高在上的仙。她是被人类所畏惧的魔。灌愁海本为断念无奈却成初见。只有卑鄙的仙界,动尽所有人力,设下重重陷阱,引导他人堕入。他为她断念,以为可以挽留一切,但,最后的那一句你是谁,让她失去所有,毅然决然举起旎璃剑,一抹鲜红如同初雨后绽放的玫瑰花朵,妖艳异常,她自己便是那花蕊。似乎所有的的事情都在那个陷阱划上了句号。钟璃坠从天真活泼到冷酷无情。凤朝歌为其受伤数次亦无怨无悔。祁亦始终守护在其身边。昔日的情早就因为自己的刚愎自用,有爱亦有恨,他爱她,他恨他。百草全倾所有,他背叛,她亦背叛,可是最后他身边却没有自己一丝的位置,她恨,她恨她。三世纠缠,或福?或祸?
  • 西藏岁月系列丛书·守望

    西藏岁月系列丛书·守望

    《西藏岁月系列丛书:守望》从不同角度,用不同形式,深刻描绘了西藏和平解放、进军西藏、解放西藏、建设西藏的重大历史变革,以及改革开放、现代化建设时期,中央如何继续关心西藏、全国无私支援西藏,使西藏飞速发展变化的可喜局面。
  • 独步天下:逍遥女王爷

    独步天下:逍遥女王爷

    一朝穿越,成为一女尊国王爷。在这女尊,男尊共存的天下,何人才是她的良人。绝美的他,热情的他,温润的他,还是阴冷霸道的他。看她如何游走天下,如何推动一王朝的发展兴衰。
  • 欢喜代嫁:独宠小小新娘

    欢喜代嫁:独宠小小新娘

    她是天真娇憨的代嫁小新娘,冷漠无情的庄主相公那边在欢喜的娶妾,她则包袱款款的准备离家出走,行走江湖间,遇美男无数……
  • 天降超级管家

    天降超级管家

    名门贵族学校来了个土包子大小姐!?她是大财团流落在外的千金大小姐,做事粗鲁、直率,毫无淑女风范。他是超级管家,舍弃校园超级名媛,转而侍奉粗野大小姐。却不想野蛮小姐要转正,不做大小姐做女友,一场贵族学校的爱情追逐战就此展开……
  • 精灵天王

    精灵天王

    少年重生神奇宝贝世界,成为卡洛斯地区小黄瓜的哥哥,一路高歌猛进,成长为精灵天王的故事。(开新书啦,《宝可梦世界的修仙者》,来看看呗。)
  • 重生之养狗大户

    重生之养狗大户

    重生咯。方莫有幸赶上了最后一班车。“不过,为什么会这么奇怪呢?”他盯着面前的狗舍,以及自己手里的手机,差点没死了…
  • 礼仪全书(第一册)

    礼仪全书(第一册)

    在现代社会,礼仪可以有效地展现施礼者和受礼者的教养、风度与魅力,它体现着一个人对他人和社会的认知水平、尊重程度,是一个人的学识、修养和价值的外在表现。《礼仪全书》归纳、介绍了大量最新的交际技巧和礼仪规则,有针对性地分析、解答了生活、工作、交际中经常遇到的种种具体问题,内容涉及社交场合的礼仪礼节、招待宾客的要领、职场中的人际关系、商业营销中的礼仪、与外国人交往的礼仪知识等等。在社会变化日益快速的今天,许多经久不变的社会习俗和礼仪,已经发生微妙的改变。本书多层次、多方位、多侧面地反映了这种变化。
  • The Penelopiad

    The Penelopiad

    Margaret Atwood returns with a shrewd, funny, and insightful retelling of the myth of Odysseus from the point of view of Penelope. Describing her own remarkable vision, the author writes in the foreword, I've chosen to give the telling of the story to Penelope and to the twelve hanged maids. The maids form a chanting and singing Chorus, which focuses on two questions that must pose themselves after any close reading of the Odyssey: What led to the hanging of the maids, and what was Penelope really up to? The story as told in the Odyssey doesn't hold water: there are too many inconsistencies. I've always been haunted by the hanged maids and, in The Penelopiad, so is Penelope herself." One of the high points of literary fiction in 2005, this critically acclaimed story found a vast audience and is finally available in paperback.
  • 快穿之公务员难为

    快穿之公务员难为

    快穿,言情向,什么能更新难说。正文:第一个世界:武林篇第二个世界:妖界第三个世界:融合的两个世界第四个世界:修真界……