Chapter XIV.
The Winged Monkeys
You will remember there was no road--not even a pathway--betweenthe castle of the Wicked Witch and the Emerald City. When the fourtravellers went in search of the Witch she had seen them coming, andso sent the Winged Monkeys to bring them to her. It was much harderto find their way back through the big fields of buttercups andyellow daisies than it was being carried. They knew, of course, theymust go straight east, toward the rising sun; and they started offin the right way. But at noon, when the sun was over their heads,they did not know which was east and which was west, and that wasthe reason they were lost in the great fields. They kept on walking,however, and at night the moon came out and shone brightly. So theylay down among the sweet smelling yellow flowers and slept soundlyuntil morning--all but the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman.
The next morning the sun was behind a cloud, but they started on, asif they were quite sure which way they were going.
"If we walk far enough," said Dorothy, "we shall sometime come tosome place, I am sure."
But day by day passed away, and they still saw nothing before thembut the yellow fields. The Scarecrow began to grumble a bit.
"We have surely lost our way," he said, "and unless we find it againin time to reach the Emerald City I shall never get my brains."
"Nor I my heart," declared the Tin Woodman. "It seems to me I canscarcely wait till I get to Oz, and you must admit this is a verylong journey."
"You see," said the Cowardly Lion, with a whimper, "I haven't thecourage to keep tramping forever, without getting anywhere at all."
Then Dorothy lost heart. She sat down on the grass and looked at hercompanions, and they sat down and looked at her, and Toto found thatfor the first time in his life he was too tired to chase a butterflythat flew past his head; so he put out his tongue and panted andlooked at Dorothy as if to ask what they should do next.
"Suppose we call the Field Mice," she suggested. "They could probablytell us the way to the Emerald City."
"To be sure they could," cried the Scarecrow; "why didn't we think ofthat before?"
Dorothy blew the little whistle she had always carried about her necksince the Queen of the Mice had given it to her. In a few minutesthey heard the pattering of tiny feet, and many of the small greymice came running up to her. Among them was the Queen herself, whoasked, in her squeaky little voice,
"What can I do for my friends?"
"We have lost our way," said Dorothy. "Can you tell us where theEmerald City is?"
"Certainly," answered the Queen; "but it is a great way off, for youhave had it at your backs all this time." Then she noticed Dorothy'sGolden Cap, and said, "Why don't you use the charm of the Cap, andcall the Winged Monkeys to you? They will carry you to the City of Ozin less than an hour."
"I didn't know there was a charm," answered Dorothy, in surprise."What is it?"
"It is written inside the Golden Cap," replied the Queen of the Mice;"but if you are going to call the Winged Monkeys we must run away,for they are full of mischief and think it great fun to plague us."
"Won't they hurt me?" asked the girl, anxiously.
"Oh, no; they must obey the wearer of the Cap. Good-bye!" And shescampered out of sight, with all the mice hurrying after her.
Dorothy looked inside the Golden Cap and saw some words written uponthe lining. These, she thought, must be the charm, so she read thedirections carefully and put the Cap upon her head.
"Ep-pe, pep-pe, kak-ke!" she said, standing on her left foot.
"What did you say?" asked the Scarecrow, who did not know what shewas doing.
"Hil-lo, hol-lo, hel-lo!" Dorothy went on, standing this time on herright foot.
"Hello!" replied the Tin Woodman, calmly.
"_The Monkeys caught Dorothy in their arms and flewaway with her._"]
"Ziz-zy, zuz-zy, zik!" said Dorothy, who was now standing on bothfeet. This ended the saying of the charm, and they heard a greatchattering and flapping of wings, as the band of Winged Monkeysflew up to them. The King bowed low before Dorothy, and asked,
"What is your command?"
"We wish to go to the Emerald City," said the child, "and we havelost our way."
"We will carry you," replied the King, and no sooner had he spokenthan two of the Monkeys caught Dorothy in their arms and flew awaywith her. Others took the Scarecrow and the Woodman and the Lion, andone little Monkey seized Toto and flew after them, although the dogtried hard to bite him.
The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman were rather frightened at first,for they remembered how badly the Winged Monkeys had treated thembefore; but they saw that no harm was intended, so they rode throughthe air quite cheerfully, and had a fine time looking at the prettygardens and woods far below them.
Dorothy found herself riding easily between two of the biggestMonkeys, one of them the King himself. They had made a chair of theirhands and were careful not to hurt her.
"Why do you have to obey the charm of the Golden Cap?" she asked.
"That is a long story," answered the King, with a laugh; "but as wehave a long journey before us I will pass the time by telling youabout it, if you wish."
"I shall be glad to hear it," she replied.
"Once," began the leader, "we were a free people, living happily inthe great forest, flying from tree to tree, eating nuts and fruit,and doing just as we pleased without calling anybody master. Perhapssome of us were rather too full of mischief at times, flying down topull the tails of the animals that had no wings, chasing birds, andthrowing nuts at the people who walked in the forest. But we werecareless and happy and full of fun, and enjoyed every minute of theday. This was many years ago, long before Oz came out of the cloudsto rule over this land.
"There lived here then, away at the North, a beautiful princess, whowas also a powerful sorceress. All her magic was used to help thepeople, and she was never known to hurt anyone who was good. Her namewas Gayelette, and she lived in a handsome palace built from greatblocks of ruby. Everyone loved her, but her greatest sorrow was thatshe could find no one to love in return, since all the men were muchtoo stupid and ugly to mate with one so beautiful and wise. At last,however, she found a boy who was handsome and manly and wise beyondhis years. Gayelette made up her mind that when he grew to be a manshe would make him her husband, so she took him to her ruby palaceand used all her magic powers to make him as strong and good andlovely as any woman could wish. When he grew to manhood, Quelala,as he was called, was said to be the best and wisest man in all theland, while his manly beauty was so great that Gayelette loved himdearly, and hastened to make everything ready for the wedding.
"My grandfather was at that time the King of the Winged Monkeys whichlived in the forest near Gayalette's palace, and the old fellow loveda joke better than a good dinner. One day, just before the wedding,my grandfather was flying out with his band when he saw Quelalawalking beside the river. He was dressed in a rich costume of pinksilk and purple velvet, and my grandfather thought he would see whathe could do. At his word the band flew down and seized Quelala,carried him in their arms until they were over the middle of theriver, and then dropped him into the water.
"'Swim out, my fine fellow,'" cried my grandfather, "'and see if thewater has spotted your clothes.'" Quelala was much too wise not toswim, and he was not in the least spoiled by all his good fortune. Helaughed, when he came to the top of the water, and swam in to shore.But when Gayelette came running out to him she found his silks andvelvet all ruined by the river.
"The princess was very angry, and she knew, of course, who did it. Shehad all the Winged Monkeys brought before her, and she said at firstthat their wings should be tied and they should be treated as they hadtreated Quelala, and dropped in the river. But my grandfather pleadedhard, for he knew the Monkeys would drown in the river with their wingstied, and Quelala said a kind word for them also; so that Gayelettefinally spared them,
on condition that the Winged Monkeys should everafter do three times the bidding of the owner of the Golden Cap. ThisCap had been made for a wedding present to Quelala, and it is said tohave cost the princess half her kingdom. Of course my grandfather andall the other Monkeys at once agreed to the condition, and that ishow it happens that we are three times the slaves of the owner of theGolden Cap, whomsoever he may be."
"And what became of them?" asked Dorothy, who had been greatlyinterested in the story.
"Quelala being the first owner of the Golden Cap," replied theMonkey, "he was the first to lay his wishes upon us. As his bridecould not bear the sight of us, he called us all to him in the forestafter he had married her and ordered us to always keep where shecould never again set eyes on a Winged Monkey, which we were glad todo, for we were all afraid of her.
"This was all we ever had to do until the Golden Cap fell into thehands of the Wicked Witch of the West, who made us enslave theWinkies, and afterward drive Oz himself out of the Land of the West.Now the Golden Cap is yours, and three times you have the right tolay your wishes upon us."
As the Monkey King finished his story Dorothy looked down and saw thegreen, shining walls of the Emerald City before them. She wonderedat the rapid flight of the Monkeys, but was glad the journey wasover. The strange creatures set the travellers down carefully beforethe gate of the City, the King bowed low to Dorothy, and then flewswiftly away, followed by all his band.
"That was a good ride," said the little girl.
"Yes, and a quick way out of our troubles." replied the Lion. "Howlucky it was you brought away that wonderful Cap!"
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Page 14