Chapter Twenty Two
Ozma's Banquet
Ozma had seen in her Magic Picture the liberation of Inga's parents andthe departure of the entire party for the Emerald City, so with herusual hospitality she ordered a splendid banquet prepared and invitedall her quaint friends who were then in the Emerald City to be presentthat evening to meet the strangers who were to become her guests.
Glinda, also, in her wonderful Record Book had learned of the eventsthat had taken place in the caverns of the Nome King and she becameespecially interested in the enchantment of the Prince of Boboland. Soshe hastily prepared several of her most powerful charms and thensummoned her flock of sixteen white storks, which swiftly bore her toOzma's palace. She arrived there before the Red Wagon did and waswarmly greeted by the girl Ruler.
Realizing that the costume of Queen Garee of Pingaree must have becomesadly worn and frayed, owing to her hardships and adventures, Ozmaordered a royal outfit prepared for the good Queen and had it laid inher chamber ready for her to put on as soon as she arrived, so shewould not be shamed at the banquet. New costumes were also provided forKing Kitticut and King Rinkitink and Prince Inga, all cut and made andembellished in the elaborate and becoming style then prevalent in theLand of Oz, and as soon as the party arrived at the palace Ozma'sguests were escorted by her servants to their rooms, that they mightbathe and dress themselves.
Glinda the Sorceress and the Wizard of Oz took charge of Bilbil thegoat and went to a private room where they were not likely to beinterrupted. Glinda first questioned Bilbil long and earnestly aboutthe manner of his enchantment and the ceremony that had been used bythe magician who enchanted him. At first Bilbil protested that he didnot want to be restored to his natural shape, saying that he had beenforever disgraced in the eyes of his people and of the entire world bybeing obliged to exist as a scrawny, scraggly goat. But Glinda pointedout that any person who incurred the enmity of a wicked magician wasliable to suffer a similar fate, and assured him that his misfortunewould make him better beloved by his subjects when he returned to themfreed from his dire enchantment.
Bilbil was finally convinced of the truth of this assertion and agreedto submit to the experiments of Glinda and the Wizard, who knew theyhad a hard task before them and were not at all sure they couldsucceed. We know that Glinda is the most complete mistress of magic whohas ever existed, and she was wise enough to guess that the clever butevil magician who had enchanted Prince Bobo had used a spell that wouldpuzzle any ordinary wizard or sorcerer to break; therefore she hadgiven the matter much shrewd thought and hoped she had conceived a planthat would succeed. But because she was not positive of success shewould have no one present at the incantation except her assistant, theWizard of Oz.
First she transformed Bilbil the goat into a lamb, and this was donequite easily. Next she transformed the lamb into an ostrich, giving ittwo legs and feet instead of four. Then she tried to transform theostrich into the original Prince Bobo, but this incantation was anutter failure. Glinda was not discouraged, however, but by a powerfulspell transformed the ostrich into a tottenhot--which is a lower formof a man. Then the tottenhot was transformed into a mifket, which was agreat step in advance and, finally, Glinda transformed the mifket intoa handsome young man, tall and shapely, who fell on his knees beforethe great Sorceress and gratefully kissed her hand, admitting that hehad now recovered his proper shape and was indeed Prince Bobo ofBoboland.
This process of magic, successful though it was in the end, hadrequired so much time that the banquet was now awaiting their presence.Bobo was already dressed in princely raiment and although he seemedvery much humbled by his recent lowly condition, they finally persuadedhim to join the festivities.
When Rinkitink saw that his goat had now become a Prince, he did notknow whether to be sorry or glad, for he felt that he would miss thecompanionship of the quarrelsome animal he had so long been accustomedto ride upon, while at the same time he rejoiced that poor Bilbil hadcome to his own again.
Prince Bobo humbly begged Rinkitink's forgiveness for having been sodisagreeable to him, at times, saying that the nature of a goat hadinfluenced him and the surly disposition he had shown was a part of hisenchantment. But the jolly King assured the Prince that he had reallyenjoyed Bilbil's grumpy speeches and forgave him readily. Indeed, theyall discovered the young Prince Bobo to be an exceedingly courteous andpleasant person, although he was somewhat reserved and dignified.
Ah, but it was a great feast that Ozma served in her gorgeous banquethall that night and everyone was as happy as could be. The Shaggy Manwas there, and so was Jack Pumpkinhead and the Tin Woodman and Cap'nBill. Beside Princess Dorothy sat Tiny Trot and Betsy Bobbin, and thethree little girls were almost as sweet to look upon as was Ozma, whosat at the head of her table and outshone all her guests in loveliness.
King Rinkitink was delighted with the quaint people of Oz and laughedand joked with the tin man and the pumpkin-headed man and found Cap'nBill a very agreeable companion. But what amused the jolly King mostwere the animal guests, which Ozma always invited to her banquets andseated at a table by themselves, where they talked and chatted togetheras people do but were served the sort of food their natures required.The Hungry Tiger and Cowardly Lion and the Glass Cat were much admiredby Rinkitink, but when he met a mule named Hank, which Betsy Bobbin hadbrought to Oz, the King found the creature so comical that he laughedand chuckled until his friends thought he would choke. Then while thebanquet was still in progress, Rinkitink composed and sang a song tothe mule and they all joined in the chorus, which was something likethis:
"It's very queer how big an ear Is worn by Mr. Donkey; And yet I fear he could not hear If it were on a monkey.
'Tis thick and strong and broad and long And also very hairy; It's quite becoming to our Hank But might disgrace a fairy!"
This song was received with so much enthusiasm that Rinkitink wasprevailed upon to sing another. They gave him a little time to composethe rhyme, which he declared would be better if he could devote a monthor two to its composition, but the sentiment he expressed was soadmirable that no one criticized the song or the manner in which thejolly little King sang it.
Dorothy wrote down the words on a piece of paper, and here they are:
"We're merry comrades all, to-night, Because we've won a gallant fight And conquered all our foes. We're not afraid of anything, So let us gayly laugh and sing Until we seek repose.
"We've all our grateful hearts can wish; King Gos has gone to feed the fish, Queen Cor has gone, as well; King Kitticut has found his own, Prince Bobo soon will have a throne Relieved of magic spell.
"So let's forget the horrid strife That fell upon our peaceful life And caused distress and pain; For very soon across the sea We'll all be sailing merrily To Pingaree again."
Rinkitink in Oz Page 22