Read the chapter
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Chapter 20. The Dainty China Country
While the Woodman made a ladder of wood he found in the forest, Dorothy slept because she was tired.
The Lion also curled up to sleep and Toto lay beside him.
The Scarecrow watched the Woodman while he worked, and said to him,
"I can't think why this wall is here, or what it's made of."
"Rest your brain and don't worry about the wall," replied the Woodman.
"When we climb over it, we'll know what's on the other side."
After a time the ladder was finished.
It looked clumsy, but the Tin Woodman was sure it was strong and would do for our use.
The Scarecrow woke Dorothy and the Lion and Toto, and told them the ladder was ready.
The Scarecrow climbed the ladder first.
But he was so awkward that Dorothy had to follow close and keep him from falling.
When he got his head over the top of the wall the Scarecrow said, "Oh, my!"
"Go on," cried Dorothy.
So the Scarecrow climbed farther up and sat down on the top of the wall, and Dorothy put her head over and cried, "Oh, my!"
Just as the Scarecrow had done.
Then Toto came up, and right away began to bark, but Dorothy made him be still.
The Lion climbed the ladder next, and the Tin Woodman came last, but both of them cried, "Oh, my!"
As soon as they looked over the wall.
When they were all sitting in a row on the top of the wall, they looked down and saw a strange sight.
Before them was a country with a floor as smooth, shining and white as the bottom of a platter.
Spread about were many houses made all of china and painted in the brightest colors.
These houses were quite small, the biggest of them reaching only as high as Dorothy's waist.
There were pretty little barns with china fences around them.
Many cows, sheep, horses, pigs, and chickens, all made of china, stood about in groups.
But the strangest of all were the people who lived in this odd country.
There were milkmaids and shepherdesses with bright bodices and golden spots all over their gowns.
There were princesses with very beautiful frocks of silver and gold and purple.
There were shepherds dressed in knee breeches with pink, yellow, and blue stripes and golden buckles on their shoes.
There were princes with crowns with jewels on their heads, wearing white fur robes and satin coats.
There were funny clowns in ruffled gowns with round red spots on their cheeks and tall pointed caps.
And, strangest of all, these people were all made of china, even their clothes.
They were so small that the tallest of them was no higher than Dorothy's knee.
No one looked at the travelers at first.
A little purple china dog with an extra-large head came and barked softly at them, then ran away.
"How shall we get down?" asked Dorothy.
They found the ladder so heavy that they could not pull it up.
The Scarecrow fell off the wall, and the others jumped on him so the hard floor did not hurt feet.
Of course they took care not to land on his head and get the pins in their feet.
When all were safely down they picked up the Scarecrow, whose body was quite flattened out, and patted his straw into shape again.
"We must cross this strange place to get to the other side," said Dorothy.
"For it would be unwise for us to go any other way than due South."
They walked through the china country and first saw a china milkmaid milking a china cow.
As they drew near, the cow gave a kick and knocked over the stool and pail.
She even knocked down the milkmaid herself, and all fell on the china ground with a loud noise.
Dorothy was shocked to see that the cow had broken her leg off.
The pail was in many small pieces and the poor milkmaid had a small cut in her left elbow.
"There!" cried the milkmaid angrily.
"See what you have done!"
"My cow has broken her leg, and I must take her to the mender's shop and have it fixed on again."
"What do you mean by coming here and frightening my cow?"
"I'm very sorry," said Dorothy.
"Please forgive us."
But the pretty milkmaid was much too angry to answer.
She picked up the leg in a bad mood and led her cow away, the poor animal limping on three legs.
As she left them the milkmaid looked back many angry looks at the clumsy strangers, holding her cut elbow close to her side.
Dorothy was quite sorry at this mishap.
"We must be very careful here," said the kind-hearted Woodman, "or we may hurt these pretty little people so they'll never get over it."
A little farther on Dorothy met a nicely dressed Princess, who stopped when she saw the strangers and ran away.
Dorothy wanted to see more of the Princess, so she ran after her.
But the china girl cried out, "Don't chase me! Don't chase me!"
She had such a frightened little voice that Dorothy stopped and said, "Why not?"
"Because," answered the Princess, also stopping at a safe distance, "if I run I may fall down and break myself."
"But could you not be fixed?" asked Dorothy.
"Oh, yes, but one is never so pretty after being fixed, you know," replied the Princess.
"I suppose not," said Dorothy.
"Now there's Mr. Joker, one of our clowns," continued the china lady.
"Who's always trying to stand upon his head."
"He has broken himself so often that he's fixed in a hundred places, and doesn't look at all pretty."
"Here he comes now, so you can see for yourself."
Indeed, a jolly little clown came walking toward them.
Dorothy could see that, in spite of his pretty clothes of red, yellow, and green, he was completely covered with cracks.
They showed plainly that he had been fixed in many places.
The Clown put his hands in his pockets.
He puffed out his cheeks and nodded his head at them in a bold way, then said,
"My lady fair, why do you stare at poor old Mr. Joker?"
"You're quite as stiff And prim as if You'd eaten up a poker!".
"Be quiet, sir!" said the Princess.
"Can't you see these are strangers, and should be treated with respect?"
"Well, that's respect, I expect," declared the Clown, and at once stood upon his head.
"Don't mind Mr. Joker," said the Princess to Dorothy.
"He's very cracked in his head, and that makes him foolish."
"Oh, I don't mind him a bit," said Dorothy.
"But you're so beautiful,"
She added, "I'm sure I could love you dearly."
"Won't you let me carry you back to Kansas and stand you on Aunt Em's mantel in my basket"?
"That would make me very unhappy," answered the china Princess.
"You see, here in our country we live content and can talk and move around as we please."
"But whenever any of us are taken away our joints at once stiffen, and we can only stand straight and look pretty."
Of course that's all that's expected of us on mantels, cabinets, and tables, but our lives are nicer here in our country.
"I wouldn't make you unhappy for all the world!" cried Dorothy.
"So I'll just say good-bye."
"Good-bye," replied the Princess.
They walked carefully through the china country.
The little animals and all the people ran out of their way, afraid the strangers would break them.
After an hour or so the travelers reached the other side of the country and came to another china wall.
It wasn't so high as the first, and by standing upon the Lion's back they all managed to climb to the top.
Then the Lion pulled his legs under him and jumped onto the wall.
As he jumped, his tail hit a china church and smashed it to pieces.
"That was too bad," said Dorothy.
"But really I think we were lucky in not doing these little people more harm than breaking a cow's leg and a church."
"They're all so brittle!"
"They're, indeed," said the Scarecrow.
"And I'm thankful I'm made of straw and can't be easily damaged. There are worse things in the world than being a Scarecrow."