“Do you suppose Oz could give me a heart?”
“Why, I guess so,” Dorothy answered. “It would be as easy as to give the Scarecrow brains.”
“True,” the Tin Woodman returned. “If you will allow me to join your party, I will also go to the Emerald City and ask Oz to help me.”
“Come along,” said the Scarecrow. So the Tin Woodman took his axe and they all passed through the forest until they came back to the road paved with yellow brick.
The Tin Woodman had asked Dorothy to put the oil-can in her basket, in case he gets caught in the rain again.
It was lucky that he joined them, for soon they came to a place where the trees and branches grew so thick over the road that the travelers could not pass. But the Tin Woodman set to work with his axe and chopped through it.
As they were walking, the Scarecrow stumbled into a hole and rolled over to the side of the road again. Dorothy helped him up.
“Why didn’t you walk around the hole?” asked the Tin Woodman.
“I don’t know enough,” replied the Scarecrow cheerfully. “My head is stuffed with straw, you know, and that is why I am going to Oz to ask him for some brains.”
“Oh, I see,” said the Tin Woodman. “But, after all, brains are not the best things in the world.”
“Have you any?” inquired the Scarecrow.
“No, my head is quite empty,” answered the Woodman. “But once I had brains, and a heart also; so, having tried them both, I’d rather have a heart.”
“And why is that?” asked the Scarecrow.
“I will tell you my story, and then you will know. I was born the son of a woodman who chopped down trees in the forest and sold the wood for a living. When I grew up, I too became a woodchopper, and after my father died I took care of my old mother as long as she lived. Then I decided that instead of living alone I would marry, so that I might not become lonely.
“There was one of the Munchkin girls that I loved with all my heart. She promised to marry me as soon as I could earn enough money to build a better house for her; so I set to work harder than ever. But the girl lived with an old woman who did not want her to marry anyone. She was lazy and wanted the girl to remain with her and do the cooking and the housework. So the old woman went to the Wicked Witch of the East, and promised her two sheep and a cow if she would prevent the marriage. The Wicked Witch enchanted my axe, and when I was chopping wood one day, it slipped out of my hands and cut off my left leg.
“I went to a tinsmith and had him make me a new leg out of tin. The leg worked very well, once I was used to it. But it angered the Wicked Witch of the East. So, when I began chopping again, my axe slipped and cut off my right leg. Again I went to the tinsmith, and again he made me a leg out of tin. After this the enchanted axe cut off my arms, one after the other; but I replaced them with tin ones. The Wicked Witch then made the axe slip and cut off my head, and at first I thought that was the end of me. But the tinsmith happened to come along, and he made me a new head out of tin.
“I thought I had beaten the Wicked Witch then, and I worked harder than ever. But she was cruel. She made my axe slip again, so that it cut right through my body, splitting me into two halves. Once more the tinsmith came to my help and made me a body of tin. But now I had now no heart, and so I lost all my love for the Munchkin girl.
“My body shone so brightly in the sun that I felt very proud of it. There was only one danger–that my joints would rust. There came a day when I forgot to oil them, and, being caught in a rainstorm, they had rusted, and I was left to stand in the woods until you came to help me. It was terrible, but during the year I stood there I had time to think that the greatest loss I had known was the loss of my heart. While I was in love I was the happiest man on earth; but no one can love who has not a heart, and so I want to ask Oz to give me one. If he does, I will go back to the Munchkin maiden and marry her.”
Both Dorothy and the Scarecrow were very interested in the story of the Tin Woodman.
“All the same,” said the Scarecrow, “I shall ask for brains instead of a heart.”
“I shall take the heart,” returned the Tin Woodman.
Dorothy did not say anything, for she decided she only wanted to get back to Kansas and Aunt Em.
What worried her most was that the bread was nearly gone. Neither the Woodman nor the Scarecrow ever ate anything, but unlike them, she was not made of tin nor straw.
Chapter 6
The Cowardly Lion
All this time Dorothy and her companions had been walking through the thick woods. The road was still paved with yellow brick, but it was covered by dried branches and dead leaves from the trees.
“How long will it be,” the child asked of the Tin Woodman, “before we are out of the forest?”
“I cannot tell,” was the answer, “for I have never been to the Emerald City. But my father went there once, when I was a boy, and he said it was a long journey through a dangerous country. But I am not afraid so long as I have my oil-can. Nothing can hurt the Scarecrow, and you bear the mark of the Good Witch’s kiss, and that will protect you from harm.”
“But Toto!” said the girl anxiously. “What will protect him?”
“We must protect him ourselves,” replied the Tin Woodman.
Just as he spoke there came a terrible roar from the forest, and the next moment a great Lion jumped into the road. With one blow of his paw he sent the Scarecrow spinning over and over to the edge of the road, and then he struck at the Tin Woodman with his sharp claws. He didn’t break the tin, although the Woodman fell over in the road and lay still.
Little Toto, now that he had an enemy to face, ran barking toward the Lion. The beast had opened his mouth to bite the dog, when Dorothy rushed forward, slapped the Lion upon his nose as hard as she could, and cried out:
“Don’t you dare to bite Toto! You ought to be ashamed of yourself, a big beast like you, to bite a poor little dog!”
“I didn’t bite him,” said the Lion, as he rubbed his nose with his paw where Dorothy had hit it.
“No, but you tried to,” she said. “You are a big coward.”
“I know it,” said the Lion, hanging his head in shame. “I’ve always known it. But how can I help it?”
“What makes you a coward?” asked Dorothy, who by now helped the Scarecrow and the Woodman to get up. She looked at the beast in wonder, for he was very big.
“It’s a mystery,” replied the Lion. “I suppose I was born that way. All the other animals in the forest naturally expect me to be brave. I learned that if I roared very loudly every living thing was frightened and got out of my way.”
“But that isn’t right. The King of Beasts shouldn’t be a coward,” said the Scarecrow.
“I know it,” returned the Lion, wiping a tear from his eye with the tip of his tail. “It makes me very unhappy.”
“We’re going to the Emerald City, to ask the Great Oz for help,” said Dorothy.
“Do you think Oz could give me courage?” asked the Cowardly Lion.
“Yes,” said the Scarecrow.
“Then, if you don’t mind, I’ll go with you,” said the Lion, “for I need a bit of courage.”
“You will be very welcome,” answered Dorothy, “for you will help to keep away the other wild beasts.”
So once more the little company set off upon the journey, the Lion walking at Dorothy’s side. Toto did not approve of this new comrade at first. But after a time he became more at ease, and they grew to be good friends.
During the rest of that day there was no other adventure.
Chapter