گردباد

1 - THE CYCLONE

Dorothy lived in a small house in Kansas, with Uncle Henry, Aunt Em, and a little black dog called Toto.

There were no trees and no hills in Kansas, and it was often very windy. Sometimes the wind came very fast and very suddenly. That was a cyclone, and it could blow trees and people and buildings away. There were cellars under all the houses. And when a cyclone came, people went down into their cellars and stayed there.

One day Uncle Henry came out and looked up at the sky. Then he ran quickly back into the house.

‘There’s a cyclone coming, he called to Aunt Em and Dorothy. ‘“We must go down into the cellar!’ They ran to the door of the cellar, but Toto was afraid, and he ran under the bed. Dorothy ran after him.

‘Quick’ shouted Aunt Em from the cellar. ‘Leave the dog and come down into the cellar!’

Dorothy picked up Toto and ran to the cellar door.

But before she got there, the cyclone hit the house.

And then a very strange thing happened.

The house moved, and then it went slowly up, up, up into the sky. Aunt Em and Uncle Henry were down in the cellar under the ground, but the house, Dorothy, and Toto went up to the top of the cyclone. Dorothy looked through the open cellar door and saw hills and houses, a long way down. She closed the cellar door quickly.

The wind blew the house along for many hours. At first Dorothy was afraid.

‘But we can’t do anything about it,’ she said to Toto.

‘So let’s wait and see.’ And after two or three hours, she and Toto went to sleep.

When Dorothy opened her eyes again, the house was on the ground and everything was quiet. She picked up Toto, opened the door, and went out. They saw tall trees and beautiful flowers, and little houses with blue doors.

Dorothy gave a little cry. ‘This isn’t Kansas, Toto!

And who are these people?’

There were three very short men in blue hats, coats and trousers, and a little old woman in a beautiful white dress. The woman walked up to Dorothy and said, ‘Thank you, thank you! Now the people are free!’ ‘Why are you thanking me?’ Dorothy asked.

‘You killed the Witch of the East,’ said the woman.

‘She was a bad witch, and her people, the Munchkins, were very afraid of her. Now she is dead, and we and the Munchkins want to thank you.’

The little old woman and the three little men all smiled happily at Dorothy, but Dorothy did not understand.

‘But I didn’t kill anybody’ she said.

‘Your house fell on the Witch,’ laughed the little woman. ‘Look! You can see her feet!’ Dorothy looked, and saw two feet, with red shoes, under the house. Suddenly, one of the Munchkins gave a shout. ‘Look! Her feet are disappearing in the hot sun.’ A second later, there were only the red shoes.

‘Good,’ said the little woman. She picked up the shoes and gave them to Dorothy. ‘They’re your shoes now. You must wear them, because a witch’s shoes can some times do wonderful things.’

‘Thank you’, said Dorothy. ‘But who are you? Are you a Munchkin?’

‘No, but I’m their friend. I’m the witch of the North and I’m came to see the dead witch of the East. But don’t be afraid, I’m a good witch.’

‘But Aunt Em says there aren’t any witches.’ ‘Oh yes, there are’ said the Witch. ‘Here in the country of Oz we have four witches. The witches of the North and the South are good witches, but those of the East and the West are bad witches. Now the Witch of the East is dead, so there is only one bad witch. We have a famous wizard, too. We call him the Wizard of Oz, and he lives in the Emerald City. How many witches and wizards do you have in your country?’

‘We don’t have any,’ said Dorothy. Suddenly she remembered Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. ‘How can I get back home to Kansas’ she asked.

‘Where is Kansas’ asked the good Witch. ‘I don’t know a country called Kansas, so I can’t tell you the way.’

Dorothy began to cry. Oh dear! What can Id o ?’ ‘Please don’t cry’ said the Witch. ‘Go and see the Wizard of Oz. He’s a good wizard, and perhaps he can help you. It’s a long way, and you must walk there. I can’t go with you, but I can give you my kiss. She gave Dorothy a little kiss. It looked like a small red flower on Dorothy’s face.

‘Now nothing can hurt you,’ she said. ‘Look - there is the road to the Emerald City. It is made of yellow bricks, so you cannot lose your way . . . Goodbye.’ ‘Goodbye!’ said the three little Munchkins.

In the house Dorothy found some bread and some apples, and she put them all in a bag. Then she put on her blue and white dress. ‘Now I look nice,’ she said. She looked down at her old shoes. Then she remembered the bad Witch’s red shoes, and put them on.

She picked up her bag of food. ‘Come on, Toto’ she called. ‘We’re going to find the Wizard of Oz.’