大骗子的魔法把戏
第二天早晨，稻草人对他的朋友们说：
“祝贺我吧。我终于要去奥兹那里拿回我的大脑了。等我回来，就会和常人一样了。”
“我一直都喜欢你原来的样子。”多萝西单纯地说。
“你喜欢一个稻草人，真是好心。”他答道，“不过，等你听到我的新大脑将要产生的绝妙思想，你肯定会更加看重我。”接着，他欢快地向大家道别，前往王座室，敲了敲门。
“进来。”奥兹说。
稻草人走进去，看见小矮人坐在窗边，陷入沉思。
“我是来拿大脑的。”稻草人略显不安地说。
“哦，对；请坐那把椅子。”奥兹答道，“请原谅我要取下你的脑袋，但为了把大脑放到正确的位置，我必须这么做。”
“没关系，”稻草人说，“你尽可以把我的脑袋取下来，只要再装回去时它会更好就行。”
于是，魔法师解开他的脑袋，倒出稻草。然后他走进里屋，取了一量杯麸皮，掺进许多针和针。充分摇晃混合后，他把这混合物装满稻草人脑袋的上半部，其余空间塞进稻草，使之固定。
等他把稻草人的脑袋重新装回身体，对他说：“从此你就是个大人物了，因为我给了你许多崭新的脑子。”
稻草人实现了最大的愿望，又高兴又骄傲，热忱地谢过奥兹，便回到朋友们那里。
多萝西好奇地打量他。他的头顶因大脑而鼓得老高。
“你感觉怎样？”她问。
“我觉得确实聪明了，”他认真回答，“等我用惯了大脑，就会无所不知。”
“为什么那些针和针从你头上戳出来？”铁皮樵夫问。
“那证明他尖刻。”狮子说。
“嗯，我得去奥兹那儿拿我的心了。”樵夫说。于是他走到王座室，敲了敲门。
“进来。”奥兹喊道，樵夫进去说：“我是来拿心的。”
“很好，”小矮人答道，“但我得在你胸口割个洞，才能把心放到正确的位置。希望不会弄疼你。”
“哦，不会，”樵夫答道，“我根本不会有感觉。”
于是奥兹拿来一把白铁匠的剪刀，在铁皮樵夫胸口左侧剪出一个小方洞。然后，他走到抽屉柜前，取出一颗漂亮的心，完全用绸缎做成，里面填着木屑。
“漂亮吧？”他问。
“确实漂亮！”樵夫答道，欣喜异常，“但这是一颗善良的心吗？”
“哦，非常善良！”奥兹答道。他把心放进樵夫胸口，再将那块铁皮原样装回，在切口处整齐地焊好。
“好了，”他说，“现在你有一颗任谁都会骄傲的心了。很抱歉不得不在你胸口打块补丁，但实在没法子。”
“别管补丁了，”快乐的樵夫大声说，“我非常感激你，绝不会忘记你的好意。”
“不必客气。”奥兹答道。
随后，铁皮樵夫回到朋友们那里，大家因他的好运纷纷向他道贺。
狮子这时走到王座室，敲了敲门。
“进来。”奥兹说。
“我是来拿勇气的。”狮子走进房间，宣告道。
“很好，”小矮人答道，“我去给你取。”
他走到橱柜前，伸手到高架上取下一只有着方形绿瓶的瓶子，把里面的东西倒进一只雕花精美的绿金碟中。魔法师把这碟子放到胆小狮面前，狮子嗅了嗅，像是不喜欢那味道，魔法师说：
“喝吧。”
“这是什么？”狮子问。
“这个嘛，”奥兹答道，“如果它在你体内，那就是勇气。你当然知道，勇气总在人的体内；所以等你吞下它，这才能真正叫做勇气。因此我劝你尽快喝掉。”
狮子不再犹豫，一饮而尽，直到碟子空了。
“现在感觉如何？”奥兹问。
“充满了勇气。”狮子答道，兴高采烈地回去告诉朋友们他的好运。
奥兹独自一人，想到自己成功给了稻草人、铁皮樵夫和狮子他们自以想要的东西，不禁微笑。“我怎能不是个骗子，”他说，“当所有这些人都让我做明知做不到的事？让稻草人、狮子和樵夫高兴很容易，因为他们以为我无所不能。但要把多萝西带回堪萨斯，需要的可不止想象，而我确实不知该怎么做到。”
The Magic Art of the Great Humbug
Next morning the Scarecrow said to his friends:
“Congratulate me. I am going to Oz to get my brains at last. When I
return I shall be as other men are.”
“I have always liked you as you were,” said Dorothy simply.
“It is kind of you to like a Scarecrow,” he replied. “But surely you
will think more of me when you hear the splendid thoughts my new brain
is going to turn out.” Then he said good-bye to them all in a cheerful
voice and went to the Throne Room, where he rapped upon the door.
“Come in,” said Oz.
The Scarecrow went in and found the little man sitting down by the
window, engaged in deep thought.
“I have come for my brains,” remarked the Scarecrow, a little uneasily.
“Oh, yes; sit down in that chair, please,” replied Oz. “You must excuse
me for taking your head off, but I shall have to do it in order to put
your brains in their proper place.”
“That’s all right,” said the Scarecrow. “You are quite welcome to take
my head off, as long as it will be a better one when you put it on
again.”
So the Wizard unfastened his head and emptied out the straw. Then he
entered the back room and took up a measure of bran, which he mixed
with a great many pins and needles. Having shaken them together
thoroughly, he filled the top of the Scarecrow’s head with the mixture
and stuffed the rest of the space with straw, to hold it in place.
When he had fastened the Scarecrow’s head on his body again he said to
him, “Hereafter you will be a great man, for I have given you a lot of
bran-new brains.”
The Scarecrow was both pleased and proud at the fulfillment of his
greatest wish, and having thanked Oz warmly he went back to his
friends.
Dorothy looked at him curiously. His head was quite bulged out at the
top with brains.
“How do you feel?” she asked.
“I feel wise indeed,” he answered earnestly. “When I get used to my
brains I shall know everything.”
“Why are those needles and pins sticking out of your head?” asked the
Tin Woodman.
“That is proof that he is sharp,” remarked the Lion.
“Well, I must go to Oz and get my heart,” said the Woodman. So he
walked to the Throne Room and knocked at the door.
“Come in,” called Oz, and the Woodman entered and said, “I have come
for my heart.”
“Very well,” answered the little man. “But I shall have to cut a hole
in your breast, so I can put your heart in the right place. I hope it
won’t hurt you.”
“Oh, no,” answered the Woodman. “I shall not feel it at all.”
So Oz brought a pair of tinsmith’s shears and cut a small, square hole
in the left side of the Tin Woodman’s breast. Then, going to a chest of
drawers, he took out a pretty heart, made entirely of silk and stuffed
with sawdust.
“Isn’t it a beauty?” he asked.
“It is, indeed!” replied the Woodman, who was greatly pleased. “But is
it a kind heart?”
“Oh, very!” answered Oz. He put the heart in the Woodman’s breast and
then replaced the square of tin, soldering it neatly together where it
had been cut.
“There,” said he; “now you have a heart that any man might be proud of.
I’m sorry I had to put a patch on your breast, but it really couldn’t
be helped.”
“Never mind the patch,” exclaimed the happy Woodman. “I am very
grateful to you, and shall never forget your kindness.”
“Don’t speak of it,” replied Oz.
Then the Tin Woodman went back to his friends, who wished him every joy
on account of his good fortune.
The Lion now walked to the Throne Room and knocked at the door.
“Come in,” said Oz.
“I have come for my courage,” announced the Lion, entering the room.
“Very well,” answered the little man; “I will get it for you.”
He went to a cupboard and reaching up to a high shelf took down a
square green bottle, the contents of which he poured into a green-gold
dish, beautifully carved. Placing this before the Cowardly Lion, who
sniffed at it as if he did not like it, the Wizard said:
“Drink.”
“What is it?” asked the Lion.
“Well,” answered Oz, “if it were inside of you, it would be courage.
You know, of course, that courage is always inside one; so that this
really cannot be called courage until you have swallowed it. Therefore
I advise you to drink it as soon as possible.”
The Lion hesitated no longer, but drank till the dish was empty.
“How do you feel now?” asked Oz.
“Full of courage,” replied the Lion, who went joyfully back to his
friends to tell them of his good fortune.
Oz, left to himself, smiled to think of his success in giving the
Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman and the Lion exactly what they thought
they wanted. “How can I help being a humbug,” he said, “when all these
people make me do things that everybody knows can’t be done? It was
easy to make the Scarecrow and the Lion and the Woodman happy, because
they imagined I could do anything. But it will take more than
imagination to carry Dorothy back to Kansas, and I’m sure I don’t know
how it can be done.”
