Chapter13: A Highly Magnified History

No matter how many times I re-read this chapter, I can't help feeling duped somehow.... 


A magnifying-glass is used for making an object look enlarged, isn't it? At first I imagined something like a loupe, but the object is projected on the screen, so it should be something like a projector. And the projected object was able to run off the screen and stay alive. Let me see. What happened to the original object? Do you have the same question as me?

No, perhaps, it is because I'm judging things by our world's criteria, like a loupe or a projector. Professor Nowitall said "my famous magnifying-glass." It should be something very special. It's in Oz, a fairyland. Maybe it would be something like Doraemon's Gulliver Tunnel;)


Anyway, Woggle-Bug was magnified successfully. We learned here that those bizarre clothes were a gift from the tailor who had his ninth life saved by Woggle-Bug. I see. Hummm...the tailor must have made those clothes from his remnant. It must have been a good chance to clear up his stock, I guess. As you see, that tasteless style....;P

In the previous chapter, though I wrote that the person who should ride on the Saw Horse was the Scarecrow, not Jack, but Jack couldn't walk a long distance because his joints were feeble. I see. His joints has to hold such a big and heavy pumpkin with just tree's barks and branches. Also, his neck doesn't hold his head firmly.

By the way, the Saw Horse has a very bad mouth, doesn't he?

Chapter12: Mr. H.M. Woggle-Bug, T.E.

General Jinjur knew where the Scarecrow went. She predicted that he visited the Tin Woodman and the Tin Woodman joined them. To compete them, she already called Mombi to help her.

Mombi, who accepted the request easily, came to the Emerald City and immediately started to cast her magic on the Scarecrow and his party. The magic worked well and they were led by the nose.

I've found a new thing here! The Tin Woodman has tin eyelids! How meticulous Ku-Klip's work is! Mr. Ku-Klip, you are such a wonderful artisan.

Unfortunately (or could it be because of Mombi's magic?), the Saw Horse broke his leg by stepping into a rabbit hole.

While the party was sitting around and thinking what to do, a weird creature came up to them. Here is our Mr. Woggle Bug! He is very shrewd to already have his name cards, isn't he?

His clothes are also absolutely unique. I didn't know about what a vest of white duck is"Duck" here means thin canvas fabric. .

The result of searching images of "vest duck" on google. 

And knickerbockers of fawn-colored plush. "Plush"? What is plush? Then, I googled it on the Internet. How convenient the Internet is!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plush

It's soft and fluffy , a kind of velvet, and often used for stuffed animal toys.

So...he wears a casual duck vest underneath a formal swallowtail coat with a silk lining. And knickerbockers of plush. His style is really bizarre, isn't it? He even wears a tall silk hat.

Then, the Scarecrow and his party were enthusiastic to listen Woggle-Bug's life story.

Hey, guys! Are you OK with that? You are on the way back to the Emerald city hastily, aren't you? Do you remember you said "Time is precious just now" in the previous chapter and set off in a hurry?

Well, maybe...that's the Oz spirit.


Woggle-Bug's long story was ready to start.

Chapter11: A Nickel-Plated Emperor

This chapter's title is weird, isn't it? Nickle? Tin Woodman is coated by tin, isn't he? Tin isn't nickel. Well, I know his full name is Nick Chopper, though.

How different are tin and nickle?
Here are what I learned from the Internet.
* Both are used to prevent corrosion of metal inside.
* Whiskers can occur on tin plating without a base plating. Nickle plating doen's have them.
* Hardness is different. Tin is a very soft metal and nickle is hard. 

Hey, what am I learning?;p

Back to the story of Oz,
As Nick became an emperor, he learned to use nickle which is harder than tin...can I say it judging from the chapter title? Then, he is not the TIN Woondman, is he? OK, I shouldn't point it out. I knew it.

The Tin Woodman (I'll keep calling him this name) seems to be a suitable ruler. While the Scarecrow was grumbling "Boring, boring," he had grabbed the hearts of the Winkies by his good governance and gained the trust and respect of the Winkies. Meanwhile, he had his castle embellished as he liked and had his body polished, enforcing his rights as emperor. Don't you think he had an air of dignity as a great ruler when he greeted the Scarecrow's party? Did you notice he gave the chancellor clear instructions during his absence?

When I read this part in my childhood, perhaps I didn't like that kind of conceitedness. The Scarecrow was always humble and looked like a good man. However, since I am an adult now, I can understand how difficult being a top leader is. Though the Scarecrow had been always thinking about himself, not about the nation, the Tin Woodman overlooked his land and reigned well. The Tin Woodman is more mature, isn't he?

He also gave the Scarecrow great advice, that he should not renounce the crown, the badge of royalty. Yes, the badge of royalty is very important. Good advice.

Then, the party having obtained a very powerful partner in the Tin Woodman, went back to the Emerald City to regain the capital.

On the way to the Emerald City, the Scarecrow was really down-to-earth and natural as always. Normally, when a king, an attendant and a horse are together, the king should ride the horse, right? Moreover, since the Scarecrow's feet are soft, it must be hard for him to walk.

He let Jack ride on the horse and took care of him not to fall or be hurt. How sweet he was!

Chapter10: The Journey to the Tin Woodman

They entered into Winkie Country.

The Scarecrow enjoyed remembering his former travel with Dorothy to see the places they went through, saying "Here is where we were captured and Dorothy was taken away" or "Here is where Nick Chopper destroyed the wolves."

For the Scarecrow and the readers from the first story, this is a good reminiscence, but, Tip, Jack, and the readers from the second story might think "So what?";P

 It's very hard to follow Jack's very unique way of thinking. 

The Saw Horse was irritated by him.

When Jack dropped his head in the river and it floated down the stream, though Tip picked it up and gave it back to Jack, Jack only worried if his head got damaged by water, and then, the next moment, he worried if his head got damaged by sunshine.

Losing face is a much more serious thing, isn't it?

As I'm a mother of two boys, I'd like him to say, "After being given something back, what you should say first of all is 'Thank you!', not 'Dear me!'":p

For Tip who has a flesh body and needs to sleep, they took a rest through the night.

Chapter9: The Scarecrow Plans an escape

Though Tip, who sneakily ran away from the rebels, explained what was happening to the Scarecrow and Jack, who were playing quoits in the courtyard, His Highness the Scarecrow didn't lose his cool at all.

A ruler who is still relaxing and saying "do as you like" even when his palace is about to be destroyed by the intruding enemy, there might be such a person in real history. The throne, which was handed down to him by his predecessor without any effort his his part, as the Scarecrow said, could be very boring. This would be true especially for a ruler who has no vision for his country.

However, when he noticed that his body was theatened, he couldn't stay cool. The Scarecrow hastily began to plan to run out from his palace.

I like the Scarecrow, but...What could I say about this decision of his? When he heard Tip's "the Saw Horse can't carry four", instantly, he decided to leave his soldier because he was less important. The Soldier, who must know his master very well, replied "I expected this blow";)

Then, the Scarecrow, Jack Pumpkinhead, and Tip on the Saw Horse ran out from the palace fleeing these risks, thinking of sinking or swimming together.

Chapter 8: Gen. Jinjur's Army of Revolt

Well, another of my favorites, Jinjur appears in this chapter at last. I like such a hard-nosed girl for some reason.

She told Tip, who is scared about war, with full confidence, "What man would oppose a girl, or dare to harm her? And there is not an ugly face in my entire Army." Her speech to her army was incendiary. Unfortunately, most of them didn't seem to listen to it:P

The uniform of Jinjur's army was very colorful. It must have boosted the morale of the army. In the real life, I've heard that some girls choose their school because its uniform is cute. All through the ages, in all countries, for girls, clothing is very important, isn't it?

Though the gatekeeper of the Emerald City was great in the previous chapter, he failed here. The Soldier with the Green Whiskers, who appeared after the gatekeeper, also couldn't fight against girls.

It's the same as how a 6-year-old brother can't beat his 2-year-old sister, isn't it? While she can do anything, like grabbing, yanking, or kicking, all her brother can do is protect himself from her attacks.

I didn't know the Soldier with the Green Whiskers was married. In addition, his wife is the master of the house. Well, well, actually, that's the key of a happy couple, isn't it? Umm...he is the kind of person who says "my gun isn't loaded" to the rebels...I can easily imagine how he irritates his wife every day!

After all, "Might is right". How is the Emerald City going to be after Junjur's army has intruded?

That will be shown in the next chapter.

Chapter 7: His Majesty the Scarecrow

The Scarecrow and Jack's conversation was funny in this chapter. You would remember this conversation even if you read this story only once a long time ago.

The Scarecrow from Gillikin and Jack from Munchkin tried to talk to each other through a translator, because they were obsessed with the idea that their languages were different, even though they talked smoothly already.

The translator was Jellia Jamb! A lovely and clever girl. I love her!

A little mischievous Jellia Jamb intentionally translated wrong. However, the Scarecrow didn't get angry after he realized that she had teased them. I'm sure Jellia Jamb is one of his favorite people too:)

When I read this story for the first time as a child, I thought that she was kind of mean because she didn't explain what they misunderstood about their languages and teased them instead. I was a good child, wasn't I?:)

Quiots, which the Scarecrow and Jack tried to play in the courtyard, is translated as "throwing iron rings"

Here are the explanations of quiot from Wikipedia and from The United States Quoiting Association. If you want to know more, visit there:)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quoits
http://www.quoits.info/history/history.html