L. Frank Baum
The leg worked very well, once I was used to it. But my ac-
tion angered the Wicked Witch of the East, for she had
promised the old woman I should not marry the pretty
Munchkin girl. 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, nothing daunted,
I had them replaced 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 I little knew how cruel my en-
emy could be. She thought of a new way to kill my love for
the beautiful Munchkin maiden, and 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, fastening my tin arms and legs and head to it, by
means of joints, so that I could move around as well as ever.
But, alas! I had now no heart, so that I lost all my love for the
Munchkin girl, and did not care whether I married her or not.
I suppose she is still living with the old woman, waiting for
me to come after her.
"My body shone so brightly in the sun that I felt very proud
of it and it did not matter now if my axe slipped, for it could
not cut me. There was only one danger—that my joints would
rust; but I kept an oil-can in my cottage and took care to oil
myself whenever I needed it. However, there came a day
when I forgot to do this, and, being caught in a rainstorm, be-
----------------------- Page 59-----------------------
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz 59
fore I thought of the danger my joints had rusted, and I was
left to stand in the woods until you came to help me. It was a
terrible thing to undergo, 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 am
resolved 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 had been greatly inter-
ested in the story of the Tin Woodman, and now they knew
why he was so anxious to get a new heart.
"All the same," said the Scarecrow, "I shall ask for brains
instead of a heart; for a fool would not know what to do with
a heart if he had one."
"I shall take the heart," return
ed the Tin Woodman; "for
brains do not make one happy, and happiness is the
best thing
in the world."
Dorothy did not say anything, for she was puzzled to know
which of her two friends was right, and she decided if she
could only get back to Kansas and Aunt Em, it did not matter
so much whether the Woodman had no brains and the Scare-
crow no heart, or each got what he wanted.
What worried her most was that the bread was nearly gone,
and another meal for herself and Toto would empty the bas-
ket. To be sure neither the Woodman nor the Scarecrow ever
ate anything, but she was not made of tin nor straw, and could
not live unless she was fed.
----------------------- Page 60-----------------------
L. Frank Baum
The leg worked very well, once I was used to it. But my ac-
tion angered the Wicked Witch of the East, for she had
promised the old woman I should not marry the pretty
Munchkin girl. 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, nothing daunted,
I had them replaced 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 I little knew how cruel my en-
emy could be. She thought of a new way to kill my love for
the beautiful Munchkin maiden, and 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, fastening my tin arms and legs and head to it, by
means of joints, so that I could move around as well as ever.
But, alas! I had now no heart, so that I lost all my love for the
Munchkin girl, and did not care whether I married her or not.
I suppose she is still living with the old woman, waiting for
me to come after her.
"My body shone so brightly in the sun that I felt very proud
of it and it did not matter now if my axe slipped, for it could
not cut me. There was only one danger—that my joints would
rust; but I kept an oil-can in my cottage and took care to oil
myself whenever I needed it. However, there came a day
when I forgot to do this, and, being caught in a rainstorm, be-
----------------------- Page 59-----------------------
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz 59
fore I thought of the danger my joints had rusted, and I was
left to stand in the woods until you came to help me. It was a
terrible thing to undergo, 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 am
resolved 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 had been greatly inter-
ested in the story of the Tin Woodman, and now they knew
why he was so anxious to get a new heart.
"All the same," said the Scarecrow, "I shall ask for brains
instead of a heart; for a fool would not know what to do with
a heart if he had one."
"I shall take the heart," return
ed the Tin Woodman; "for
brains do not make one happy, and happiness is the
best thing
in the world."
Dorothy did not say anything, for she was puzzled to know
which of her two friends was right, and she decided if she
could only get back to Kansas and Aunt Em, it did not matter
so much whether the Woodman had no brains and the Scare-
crow no heart, or each got what he wanted.
What worried her most was that the bread was nearly gone,
and another meal for herself and Toto would empty the bas-
ket. To be sure neither the Woodman nor the Scarecrow ever
ate anything, but she was not made of tin nor straw, and could
not live unless she was fed.
----------------------- Page 60-----------------------