When Dorothy awoke the sun was
shining through the trees and
Toto had long been out chasing
birds around him and squirrels.
She sat up and looked around
her. Scarecrow, still standing
patiently in his corner, waiting
for her.
"We must go and search for
water," she said to him.
"Why do you want water?" he
asked.
"To wash my
face clean after the dust of
the road, and to
drink, so the dry bread will
not stick in my throat."
"It must be inconvenient to
be made of flesh," said the Scarecrow
thoughtfully, "for you must sleep,
and eat and drink. However, you
have brains, and it is worth
a lot of bother to be able to
think properly."
They left the cottage and walked
through the trees until they
found a little spring of clear
water, where Dorothy drank and
bathed and ate her breakfast.
She saw there was not much bread
left in the basket, and the girl
was thankful the Scarecrow did
not have to eat anything, for
there was scarcely enough for
herself and Toto for the day.
When she had finished her meal,
and was about to go back to the
road of yellow brick, she was
startled to hear a deep groan
near by.
"What was that?" she
asked timidly.
"I cannot imagine," replied
the Scarecrow; "but we can go
and see."
Just then another groan reached
their ears, and the sound seemed
to come from behind them. They
turned and walked through the
forest a few steps, when Dorothy
discovered something shining
in a ray of sunshine that fell
between the trees. She ran to
the place and then stopped short,
with a little cry of surprise.
One of the big trees had been
partly chopped through, and standing
beside it, with an uplifted axe
in his hands, was a man made
entirely of tin. His head and
arms and legs were jointed upon
his body, but he stood perfectly
motionless, as if he could not
stir at all.
Dorothy looked at him in amazement,
and so did the Scarecrow, while
Toto barked sharply and made
a snap at the tin legs, which
hurt his teeth.
"Did you groan?" asked
Dorothy.
"Yes," answered the tin man, "I
did. I've been groaning for more
than a year, and no one has ever
heard me before or come to help
me."
"What can I do for you?" she
inquired softly, for she was
moved by the sad voice in which
the man spoke.
"Get an oil-can and oil my
joints," he answered. "They are
rusted so badly that I cannot
move them at all; if I am well
oiled I shall soon be all right
again. You will find an oil-can
on a shelf in my cottage."
Dorothy at
once ran back to the cottage
and found the oil-can,
and then she returned and asked
anxiously, "Where are your joints?"
"Oil my neck, first," replied
the Tin Woodman. So she oiled
it, and as it was quite badly
rusted the Scarecrow took hold
of the tin head and moved it
gently from side to side until
it worked freely, and then the
man could turn it himself.
"Now oil the joints in my arms," he
said. And Dorothy oiled them
and the Scarecrow bent them carefully
until they were quite free from
rust and as good as new.
The Tin Woodman gave a sigh
of satisfaction and lowered his
axe, which he leaned against
the tree.
"This is a great comfort," he
said. "I have been holding that
axe in the air ever since I rusted,
and I'm glad to be able to put
it down at last. Now, if you
will oil the joints of my legs,
I shall be all right once more."
So they oiled his legs until
he could move them freely; and
he thanked them again and again
for his release, for he seemed
a very polite creature, and very
grateful.
"I might have stood there always
if you had not come along," he
said; "so you have certainly
saved my life. How did you happen
to be here?"
"We are on our way to the Emerald
City to see the Great Oz," she
answered, "and we stopped at
your cottage to pass the night."
"Why do you wish to see Oz?" he
asked.
"I want him to send me back
to Kansas, and the Scarecrow
wants him to put a few brains
into his head," she replied.
The Tin Woodman appeared to
think deeply for a moment. Then
he said:
"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. "So,
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 heartily, and
Dorothy added that
she would be pleased to have
his company. So the Tin Woodman
shouldered his axe and they all
passed through the forest until
they came to the road that was
paved with yellow brick.
The Tin Woodman
had asked Dorothy to put the
oil-can in her basket. "For," he
said, "if I should get caught
in the rain, and rust again,
I would need the oil-can badly."
It was a bit of good luck to
have their new comrade join the
party, for soon after they had
begun their journey again 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 so well that soon he
cleared a passage for the entire
party.
Dorothy was thinking so earnestly
as they walked along that she
did not notice when the Scarecrow
stumbled into a hole and rolled
over to the side of the road.
Indeed he was obliged to call
to her to help him up again.
"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 should
much rather have a heart."
"And why is that?" asked
the Scarecrow.
"I will tell
you my story, and then you
will know."
So, while they were walking
through the forest, the Tin Woodman
told the following story:
"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 made up my mind
that instead of living alone
I would marry, so that I might
not become lonely.
"There was
one of the Munchkin girls who
was so beautiful that
I soon grew to love her with
all my heart. She, on her part,
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, for she
was so lazy she wished 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. Thereupon
the Wicked Witch enchanted my
axe, and when I was chopping
away at my best one day, for
I was anxious to get the new
house and my wife as soon as
possible, the axe slipped all
at once and cut off my left leg.
"This at first
seemed a great misfortune,
for I knew a one-legged
man could not do very well as
a wood-chopper. So 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 my action 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 enemy 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, before
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 interested 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," returned
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 Scarecrow 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 basket.
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.
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