Queen of the Field Mice

Chapter-3

As Dorothy and her friends continued on their way through the forest, they heard a terrible roar. The next moment, a great lion ran onto the road. Dorothy and her two friends were very frightened, but little Toto ran ahead and barked at the huge beast.
When the lion saw the little dog, he opened up his mouth as if to bite him. Dorothy became so angry at this that she rushed forward and slapped the lion on the nose.
“Don’t you dare bite Toto!” she shouted, “You ought to be ashamed of yourself, a big lion like you, trying to bite a little dog!”
“I didn’t bite him,” said the lion, as he rubbed his nose with his big paw.
“No, but you tried to,” Dorothy answered, “You are nothing but a coward.”

The lion hung his head in shame. He confessed to Dorothy and her friends that although he was supposed to be the King of the Beasts, he really was a coward. Large tears fell from his eyes as he told the travellers his sad story. The poor lion was afraid of almost everything and everybody.
The Scarecrow stopped for a moment and scratched his straw head. Then he said, “I am going to the Emerald City to ask the Great Oz to give me brains. Maybe Oz could give you courage”
The lion wiped away his tears.
“If I only had courage, then I could truly be the King of the Beasts.”
So Dorothy, the Scarecrow and the Tinman invited the lion to join them on their journey to the Emerald City. The lion agreed, and the friends continued to follow the Yellow Brick Road towards the home of the Great Oz.
That night, Dorothy and her friends camped under a large tree in the forest. The Tinman cut some wood with his axe so that Dorothy might make a fire. The lion hunted for food, and the Scarecrow searched for nuts and berries.
After several days, they passed through the forest and came to a lovely, sunny land. The first thing they saw was a large field of scarlet poppies. Poppies are beautiful flowers, but when there are many of them together, the smell is so powerful that anyone who breathes it falls asleep. Dorothy did not know this, and in a very short time her eyes grew heavy and she sat down to rest.
The Tinman tried to awaken Dorothy. He shouted, “There is no time to rest. We must hurry and return to the Yellow Brick Road before dark.”
But by this time Dorothy was fast asleep. Since the Tinman and the Scarecrow were not made of flesh, the scent of the poppies did not make them sleepy.
“What shall we do?” asked the Tinman, “How will we ever get back on the road to Oz? If we leave Dorothy here, she will surely die.”
The Scarecrow had an idea. He told the lion to run quickly through the field so that he might escape the deadly flowers. Then he and the Tinman could carry Dorothy and Toto out of the poppy field.
So, the Tinman and the Scarecrow made a chair with their hands and carried Dorothy slowly through the field.
After a while, they came to a bend in the river. There, lying fast asleep in the flowers, was the lion. The smell from the poppies had been so strong that the huge beast had given up and fallen asleep.
The Scarecrow and the Tinman felt very sad. Since they could not carry the lion because he was so heavy, they had no choice but to leave him there to sleep.
The Scarecrow and the Tinman sat beside the river and waited for Dorothy to wake up.
“We can’t be far from the Yellow Brick Road now,” said the Scarecrow, “But which way do you suppose it is?”

The Tinman was about to answer, when he heard a low growl. He turned his head and saw a large yellow wild cat come running towards him. Its mouth was open, showing two rows of ugly, sharp teeth. Its red eyes glowed like balls of fire. It was chasing a tiny grey field mouse. Although he had no heart, the Tinman knew it was wrong for the wild cat to try to kill such a tiny creature.
So the Tinman raised his axe, and as the wild cat ran by, he gave it a quick blow and cut the beast’s head off.
“Oh, thank you, thank you ever so much for saving my life,” said the field mouse in a squeaky voice.
“You are quite welcome,” answered the Tinman, “Even though I have no heart, I am careful to help those who need a friend, even if it happens to be only a mouse.”
The tiny mouse looked shocked.
“Why, I am the Queen—the Queen of all the Field Mice. And since you have saved my life, I owe you a good deed in return.”
But the Tinman could not think of anything this tiny mouse could do to help him.
Just then the Scarecrow got an idea.
“I know something you could do to help us,” he shouted, “Our friend, the lion, is fast asleep in the poppy field. Do you think you could help us move him?”
The Tinman could not understand how a tiny mouse could move a great lion. But the Queen of the Field Mice informed him that she was the queen of thousands of mice. She gave a signal, and in a few minutes they were surrounded by field mice. They came from all directions. They were big mice, and little mice and middle-sized mice. Each one brought a piece of string in its mouth.
The Tinman and the Scarecrow worked very quickly, and in no time at all, they made a truck out of tree branches. They slowly tied one end of each piece of string around the neck of each mouse and fastened the other end to the truck. When all the mice had been harnessed to the truck, they were able to pull it quite easily. The Tinman and the Scarecrow sat on the wooden truck while the tiny mice pulled them into the poppy field.
They soon found the lion. They finally managed to get him on the truck, but they had to work very hard, for the lion was very heavy. Then with the help of the Scarecrow and the Tinman, the mice were able to pull the truck out of the poppy field.
By this time, Dorothy and Toto were awake, and they were very happy to see their friend the Lion being pulled away from the deadly flowers.
The Queen of the Field Mice bowed and in a squeaky voice said, “Goodbye, and if you ever need us again, come out into the field and call, and we shall hear you and help you any way we can goodbye.”

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