L.Frank Baum. The marvelous land of Oz -
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laugh in the face of royalty.
"Then how is it that I seem to understand them myself?" inquired the
Scarecrow.
"Because they are one and the same!" declared the girl, now laughing
merrily. "Does not your Majesty know that in all the land of Oz but one
language is spoken?"
"Is it indeed so?" cried the Scarecrow, much relieved to hear this;
"then I might easily have been my own interpreter!"
"It was all my fault, your Majesty," said Jack, looking rather
foolish," I thought we must surely speak different languages, since we
came from different countries."
"This should be a warning to you never to think," returned the
Scarecrow, severely. "For unless one can think wisely it is better to
remain a dummy - which you most certainly are."
"I am! - I surely am!" agreed the Pumpkinhead.
"It seems to me," continued the Scarecrow, more mildly, "that your
manufacturer spoiled some good pies to create an indifferent man."
"I assure your Majesty that I did not ask to be created," answered
Jack.
"Ah! It was the same in my case," said the King, pleasantly. And so,
as we differ from all ordinary people, let us become friends."
"With all my heart!" exclaimed Jack.
"What! Have you a heart?" asked the Scarecrow, surprised.
"No; that was only imaginative - I might say, a figure of speech,"
said the other.
"Well, your most prominent figure seems to be a figure of wood; so I
must beg you to restrain an imagination which, having no brains, you have
no right to exercise," suggested the Scarecrow, warningly.
"To be sure!" said Jack, without in the least comprehending.
His Majesty then dismissed Jellia Jamb and the Soldier with the Green
Whiskers, and when they were gone he took his new friend by the arm and