Chapter 20. The Elegant Porcelain Country

While the Woodman built a ladder using forest wood, Dorothy took a nap, tired from the long walk. The Lion also curled himself up for a sleep, with Toto beside him.

The Scarecrow kept an eye on the Woodman's work, saying,

"I can't figure out why this wall is here or what it's made of."

"Give your brain a rest, and do not worry about the wall," the Woodman responded. "Once we've climbed over it, we'll know what's on the other side."

Eventually, the ladder was complete. It looked a bit rough, but the Tin Woodman was confident it was sturdy and would do the job. The Scarecrow woke Dorothy, the Lion, and Toto and told them the ladder was ready. The Scarecrow climbed the ladder first, but he was so clumsy that Dorothy had to climb close behind to prevent him from falling. When his head cleared the top of the wall, the Scarecrow said, "Oh, my!"

"Keep going," Dorothy urged.

The Scarecrow climbed higher, then sat on the top of the wall. Dorothy peeked over, exclaiming, "Oh, my!" like the Scarecrow.

Toto soon joined, starting to bark, but Dorothy quieted him down.

Next, the Lion climbed the ladder, followed by the Tin Woodman. They both said, "Oh, my!" as soon as they looked over the wall. They all sat in a row on the top of the wall, looking at a strange sight below.

They saw a vast, flat, shiny, and white land like the bottom of a big plate. Many brightly colored porcelain houses were scattered around.

The houses were small, the tallest only reaching Dorothy's waist. There were cute small barns enclosed by porcelain fences.

Porcelain-made cows, sheep, horses, pigs, and chickens stood in groups.

What was weirdest were the people living in this odd country. Milkmaids and shepherdesses wore bright bodices and golden spotted gowns.

Princesses wore stunning silver, gold, and purple dresses. Shepherds wore knee shorts with pink, yellow, and blue stripes and golden shoe buckles.

Princes wore jeweled crowns, ermine coats, and satin vests. Clowns wore frilled gowns, had round red spots on their cheeks, and tall, pointy hats.

And the oddest thing? These people were made of porcelain, even their clothes, and so small that the tallest only reached Dorothy's knee.

At first, no one even looked at the travelers except a tiny purple porcelain dog with a large head. It barked at them in a tiny voice, then ran off.

"How do we get down?" Dorothy asked.

The ladder was too heavy to lift, so the Scarecrow fell off the wall. The others jumped onto him to avoid hurting their feet on the hard floor. They made sure not to land on his head and get pins in their feet. Once down, they fixed the Scarecrow, who was quite flattened out, by reshaping his straw body.

"We need to cross this odd place to reach the other side," said Dorothy, "because going any way other than straight south wouldn't be smart."

They started walking through the porcelain people's land. They first saw a porcelain milkmaid milking a porcelain cow. As they approached, the cow kicked over the stool, pail, and even the milkmaid herself. They all fell onto the porcelain ground with a loud crash.

Dorothy was surprised to see the cow's leg broken off. The pail was in several pieces, and the milkmaid had a small crack in her left elbow.

"Look what you've done!" the milkmaid said angrily. "My cow's leg is broken. I need to get it glued back on at the repair shop. Why did you scare my cow?"

"I'm really sorry," Dorothy replied. "Please forgive us."

But the pretty milkmaid was too annoyed to answer. She picked up the leg grumpily and led her cow away, the poor thing limping on three legs. As she left, she shot many angry looks at the clumsy strangers, hugging her chipped elbow.

Dorothy was very upset about this accident.

"We need to be really careful here," said the kind-hearted Woodman, "or we might seriously hurt these cute little people."

A bit further, Dorothy met a beautifully dressed young Princess. The Princess stopped when she saw the strangers and started to run away.

Dorothy wanted to see more of the Princess, so she ran after her. But the porcelain girl cried out:

"Don't chase me! Don't chase me!"

Her scared voice made Dorothy stop and ask, "Why not?"

"Because," answered the Princess, also stopping a safe distance away, "if I run, I might fall and break."
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"But can't you be fixed?" asked Dorothy.

"Oh, yes, but you're never as pretty after being fixed," replied the Princess.

"I guess not," said Dorothy.

"Now there's Mr. Joker, one of our clowns," the porcelain lady said, "who always tries to stand on his head. He's broken and fixed himself so many times. He's covered in a hundred patches and doesn't look pretty at all. Here he comes now. You can see for yourself."

Sure enough, a cheerful little clown was walking towards them. Despite his pretty red, yellow, and green clothes, Dorothy could see he was full of cracks. It was clear he'd been fixed many times.

The Clown put his hands in his pockets. After puffing his cheeks and giving them a cheeky nod, he said:

"My lady fair,
Why do you stare
At poor old Mr. Joker?
You're quite as stiff
And prim as if
You'd eaten up a poker!"

"Be quiet, sir!" said the Princess. "These are strangers. They should be treated with respect."

"Well, that's respect, I expect," said the Clown, and immediately stood on his head.

"Don't mind Mr. Joker," the Princess told Dorothy. "His head's considerably cracked, which makes him act silly."

"Oh, I don't mind him," said Dorothy. "But you are so beautiful," she said, "I'm sure I could love you a lot. Can I take you back to Kansas put you on Aunt Em's mantel? I can carry you in my basket."

"That would make me very unhappy," replied the porcelain Princess. "Here, we live joyfully. We can talk and move freely. But if any of us are taken away, we freeze up and can only stand still and look pretty. That's all that's expected when we're on mantels, cabinets, and living room tables. But our lives are better here in our own land."

"I wouldn't make you unhappy for anything in the world!" Dorothy exclaimed. "So I'll just say goodbye."

"Goodbye," replied the Princess.

They walked carefully through the porcelain country. All the little animals and people ran out of their way, scared the strangers might break them. After about an hour, they reached the other side of the land and came to another porcelain wall.

It was lower than the first one. They managed to climb to the top by standing on the Lion's back. Then, the Lion jumped onto the wall. But as he jumped, he knocked over a porcelain church with his tail and shattered it into pieces.

"That's too bad," said Dorothy, "but honestly, I think we were lucky to only break a cow's leg and a church. They're all so fragile!"

"They really are," said the Scarecrow, "and I'm glad I'm made of straw and not easily broken. Being a Scarecrow isn't the worst thing in the world."