The Tin Woodman responds, “Beautiful things may be admired, if not loved,” asserted the Tin man. “Flowers are beautiful, for instance, but we are not inclined to marry them. Duty, on the contrary, is a bugle call to action, whether you are inclined to act, or not. In this case, I obey the bugle call of duty.” So the Tinman agrees to seek her out of duty rather than love. The Tinman's heart is kind, not loving. The Scarecrow commened that the Tin Woodman has a kind heart and not a loving heart. “Even so, I am not sure it isn’t best for the girl,” said the Scarecrow, who seemed very intelligent for a straw man, “for a loving husband is not always kind, while a kind husband is sure to make any girl content.”
I enjoyed the poem of the Scarecrow:
“What sound is so sweet
As the straw from the wheat
When it crunkles so tender and low?
It is yellow and bright,
So it gives me delight
To crunkle wherever I go.
“Sweet, fresh, golden Straw!
There is surely no flaw
In a stuffing so clean and compact.
It creaks when I walk,
And it thrills when I talk,
And its fragrance is fine, for a fact.
“To cut me don’t hurt,
For I’ve no blood to squirt,
And I therefore can suffer no pain;
The straw that I use
Doesn’t lump up or bruise,
Though it’s pounded again and again!
“I know it is said
That my beautiful head
Has brains of mixed wheat-straw and bran,
But my thoughts are so good
I’d not change, if I could,
For the brains of a common meat man.
“Content with my lot,
I’m glad that I’m not
Like others I meet day by day;
If my insides get musty,
Or mussed-up, or dusty,
I get newly stuffed right away.”
Our travelers are captured by a Yookihoo Giantess who transforms them into other shapes. “Be contented with your fate, for discontent leads to unhappiness, and unhappiness, in any form, is the greatest evil that can befall you.” The manage to escape by stealing an apron from the Giantess which has power to open the doors. However now the Scarecrow is a stuffed bear, the Tinman a tin owl, Woot a green monkey and the meet Polychrome, the Rainbow's daughter who had been transposed into a canary.
Tommy Kwikstep had wished himself twenty legs, but when they developed corns he was miserable. Polychrome restores him by magic and he thanks her, “And I am resolved never to speak again without taking time to think carefully on what I am going to say, for I realize that speech without thought is dangerous.
Ozma meets our group, as she was following them in her mirror. She restores them and they are on the road again. The face more adventures, meeting a fellow suitor for Nimmie Amee, who had a similar fate to our Tinman, as he is a tin soldier. They also hear of Chopfyt, who is a compendium of the cast off parts of our two Tinmen. This story has a bit of a twist at the end, as these two are determined to offer themselves to her and she may marry whom she chooses. Another quote from the Scarecrow I thought I might share when he talks of the importance of using our brains appropriately.
Scarecrow: “Dear me!” remarked the Scarecrow, “what unhappy thoughts you have, to be sure. This is proof that born brains cannot equal manufactured brains, for my brains dwell only on facts and never borrow trouble. When there is occasion for my brains to think, they think, but I would be ashamed of my brains if they kept shoot out thoughts that were merely fears and imaginings, such as do no good, but are likely to do harm.” “Your oil can, friend Woodman, is filled with oil, but you only apply the oil to your joints, drop by drop, as you need it, and do not keep spilling it where it will do no good. Thoughts should be restrained in the same way as you oil, and only applied when necessary, and for a good purpose. If used carefully, thoughts are good things to have.” Polychrome laughed at him, for the Rainbow’s Daughter knew more about thoughts than the Scarecrow did. But the others were solemn, feeling they had been rebuked, and tramped on in silence.
Another stellar book, of a traveling adventure from L. Frank Baum.
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