Then the bell above the throne, which sounded whenever an enchantment2 was broken, began to ring, and the King gave a start of annoyance4 and exclaimed, "Rocketty-ricketts!"
When the bell rang a second time the King shouted angrily, "Smudge and blazes!" and at a third ring he screamed in a fury, "Hippikaloric!" which must be a dreadful word because we don't know what it means.
After that the bell went on ringing time after time; but the King was now so violently enraged5 that he could not utter a word, but hopped6 out of his throne and all around the room in a mad frenzy7, so that he reminded Dorothy of a jumping-jack.
The girl was, for her part, filled with joy at every peal8 of the bell, for it announced the fact that Billina had transformed one more ornament9 into a living person. Dorothy was also amazed at Billina's success, for she could not imagine how the yellow hen was able to guess correctly from all the bewildering number of articles clustered in the rooms of the palace. But after she had counted ten, and the bell continued to ring, she knew that not only the royal family of Ev, but Ozma and her followers10 also, were being restored to their natural forms, and she was so delighted that the antics of the angry King only made her laugh merrily.
Perhaps the little monarch11 could not be more furious than he was before, but the girl's laughter nearly drove him frantic12, and he roared at her like a savage13 beast. Then, as he found that all his enchantments14 were likely to be dispelled15 and his victims every one set free, he suddenly ran to the little door that opened upon the balcony and gave the shrill16 whistle that summoned his warriors17.
At once the army filed out of the gold and silver doors in great numbers, and marched up a winding18 stairs and into the throne room, led by a stern featured Nome who was their captain. When they had nearly filled the throne room they formed ranks in the big underground cavern19 below, and then stood still until they were told what to do next.
Dorothy had pressed back to one side of the cavern when the warriors entered, and now she stood holding little Prince Evring's hand while the great Lion crouched20 upon one side and the enormous Tiger crouched on the other side.
"Seize that girl!" shouted the King to his captain, and a group of warriors sprang forward to obey. But both the Lion and Tiger snarled21 so fiercely and bared their strong, sharp teeth so threateningly, that the men drew back in alarm.
"Don't mind them!" cried the Nome King; "they cannot leap beyond the places where they now stand."
"But they can bite those who attempt to touch the girl," said the captain.
"I'll fix that," answered the King. "I'll enchant3 them again, so that they can't open their jaws22."
He stepped out of the throne to do this, but just then the Sawhorse ran up behind him and gave the fat monarch a powerful kick with both his wooden hind23 legs.
"Ow! Murder! Treason!" yelled the King, who had been hurled24 against several of his warriors and was considerably26 bruised27. "Who did that?"
"We'll see about that," replied the King, and at once he waved his hand toward the Sawhorse and muttered a magical word. "Aha!" he continued; "NOW let us see you move, you wooden mule29!"
But in spite of the magic the Sawhorse moved; and he moved so quickly toward the King, that the fat little man could not get out of his way. Thump--BANG! came the wooden heels, right against his round body, and the King flew into the air and fell upon the head of his captain, who let him drop flat upon the ground.
"Well, well!" said the King, sitting up and looking surprised. "Why didn't my magic belt work, I wonder?"
"The creature is made of wood," replied the captain. "Your magic will not work on wood, you know."
"Ah, I'd forgotten that," said the King, getting up and limping to his throne. "Very well, let the girl alone. She can't escape us, anyway."
The warriors, who had been rather confused by these incidents, now formed their ranks again, and the Sawhorse pranced30 across the room to Dorothy and took a position beside the Hungry Tiger.
At that moment the doors that led to the palace flew open and the people of Ev and the people of Oz were disclosed to view. They paused, astonished, at sight of the warriors and the angry Nome King, seated in their midst.
"Surrender!" cried the King, in a loud voice. "You are my prisoners."
"Go 'long!" answered Billina, from the Scarecrow's shoulder. "You promised me that if I guessed correctly my friends and I might depart in safety. And you always keep your promises."
"I said you might leave the palace in safety," retorted the King; "and so you may, but you cannot leave my dominions31. You are my prisoners, and I will hurl25 you all into my underground dungeons32, where the volcanic33 fires glow and the molten lava34 flows in every direction, and the air is hotter than blue blazes."
"That will be the end of me, all right," said the Scarecrow, sorrowfully. "One small blaze, blue or green, is enough to reduce me to an ash-heap."
"Do you surrender?" demanded the King.
Billina whispered something in the Scarecrow's ear that made him smile and put his hands in his jacket pockets.
"No!" returned Ozma, boldly answering the King. Then she said to her army:
"Forward, my brave soldiers, and fight for your Ruler and yourselves, unto death!"
"Pardon me, Most Royal Ozma," replied one of her generals; "but I find that I and my brother officers all suffer from heart disease, and the slightest excitement might kill us. If we fight we may get excited. Would it not be well for us to avoid this grave danger?"
"Soldiers should not have heart disease," said Ozma.
"Private soldiers are not, I believe, afflicted35 that way," declared another general, twirling his moustache thoughtfully. "If your Royal Highness desires, we will order our private to attack yonder warriors."
"Do so," replied Ozma.
"For-ward--march!" cried all the generals, with one voice. "For-ward--march!" yelled the colonels. "For-ward--march!" shouted the majors. "For-ward--march!" commanded the captains.
The captain of the Nomes was so surprised by this sudden onslaught that he forgot to command his warriors to fight, so that the ten men in the first row, who stood in front of the private's spear, fell over like so many toy soldiers. The spear could not go through their steel armor, however, so the warriors scrambled37 to their feet again, and by that time the private had knocked over another row of them.
Then the captain brought down his battle-axe with such a strong blow that the private's spear was shattered and knocked from his grasp, and he was helpless to fight any longer.
The Nome King had left his throne and pressed through his warriors to the front ranks, so he could see what was going on; but as he faced Ozma and her friends the Scarecrow, as if aroused to action by the valor38 of the private, drew one of Billina's eggs from his right jacket pocket and hurled it straight at the little monarch's head.
It struck him squarely in his left eye, where the egg smashed and scattered39, as eggs will, and covered his face and hair and beard with its sticky contents.
"Help, help!" screamed the King, clawing with his fingers at the egg, in a struggle to remove it.
"An egg! an egg! Run for your lives!" shouted the captain of the Nomes, in a voice of horror.
And how they DID run! The warriors fairly tumbled over one another in their efforts to escape the fatal poison of that awful egg, and those who could not rush down the winding stair fell off the balcony into the great cavern beneath, knocking over those who stood below them.
Even while the King was still yelling for help his throne room became emptied of every one of his warriors, and before the monarch had managed to clear the egg away from his left eye the Scarecrow threw the second egg against his right eye, where it smashed and blinded him entirely40. The King was unable to flee because he could not see which way to run; so he stood still and howled and shouted and screamed in abject41 fear.
While this was going on, Billina flew over to Dorothy, and perching herself upon the Lion's back the hen whispered eagerly to the girl:
"Get his belt! Get the Nome King's jeweled belt! It unbuckles in the back. Quick, Dorothy--quick!"
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收听单词发音
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1
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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enchantment
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| n.迷惑，妖术，魅力 | |
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enchant
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| vt.使陶醉，使入迷；使着魔，用妖术迷惑 | |
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annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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enraged
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| 使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤 | |
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6
hopped
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| 跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花 | |
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7
frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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peal
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| n.钟声；v.鸣响 | |
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9
ornament
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| v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物 | |
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followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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14
enchantments
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| n.魅力( enchantment的名词复数 )；迷人之处；施魔法；着魔 | |
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15
dispelled
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| v.驱散，赶跑( dispel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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18
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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cavern
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| n.洞穴，大山洞 | |
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crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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21
snarled
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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hind
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| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
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hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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hurl
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| vt.猛投，力掷，声叫骂 | |
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considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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bruised
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| [医]青肿的，瘀紫的 | |
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28
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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mule
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| n.骡子，杂种，执拗的人 | |
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pranced
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| v.（马）腾跃( prance的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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dominions
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| 统治权( dominion的名词复数 )； 领土； 疆土； 版图 | |
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32
dungeons
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| n.地牢( dungeon的名词复数 ) | |
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33
volcanic
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| adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的 | |
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lava
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| n.熔岩，火山岩 | |
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afflicted
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| 使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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scrambled
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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valor
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| n.勇气，英勇 | |
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39
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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40
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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abject
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| adj.极可怜的，卑屈的 | |
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