It is certain that Jack Pumpkinhead might have had a much finer house to live in had he wanted it, for Ozma loved the stupid fellow, who had been her earliest companion; but Jack preferred his pumpkin house, as it matched himself very well, and in this he was not so stupid, after all.
The body of this remarkable3 person was made of wood, branches of trees of various sizes having been used for the purpose. This wooden framework was covered by a red shirt—with white spots in it—blue trousers, a yellow vest, a jacket of green-and-gold and stout5 leather shoes. The neck was a sharpened stick on which the pumpkin head was set, and the eyes, ears, nose and mouth were carved on the skin of the pumpkin, very like a child's jack-o'-lantern.
The house of this interesting creation stood in the center of a vast pumpkin-field, where the vines grew in profusion6 and bore pumpkins7 of extraordinary size as well as those which were smaller. Some of the pumpkins now ripening8 on the vines were almost as large as Jack's house, and he told Dorothy he intended to add another pumpkin to his mansion9.
The travelers were cordially welcomed to this quaint10 domicile and invited to pass the night there, which they had planned to do. The Patchwork11 Girl was greatly interested in Jack and examined him admiringly.
"You are quite handsome," she said; "but not as really beautiful as the Scarecrow."
Jack turned, at this, to examine the Scarecrow critically, and his old friend slyly winked12 one painted eye at him.
"There is no accounting13 for tastes," remarked the Pumpkinhead, with a sigh. "An old crow once told me I was very fascinating, but of course the bird might have been mistaken. Yet I have noticed that the crows usually avoid the Scarecrow, who is a very honest fellow, in his way, but stuffed. I am not stuffed, you will observe; my body is good solid hickory."
"I adore stuffing," said the Patchwork Girl.
"Well, as for that, my head is stuffed with pumpkin-seeds," declared Jack. "I use them for brains, and when they are fresh I am intellectual. Just now, I regret to say, my seeds are rattling14 a bit, so I must soon get another head."
"Oh; do you change your head?" asked Ojo.
"To be sure. Pumpkins are not permanent, more's the pity, and in time they spoil. That is why I grow such a great field of pumpkins—that I may select a new head whenever necessary."
"Who carves the faces on them?" inquired the boy.
"I do that myself. I lift off my old head, place it on a table before me, and use the face for a pattern to go by. Sometimes the faces I carve are better than others—more expressive15 and cheerful, you know—but I think they average very well."
Before she had started on the journey Dorothy had packed a knapsack with the things she might need, and this knapsack the Scarecrow carried strapped16 to his back. The little girl wore a plain gingham dress and a checked sunbonnet, as she knew they were best fitted for travel. Ojo also had brought along his basket, to which Ozma had added a bottle of "Square Meal Tablets" and some fruit. But Jack Pumpkinhead grew a lot of things in his garden besides pumpkins, so he cooked for them a fine vegetable soup and gave Dorothy, Ojo and Toto, the only ones who found it necessary to eat, a pumpkin pie and some green cheese. For beds they must use the sweet dried grasses which Jack had strewn along one side of the room, but that satisfied Dorothy and Ojo very well. Toto, of course, slept beside his little mistress.
The Scarecrow, Scraps17 and the Pumpkinhead were tireless and had no need to sleep, so they sat up and talked together all night; but they stayed outside the house, under the bright stars, and talked in low tones so as not to disturb the sleepers18. During the conversation the Scarecrow explained their quest for a dark well, and asked Jack's advice where to find it.
The Pumpkinhead considered the matter gravely.
"That is going to be a difficult task," said he, "and if I were you I'd take any ordinary well and enclose it, so as to make it dark."
"I fear that wouldn't do," replied the Scarecrow. "The well must be naturally dark, and the water must never have seen the light of day, for otherwise the magic charm might not work at all."
"How much of the water do you need?" asked Jack.
"A gill."
"How much is a gill?"
"Why—a gill is a gill, of course," answered the Scarecrow, who did not wish to display his ignorance.
"I know!" cried Scraps. "Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch—"
"No, no; that's wrong," interrupted the Scarecrow. "There are two kinds of gills, I think; one is a girl, and the other is—"
"A gillyflower," said Jack.
"No; a measure."
"How big a measure?"
"Well, I'll ask Dorothy."
So next morning they asked Dorothy, and she said:
"I don't just know how much a gill is, but I've brought along a gold flask19 that holds a pint20. That's more than a gill, I'm sure, and the Crooked21 Magician may measure it to suit himself. But the thing that's bothering us most, Jack, is to find the well."
"This is a flat country, so you won't find any dark wells here," said he. "You must go into the mountains, where rocks and caverns24 are."
"And where is that?" asked Ojo.
"In the Quadling Country, which lies south of here," replied the Scarecrow. "I've known all along that we must go to the mountains."
"So have I," said Dorothy.
"But—goodness me!—the Quadling Country is full of dangers," declared Jack. "I've never been there myself, but—"
"I have," said the Scarecrow. "I've faced the dreadful Hammerheads, which have no arms and butt25 you like a goat; and I've faced the Fighting Trees, which bend down their branches to pound and whip you, and had many other adventures there."
"It's a wild country," remarked Dorothy, soberly, "and if we go there we're sure to have troubles of our own. But I guess we'll have to go, if we want that gill of water from the dark well."
So they said good-bye to the Pumpkinhead and resumed their travels, heading now directly toward the South Country, where mountains and rocks and caverns and forests of great trees abounded26. This part of the Land of Oz, while it belonged to Ozma and owed her allegiance, was so wild and secluded27 that many queer peoples hid in its jungles and lived in their own way, without even a knowledge that they had a Ruler in the Emerald City. If they were left alone, these creatures never troubled the inhabitants of the rest of Oz, but those who invaded their domains28 encountered many dangers from them.
It was a two days journey from Jack Pumkinhead's house to the edge of the Quadling Country, for neither Dorothy nor Ojo could walk very fast and they often stopped by the wayside to rest. The first night they slept on the broad fields, among the buttercups and daisies, and the Scarecrow covered the children with a gauze blanket taken from his knapsack, so they would not be chilled by the night air. Toward evening of the second day they reached a sandy plain where walking was difficult; but some distance before them they saw a group of palm trees, with many curious black dots under them; so they trudged29 bravely on to reach that place by dark and spend the night under the shelter of the trees.
The black dots grew larger as they advanced and although the light was dim Dorothy thought they looked like big kettles turned upside down. Just beyond this place a jumble30 of huge, jagged rocks lay scattered31, rising to the mountains behind them.
Our travelers preferred to attempt to climb these rocks by daylight, and they realized that for a time this would be their last night on the plains.
Twilight32 had fallen by the time they came to the trees, beneath which were the black, circular objects they had marked from a distance. Dozens of them were scattered around and Dorothy bent33 near to one, which was about as tall as she was, to examine it more closely. As she did so the top flew open and out popped a dusky creature, rising its length into the air and then plumping down upon the ground just beside the little girl. Another and another popped out of the circular, pot-like dwelling34, while from all the other black objects came popping more creatures—very like jumping-jacks when their boxes are unhooked—until fully35 a hundred stood gathered around our little group of travelers.
By this time Dorothy had discovered they were people, tiny and curiously36 formed, but still people. Their skins were dusky and their hair stood straight up, like wires, and was brilliant scarlet37 in color. Their bodies were bare except for skins fastened around their waists and they wore bracelets38 on their ankles and wrists, and necklaces, and great pendant earrings39.
Toto crouched40 beside his mistress and wailed41 as if he did not like these strange creatures a bit. Scraps began to mutter something about "hoppity, poppity, jumpity, dump!" but no one paid any attention to her. Ojo kept close to the Scarecrow and the Scarecrow kept close to Dorothy; but the little girl turned to the queer creatures and asked:
"Who are you?"
They answered this question all together, in a sort of chanting chorus, the words being as follows:
"We're the jolly Tottenhots;
We do not like the day,
But in the night 'tis our delight
"We hate the sun and from it run,
The moon is cool and clear,
So on this spot each Tottenhot
Waits for it to appear.
"We're ev'ry one chock full of fun,
But if you're gay and with us play
We'll do no harm to you.
"Glad to meet you, Tottenhots," said the Scarecrow solemnly. "But you mustn't expect us to play with you all night, for we've traveled all day and some of us are tired."
"And we never gamble," added the Patchwork Girl. "It's against the Law."
These remarks were greeted with shouts of laughter by the impish creatures and one seized the Scarecrow's arm and was astonished to find the straw man whirl around so easily. So the Tottenhot raised the Scarecrow high in the air and tossed him over the heads of the crowd. Some one caught him and tossed him back, and so with shouts of glee they continued throwing the Scarecrow here and there, as if he had been a basket-ball.
Presently another imp44 seized Scraps and began to throw her about, in the same way. They found her a little heavier than the Scarecrow but still light enough to be tossed like a sofa-cushion, and they were enjoying the sport immensely when Dorothy, angry and indignant at the treatment her friends were receiving, rushed among the Tottenhots and began slapping and pushing them until she had rescued the Scarecrow and the Patchwork Girl and held them close on either side of her. Perhaps she would not have accomplished45 this victory so easily had not Toto helped her, barking and snapping at the bare legs of the imps46 until they were glad to flee from his attack. As for Ojo, some of the creatures had attempted to toss him, also, but finding his body too heavy they threw him to the ground and a row of the imps sat on him and held him from assisting Dorothy in her battle.
The little brown folks were much surprised at being attacked by the girl and the dog, and one or two who had been slapped hardest began to cry. Then suddenly they gave a shout, all together, and disappeared in a flash into their various houses, the tops of which closed with a series of pops that sounded like a bunch of firecrackers being exploded.
The adventurers now found themselves alone, and Dorothy asked anxiously:
"Is anybody hurt?"
"Not me," answered the Scarecrow. "They have given my straw a good shaking up and taken all the lumps out of it. I am now in splendid condition and am really obliged to the Tottenhots for their kind treatment."
"I feel much the same way," said Scraps. "My cotton stuffing had sagged47 a good deal with the day's walking and they've loosened it up until I feel as plump as a sausage. But the play was a little rough and I'd had quite enough of it when you interfered48."
"Six of them sat on me," said Ojo, "but as they are so little they didn't hurt me much."
Just then the roof of the house in front of them opened and a Tottenhot stuck his head out, very cautiously, and looked at the strangers.
"Can't you take a joke?" he asked, reproachfully; "haven't you any fun in you at all?"
"If I had such a quality," replied the Scarecrow, "your people would have knocked it out of me. But I don't bear grudges49. I forgive you."
"So do I," added Scraps. "That is, if you behave yourselves after this."
"It was just a little rough-house, that's all," said the Tottenhot. "But the question is not if we will behave, but if you will behave? We can't be shut up here all night, because this is our time to play; nor do we care to come out and be chewed up by a savage50 beast or slapped by an angry girl. That slapping hurts like sixty; some of my folks are crying about it. So here's the proposition: you let us alone and we'll let you alone."
"You began it," declared Dorothy.
"Well, you ended it, so we won't argue the matter. May we come out again? Or are you still cruel and slappy?"
"Tell you what we'll do," said Dorothy. "We're all tired and want to sleep until morning. If you'll let us get into your house, and stay there until daylight, you can play outside all you want to."
"That's a bargain!" cried the Tottenhot eagerly, and he gave a queer whistle that brought his people popping out of their houses on all sides. When the house before them was vacant, Dorothy and Ojo leaned over the hole and looked in, but could see nothing because it was so dark. But if the Tottenhots slept there all day the children thought they could sleep there at night, so Ojo lowered himself down and found it was not very deep.
"There's a soft cushion all over," said he. "Come on in."
Dorothy handed Toto to the boy and then climbed in herself. After her came Scraps and the Scarecrow, who did not wish to sleep but preferred to keep out of the way of the mischievous51 Tottenhots.
There seemed no furniture in the round den4, but soft cushions were strewn about the floor and these they found made very comfortable beds. They did not close the hole in the roof but left it open to admit air. It also admitted the shouts and ceaseless laughter of the impish Tottenhots as they played outside, but Dorothy and Ojo, being weary from their journey, were soon fast asleep.
Toto kept an eye open, however, and uttered low, threatening growls52 whenever the racket made by the creatures outside became too boisterous53; and the Scarecrow and the Patchwork Girl sat leaning against the wall and talked in whispers all night long. No one disturbed the travelers until daylight, when in popped the Tottenhot who owned the place and invited them to vacate his premises54.
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1
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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pumpkin
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| n.南瓜 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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profusion
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| n.挥霍；丰富 | |
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pumpkins
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| n.南瓜( pumpkin的名词复数 )；南瓜的果肉，南瓜囊 | |
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ripening
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| v.成熟，使熟( ripen的现在分词 )；熟化；熟成 | |
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mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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patchwork
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| n.混杂物；拼缝物 | |
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12
winked
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| v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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13
accounting
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| n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表 | |
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14
rattling
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| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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strapped
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| adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带 | |
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17
scraps
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| 油渣 | |
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18
sleepers
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| n.卧铺（通常以复数形式出现）；卧车( sleeper的名词复数 )；轨枕；睡觉（呈某种状态）的人；小耳环 | |
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19
flask
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| n.瓶，火药筒，砂箱 | |
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pint
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| n.品脱 | |
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21
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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23
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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24
caverns
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| 大山洞，大洞穴( cavern的名词复数 ) | |
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25
butt
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| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
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26
abounded
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| v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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27
secluded
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| adj.与世隔绝的；隐退的；偏僻的v.使隔开，使隐退( seclude的过去式和过去分词) | |
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28
domains
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| n.范围( domain的名词复数 )；领域；版图；地产 | |
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29
trudged
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| vt.& vi.跋涉，吃力地走（trudge的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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30
jumble
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| vt.使混乱，混杂；n.混乱；杂乱的一堆 | |
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31
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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32
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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33
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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34
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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35
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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38
bracelets
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| n.手镯，臂镯( bracelet的名词复数 ) | |
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39
earrings
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| n.耳环( earring的名词复数 )；耳坠子 | |
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40
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41
wailed
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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42
gambol
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| v.欢呼，雀跃 | |
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43
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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44
imp
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| n.顽童 | |
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45
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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46
imps
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| n.（故事中的）小恶魔( imp的名词复数 )；小魔鬼；小淘气；顽童 | |
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47
sagged
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| 下垂的 | |
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48
interfered
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| v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉 | |
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49
grudges
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| 不满，怨恨，妒忌( grudge的名词复数 ) | |
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50
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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51
mischievous
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| adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的 | |
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52
growls
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的第三人称单数 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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53
boisterous
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| adj.喧闹的，欢闹的 | |
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54
premises
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| n.建筑物，房屋 | |
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