The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. B1 / Удивительный волшебник из Страны Оз

Dorothy looked through the open cellar door and saw hills and houses, a long way down. She closed the cellar door.

The wind blew the house along for a long time. At first Dorothy was scared. It was very dark, and the wind howled horribly around her, but then Dorothy found she was riding quite easily. After the first few whirls around, and one other time when the house tipped badly, she felt as if she were being rocked gently, like a baby in a cradle.

Toto did not like it. He ran about the room, now here, now there, barking loudly; but Dorothy sat quite still on the floor and waited to see what would happen.

'We can't do anything about it,' she said to Toto. 'So let's wait and see.' And after two or three hours, she and Toto went to bed. In spite of the swaying of the house and the wailing of the wind, Dorothy soon closed her eyes and fell fast asleep.

When Dorothy woke up, the house was on the ground and everything was quiet around. The cyclone had set the house down very gently – for a cyclone – in the midst of a country of wonderful beauty. There were lovely patches of green all around, with trees and rich and nice fruits. She took Toto, opened the door, and went out. They saw tall trees and beautiful flowers, and little houses with blue doors.

While she was looking eagerly at the strange and beautiful sights, she noticed coming toward her a group of the queerest people she had ever seen.

Three were men and one woman, and all were oddly dressed. They wore round hats that rose a foot above their heads, with little bells around the brims that tinkled sweetly as they moved. They were not as big as the grown folk she had always been used to; but neither were they very small. In fact, they seemed about as tall as Dorothy, who was a well-grown child for her age, although they were, so far as looks go, many years older.

When these people drew near the house where Dorothy was standing in the doorway, they paused and whispered among themselves, as if afraid to come farther.

Dorothy cried. 'This isn't Kansas, Toto! And who are these people?'

There were three very short men in blue hats, coats and trousers, and a little old woman in a beautiful white dress.