The Marvelous Land of Oz, Chapters Thirteen to Fifteen

In which we learn the backstory of our loquacious insectile friend, who turns out to be fond of the most terrible puns which even the other characters refuse to tolerate; our heroes are led through more of Mombi's enchantments by an old friend, arrive at the Emerald City and make use of outdated gender stereotypes to drive off the invaders, only to become trapped in the palace.



Not much to add this time around, so right onto the illustrations!

More after the jump!

"HEY! You two on the left! Hands where I can see them, and eyes up front! Do I have to separate you two?"

Wait, what? An overhead projector can do this?

So, on the one hand I'm curious to hear the story of how the Woggle-Bug happened to save the "ninth life" of this tailor. On the other hand, I'm afraid he would actually tell me.

Okay, I... I can't be the only one who finds this image to be deeply and unaccountably creepy, right? I mean, I know the Scarecrow's made of straw (I believe Baum mentions it once or twice) but still, the image of a long, orderly line of rodents diving into a person's split-open torso while he lays there with an oddly pleasured look on his face? Something don't seem right with that, no sir.

YES, JINJUR. Look at all the craps she doesn't give.

...sigh, yes, the "girls are all terrified of mice" plot point. For the progressives in the crowd, this all pays off, I promise.

Dang, but those are some keys you could bludgeon someone with!


If you would like to read along, the text can be found at Project Gutenberg with no pictures, and a fully illustrated facsimile of the first edition can be found at Open Library. No reading ahead, though!