The Marvelous Land of Oz, Chapters Sixteen to Eighteen

In which our heroes gather up a bunch of junk to build a Thing with which they escape the palace, only to get lost in a strange country during the night and crash into a large nest; and in which the narrator begins to lose his patience with Jack Pumpkinhead.



Just a quick note on the Latin phrase used by the Woggle-Bug at 19:30: semper idem, as can be inferred from the context, means "always the same." Idem is the root of the English word "identical," while semper might be familiar as part of the US Marine Corps motto, semper fidelis ("always faithful.") Or, for those of a whimsical bent, the phrase semper ubi sub ubi, which literally translates to "always where under where." Get it? Yeah, I'm sorry. Anyway, semper idem was used as a motto by 17th-century Puritans to describe the unchanging mercy of Christ, and the feminine form, semper eadem, was a motto used by Anne Boleyn, her daughter Queen Elizabeth I, and eventually by Queen Anne. Interesting bit of vaguely related trivia: Anne Boleyn at one point used another (hilarious) motto that she had embroidered on her livery: Ainsi sera, groigne qui groigne, generally translated as "Grumble all you want, this is how it's going to be."

Where was I? Illustrations!

This illustration really seems like it would fit better towards the beginning of the previous channel, but it was put as the prechapter illustration for this one, so there you go.

Not... entirely sure why this chapter gets an image of the Woggle-Bug strutting around as its chapter heading, but there you go again.

More after the jump!

I'm not actually sure what this illustration is picturing. Was there a moment of the Scarecrow looking out a window (or... into a cupboard maybe?) that I don't remember? There's certainly nothing about it on the pages this illustration appears on. Tip looks out the window, but this is pretty clearly the Scarecrow.

And, see, this illustration at the end of the chapter I would think would be a perfect place to show the fancy carved mahogany table-leg that Jack is now sporting, but I guess not. Instead, it appears to be showing the moment that Tip drops the Powder of Life on the floor, which actually happened a couple of illustrations ago. Man, the continuity department really fell down on the job this chapter!

Geez, Mr. Neill, you even drew a picture last chapter of the Scarecrow hanging up his crown, and yet here it's back on his head! Get it together!

So here we get to meet another character familiar to those of you who've seen Return to Oz: the Gump, a cobbled-together flying machine brought to life with Dr. Nikidik's wonderful powder. He's... a mite surly. But, really, can you blame him?

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!