第5章 THE RESCUE OF THE TIN WOODMAN 搭救铁皮樵夫
When Dorothy awoke the sun was shining through the trees and Toto had long been out chasing birds around him and squirrels. She sat up and looked around her. Scarecrow, still standing patiently in his corner, waiting for her.
“We must go and search for water,”she said to him.
“Why do you want water?”he asked.
“To wash my face clean after the dust of the road, and to drink, so the dry bread will not stick in my throat.”
“It must be inconvenient to be made of flesh,”said the Scarecrow thoughtfully, “for you must sleep, and eat and drink. However, you have brains, and it is worth a lot of bother to be able to think properly.”
They left the cottage and walked through the trees until they found a little spring of clear water, where Dorothy drank and bathed and ate her breakfast. She saw there was not much bread left in the basket, and the girl was thankful the Scarecrow did not have to eat anything, for there was scarcely enough for herself and Toto for the day.
When she had finished her meal, and was about to go back to the road of yellow brick, she was startled to hear a deep groan near by.
“What was that?”she asked timidly.
“I cannot imagine,”replied the Scarecrow; “but we can go and see.”
Just then another groan reached their ears, and the sound seemed to come from behind them. They turned and walked through the forest a few steps, when Dorothy discovered something shining in a ray of sunshine that fell between the trees. She ran to the place and then stopped short, with a little cry of surprise.
One of the big trees had been partly chopped through, and standing beside it, with an uplifted axe in his hands, was a man made entirely of tin. His head and arms and legs were jointed upon his body, but he stood perfectly motionless, as if he could not stir at all.
Dorothy looked at him in amazement, and so did the Scarecrow, while Toto barked sharply and made a snap at the tin legs, which hurt his teeth.
“Did you groan?”asked Dorothy.
“Yes,”answered the tin man, “I did. I've been groaning for more than a year, and no one has ever heard me before or come to help me.”
“What can I do for you?”she inquired softly, for she was moved by the sad voice in which the man spoke.
“Get an oil-can and oil my joints,”he answered. “They are rusted so badly that I cannot move them at all; if I am well oiled I shall soon be all right again. You will find an oil-can on a shelf in my cottage.”
Dorothy at once ran back to the cottage and found the oil-can, and then she returned and asked anxiously, “Where are your joints?”
“Oil my neck, first,”replied the Tin Woodman.
So she oiled it, and as it was quite badly rusted the Scarecrow took hold of the tin head and moved it gently from side to side until it worked freely, and then the man could turn it himself.
“Now oil the joints in my arms,”he said.
And Dorothy oiled them and the Scarecrow bent them carefully until they were quite free from rust and as good as new.
The Tin Woodman gave a sigh of satisfaction and lowered his axe, which he leaned against the tree.
“This is a great comfort,”he said. “I have been holding that axe in the air ever since I rusted, and I'm glad to be able to put it down at last. Now, if you will oil the joints of my legs, I shall be all right once more.”
So they oiled his legs until he could move them freely; and he thanked them again and again for his release, for he seemed a very polite creature,and very grateful.
“I might have stood there always if you had not come along,”he said. “so you have certainly saved my life. How did you happen to be here?”
“We are on our way to the Emerald City to see the Great Oz,”she answered, “and we stopped at your cottage to pass the night.”
“Why do you wish to see Oz?”he asked.
“I want him to send me back to Kansas, and the Scarecrow wants him to put a few brains into his head,”she replied.
The Tin Woodman appeared to think deeply for a moment. Then he said: “Do you suppose Oz could give me a heart?”
“Why, I guess so,”Dorothy answered. “It would be as easy as to give the Scarecrow brains.”
“True,”the Tin Woodman returned. “So, if you will allow me to join your party, I will also go to the Emerald City and ask Oz to help me.”
“Come along,”said the Scarecrow heartily, and Dorothy added that she would be pleased to have his company. So the Tin Woodman shouldered his axe and they all passed through the forest until they came to the road that was paved with yellow brick.
The Tin Woodman had asked Dorothy to put the oil-can in her basket. “For,”he said, “if I should get caught in the rain, and rust again, I would need the oil-can badly.”
It was a bit of good luck to have their new comrade join the party, for soon after they had begun their journey again they came to a place where the trees and branches grew so thick over the road that the travelers could not pass. But the Tin Woodman set to work with his axe and chopped so well that soon he cleared a passage for the entire party.
Dorothy was thinking so earnestly as they walked along that she did not notice when the Scarecrow stumbled into a hole and rolled over to the side of the road. Indeed he was obliged to call to her to help him up again.
“Why didn't you walk around the hole?”asked the Tin Woodman.
“I don't know enough,”replied the Scarecrow cheerfully. “My head is stuffed with straw, you know, and that is why I am going to Oz to ask him for some brains.”
“Oh, I see,”said the Tin Woodman. “But, after all, brains are not the best things in the world.”
“Have you any?”inquired the Scarecrow.
“No, my head is quite empty,”answered the Woodman. “But once I had brains, and a heart also; so, having tried them both, I should much rather have a heart.”
“And why is that?”asked the Scarecrow.
“I will tell you my story, and then you will know.”
So, while they were walking through the forest, the Tin Woodman told the following story:
“I was born the son of a woodman who chopped down trees in the forest and sold the wood for a living. When I grew up, I too became a woodchopper, and after my father died I took care of my old mother as long as she lived. Then I made up my mind that instead of living alone I would marry, so that I might not become lonely.
“There was one of the Munchkin girls who was so beautiful that I soon grew to love her with all my heart. She, on her part, promised to marry me as soon as I could earn enough money to build a better house for her; so I set to work harder than ever. But the girl lived with an old woman who did not want her to marry anyone, for she was so lazy she wished the girl to remain with her and do the cooking and the housework. So the old woman went to the Wicked Witch of the East, and promised her two sheep and a cow if she would prevent the marriage. Thereupon the Wicked Witch enchanted my axe, and when I was chopping away at my best one day, for I was anxious to get the new house and my wife as soon as possible, the axe slipped all at once and cut off my left leg.
“This at first seemed a great misfortune, for I knew a one-legged man could not do very well as a wood-chopper. So I went to a tinsmith and had him make me a new leg out of tin. The leg worked very well, once I was used to it. But my action angered the Wicked Witch of the East, for she had promised the old woman I should not marry the pretty Munchkin girl. When I began chopping again, my axe slipped and cut off my right leg. Again I went to the tinsmith, and again he made me a leg out of tin. After this the enchanted axe cut off my arms, one after the other; but, nothing daunted, I had them replaced with tin ones. The Wicked Witch then made the axe slip and cut off my head, and at first I thought that was the end of me. But the tinsmith happened to come along, and he made me a new head out of tin.
“I thought I had beaten the Wicked Witch then, and I worked harder than ever;but I little knew how cruel my enemy could be. She thought of a new way to kill my love for the beautiful Munchkin maiden, and made my axe slip again, so that it cut right through my body, splitting me into two halves. Once more the tinsmith came to my help and made me a body of tin, fastening my tin arms and legs and head to it, by means of joints, so that I could move around as well as ever. But, alas! I had now no heart, so that I lost all my love for the Munchkin girl, and did not care whether I married her or not. I suppose she is still living with the old woman, waiting for me to come after her.
“My body shone so brightly in the sun that I felt very proud of it and it did not matter now if my axe slipped, for it could not cut me. There was only one danger—that my joints would rust; but I kept an oil-can in my cottage and took care to oil myself whenever I needed it. However, there came a day when I forgot to do this, and, being caught in a rainstorm, before I thought of the danger my joints had rusted, and I was left to stand in the woods until you came to help me. It was a terrible thing to undergo, but during the year I stood there I had time to think that the greatest loss I had known was the loss of my heart. While I was in love I was the happiest man on earth; but no one can love who has not a heart, and so I am resolved to ask Oz to give me one. If he does, I will go back to the Munchkin maiden and marry her.”
Both Dorothy and the Scarecrow had been greatly interested in the story of the Tin Woodman, and now they knew why he was so anxious to get a new heart.
“All the same,”said the Scarecrow, “I shall ask for brains instead of a heart; for a fool would not know what to do with a heart if he had one.”
“I shall take the heart,”returned the Tin Woodman. “for brains do not make one happy, and happiness is the best thing in the world.”
Dorothy did not say anything, for she was puzzled to know which of her two friends was right, and she decided if she could only get back to Kansas and Aunt Em, it did not matter so much whether the Woodman had no brains and the Scarecrow no heart, or each got what he wanted.
What worried her most was that the bread was nearly gone, and another meal for herself and Toto would empty the basket. To be sure neither the Woodman nor the Scarecrow ever ate anything, but she was not made of tin nor straw, and could not live unless she was fed.
多萝西醒来时，太阳正照过树林。透透已经出去好久了，正在追逐四周的小鸟和松鼠。她坐起来，看了看四周。只见稻草人仍耐心地站在角落里，等候着她。
“我们必须去寻找水。”她对他说。
“你为什么想要水？”稻草人问。
“一路上灰尘满面，我要把脸洗干净，还要喝水，这样干面包就不会卡在我的喉咙里了。”
“肉做的身体一定不方便，”稻草人若有所思地说，“因为你必须睡觉、吃喝。不过，你有脑子，能真正思考，即使有再多烦恼，也值得。”
他们离开小屋，穿过树林，找到了一小股清泉。多萝西便在那里喝水、洗脸、吃面包。她发现篮子里的面包剩得不多了，几乎不够她自己和透透吃一天了。因此小女孩非常感谢稻草人什么东西也不必吃。
她吃完东西，正要回到黄砖路上去，这时听到附近一声低沉的呻吟，她吓了一跳。
“那是什么？”她胆怯地问。
“我想不出来，”稻草人回答说，“我们可以去看看。”
正在这时，又一声呻吟传到了他们的耳朵里，那声音仿佛是从他们后面传来的。他们转过身，穿过树林走了几步。这时，多萝西发现有什么东西在树林间，被阳光照得闪闪发亮。她跑到那地方，突然停住脚步，发出一小声惊叫。
原来是有一棵大树被砍去了一部分，树边是一个完全用铁皮做的人，他手里举着一把斧头。他的头、手臂和腿都连在身上，但他站在那里一动不动，好像根本不能动弹。
多萝西惊讶地望着他，稻草人也惊讶地望着他，透透尖声吠叫，一口咬在铁皮人的腿上，却伤了自己的牙齿。
“是你在呻吟吗？”多萝西问。
“是，”铁皮人回答说，“是我。我已经呻吟一年多了，却没有一个人听到后过来帮我。”
“我能帮你做些什么？”她柔声问道，因为她被铁皮人说话时难过的声音感动了。
“去拿一只油壶，给我的各个关节加些油，”他回答说。“它们锈得非常厉害，我根本无法活动；如果好好给我加些油，我就马上会正常。你可以在我小屋的一个架子上找到一只油壶。”
多萝西马上跑回小屋，找到了油壶，然后又折回来，急切地问道：“你的关节都在哪里？”
“先把油加在我的脖子上。”铁皮樵夫回答说。
于是，她就把油加在了他的脖子上，因为那里锈得非常厉害。稻草人抓住铁皮人的头，来回轻轻地活动，直到他能够转动，随后铁皮人就能自己转动了。
“现在给我手臂的那些关节上加些油。”他说。
随后，多萝西给它们加油。稻草人小心翼翼地把它们弯曲，直到完全没有锈了，像新的一样。
铁皮樵夫发出了一声满意的叹息，放下了他靠在树上的斧头。
“这真舒服啊，”他说，“自从生锈以来，我就一直把斧头举在空中。我很高兴终于能把它放下来了。现在，如果你给我的腿关节再加些油，我就会再次正常活动了。”
于是，他们把油加在他的腿上，直到他能自由活动。他因得救而向他们再三感谢，好像是个很有礼貌的人，而且讨人喜欢。
“如果你们不路过，也许我会永远站在那里，”他说，“所以你们确实救了我一命。你们怎么会碰巧到这里来？”
“我们要去翡翠城拜访伟大的奥兹，”她回答说，“我们曾在你的小屋里停留过夜。”
“你们为什么想去拜访奥兹？”他问。
“我想要他把我送回堪萨斯州，稻草人想让他在他的脑袋里装一些脑子。”她回答说。
铁皮人好像深思了一会儿，说道：“你认为奥兹能给我一颗心吗？”
“哎呀，我想能，”多萝西回答说，“那会像给稻草人脑子一样容易。”
“是嘛，”铁皮人回答说，“那如果你们允许我加入你们的队伍，我也要去翡翠城请奥兹帮我。”
“一块走吧。”稻草人亲切地说。多萝西补充说，她很高兴有他做伴。于是，铁皮樵夫扛起斧头，他们一起穿过树林，一直走到了那条铺着黄砖的路上。
铁皮樵夫请求多萝西把油壶放进她的篮子里。“因为如果我淋雨，”他说，“就又会生锈，所以我非常需要油壶。”
他们的队伍有铁皮樵夫加入，真有点儿运气。因为他们又动身后不久，就来到了一个树木和树枝都非常茂密且遮住了去路的地方，行人无法通过。铁皮樵夫抡起斧头，左劈右砍，马上就为一行人砍出了一条通道。
他们一边走，多萝西一边认真想，所以没有注意到稻草人跌进了坑里，滚到了路边。他不得不朝她叫喊，请她把自己重新扶起来。
“为什么你不绕过那个坑走？”铁皮樵夫问。
“我不够了解，”稻草人高兴地回答说，“我的脑袋里塞满了稻草，你知道的，这就是我要去奥兹那里请他给我一些脑子的原因。”
“噢，我明白了，”铁皮樵夫说，“可毕竟来说，脑子不是世界上最好的东西。”
“你有吗？”稻草人问。
“没有，我的脑袋完全是空的，”铁皮人回答道，“但我曾有脑子，还有一颗心。所以，把它们两个试过后，我宁愿有一颗心。”
“那是为什么？”稻草人问。
“我把自己的故事告诉你，你就知道了。”
于是，当他们穿过这片树林时，铁皮樵夫就讲起了下面的故事：
“我是樵夫的儿子。父亲在森林里砍伐树木，以卖木材为生。我长大后，也成了樵夫。父亲去世后，我照看在世的老母亲。后来，我下定决心要结婚而不是孤独生活，这样我就可能不孤单了。
“有一个芒奇金女孩，她非常美丽。不久，我就一心一意地爱上了她。她答应说，只要我赚的钱够为她盖一座较好的房子，她就嫁给我；所以，我就开始比以前更加拼命地工作。可这女孩和一个老妇人住在一起。老妇人不想让女孩嫁给任何人，因为她很懒，想让女孩和她继续住在一起，为她做饭、做家务。于是，老妇人就去找东方坏女巫，许诺说，如果她能阻止这场婚姻，就送给她两只羊和一头奶牛。因此，坏女巫给我的斧头施了魔法。有一天，我正在竭尽全力地砍伐，因为我迫不及待地想尽快盖起新房、娶到妻子，这时斧头突然滑落，砍掉了我的左腿。
“这显然首先是一个巨大的不幸，因为我知道一个独腿人做不好樵夫。于是，我找到一个白铁匠，让他给我装了一条铁皮做的新腿。我一旦用惯那条腿，就活动自如起来。可我的行为激怒了东方坏女巫，因为她曾答应过老妇人让我不能娶漂亮的芒奇金女孩。当我又开始砍树时，斧头又滑落了，砍掉了我的右腿。我又找到那个白铁匠，他又给我装了一条铁皮做的腿。从那以后，这把被施了魔法的斧头又先后砍掉了我的双臂。可什么也吓不倒我，我也用铁皮替换了它们。于是，坏女巫又让那斧头滑出去，砍掉了我的头，起先我以为自己完了。可是，那个白铁匠刚好路过，就为我装了一个铁皮做的新头。
“当时，我以为自己已经打败了坏女巫，就比以前更加拼命地工作；可是，我根本不知道我的敌人会多么残忍。她想出了一个新方法来毁掉我对美丽的芒奇金少女的爱，她让我的斧头再次滑出去，划过我的身体，把我劈成了两半。白铁匠又一次过来帮我，给我装了一个铁皮身体，依靠这些关节，把我的铁皮手臂、腿和头扣在身体上，所以我能像以前一样活动自如。可是，唉！我现在没有了心，失去了对芒奇金女孩的所有的爱，不在乎是不是娶她。我想她还和老妇人住在一起，等着我去娶她。
“我的身体在阳光下闪闪发亮，所以我非常骄傲，如果我的斧头滑落，现在没什么关系，因为它不能砍我了。现在只有一个危险——我的关节会生锈。不过，我在小屋里存有一只油壶，无论什么时候我需要，就留心自己加油。然而，有一天，我忘记了加油，而且被困在暴风雨中，还没等我想到危险，各个关节就已经生锈了，我就留下，站在了树林里，直到你们过来帮我。尽管这样的遭遇是一件可怕的事儿，但在这一年中，我站在这里有时间去思考，我知道最大的损失是失去了心。我恋爱时是世界上最快乐的人，但没有心就不会爱，所以我决定去请奥兹给我一颗心。如果他给了我一颗心，我就能回到那个芒奇金女孩身边，娶她为妻。”
多萝西和稻草人对铁皮樵夫讲的故事非常感兴趣，现在他们才知道他为什么这样急着再要一颗心。
稻草人说：“我还是想得到脑子，而不是一颗心，因为一个笨蛋就是有了一颗心，也不知道怎样使用。”
“我要得到一颗心，”铁皮樵夫回答说，“因为脑子不会使人快乐，快乐是世界上再好不过的事儿。”
多萝西什么也没说，因为她不知道她的两个朋友中谁说得对。她决定，只要她能回到堪萨斯州和埃姆婶身边，铁皮樵夫有没有脑子、稻草人有没有心、每个人能不能得到想要的东西，都无关紧要了。
最让她担心的是面包快要没了，她和透透再吃一顿，篮子就要空了。当然，铁皮樵夫和稻草人都不吃任何东西。可是，她既不是铁皮做的，也不是稻草做的，所以不吃东西就活不下去。