"Well, one day I went up in a balloon and the ropes got twisted, so that I couldn't come down again. It went way up above the clouds, so far that a current of air struck it and carried it many, many miles away. For a day and a night I traveled through the air, and on the morning of the second day I awoke and found the balloon floating over a strange and beautiful country."It came down gradually, and I was not hurt a bit. But I found myself in the midst of a strange people, who, seeing me come from the clouds, thought I was a great Wizard. Of course I let them think so, because they were afraid of me, and promised to do anything I wished them to.
"Just to amuse myself, and keep the good people busy, I ordered them to build this City, and my palace; and they did it all willingly and well. Then I thought, as the country was so green and beautiful, I would call it the Emerald City, and to make the name fit better I put green spectacles on all the people, so that everything they saw was green."
"But isn't everything here green?" asked Dorothy.
"No more than in any other city," replied Oz; "but when you wear green spectacles, why of course everything you see looks green to you. The Emerald City was built a great many years ago, for I was a young man when the balloon brought me here, and I am a very old man now. But my people have worn green glasses on their eyes so long that most of them think it really is an Emerald City . . . "(--The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, Signet Classic, 1984, 157-58.)
I have been unwell for so long and not getting better. So, in some desperation, I finally dared to take off my green glasses and see things through pre-spectacled eyes. I was surprised at how immediately my recovery began. I feel happier than I have in a long, long time.
No offense to the wizard or hard-feelings towards the citizens of Oz, but--as much as I love green-- I'm liking the view much better now.
Photograph by D Sharon Pruitt at flickr.com.
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3 comments:
my boy dan says that oz looks quite a bit different than oz looks like to most peopole, he asked me the other day if i ever see those bright colors in the sky, not of clouds or wind, but of imps he called them, purple, orange, violet imps that dance around every evening over by the west mountain
i must clarify that he doesen't call this place of his oz but west mountain, but it looks a lot like emerald city to me by his description>>>>and you know i believe in little imps that are here earthbound
And who is to say which view is the "real" one?
Personally, I have an affection for fairies, and like to imagine them living in the mossier places surrounding our neighborhood.
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