【英】《绿野仙踪》第12集： The Discovery of Oz the Terrible

After ringing the bell at the gate several times, the same Guardian of the Gates opened it.

“You’re back again?” he asked. “I thought you went to visit the Wicked Witch of the West.”“We did,” said the Scarecrow.

“She let you go?” the man asked in surprise. “She had to, she is melted,” the Scarecrow explained.

“Good news! Who melted her?” the man asked.“Dorothy,” the Lion said.

The man bowed low to her. He locked their spectacles on their eyes again. They went through the gate into the Emerald City. The beautiful green girl took them to their old rooms.

They thought the Great Wizard would send for them right away, but they waited for days. The Scarecrow told the green girl to send a message to Oz that if he didn’t see them at once, they would call the Winged Monkeys to help them. When Oz heard this, he was so afraid. He told them to come to the Throne Room at four minutes after nine o’clock the next morning.

The next morning, they went into the Throne Room of the Great Oz. They each expected to see the Wizard in the shape they saw before. But when they looked around, there was no one. Then they heard a solemn voice coming from the high dome of the ceiling.

“I am Oz, the Great and Terrible. Why do you seek me?”Dorothy asked, “Where are you?”The Voice said, “I am everywhere, but to you I am invisible. I will sit on my throne.”

Suddenly the voice came from the throne. The four stood in a row in front of the throne. 

“We are here to claim our promises,” Dorothy said.
“What promises?” asked Oz.

They each reminded him of the promises he made when they destroyed the Wicked Witch. 

“Is she really destroyed?” the Voice asked with a little tremble.

“Yes,” Dorothy said. “I melted her with water.”
The Voice said, “Come back tomorrow.”
“We won’t wait a day longer,” the Scarecrow said.

The Lion gave a great roar that scared Toto. The dog jumped back and tipped over a screen in the corner. Everyone looked as it crashed to the floor. Standing where the screen had been was a little old man with a bald head and wrinkled face. He was as surprised as they were.

The Tin Woodman raised his ax. He ran toward the man. “Who are you?”“I am Oz, the Great and Terrible,” the little man said, his voice shaking. “Don’t hit me. I’ll do 
anything you want.”

They each shouted that they thought Oz was a Head, a Lady, a Beast, or a Ball of Fire.

“No, I have been pretending,” the man said. Dorothy shouted,“Aren’t you a Great Wizard?”The Wizard said that he was only a man. “You’re a humbug!” the Scarecrow said sadly. 

“Yes,” the little man said, “I am a humbug.” “How will I get my heart?” the Tin Woodman asked.

“Or my courage?” asked the Lion“Or my brains,” cried the Scarecrow, wiping tears from his eyes.

“Doesn’t anyone else know you are a fake?” Dorothy asked.

“No one knows it but you four and myself,” Oz said. “I have fooled everyone for a long time. I should never have let you into the Throne Room.”

He told them how he hung a painted face for the Head and wore a dress and mask to be the Lady. The Beast was only a lot of skins sewn together over wood. The Ball of Fire was a ball of cotton that had oil poured on it to burn.

“I am a ventriloquist,” he said about the voice each heard. He asked them to sit while he told his story.

“I was born in Omaha,” he began. “I became a great ventriloquist. But then I got tired of it and became a balloonist. I would go up in a balloon on circus day to bring the crowds to the circus.

“One day,” he said, “I went up and the ropes got twisted. The balloon went high above the clouds. The wind carried it many miles away. On the second morning, I woke up and found I was floating over a strange and beautiful country.

“When the balloon came down, I was surrounded by strange people. They thought I was a Great Wizard. I let them think that because they were afraid of me and promised to do anything I wanted. I ordered them to build the City and Palace. The 
country was so green I called it the Emerald City. To make it truly that, I put green glasses on everyone so everything they saw was green.”

“But isn’t it green?” asked Dorothy.“No,” Oz said. “Only when you wear the glasses. 

The Emerald City was built many years ago. I was a young man when the balloon brought me here. I have been good to the people and they like me. But I have shut myself in this Palace since it was built.”

He explained that his greatest fear was the Witches. He had no real powers but they did. If the Witches of the East and West, who were very wicked, had not thought he was more powerful, they would have destroyed him.

“I would promise anything to you if you would get rid of the Witch of the West. I am ashamed that I cannot keep my promises.”

“You are a very bad man,” said Dorothy.But Oz said, “No, I’m a good man, but a very bad wizard.”

The Scarecrow said, “I will be very unhappy unless you give me brains.”

The false Wizard looked at him. “I’m not a magician, but if you will come to me tomorrow, I will stuff your head with brains. You must learn how to use them.”

“Thank you!” cried the Scarecrow.“What about my courage?” the Lion asked. “I will be unhappy unless I have the kind of courage that makes me forget I am afraid.”

“I will give you that kind of courage tomorrow,” said Oz.The Tin Woodman said, “What about my heart?”

Oz said quietly, “Come to me tomorrow and you shall have a heart.”

“How will I get back to Kansas?” Dorothy asked.

“I will have to think about that,” the little man said. “Give me a few days to find a way to carry you over the desert. You can stay here as guests. But one thing I ask in return, keep my secret and tell no one I am a humbug.”

They promised to say nothing and went happily to their rooms. Even Dorothy felt hope that “The Great and Terrible Humbug,” as she called him, would find a way to send her back to Kansas. If he did, she would forgive him for everything.