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Now clear out--all of you!" exclaimed the King. "Bristle, you may wait

outside, in case I want you."

When they had gone and the King was alone with Dorothy he came down

from his throne, tossed his crown into a corner and kicked his ermine

robe under the table.

Sit down," he said, "and try to be happy. It's useless for me to try,

because I'm always wretched and miserable. But I'm hungry, and I hope

you are."

I am," said Dorothy. "I've only eaten a wheelbarrow and a piano to-day--

oh, yes! and a slice of bread and butter that used to be a door-mat."

That sounds like a square meal," remarked the King, seating himself

opposite her; "but perhaps it wasn't a square piano. Eh?"

Dorothy laughed.

You don't seem so very unhappy now," she said.

But I am," protested the King, fresh tears gathering in his eyes. "Even

my jokes are miserable. I'm wretched, woeful, afflicted, distressed and

dismal as an individual can be. Are you not sorry for me?"

No," answered Dorothy, honestly, "I can't say I am. Seems to me that for

a rabbit you're right in clover. This is the prettiest little city I ever saw."

Oh, the city is good enough," he admitted. "Glinda, the Good Sorceress,

made it for us because she was fond of rabbits. I don't mind the City so

much, although I wouldn't live here if I had my choice. It is being King

that has absolutely ruined my happiness."

Why wouldn't you live here by choice?" she asked.

Because it is all unnatural, my dear. Rabbits are out of place in such

luxury. When I was young I lived in a burrow in the forest. I was

surrounded by enemies and often had to run for my life. It was hard

getting enough to eat, at times, and when I found a bunch of clover I had

to listen and look for danger while I ate it. Wolves prowled around the

hole in which I lived and sometimes I didn't dare stir out for days at a

time. Oh, how happy and contented I was then! I was a real rabbit, as

nature made me--wild and free!--and I even enjoyed listening to the

startled throbbing of my own heart!"

The Emerald City of Oz