The Magic of Oz

CHAPTER 23. The Fountain of

Oblivion

The morning after the birthday fete, as the Wizard and Dorothy were

walking in the grounds of the palace, Ozma came out and joined them,

saying:

I want to hear more of your adventures in the Forest of Gugu, and

how you were able to get those dear little monkeys to use in Dorothy's

Surprise Cake."

So they sat down on a marble bench near to the Fountain of the Water

of Oblivion, and between them Dorothy and the Wizard related their

adventures.

I was dreadfully fussy while I was a woolly lamb," said Dorothy, "for

it didn't feel good, a bit. And I wasn't quite sure, you know, that I'd ever

get to be a girl again."

You might have been a woolly lamb yet, if I hadn't happened to have

discovered that Magic Transformation Word," declared the Wizard.

But what became of the walnut and the hickory-nut into which you

transformed those dreadful beast magicians?" inquired Ozma.

Why, I'd almost forgotten them," was the reply; "but I believe they

are still here in my pocket."

Then he searched in his pockets and brought out the two nuts and

showed them to her.

Ozma regarded them thoughtfully.

It isn't right to leave any living creatures in such helpless forms," said

she. "I think, Wizard, you ought to transform them into their natural

shapes again."

But I don't know what their natural shapes are," he objected, "for of

course the forms of mixed animals which they had assumed were not

natural to them. And you must not forget, Ozma, that their natures were

cruel and mischievous, so if I bring them back to life they might cause us a

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