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stranger, are no doubt curious to learn how I became so beautiful and
prosperous, so I will recite for your benefit my strange adventures."
"
"
Thank you," said Woot the Wanderer, still eating.
I was not always made of tin," began the Emperor, "for in the beginning I
was a man of flesh and bone and blood and lived in the Munchkin Country
of Oz. There I was, by trade, a woodchopper, and contributed my share to
the comfort of the Oz people by chopping up the trees of the forest to make
firewood, with which the women would cook their meals while the children
warmed themselves about the fires. For my home I had a little hut by the
edge of the forest, and my life was one of much content until I fell in love
with a beautiful Munchkin girl who lived not far away."
"
"
What was the Munchkin girl's name?" asked Woot.
Nimmie Amee. This girl, so fair that the sunsets blushed when their rays
fell upon her, lived with a powerful witch who wore silver shoes and who had
made the poor child her slave. Nimmie Amee was obliged to work from
morning till night for the old Witch of the East, scrubbing and sweeping her
hut and cooking her meals and washing her dishes. She had to cut firewood,
too, until I found her one day in the forest and fell in love with her. After
that, I always brought plenty of firewood to Nimmie Amee and we became
very friendly. Finally I asked her to marry me, and she agreed to do so, but
the Witch happened to overhear our conversation and it made her very
angry, for she did not wish her slave to be taken away from her. The Witch
commanded me never to come near Nimmie Amee again, but I told her I was
my own master and would do as I pleased, not realizing that this was a
careless way to speak to a Witch.
"
The next day, as I was cutting wood in the forest, the cruel Witch
enchanted my axe, so that it slipped and cut off my right leg."
"
"
How dreadful!" cried Woot the Wanderer.
Yes, it was a seeming misfortune," agreed the Tin Man, "for a one-legged
woodchopper is of little use in his trade. But I would not allow the Witch to
conquer me so easily. I knew a very skillful mechanic at the other side of the
forest, who was my friend, so I hopped on one leg to him and asked him to
help me. He soon made me a new leg out of tin and fastened it cleverly to my
meat body. It had joints at the knee and at the ankle and was almost as
comfortable as the leg I had lost."
"Your friend must have been a wonderful workman!" exclaimed Woot.
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