The Wonderful Wizard of Oz / Czarnoksiężnik z Krainy Oz

FrankBaumThe Wonderful Wizard of Oz Czarnoksiężnik z Krainy OzCzytamy w oryginale

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz / Czarnoksiężnik z Krainy Oz

Seria Czytamy w oryginale to atrakcyjna pomoc dla uczących się języka angielskiego. Śledząc losy bohaterów powieści możemy na bieżąco porównywać tekst angielski i polski, ucząc się na podstawie wielkiej literatury. Adaptacja została przygotowana z myślą o czytelnikach średniozaawansowanych, jednak dzięki wersji polskiej z książki korzystać mogą również początkujący.

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Zapraszamy na www.44.pl gdzie dostępne są dodatkowe pomoce do samodzielnej nauki: angielska wersja audio (format mp3) oraz zeszyt ćwiczeń z kluczem odpowiedzi.

The Wonderful Wizard of OzChapter I  The Cyclone

[ 1 ] Dorothy lived
in the middle of the countryside in Kansas with Uncle Henry and Aunt Em,
who were farmers. The three of them lived in a small house which had
only one very simple room. There were four chairs in it and a table and
two beds. The interesting thing about the room was that in the middle
of the floor it had a small door. If you opened it, you could go down
a ladder into a deep hole in the ground which was called a cyclone
cellar. The family could go in there in case a cyclone came and crushed
their house.

[ 2 ] When Dorothy
stood in the doorway of the little house and looked around, she could
see nothing but grey prairie on every side. There were no houses or
trees anywhere, only the grey grass burnt by the sun. The strong prairie
sun and wind had taken all the colour from Uncle Henry and Aunt Em’s
cheeks and eyes and left them grey too. Only Toto was not grey. He was
a little black dog, with small black eyes which smiled at Dorothy from
his tiny face. Toto and Dorothy were best friends, and they usually
played together all day.

[ 3 ] But today they
were not playing. They were watching Uncle Henry, who was sitting on the
doorstep and watching the sky, which was even greyer than usual. His
face looked sad, and when he heard the loud crying sound of the wind
from the north, he stood up and said:

[ 4 ] ‘That’s
a cyclone. You two go down into the cellar, and I’ll look after the
animals.’

[ 5 ] The same moment
Toto jumped out of Dorothy’s arms and hid under the bed. Dorothy ran
towards him while Aunt Em threw the small trap door open and climbed
quickly down the ladder into the cellar. When Dorothy finally caught Toto
and started to follow her Aunt, a very strange thing happened.

[ 6 ] The strong wind
shook the house so much that Dorothy fell over onto the floor. Then the
house started to move around and then began to go up slowly through the
air like a balloon. The north and the south winds met where the house
stood and so made it the exact centre of the cyclone. In the middle of
the cyclone the air was still, but the great pressure of the wind was
raising the little house higher and higher until it went up to the very
top of the cyclone and was carried miles and miles away as easily as
you could carry a feather.

[ 7 ] It was
dark inside the house and the sound of the wind outside was terrible,
but Dorothy felt strangely safe riding through the air. Toto didn’t
like it though, and the little girl had to hold him in her arms. After
several hours they were both so tired that despite the terrible noise,
they fell asleep on the floor.

[ 8 ] They were awoken
by a great shock as the house finally landed. Dorothy sat up and noticed
that the house was not moving anymore. It was not dark either. She jumped
up onto her feet and ran to the door, opened it, and as she looked around,
her eyes started to grow bigger and bigger.

[ 9 ] It turned out
that the cyclone had set the house, very gently – for a cyclone –
in the middle of a beautiful country. The grass around was green and
with colourful flowers in it. Pretty birds were singing beautifully
among the trees and bushes.

[ 10 ] And then Dorothy
saw a group of people coming towards her from among the trees. Three of
them were men, dressed from head to toe in blue, and one was a woman
and was wearing a white dress with little silver stars on it. When
they noticed that Dorothy was looking at them, the three men stopped,
as if frightened. But the little woman came up to Dorothy and said in
a sweet voice:

[ 11 ] ‘You are
welcome, great Sorceress, to the land of the Munchkins. We are very
grateful to you for killing the Wicked Witch of the East and for making
the Munchkins free people.’

[ 12 ] Dorothy could
not believe her own ears. What could it all mean?

[ 13 ] ‘You are
very kind, but there must be some mistake,’ said she. ‘I am not
a sorceress and I have not killed anything in my life.’

[ 14 ] ‘Your house
did, anyway. See!’ said the little woman laughing and pointing to one
of the corners of the house. Dorothy looked over and saw two thin feet
in silver shoes sticking out from under the house.

[ 15 ] ‘Oh, dear! Oh,
dear!’ cried Dorothy. ‘The house must have fallen on her! But who
was she?’ asked Dorothy.

[ 16 ] ‘She was the
Wicked Witch of the East, as I said,’ answered the little woman. ‘She
was terrible and wicked indeed. She ruled over this beautiful land,
making the Munchkins her slaves night and day. Now they are free and
very grateful to you.’

[ 17 ] ‘I see,’
said Dorothy thinking that it was all very strange indeed.

[ 18 ] ‘But I am
not a Munchkin,’ added the woman. ‘I’m the Good Witch of the
North.’

[ 19 ] ‘Really?’
Dorothy’s eyes grew bigger. ‘I thought all witches were
wicked?’

[ 20 ] ‘Oh, no,
that is a great mistake. There were only four witches in the Land of Oz,
and two of them – those who live in the North and in the South –
are good witches. There were two wicked witches who lived in the East
and in the West, but now that you’ve killed one of them, there’s
only one wicked witch in the Land of Oz.

[ 21 ] The Witch of
the North stopped at this point and looked at the corner of the house
to which the three Munchkins were now pointing. The feet of the dead
witch had disappeared and all that was left of her now were the two
silver shoes. The Witch of the North picked them up and handed them to
Dorothy.

[ 22 ] ‘They are
yours now. The Wicked Witch was very proud of them because they have
some magic power, but I never knew what it was.’

[ 23 ] ‘Thank
you,’ said Dorothy taking the shoes. ‘But now I would really like
to go back home to Kansas. Otherwise, I’m sure my Aunt Em will be very
worried. Could you help me find my way?’

[ 24 ] ‘Kansas? ‘
said the Witch thoughtfully. ‘I’m sure I don’t know where that
is. All I know is that the Land of Oz is surrounded by a desert which
nobody can cross. I’m afraid, my dear, you will have to stay with
us.’

[ 25 ] When Dorothy
heard this, tears came to her eyes, and she started to cry. The Munchkins
felt so sorry for her that immediately they took out blue handkerchiefs
from the pockets of their blue trousers and began to cry too. Only the
Witch of the North didn’t cry. Instead, she slowly took off her white
hat, then looked inside it and read:

[ 26 ] ‘LET DOROTHY
GO TO THE CITY OF EMERALDS.’

[ 27 ] ‘If your
name is Dorothy, my dear,’ said the Witch looking carefully at
Dorothy, ‘then you must go to the Emerald City. Perhaps Oz will help
you.’

[ 28 ] ‘And where
is this city?’ asked Dorothy drying her eyes.

[ 29 ] ‘It’s
exactly in the middle of the country, and it is ruled by Oz, the Great
Wizard.’

[ 30 ] ‘How can
I get there?’ asked the little girl, who was slowly getting used to
finding out about new Witches and Wizards.

[ 31 ] ‘You must
walk. The road to the Emerald City is made of yellow brick. You cannot
miss it. And I’ll give you my kiss, which will keep you safe. No
one will dare hurt a person who has been kissed by the Witch of the
North.’

[ 32 ] She came close
to Dorothy and kissed the girl’s forehead, which left a round shiny
mark on it.

[ 33 ] ‘Good luck,
my dear,’ the Witch said and disappeared.

Chapter II The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman

[ 34 ] Dorothy
decided