The Tin Woodman made a ladder to climb the high white wall. The Scarecrow climbed up first. When he looked over the top, he said, "Oh, my!" Dorothy climbed up next. She also said, "Oh, my!" Then the Lion and the Tin Woodman climbed up. They all said, "Oh, my!" when they saw what was on the other side.
Below them was a very strange country. The ground was smooth and white, like a big, clean plate. There were many tiny houses made of china (the material for making fine plates and cups). They were painted in bright colors. There were also little china animals, like cows, sheep, and horses.
The people were very strange too. They were all small, no taller than Dorothy's knee. There were pretty princesses, shepherds, and funny clowns. All the people were made of china, just like their houses.
"How do we get down?" Dorothy asked. The ladder was too heavy to move. So the Scarecrow fell down first. The others jumped down on top of his soft straw body. Then they helped the Scarecrow get back into shape.
They started to walk carefully through the china country. They saw a china milkmaid milking a china cow. The cow kicked and broke its own leg. It also broke the milk pail. The milkmaid was angry. "See what you did!" she cried. "You scared my cow!" She was very upset.
Dorothy felt very bad. "We must be very careful here," said the kind Tin Woodman. "We do not want to hurt these pretty little people."
Soon, Dorothy saw a beautiful china princess. The princess was afraid and started to run away.
"Don't chase me!" she cried. "If I run, I might fall and break."
"Can't you be fixed?" Dorothy asked.
"Yes, but you are never as pretty after you are mended," the princess said. "Look at Mr. Joker, the clown. He broke himself many times. He has cracks all over his body." A little clown with many cracks walked by and did a silly trick.
Dorothy thought the princess was very beautiful. "Can I take you to Kansas?" she asked. "I can put you on a shelf in my aunt's house."
"No, thank you," the princess said. "That would make me very unhappy. Here, I can walk and talk. On a shelf, I can only stand still. My life is much better here."
"I would never make you unhappy," Dorothy said. "So I will say goodbye."
They walked very carefully. All the little china people and animals ran away from them. They were afraid of being broken. After an hour, the friends reached the other side of the country. There was another china wall. This one was not as high. They climbed on the Lion's back to get over it.
As the Lion jumped, his tail hit a small china church. It smashed into many pieces.
"Oh no," said Dorothy. "But we were lucky. We only broke a cow's leg and a church. These people are very easy to break."
"Yes, they are," said the Scarecrow. "I am happy that I am made of straw. There are worse things in the world than being a Scarecrow."