Подорож до Країни Оз
9. Facing the Scoodlers
"Weloveyouinsoup!"theyyelled,andinaflashturnedtheirwhitesidestothefront.
"Howdreadful!"saidDorothy."Thisisatime,ShaggyMan,whenyougetlovedtoomuch."
"Don’twanttobesoup!"wailedButton-Brightagain;andTotobegantowhinedismally,asifhedidn’twanttobesoup,either.
"Theonlythingtodo,"saidtheshaggymantohisfriends,inalowtone,"istogetoutofthispocketintherocksassoonaswecan,andleavetheScoodlersbehindus.Followme,mydears,anddon’tpayanyattentiontowhattheydoorsay."
Withthis,hebegantomarchalongtheroadtotheopeningintherocksahead,andtheotherskeptclosebehindhim.ButtheScoodlersclosedupinfront,asiftobartheirway,andsotheshaggymanstoopeddownandpickedupaloosestone,whichhethrewatthecreaturestoscarethemfromthepath.
AtthistheScoodlersraisedahowl.Twoofthempickedtheirheadsfromtheirshouldersandhurledthemattheshaggymanwithsuchforcethathefelloverinaheap,greatlyastonished.Thetwonowranforwardwithswiftleaps,caughtuptheirheads,andputthemonagain,afterwhichtheysprangbacktotheirpositionsontherocks.
