So
I returned joyfully to Nimmie Amee, who was much
pleased with my glittering legs and promised that when
we were wed she would always keep them oiled and
polished. But the Witch was more furious than ever, and
as soon as I raised my axe to chop, it twisted around
and cut off one of my arms. The tinsmith made me a tin
arm and I was not much worried, because Nimmie Amee
declared she still loved me."
Chapter Two
The Heart of the Tin Woodman
The Emperor of the Winkies paused in his story to
reach for an oil-can, with which he carefully oiled the
joints in his tin throat, for his voice had begun to
squeak a little. Woot the Wanderer, having satisfied
his hunger, watched this oiling process with much
curiosity, but begged the Tin Man to go on with his
tale.
"The Witch with the Silver Shoes hated me for having
defied her," resumed the Emperor, his voice now
sounding clear as a bell, "and she insisted that Nimmie
Amee should never marry me. Therefore she made the
enchanted axe cut off my other arm, and the tinsmith
also replaced that member with tin, including these
finely-jointed hands that you see me using. But, alas!
after that, the axe, still enchanted by the cruel
Witch, cut my body in two, so that I fell to the
ground. Then the Witch, who was watching from a near-by
bush, rushed up and seized the axe and chopped my body
into several small pieces, after which, thinking that
at last she had destroyed me, she ran away laughing in
wicked glee.
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