Dorothy and the Patchwork Girl

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Dorothy and the Patchwork Girl (correct would be: The Patchwork Girl from Oz) is a children's book by the American writer Lyman Frank Baum . The story was published in 1913 under the original title The Patchwork Girl of Oz with illustrations by John R. Neill . This is the seventh volume of the Oz cycle, which is one of the most popular children's books in the USA and which has also been partly published in German.

action

Ojo lives with his uncle Nunkie in the forest, far from any settlement. Ojo, who has never seen the world, dreams of traveling it. One day he and Uncle Nunkie visit the neighbor, the crooked magician Doctor Pipt. After six years of uninterrupted stirring, he has just completed new life powder, although it is now forbidden to perform magic in Oz without the permission of Ozma von Oz. With the powder he wants to bring to life a girl who has been sewn from a colorful patchwork blanket. The patchwork girl is supposed to help his wife Margolotte around the house. In order for it to do its job, it must also be given a brain. In addition, Margolotte mixes a few grains of "obedience", "kindness" and "truth" and a little "cleverness" together. In this way, the patchwork girl should be hard-working, but not too self-confident and smart. Ojo doesn't think that's fair and, when Margolotte doesn't look, also adds “judgment”, “courage”, “resourcefulness”, “knowledge”, “poetry” and “self-confidence”.

Shortly afterwards the new life powder is ready. When the patchwork girl is woken up, she moves somewhat unhappily and pushes Doctor Pipt aside. Frightened by this sudden movement, Margolotte and Uncle Nunkie jump back. In doing so, they bump into a shelf on which there is a petrifying powder. The two immediately turn to stone. To bring them to life, you need new life powder, which is already gone, or a special mixture made from an eighth liter of water from a dark well, three hairs from the tail end of a Wusi animal, a drop of oil from the joint of a living one People, a six-leaf clover and the left wing of a yellow butterfly. Ojo decides to go in search of these things right away. He is accompanied by the patchwork girl who calls herself Fetzi and a glass cat that the doctor brought to life in an earlier experiment. In the meantime, if all the ingredients are not found, Doctor Pipt begins to mix new life powder, which would take another six years to prepare.

Ojo, Fetzi and the glass cat begin an adventurous journey. They soon meet the Wusi animal, which is happy to donate its three only tail hairs to them. However, since these cannot be torn out, the Wusi decides to accompany Ojo on his further journey. On the way they meet the shaggy man who frees them from an awkward position and then promises to help them find the other ingredients. He leads them to the Emerald City, where Princess Ozma is supposed to help them. Once there, however, Ojo is immediately arrested for secretly picking a six-leaf clover on the way. However, this is strictly forbidden as it is a powerful ingredient in various magic drugs. In a court hearing, however, Ojo is acquitted, and Dorothy decides to help him with his further search. After various other adventures, the adventurers find the dark well and also get the drop of oil from the joint of a living man. This comes from the tin woodcutter, who also wants to help Ojo, but strictly forbids him to tear off the left wing of a yellow butterfly in his country. Since there are only yellow butterflies in all of Oz in the Yellow Land of the Winkies, Ojo must regard his search as a failure. Dejected, he returns to the emerald city. A surprise awaits him there. Ozma asked Glinda to teach the Wizard of Oz how to bring Magolotte and Uncle Nunkie back to life. The magic succeeds. With another spell, Doctor Pipt, who has broken the ban on spells, is deprived of his magic power.

Remarks

Baum originally wanted to end the Oz series with the band Dorothy in the Emerald City. But numerous letters to the editor from children soon made him change his mind. After a few years of hiatus, he began to come up with new Oz stories. After a break of several years, first three short stories were published (which appeared in a separate volume with three other short stories in the same year) and then the again longer story about the funny patchwork girl Fetzi. To plausibly explain this sequel, he added a preface to the novel in which he explains how he managed to get in touch with Dorothy again thanks to wireless telegraphy.

Continuity failure

For the first time in the storyline, the reader encounters an old friend of the tin woodcutter who knew him from the time he was made of flesh and blood. He, too, says that he only mutilated himself because he was too careless with his ax.

literature

  • L. Frank Baum: Dorothy and the Patchwork Girl . Übers. Esmy Berlt, LeiV Leipziger Kinderbuchverlag GmbH, Leipzig 2003, (accidentally stated as 2002 in the book) , ISBN 3-89603-139-2
The Oz Books
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Little Wizard Tales from Oz

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