第1章 龍捲風
桃樂絲與當農夫的亨利叔叔、艾姆嬸嬸住在堪薩斯的大草原上。他們的房子很小，因為木材必須用馬車從好幾公里外運過來。四面牆壁和地板、天花板圍成的一個房間裡，有看起來很破舊的爐子、裝碗盤的櫥櫃、桌子和三、四把椅子，還有兩張床。亨利叔叔和艾姆嬸嬸的大床在一個角落，桃樂絲的小床則在另一頭。屋子沒有閣樓，只有一個在地上挖出的小洞，稱為「龍捲風地窖」。萬一刮起大旋風，強烈得足以摧毀沿路的房屋時，就可以躲到裡面去。從地板中間的活門沿著梯子走下去，就可以進入那幽黑的小洞。
桃樂絲站在門口張望時，一眼望去只有灰色的大草原。不論是哪個方向，都沒有樹或房屋阻擋遼闊平原一覽無遺的天際線。太陽把田地曬成灰暗土塊，布滿裂痕。連草都不是青色的，因為太陽把長葉片頂端也烤成了灰色，和舉目所見的顏色沒有兩樣。這棟房子曾經油漆過，可是被太陽曬得起泡，雨水又將漆料沖刷掉，變得和其他東西一樣灰暗無光。
艾姆嬸嬸剛來這裡生活時，還是個年輕貌美的妻子。太陽跟風帶走了她眼中的光芒，使她的臉頰和嘴脣失去紅潤，留下清冷的灰暗。她現在枯瘦憔悴，不再有笑容。孤兒桃樂絲剛來時，艾姆嬸嬸時常被這孩子的笑聲嚇到，每次聽到桃樂絲快樂的聲音，她就會尖叫，把手按在胸前。她仍然會驚訝地看著這個任何事都覺得好玩的小女孩。
亨利叔叔從來都不笑。他從早到晚賣力地工作，不曉得快樂是什麼。他的人也是黯淡無光，從長鬍鬚到粗糙的靴子都是，而且他看起來很嚴肅冷酷，很少開口說話。
是托托逗笑桃樂絲的，讓她不會變得和四周一樣灰暗。但托托一點也不灰暗，牠是一隻黑色小狗，有柔軟的長毛，在牠滑稽的小鼻子兩旁，小小的黑眼睛閃閃發亮。托托整天玩，桃樂絲也整天陪牠玩，桃樂絲非常疼愛牠。
然而，今天他們並沒有一起玩耍。亨利叔叔坐在門階上，憂慮地望著比平常更灰暗的天空。桃樂絲抱著托托站在門口，同樣仰望著天空。艾姆嬸嬸正在洗碗盤。
遙遠的北方傳來低沉的風聲，亨利叔叔和桃樂絲看見長草在暴風雨來臨前，如波浪般下彎。這時尖銳的呼嘯聲從南方傳來，草上的漣漪也是來自那個方向。
亨利叔叔突然站起身。「艾姆，龍捲風要來了，我去照顧牲畜。」他對妻子喊完後跑到畜養牛馬的棚子。
艾姆嬸嬸放下手邊的工作，走到門口瞥一眼就知道危險迫在眉睫。「快，桃樂絲！快點躲進地窖！」她大叫。
托托從桃樂絲的懷裡跳開躲到床底下，桃樂絲過去抓牠。艾姆嬸嬸嚇壞了，趕緊打開地板的活門，沿著梯子爬下陰暗的小洞。桃樂絲終於抓到托托了，準備跟在嬸嬸後面。
她正要穿過屋子時，聽見一道尖銳的風聲，屋子搖晃得很厲害，她一時站不穩，突然跌坐在地上。
奇怪的事情發生了。
屋子旋轉了兩、三圈後慢慢升到空中。桃樂絲覺得好像坐著氣球往上升。
北風和南風在屋子座落的地方會合，成了龍捲風的中心。在龍捲風中心，空氣通常是靜止的，四面八方的風產生巨大的壓力，把屋子抬得越來越高，直到抵達龍捲風頂端，然後被帶到好幾公里以外的地方，跟移動羽毛一樣容易。
雖然陰暗無光，又有可怕的風聲在四周咆哮，桃樂絲發現她飛得很自在。屋子經過幾次旋轉，還有一次嚴重傾斜，她覺得自己好像搖籃裡的嬰兒，被人輕柔地搖著。
托托並不喜歡這樣。牠在房間裡跑來跑去，大聲吠叫。可是桃樂絲安靜地坐在地上看會發生什麼事。
有一次托托太靠近打開的活門而掉出去，起初小女孩以為她失去托托了。可是不久之後，她看到托托的耳朵從洞口冒出來，因為強大的氣壓使托托往上升，而沒有掉下去。她爬到洞口，抓住托托的耳朵，把牠拉到房間裡，然後關上活門，以免再發生意外。
一個小時又一個小時過去了，桃樂絲慢慢克服了恐懼，可是她覺得很孤單，風在四周呼嘯得那麼大聲，她幾乎要聾了。起初她猜想自己會在房子掉下來時摔得粉身碎骨，可是隨著時間一點一滴地過去，都沒有發生慘事，她就不再憂慮了，決定要冷靜地等待。最後她爬過不斷晃動的地板，在床上躺下來，托托也跟過來躺在她身邊。
雖然屋子還在搖晃，風聲呼呼直叫，桃樂絲卻閉上眼睛，很快就睡著了。
01
The Cyclone
Dorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies, with Uncle Henry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was
the farmer's wife. Their house was small, for the lumber to build it had to be carried by wagon many miles. There were
four walls, a floor and a roof, which made one room; and this room contained a rusty looking cookstove, a cupboard for the dishes, a table, three or four chairs, and the beds. Uncle Henry and Aunt Em had a big bed in one corner, and Dorothy a little bed in another corner. There was no garret at all, but a small hole dug in the ground, called a cyclone cellar, where the family could go in case one of those great whirlwinds arose, mighty enough to crush any building in its path. It was reached by a trap door in the middle of the floor, from which a ladder led down into the small, dark hole.
When Dorothy stood in the doorway and looked around, she could see nothing but the great gray prairie on every side.
Not a tree nor a house broke the broad sweep of flat country that reached to the edge of the sky in all directions. The sun had baked the plowed land into a gray mass, with little cracks running through it. Even the grass was not green, for the sun had burned the tops of the long blades until they were the same gray color to be seen everywhere. Once the house had been painted, but the sun blistered the paint and the rains washed it away, and now the house was as dull and gray as everything else.
When Aunt Em came there to live she was a young, pretty wife. The sun and wind had taken the sparkle from her
eyes, the red from her cheeks and lips, and left them a sober gray. She was thin and gaunt, and never smiled now. When Dorothy, who was an orphan, first came to her, Aunt Em had been so startled by the child's laughter that she would scream and press her hand upon her heart whenever Dorothy's merry voice reached her ears; and she still looked at the little girl with wonder that she could find anything to laugh at.
Uncle Henry never laughed. He worked hard from morning till night and did not know what joy was. He was
gray also, from his long beard to his rough boots, and he looked stern and solemn, and rarely spoke.
It was Toto that made Dorothy laugh, and saved her from growing as gray as her other surroundings. Toto was not
gray; he was a little black dog, with long silky hair and small black eyes that twinkled merrily on either side of his funny, wee nose. Toto played all day long, and Dorothy played with him, and loved him dearly.
Today, however, they were not playing. Uncle Henry sat upon the doorstep and looked anxiously at the sky, which was
even grayer than usual. Dorothy stood in the door with Toto in her arms and looked at the sky too. Aunt Em was washing the dishes.
From the far north they heard a low wail of the wind, and Uncle Henry and Dorothy could see where the long grass
bowed in waves before the coming storm. There now came a sharp whistling in the air from the south, and they saw ripples in the grass coming from that direction also.
Suddenly Uncle Henry stood up. "There's a cyclone coming, Em," he called to his wife. "I'll go look after the
stock." Then he ran toward the sheds where the cows and horses were kept.
Aunt Em dropped her work and came to the door. One glance told her of the danger close at hand. "Quick,
Dorothy!" she screamed. "Run for the cellar!"
Toto jumped out of Dorothy's arms and hid under the bed, and the girl started to get him. Aunt Em, badly frightened, threw open the trap door in the floor and climbed down the ladder into the small, dark hole. Dorothy caught Toto at last and started to follow her aunt.
When she was halfway across the room there came a great shriek from the wind, and the house shook so hard that
she lost her footing and sat down suddenly upon the floor.
Then a strange thing happened.
The house whirled around two or three times and rose slowly through the air. Dorothy felt as if she were going up in
a balloon.
The north and south winds met where the house stood and made it the exact center of the cyclone. In the middle of
a cyclone the air is generally still, but the great pressure of the wind on every side of the house raised it up higher and
higher, until it was at the very top of the cyclone; and there it remained and was carried miles and miles away as easily as a feather.
It was very dark, and the wind howled horribly around her, but Dorothy found she was riding quite easily. After the
first few whirls around, and one other time when the house tipped badly, she felt as if she were being rocked gently, like a baby in a cradle.
Toto did not like it. He ran about the room, now here, now there, barking loudly; but Dorothy sat quite still on the
floor and waited to see what would happen.
Once Toto got too near the open trap door and fell in; and at first the little girl thought she had lost him. But soon
she saw one of his ears sticking up through the hole, for the strong pressure of the air was keeping him up so that he
could not fall. She crept to the hole, caught Toto by the ear, and dragged him into the room again, afterward closing the trap door so that no more accidents could happen.
Hour after hour passed away, and slowly Dorothy got over her fright; but she felt quite lonely, and the wind shrieked
so loudly all about her that she nearly became deaf. At first, she had wondered if she would be dashed to pieces when the house fell again; but as the hours passed and nothing terrible happened, she stopped worrying and resolved to wait calmly and see what the future would bring. At last she crawled over the swaying floor to her bed and lay down upon it; and Toto followed and lay down beside her.
In spite of the swaying of the house and the wailing of the wind, Dorothy soon closed her eyes and fell fast asleep.
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