On the east edge of the Land of Oz, in the Munchkin Country, is abig, tall hill called Mount Munch. One one side, the bottom of thishill just touches the Deadly Sandy Desert that separates theFairyland of Oz from all the rest of the world, but on the otherside, the hill touches the beautiful, fertile Country of the Munchkins.

The Munchkin folks, however, merely stand off and look at MountMunch and know very little about it; for, about a third of the way up,its sides become too steep to climb, and if any people live upon thetop of that great towering peak that seems to reach nearly to theskies, the Munchkins are not aware of the fact.

But people DO live there, just the same. The top of Mount Munch isshaped like a saucer, broad and deep, and in the saucer are fieldswhere grains and vegetables grow, and flocks are fed, and brooks flowand trees bear all sorts of things. There are houses scattered hereand there, each having its family of Hyups, as the people callthemselves. The Hyups seldom go down the mountain, for the samereason that the Munchkins never climb up: the sides are too steep.

In one of the houses lived a wise old Hyup named Bini Aru, who usedto be a clever Sorcerer. But Ozma of Oz, who rules everyone in theLand of Oz, had made a decree that no one should practice magic in herdominions except Glinda the Good and the Wizard of Oz, and when Glindasent this royal command to the Hyups by means of a strong-winged Eagle,old Bini Aru at once stopped performing magical arts. He destroyedmany of his magic powders and tools of magic, and afterward honestlyobeyed the law. He had never seen Ozma, but he knew she was his Rulerand must be obeyed.

There was only one thing that grieved him. He had discovered a newand secret method of transformations that was unknown to any otherSorcerer. Glinda the Good did not know it, nor did the little Wizardof Oz, nor Dr. Pipt nor old Mombi, nor anyone else who dealt in magicarts. It was Bini Aru's own secret. By its means, it was thesimplest thing in the world to transform anyone into beast, bird orfish, or anything else, and back again, once you know how to pronouncethe mystical word: "Pyrzqxgl."

Bini Aru had used this secret many times, but not to cause evil orsuffering to others. When he had wandered far from home and washungry, he would say: "I want to become a cow--Pyrzqxgl!"In an instant he would be a cow, and then he would eat grass andsatisfy his hunger. All beasts and birds can talk in the Land of Oz,so when the cow was no longer hungry, it would say: "I want to be BiniAru again: Pyrzqxgl!" and the magic word, properlypronounced, would instantly restore him to his proper form.

Now, of course, I would not dare to write down this magic word soplainly if I thought my readers would pronounce it properly and so beable to transform themselves and others, but it is a fact that no onein all the world except Bini Aru, had ever (up to the time this storybegins) been able to pronounce "Pyrzqxgl!" the right way, soI think it is safe to give it to you. It might be well, however, inreading this story aloud, to be careful not to pronounce Pyrzqxglthe proper way, and thus avoid all danger of the secret being able towork mischief.

Bini Aru, having discovered the secret of instant transformation,which required no tools or powders or other chemicals or herbs andalways worked perfectly, was reluctant to have such a wonderfuldiscovery entirely unknown or lost to all human knowledge. He decidednot to use it again, since Ozma had forbidden him to do so, but hereflected that Ozma was a girl and some time might change her mindand allow her subjects to practice magic, in which case Bini Aru couldagain transform himself and others at will,--unless, of course, heforgot how to pronounce Pyrzqxgl in the meantime.

After giving the matter careful thought, he decided to write theword, and how it should be pronounced, in some secret place, so thathe could find it after many years, but where no one else could everfind it.

That was a clever idea, but what bothered the old Sorcerer was tofind a secret place. He wandered all over the Saucer at the top ofMount Munch, but found no place in which to write the secret wordwhere others might not be likely to stumble upon it. So finally hedecided it must be written somewhere in his own house.

Bini Aru had a wife named Mopsi Aru who was famous for making finehuckleberry pies, and he had a son named Kiki Aru who was not famousat all. He was noted as being cross and disagreeable because he wasnot happy, and he was not happy because he wanted to go down themountain and visit the big world below and his father would not lethim. No one paid any attention to Kiki Aru, because he didn't amountto anything, anyway.

Once a year there was a festival on Mount Munch which all the Hyupsattended. It was held in the center of the saucer-shaped country, andthe day was given over to feasting and merry-making. The young folksdanced and sang songs; the women spread the tables with good things toeat, and the men played on musical instruments and told fairy tales.

Kiki Aru usually went to these festivals with his parents, and thensat sullenly outside the circle and would not dance or sing or eventalk to the other young people. So the festival did not make him anyhappier than other days, and this time he told Bini Aru and Mopsi Aruthat he would not go. He would rather stay at home and be unhappy allby himself, he said, and so they gladly let him stay.

But after he was left alone Kiki decided to enter his father'sprivate room, where he was forbidden to go, and see if he could findany of the magic tools Bini Aru used to work with when he practicedsorcery. As he went in Kiki stubbed his toe on one of the floorboards. He searched everywhere but found no trace of his father'smagic. All had been destroyed.

Much disappointed, he started to go out again when he stubbed histoe on the same floor board. That set him thinking. Examining theboard more closely, Kiki found it had been pried up and then naileddown again in such a manner that it was a little higher than the otherboards. But why had his father taken up the board? Had he hiddensome of his magic tools underneath the floor?

Kiki got a chisel and pried up the board, but found nothing underit. He was just about to replace the board when it slipped from hishand and turned over, and he saw something written on the underside ofit. The light was rather dim, so he took the board to the window andexamined it, and found that the writing described exactly how topronounce the magic word Pyrzqxgl, which would transform anyoneinto anything instantly, and back again when the word was repeated.

Now, at first, Kiki Aru didn't realize what a wonderful secret hehad discovered; but he thought it might be of use to him and so hetook a piece of paper and made on it an exact copy of the instructionsfor pronouncing Pyrzqxgl. Then he folded the paper and put itin his pocket, and replaced the board in the floor so that no onewould suspect it had been removed.

After this Kiki went into the garden and sitting beneath a tree madea careful study of the paper. He had always wanted to get away fromMount Munch and visit the big world--especially the Land of Oz--andthe idea now came to him that if he could transform himself into abird, he could fly to any place he wished to go and fly back againwhenever he cared to. It was necessary, however, to learn by heartthe way to pronounce the magic word, because a bird would have no wayto carry a paper with it, and Kiki would be unable to resume hisproper shape if he forgot the word or its pronunciation.

So he studied it a long time, repeating it a hundred times in hismind until he was sure he would not forget it. But to make safetydoubly sure he placed the paper in a tin box in a neglected part ofthe garden and covered the box with small stones.

By this time it was getting late in the day and Kiki wished toattempt his first transformation before his parents returned from thefestival. So he stood on the front porch of his home and said:

"I want to become a big, strong bird, like a hawk--Pyrzqxgl!"He pronounced it the right way, so in a flash he felt that he wascompletely changed in form. He flapped his wings, hopped to the porchrailing and said: "Caw-oo! Caw-oo!"

Then he laughed and said half aloud: "I suppose that's the funnysound this sort of a bird makes. But now let me try my wings and seeif I'm strong enough to fly across the desert."

For he had decided to make his first trip to the country outside theLand of Oz. He had stolen this secret of transformation and he knewhe had disobeyed the law of Oz by working magic. Perhaps Glinda orthe Wizard of Oz would discover him and punish him, so it would begood policy to keep away from Oz altogether.

Slowly Kiki rose into the air, and resting on his broad wings,floated in graceful circles above the saucer-shaped mountain-top.From his height, he could see, far across the burning sands of theDeadly Desert, another country that might be pleasant to explore, sohe headed that way, and with strong, steady strokes of his wings,began the long flight.