Nice place, isn't it?
But lonesome--dreadfully lonesome."
"Why did they shut you up here?" asked
Scraps, who was regarding the queer, square
creature with much curiosity.
"Because I eat up all the honey-bees which
the Munchkin farmers who live around here
keep to make them honey."
"Are you fond of eating honey-bees?" inquired
the boy.
"Very. They are really delicious. But the
farmers did not like to lose their bees and so
they tried to destroy me. Of course they couldn't
do that."
"Why not?"
"My skin is so thick and tough that nothing can
get through it to hurt me. So, finding they could
not destroy me, they drove me into this forest and
built a fence around me. Unkind, wasn't it?"
"But what do you eat now?" asked Ojo.
"Nothing at all. I've tried the leaves from the
trees and the mosses and creeping vines, but they
don't seem to suit my taste. So, there being no
honey-bees here, I've eaten nothing for years.
"You must be awfully hungry," said the boy.
"I've got some bread and cheese in my basket.
Would you like that kind of food?"
"Give me a nibble and I will try it; then I
can tell you better whether it is grateful to my
appetite," returned the Woozy.
So the boy opened his basket and broke a
piece off the loaf of bread.
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