关于本书
一场强大的龙卷风把小女孩多萝西的房子从灰暗的堪萨斯大草原卷到了一个绚丽多彩的魔法国度，她发现自己置身于一个陌生的新世界。这部经典奇幻故事讲述了她寻找回家之路的旅程：在这个魔法真实存在的国度里，她遇到了古怪的当地居民和神秘的人物。
开篇
Introduction
引言
Folklore, legends, myths and fairy tales have followed childhood through the ages,
民间传说、传奇、神话和童话故事世世代代伴随着童年，
for every healthy youngster has a wholesome and instinctive love for stories fantastic, marvelous and manifestly unreal.
因为每一个健康的孩子都对那些奇幻、神奇和明显不真实的故事怀有一种健康的、本能的喜爱。
The winged fairies of Grimm and Andersen have brought more happiness to childish hearts than all other human creations.
格林和安徒生笔下长着翅膀的仙女，给孩子们的心灵带来的快乐，比人类所有其他的创造加起来还要多。
Yet the old time fairy tale, having served for generations, may now be classed as “historical” in the children’s library;
然而，旧时的童话故事已经为一代又一代人服务过了，现在在儿童图书馆里或许可以被归为“历史性的”了；
for the time has come for a series of newer “wonder tales” in which the stereotyped genie,
因为是时候出现一系列更新的“奇幻故事”了，在这些故事里，那些千篇一律的精灵、
dwarf and fairy are eliminated, together with all the horrible
小矮人和仙女都被去掉了，连同所有那些可怕的、
and blood-curdling incidents devised by their authors to point a fearsome moral to each tale.
令人毛骨悚然的情节——那是作者们为了给每个故事点出一个可怕的教训而设计出来的。
Modern education includes morality; therefore the modern child seeks only entertainment in its wonder tales and gladly dispenses with all disagreeable incident.
现代教育包括道德教育；因此，现代的孩子在他们的奇幻故事中只寻求娱乐，并且乐于免去一切令人不快的情节。
Having this thought in mind, the story of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” was written solely to please children of today.
怀着这样的想法，《绿野仙踪》这个故事完全是为了让今天的孩子们高兴而写的。
It aspires to being a modernized fairy tale, in which the wonderment and joy are retained
它力求成为一个现代化的童话故事，其中保留了惊奇和欢乐，
and the heartaches and nightmares are left out.
而略去了心痛和噩梦。
L. Frank Baum Chicago, April, 1900.
L·弗兰克·鲍姆 芝加哥，1900年4月。
Chapter I The Cyclone
第一章 旋风
Dorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies, with Uncle Henry,
多萝西住在堪萨斯大草原的中部，和亨利叔叔住在一起，
who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was the farmer’s wife.
他是个农夫，还有埃姆婶婶，她是农夫的妻子。
Their house was small, for the lumber to build it had to be carried by wagon many miles.
他们的房子很小，因为建房的木材得用马车运好多英里路。
There were four walls, a floor and a roof, which made one room;
房子有四面墙、一层地板和一个屋顶，构成了一个房间；
and this room contained a rusty looking cookstove, a cupboard for the dishes, a table, three or four chairs, and the beds.
这个房间里有一个看上去锈迹斑斑的炉灶、一个放碗碟的碗橱、一张桌子、三四把椅子，还有几张床。
Uncle Henry and Aunt Em had a big bed in one corner, and Dorothy a little bed in another corner.
亨利叔叔和埃姆婶婶在一个角落里有一张大床，多萝西在另一个角落里有一张小床。