se, and back again, once you know how to pronounce the
mystical word: "Pyrzqxgl."

Bini Aru had used this secret many times, but not to cause evil or
suffering to others. When he had wandered far from home and was
hungry, he would say: "I want to become a cow--Pyrzqxgl!" In an instant
he would be a cow, and then he would eat grass and satisfy 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 Bini Aru again: Pyrzqxgl!"
and the magic word, properly pronounced, would instantly restore him to
his proper form.

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

Bini Aru, having discovered the secret of instant transformation, which
required no tools or powders or other chemicals or herbs and always
worked perfectly, was reluctant to have such a wonderful discovery
entirely unknown or lost to all human knowledge. He decided not to use
it again, since Ozma had forbidden him to do so, but he reflected that
Ozma was a girl and some time might change her mind and allow her
subjects to practice magic, in which case Bini Aru could again
transform himself and others at will,--unless, of course, he forgot how
to pronounce Pyrzqxgl in the meantime.

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

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

Bini Aru had a wife named Mopsi Aru who was famous for making fine
huckleberry pies, and he had a son named Kiki Aru who was not famous at
all. He was noted as being cross and disag