Lyman Frank Baum

Dorothy lived in the midst of the greatKansas prairies （大草原）， with UncleHenry， who was a farmer， and Aunt Em，who was the farmer's wife. Their house wassmall， for the lumber （木材） to build it hadto be carried by wagon many miles. Therewere four walls， a floor and a roof， whichmade one room; and this room contained arusty looking cook stove， a cupboard forthe dishes， a table， three or four chairs，and the beds. Uncle Henry and Aunt Emhad a big bed in one corner， and Dorothy alittle bed in another corner. There was no?garret at all， and no cellar —except a smallhole dug in the ground， called a cyclonecellar （龍卷風地窖）， where the familycould go in case one of those great whirlwindsarose， mighty enough to crush anybuilding in its path. It was reached by atrap door in the middle of the floor， fromwhich a ladder led down into the small，dark hole.

When Dorothy stood in the doorwayand looked around， she could see nothingbut the great gray prairie on every side.Not a tree nor a house broke the broad?sweep of flat country that reached to theedge of the sky in all directions. The sunhad baked the plowed （耕過的） land intoa gray mass， with little cracks runningthrough it. Even the grass was not green，for the sun had burned the tops of the longblades until they were the same gray colorto be seen everywhere. Once the house hadbeen painted， but the sun blistered thepaint and the rains washed it away， andnow the house was as dull and gray as everythingelse.

When Aunt Em came there to live，she was a young， pretty wife. The sun andwind had changed her， too. They had takenthe sparkle from her eyes and left them asober gray; they had taken the red from hercheeks and lips， and they were gray also.She was thin and gaunt， and never smilednow. When Dorothy， who was an orphan（ 孤兒）， first came to her， Aunt Em hadbeen so startled by the child's laughter thatshe would scream and press her hand uponher heart whenever Dorothy's merry voicereached her ears; and she still looked atthe little girl with wonder that she couldfind anything to laugh at.

Uncle Henry never laughed. Heworked hard from morning till night anddid not know what joy was. He was grayalso， from his long beard to his roughboots， and he looked stern and solemn， and?rarely spoke.

It was Toto that made Dorothy laugh，and saved her from growing as gray as herother surroundings. Toto was not gray; hewas a little black dog， with long silky hairand small black eyes that twinkled merrilyon either side of his funny nose. Totoplayed all day long， and Dorothy playedwith him， and loved him dearly.

Today， however， they were not playing.Uncle Henry sat upon the doorstep andlooked anxiously at the sky， which waseven grayer than usual. Dorothy stood inthe door with Toto in her arms， and lookedat the sky too. Aunt Em was washing thedishes.

From the far north they heard a lowwail of the wind， and Uncle Henry andDorothy could see where the long grass?bowed in waves before the coming storm.There now came sharp whistling in the airfrom the south， and as they turned theireyes that way， they saw ripples in the grasscoming from that direction too. SuddenlyUncle Henry stood up.

“There's a cyclone coming， Em，” hecalled to his wife. “Ill go look after thestock.” Then he ran toward the shedswhere the cows and horses were kept. AuntEm dropped her work and came to thedoor. One glance told her the danger closeat hand.

“Quick， Dorothy！” she screamed.“Run for the cellar！”

Toto jumped out of Dorothy's armsand hid under the bed， and the girl startedto get him. Aunt Em， badly frightened，threw open the trap door in the floor andclimbed down the ladder into the small，dark hole. Dorothy caught Toto at last andstarted to follow her aunt. When she washalfway across the room， there came agreat shriek （尖叫聲） from the wind， andthe house shook so hard that she lost herfooting and sat down suddenly upon thefloor.

Then a strange thing happened. Thehouse whirled around two or three times?and rose slowly through the air. Dorothyfelt as if she were going up in a balloon.

The north and south winds met wherethe house stood， and made it the exact centerof the cyclone. In the middle of a cyclonethe air is generally still， but the greatpressure of the wind on every side of thehouse raised it up higher and higher， untilit was at the very top of the cyclone; andthere it remained and was carried milesand miles away as easily as you couldcarry a feather.

It was very dark， and the wind howledhorribly around her， but Dorothy found shewas riding quite easily. After the first fewwhirls around， and one other time whenthe house tipped badly， she felt as if shewere being rocked gently， like a baby in acradle.

Toto did not like it. He ran about theroom， now here， now there， barking loudly;but Dorothy sat quite still on the floor andwaited to see what would happen.

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What did Dorothy do just before the cyclone lifted the house？

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