At this taunt the crab reached out its other claw and seized the
zebra's ear, and the creature gave a cry of pain and began prancing up
and down, trying to shake off the crab, which clung fast.
"Stop pinching!" cried the zebra. "You promised not to pinch if I
would carry you here!"
"And you promised to treat me respectfully," said the crab, letting go
the ear.
"Well, haven't I?" demanded the zebra.
"No; you called me a lobster," said the crab.
"Ladies and gentlemen," continued the zebra, "please pardon my poor
friend, because he is ignorant and stupid, and does not understand.
Also the pinch of his claw is very annoying. So pray tell him that
the world contains more land than water, and when he has heard your
judgment I will carry him back and dump him into his pool, where I
hope he will be more modest in the future."
"But we cannot tell him that," said Dorothy, gravely, "because it
would not be true."
"What!" exclaimed the zebra, in astonishment; "do I hear you aright?"
"The soft-shell crab is correct," declared the Wizard. "There is
considerably more water than there is land in the world.
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