Get your own Free Home PageThe Kingdom of Pumperdink, as you may know, lies in the north central part of the Gillikin Country of Oz. Pumperdink is ruled by King Pompus and his wife, Queen Pozy Pink. These two monarchs are assisted by the Princes and Princesses of Pumperdink. The rulers have one son, Prince Pompadore, who is married to the lovely Princess Peg Amy. They have a young daughter named Princess Pajonia. However, the most important Prince in Pumperdink, as well as the most famous citizen of the Kingdom and one of the greatest celebrities in Oz, is not a member of the Royal Family by birth or marriage, but an elephant. If you have studied hoztory, you probably have read about the adventures of Kabumpo, the Elegant Elephant of Oz. He has had plenty of them. He saved Pumperdink twice and even rescued Queen Ozma of Oz herself (although he was helped out on all of his adventures). While not traveling through the Land of Oz, Kabumpo aids King Pompus with Affairs of State.
Many miles from Pumperdink and across the Deadly Desert from Oz lies the underground Nome Kingdom. This country is home to thousands of little Nomes. The ruler of the Nome Kingdom is King Kaliko, who, like most of his subjects, is not really evil, but sometimes causes trouble for beings other than Nomes.
It just so happened that one day Potaroo, Royal Wizard of the Nome Kingdom, was experimenting with magical transportation. He was explaining his experiments to a group of Nomes who were on lunch break from work in the mines.
"With my new magical formula and tools, I will soon be able to magically transport anything I wish," stated the wizard.
"How large on object could you transport with this magic?" asked one Nome.
"Size will not matter," replied Potaroo. "I could even transport an elephant."
"When will this magic be ready?" inquired another Nome.
"I will be ready to demonstrate my transportation magic for his Majesty, King Kaliko, tomorrow morning."
Potaroo's transportation magic was indeed ready the next morning, and the old wizard entered the Nome King's Throne Room at ten o'clock, his arms full of papers and magical tools.
"Allow me to demonstrate my transportation magic, your Majesty," said Potaroo to King Kaliko. "With my magic, I can transport just about anything to this Kingdom. Size and distance away do not matter. To prove this, I will transport an elephant that is currently many miles away from Ev to this Throne Room."
The wizard looked at some notes and calculations on his papers and lifted a golden staff. He then held this staff toward a large space in front of the King's throne while muttering magic words. His next move was to throw a handful of red powder into the air while spinning the staff in mystic patterns above his head. Last of all, he stamped his left foot thrice and his right foot once.
Suddenly, an enormous cloud of red smoke appeared in the space in front of the throne. The smoke soon cleared, revealing a large gray elephant wearing a purple velvet robe and a jeweled headpiece.
The elephant coughed for a while from the effects of the smoke. After he was finished coughing, he looked around the Throne Room and yelled, "Where am I and how did I get here?"
"Oh, no," said Potaroo in a worried voice. "I must have transported a talking elephant.
"Of course I can talk," was the elephant's response. "All Ozian animals can talk, and I am from Oz. And I'm not just any talking elephant. I am Kabumpo, a Prince of Pumperdink, and the Elegant Elephant of Oz."
"Do you know Ozma of Oz?" asked Kaliko, who was beginning to worry.
"Do I know Ozma?" fumed Kabumpo. "I am a good friend of Ozma's, and if you don't send me back to Pumperdink immediately, you will be severely punished by her."
This threat greatly worried the Nome King. Kaliko was more afraid of Ozma than of anyone else. After all, Ozma was the fairy ruler of Oz and possessed much stronger magic than the Nomes. It was mostly fear of Ozma that stopped Kaliko from performing evil deeds. Ozma had punished Ruggedo, the former Nome King, for his many evil deeds by taking his powerful Magic Belt away from him and having him turned into a cactus.
"Send him back where he came from quickly!" ordered the King nervously.
"I'm not sure I can, your High and Mighty Nomeness," Potaroo told Kaliko. "However, I'll try."
The Royal Wizard threw various powders into the air and waved his staff in many strange patterns, but Kabumpo remained in the rocky Throne Room.
"I suppose you'll have to walk back to Oz," Potaroo told the Elegant Elephant.
"Walk back!" raged Kabumpo. "And just how do you expect me to cross the desert?"
"I hadn't thought of that," replied the wizard. "I'll start working on magic to return you to Oz immediately."
"Don't bother!" the elephant angrily told the Royal Wizard. "I'm returning to Oz right now, and when I get there, I'll make sure that Ozma punishes you for your elephant-napping, you ugly little Galooficus!"
So saying, the Elegant Elephant took his departure from Kaliko's Throne Room. If he had known the geography of the Nome Kingdom, he would have left the cavern through the passage that led directly to the Earth's surface. However, since he knew very little about Nome geography, he exited the room through the largest doorway, which happened to lead into the richly ornamented Nome Palace.
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