INTRODUCTION
FOLKLORE，legends，myths and fairy tales have followed childhood through the ages，for every healthy youngster has a wholesome and instinctive[1]love for stories fantastic[2]，marvelous and manifestly[3]unreal.The winged fairies of Grimm and Andersen have brought more happiness to childish hearts than all other human creations.
Yet the old time fairy tale，having served for generations，may now be classed as“historical”in the children’s library；for the time has come for a series of newer“wonder tales”in which the stereotyped[4]genie，dwarf and fairy are eliminated[5]，together with all the horrible and bloodcurdling incidents devised by their authors to point a fearsome moral to each tale.Modern education includes morality；therefore the modern child seeks only entertainment in its wonder tales and gladly dispenses[6]with all disagreeable incident.
Having this thought in mind，the story of“The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”was written solely to please children of today.It aspires[7]to being a modernized fairy tale，in which the wonderment and joy are retained and the heartaches[8]and nightmares[9]are left out.
L.Frank Baum
Chicago，April，1900.
[1]instinctive adj.本能的
[2]fantastic adj.幻想的，奇异的，稀奇古怪的，荒谬的，空想的
[3]manifestly adv.明白地
[4]stereotyped adj.用铅版印刷的，套用老调的
[5]eliminate vt.排除，消除v.除去
[6]dispense v.分配，分与
[7]aspire vi.热望，立志
[8]heartache n.心痛，悲叹
[9]nightmare n.梦魇，恶梦，可怕的事物