"i shall practice transformations on the man, giving him a number of unusual shapes and then perhaps combine them all into one interesting creature. it is amazingly easy to change the shapes of humans, so it will not be much of a feat of magic. then, just before we leave for the emerald city, i shall change him into a salamander a green salamander instead of the ordinary red kind, of course, since he is from the emerald city and then when we are over the deadly desert i shall drop him into the sands. salamanders are the only creatures that can exist in the desert, so it will really be a merciful fate, since it will not stop him from living."