Winged Monkeys and Golden Cap owner

The Winged Monkeys and the owner of the Golden Cap share a relationship defined by an ancient, binding enchantment that compels the Monkeys to obey the Cap's wearer three times. This bond, born from a mischievous act and a sorceress's wrath, becomes a pivotal force in the story, determining the capture, rescue, and ultimate fate of Dorothy and her friends.

Origins of the Bond

The relationship between the Winged Monkeys and the Golden Cap's owner originates in the distant past, long before Oz came to rule the land. A beautiful and powerful sorceress named Gayelette, who lived in a palace built from great blocks of ruby in the North, loved a handsome and wise young man named Quelala and planned to marry him. The King of the Winged Monkeys at that time, a creature fond of jokes, led his band in seizing Quelala while he walked beside a river, carrying him over the water and dropping him in, ruining his rich costume of pink silk and purple velvet. Gayelette, furious, summoned all the Winged Monkeys and initially threatened to tie their wings and drown them in the river. However, after the Monkey King pleaded and Quelala spoke a kind word for them, she spared them on a strict condition: the Winged Monkeys would forever after obey three times the bidding of the owner of the Golden Cap, a wedding gift for Quelala that had cost the princess half her kingdom. The Monkeys agreed, and this condition became their binding law.

The Mechanism of Command

The Golden Cap itself contains the charm that summons the Winged Monkeys. The owner must place the Cap on their head and recite a specific incantation while standing in a prescribed sequence: first on the left foot saying "Ep-pe, pep-pe, kak-ke!" then on the right foot saying "Hil-lo, hol-lo, hel-lo!" and finally on both feet crying "Ziz-zy, zuz-zy, zik!" Upon completing the charm, the sky darkens, a low rumbling sound is heard, and the Winged Monkeys appear, led by their King, who bows and asks for the command. The Monkeys are compelled to obey any order given by the wearer, but only three times total per owner, after which their power over the band is ended forever.

The Wicked Witch's Use of the Cap

The Wicked Witch of the West owned the Golden Cap and used its charm twice before Dorothy acquired it. Her first command was to make the Winkies her slaves and establish her rule over their country. Her second command was to fight against the Great Oz himself and drive him out of the Land of the West. When Dorothy and her companions entered her territory, the Witch, having exhausted her other powers—her wolves, crows, and bees all destroyed—reluctantly used the Cap for the third and final time. She commanded the Winged Monkeys to destroy the strangers except for the Lion, whom she wanted to harness like a horse. The Monkeys obeyed: they seized the Tin Woodman and dropped him onto sharp rocks, battered and dented; they pulled the straw from the Scarecrow and threw his clothes into a tall tree; they bound the Lion with ropes and carried him to the Witch's castle. But when the leader of the Monkeys saw the mark of the Good Witch's kiss on Dorothy's forehead, he stopped, declaring they dared not harm her because she was protected by the Power of Good, which is greater than the Power of Evil. Instead, they carried her gently to the castle and set her down. With this, the Witch's power over the Monkeys ended, and they flew away, laughing and chattering, never to return to her.

Dorothy's Use of the Cap

After the Witch's death, Dorothy found the Golden Cap in the Witch's cupboard and, not knowing its power, wore it because it was pretty. Later, lost in the fields of buttercups and yellow daisies on their way back to the Emerald City, the Queen of the Field Mice told Dorothy about the charm written inside the Cap. Dorothy read the directions, put on the Cap, and spoke the magic words. The Winged Monkeys appeared, and their King asked for her command. She wished to go to the Emerald City, and the Monkeys carried the entire party—Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, the Lion, and Toto—swiftly through the air, setting them down carefully before the City's gate. This was Dorothy's first use of the Cap. Later, when the travelers needed to cross the hill of the Hammer-Heads to reach the country of the Quadlings, Dorothy summoned the Monkeys a second time. They carried the four travelers and Toto safely over the hill, despite the Hammer-Heads' attempts to stop them. The King then reminded Dorothy that this was the last time she could summon them, and they departed.

The Final Release

When Dorothy and her companions reached Glinda the Good Witch, Glinda asked for the Golden Cap in exchange for revealing the secret of the Silver Shoes. Dorothy willingly gave it to her. Glinda then used the Cap's three remaining commands to fulfill the futures of Dorothy's friends: she commanded the Winged Monkeys to carry the Scarecrow to the gates of the Emerald City, the Tin Woodman to the land of the Winkies, and the Lion to his forest. Having used up the Cap's powers, Glinda gave the Golden Cap to the King of the Monkeys, declaring that he and his band would thereafter be free forevermore. Thus, the ancient bond of servitude, born from a prank and a sorceress's decree, was finally broken, and the Winged Monkeys regained their freedom.