Gayelette and Quelala

Gayelette and Quelala are the legendary couple from the ancient history of Oz whose story provides the origin of the Winged Monkeys' magical servitude to the Golden Cap, a charm that later becomes crucial to the Wicked Witch of the West and to Dorothy. Their tale, told by the King of the Winged Monkeys himself, reveals how a single act of mischief created a binding magical contract that would echo through generations.

The Princess and Her Chosen One

Long before Oz came out of the clouds to rule the land, a beautiful princess named Gayelette lived in a handsome palace built from great blocks of ruby in the far North. She was a powerful sorceress who used all her magic to help the people, and she was never known to harm anyone who was good. Everyone loved her, but her greatest sorrow was that she could find no one to love in return, for all the men were much too stupid and ugly to mate with one so beautiful and wise. At last, however, she found a boy who was handsome and manly and wise beyond his years. Gayelette made up her mind that when he grew to be a man she would make him her husband, so she took him to her ruby palace and used all her magic powers to make him as strong and good and lovely as any woman could wish. When he grew to manhood, Quelala, as he was called, was said to be the best and wisest man in all the land, while his manly beauty was so great that Gayelette loved him dearly and hastened to make everything ready for the wedding.

The Prank and the Punishment

The King of the Winged Monkeys at that time was the grandfather of the Monkey King who later served Dorothy. The old fellow loved a joke better than a good dinner. One day, just before the wedding, the grandfather was flying out with his band when he saw Quelala walking beside the river, dressed in a rich costume of pink silk and purple velvet. The grandfather thought he would see what he could do. At his word the band flew down and seized Quelala, carried him in their arms until they were over the middle of the river, and then dropped him into the water. The grandfather cried out, "Swim out, my fine fellow, and see if the water has spotted your clothes." Quelala was much too wise not to swim, and he was not in the least spoiled by all his good fortune. He laughed when he came to the top of the water and swam in to shore. But when Gayelette came running out to him she found his silks and velvet all ruined by the river.

The Conditional Pardon and the Golden Cap

The princess was angry, and she knew who had done it. She had all the Winged Monkeys brought before her, and she said at first that their wings should be tied and they should be treated as they had treated Quelala, and dropped in the river. But the grandfather pleaded hard, for he knew the Monkeys would drown in the river with their wings tied, and Quelala said a kind word for them also. Gayelette finally spared them on condition that the Winged Monkeys should ever after do three times the bidding of the owner of the Golden Cap. This Cap had been made for a wedding present to Quelala, and it is said to have cost the princess half her kingdom. The grandfather and all the other Monkeys at once agreed to the condition. Quelala, being the first owner of the Golden Cap, was the first to lay his wishes upon them. As his bride could not bear the sight of the Winged Monkeys, he called them all to him in the forest after he had married her and ordered them always to keep where she could never again set eyes on a Winged Monkey, which they were glad to do, for they were all afraid of her. This was all they ever had to do until the Golden Cap fell into the hands of the Wicked Witch of the West, who made them enslave the Winkies and afterward drive Oz himself out of the Land of the West.