The Wonderful Eyeflash of Oz, part 3.5

Before I go on with more Oz material I would like to ask for some help from the other list members. At one point in The Eyeflash Miracles, Little Tib, Nitty and Mr. Parker are hitchhiking. No one stops to pick them up and it seems as if no one is ever going to. Finally, Little Tib prays for someone to stop and his prayer seems to be answered, in the following passage: ----------------- For a long time more no cars stopped. Little Tib thought about a cattle truck stopping and told God he would ride with the cattle. He thought about a garbage truck stopping, and told God he would ride on top of the garbage. Then he heard something old coming down the road. It rattled, and the engine made a strange, high-pitched noise an engine should not make. "Looks like a old school bus," Nitty said. "But look at those pictures on the side." "It's stopping," Mr. Parker said, and then Little Tib could hear the sound the doors made opening. ----------------- This is what I want help with: I am sure that Little Tib thinking about riding on a cattle truck and then a garbage truck and then having a vehicle stop for him is a reference to something that I should know, but I can't bring anything definite to mind. If anyone can enlighten me here, I would be grateful. William Ansley

It reminds me immediately of the story of Ymar in BOTNS, where he waits under a tree while the merchant goes by, and the beautiful woman, and finally follows the dog. But that suggests to me in turn that both incidents are allusions to another, original, story which stands behind both, and maybe that's the one that you're thinking of. The message of humility makes me think of Christ's teachings, but it also has the feel of a Taoist or Buddist parable. Do any of our resident religious scholars hear bells ringing?