lit_ipsum 0.9.7 → 0.9.8

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@@ -1,4 +1,10 @@
1
1
  # Change Log
2
2
 
3
+
4
+ ## v 0.9.8
5
+ * Add repeat param to `sentences` and `words` methods
6
+ * Fix code climate issues for better gem health
7
+ * Add aliases for some classes `LitIpsum::<Author>::<Text>`. Same classes can now be accessed using `LitIpsum::<Text>`, saving keystrokes.
8
+
3
9
  ## v 0.9.4
4
- Require `texts` folder in gemspec.
10
+ * Require `texts` folder in gemspec.
data/README.md CHANGED
@@ -25,10 +25,29 @@ And then require the gem whereever you plan to use it.
25
25
  require 'lit_ipsum'
26
26
 
27
27
  LitIpsum::Austen::PrideAndPrejudice.sentences(3) #=> "Other schemes, too, came into her head. As often as I can. I cannot think so very ill of Wickham."
28
+
29
+ # Shorthand of the above
30
+ LitIpsum::PrideAndPrejudice.sentences(3) #=> "Other schemes, too, came into her head. As often as I can. I cannot think so very ill of Wickham."
28
31
  LitIpsum::Austen::PrideAndPrejudice.words(7) #=> "Indeed, Jane, you ought to believe me."
29
32
 
30
33
  LitIpsum::Doyle::SherlockHolmes.sentences(2) #=> "And how in the world did you find them? It is half-past ten now."
31
34
  LitIpsum::Doyle::SherlockHolmes.words(5) #=> "Yes, it did. Get out!"
35
+
36
+ LitIpsum::Austen::PrideAndPrejudice.sentences(3, repeat: 2)
37
+ #=> "Other schemes, too, came into her head. As often as I can. I cannot think so very ill of Wickham."
38
+ #"Other schemes, too, came into her head. As often as I can. I cannot think so very ill of Wickham."
39
+
40
+ LitIpsum::Austen::PrideAndPrejudice.words(7, repeat: 2)
41
+ #=> "Indeed, Jane, you ought to believe me."
42
+ #"Indeed, Jane, you ought to believe me."
43
+
44
+ LitIpsum::Doyle::SherlockHolmes.sentences(2, repeat: 2)
45
+ #=> "And how in the world did you find them? It is half-past ten now."
46
+ #"And how in the world did you find them? It is half-past ten now."
47
+
48
+ LitIpsum::Doyle::SherlockHolmes.words(5, repeat: 2)
49
+ #=> "Yes, it did. Get out!"
50
+ #"Yes, it did. Get out!"
32
51
  ```
33
52
 
34
53
 
@@ -3,8 +3,9 @@
3
3
  require 'lit_ipsum/version'
4
4
 
5
5
  module LitIpsum
6
- SENTENCE_PATTERN = /(?=“*)[A-Z]+.{1,}?[\.\!\?](?=”*\s*)(?<!Mr.|Mrs.|Ms.|Dr.|St.|S.A.)/.freeze
6
+ SENTENCE_PATTERN = /(?=“*)[A-Z]+.{1,}?[\.\!\?](?=”*\s*)(?<!Mr.|Mrs.|Ms.|Dr.|St.|S.A.)/
7
7
 
8
+ # Generic error class that can be raised when an exception is expected
8
9
  class Error < StandardError; end
9
10
 
10
11
  class Base
@@ -20,27 +21,42 @@ module LitIpsum
20
21
  end
21
22
  end
22
23
 
23
- def sentences(count, max_sentence, filename)
24
+ def sentences(count, max_sentence:, filename:, repeats:)
24
25
  source = max_sentence.zero? ? get_text(filename) : get_text(filename).select { |sentence| sentence.length <= max_sentence }
25
26
  raise Error, "Unable to find sentences of length <= #{max_sentence}." if source.empty?
26
27
 
27
28
  obj = []
28
- count.times do
29
- sentence = source.sample
30
- obj << sentence
31
- end
29
+ count.times { obj << source.sample }
32
30
 
33
- obj.join(' ')
31
+ repeat(repeats, obj)
34
32
  end
35
33
 
36
- def words(count, filename)
34
+ def words(count, filename:, repeats:)
37
35
  source = get_text(filename).select { |sentence| sentence.scan(/\w+/).size <= count }
38
36
  obj = []
39
37
  loop do
40
- obj << source.select { |sentence| sentence.scan(/\w+/).size <= count - obj.map { |el| el.scan(/\w+/) }.flatten.length }.sample
41
- break if obj.map { |el| el.scan(/\w+/) }.flatten.length == count
38
+ length_in_words = obj.map { |el| el.scan(/\w+/) }.flatten.length
39
+ obj << source.select { |sentence| sentence.scan(/\w+/).size <= count - length_in_words }.sample
40
+ break if length_in_words == count
41
+ end
42
+
43
+ repeat(repeats, obj)
44
+ end
45
+
46
+ private
47
+
48
+ def repeat(repeats, obj)
49
+ phrases = []
50
+ if !repeats.nil?
51
+ repeats.times { phrases << obj.join(' ') }
52
+ phrases.join("\n")
53
+ else
54
+ obj.join(' ')
42
55
  end
43
- obj.join(' ')
56
+ end
57
+
58
+ def full_filename(txt)
59
+ File.join(File.dirname(File.expand_path(__FILE__)), txt)
44
60
  end
45
61
  end
46
62
  end
@@ -2,18 +2,21 @@
2
2
 
3
3
  module LitIpsum
4
4
  class Austen
5
+ # Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice
5
6
  class PrideAndPrejudice < Base
6
- FILENAME = File.join(File.dirname(File.expand_path(__FILE__)), '../../texts/austen/pride-and-prejudice.txt')
7
+ FILENAME = full_filename('texts/austen/pride-and-prejudice.txt')
7
8
 
8
9
  class << self
9
- def sentences(count, max_sentence = 0, filename = FILENAME)
10
- super(count, max_sentence, filename)
10
+ def sentences(count, max_sentence: 0, repeats: nil)
11
+ super(count, repeats: repeats, max_sentence: max_sentence, filename: FILENAME)
11
12
  end
12
13
 
13
- def words(count, filename = FILENAME)
14
- super(count, filename)
14
+ def words(count, repeats: nil)
15
+ super(count, repeats: repeats, filename: FILENAME)
15
16
  end
16
17
  end
17
18
  end
18
19
  end
20
+ # Shorthand Alias
21
+ PrideAndPrejudice = Austen::PrideAndPrejudice
19
22
  end
@@ -2,18 +2,21 @@
2
2
 
3
3
  module LitIpsum
4
4
  class Austen
5
+ # Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility
5
6
  class SenseAndSensibility < Base
6
- FILENAME = File.join(File.dirname(File.expand_path(__FILE__)), '../../texts/austen/sense-and-sensibility.txt')
7
+ FILENAME = full_filename('texts/austen/sense-and-sensibility.txt')
7
8
 
8
9
  class << self
9
- def sentences(count, max_sentence = 0, filename = FILENAME)
10
- super(count, max_sentence, filename)
10
+ def sentences(count, max_sentence: 0, repeats: nil)
11
+ super(count, repeats: repeats, max_sentence: max_sentence, filename: FILENAME)
11
12
  end
12
13
 
13
- def words(count, filename = FILENAME)
14
- super(count, filename)
14
+ def words(count, repeats: nil)
15
+ super(count, repeats: repeats, filename: FILENAME)
15
16
  end
16
17
  end
17
18
  end
18
19
  end
20
+ # Shorthand Alias
21
+ SenseAndSensibility = Austen::SenseAndSensibility
19
22
  end
@@ -2,18 +2,21 @@
2
2
 
3
3
  module LitIpsum
4
4
  class Carroll
5
+ # Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
5
6
  class AliceInWonderland < Base
6
- FILENAME = File.join(File.dirname(File.expand_path(__FILE__)), '../../texts/carroll/alice-in-wonderland.txt')
7
+ FILENAME = full_filename('texts/carroll/alice-in-wonderland.txt')
7
8
 
8
9
  class << self
9
- def sentences(count, max_sentence = 0, filename = FILENAME)
10
- super(count, max_sentence, filename)
10
+ def sentences(count, max_sentence: 0, repeats: nil)
11
+ super(count, repeats: repeats, max_sentence: max_sentence, filename: FILENAME)
11
12
  end
12
13
 
13
- def words(count, filename = FILENAME)
14
- super(count, filename)
14
+ def words(count, repeats: nil)
15
+ super(count, repeats: repeats, filename: FILENAME)
15
16
  end
16
17
  end
17
18
  end
18
19
  end
20
+ # Shorthand Alias
21
+ AliceInWonderland = Carroll::AliceInWonderland
19
22
  end
@@ -2,18 +2,21 @@
2
2
 
3
3
  module LitIpsum
4
4
  class Dickens
5
+ # Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist
5
6
  class OliverTwist < Base
6
- FILENAME = File.join(File.dirname(File.expand_path(__FILE__)), '../../texts/dickens/oliver-twist.txt')
7
+ FILENAME = full_filename('texts/dickens/oliver-twist.txt')
7
8
 
8
9
  class << self
9
- def sentences(count, max_sentence = 0, filename = FILENAME)
10
- super(count, max_sentence, filename)
10
+ def sentences(count, max_sentence: 0, repeats: nil)
11
+ super(count, repeats: repeats, max_sentence: max_sentence, filename: FILENAME)
11
12
  end
12
13
 
13
- def words(count, filename = FILENAME)
14
- super(count, filename)
14
+ def words(count, repeats: nil)
15
+ super(count, repeats: repeats, filename: FILENAME)
15
16
  end
16
17
  end
17
18
  end
18
19
  end
20
+ # Shorthand Alias
21
+ OliverTwist = Dickens::OliverTwist
19
22
  end
@@ -2,18 +2,21 @@
2
2
 
3
3
  module LitIpsum
4
4
  class Doyle
5
+ # Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
5
6
  class SherlockHolmes < Base
6
- FILENAME = File.join(File.dirname(File.expand_path(__FILE__)), '../../texts/doyle/the-adventures-of-sherlock-holmes.txt')
7
+ FILENAME = full_filename('texts/doyle/the-adventures-of-sherlock-holmes.txt')
7
8
 
8
9
  class << self
9
- def sentences(count, max_sentence = 0, filename = FILENAME)
10
- super(count, max_sentence, filename)
10
+ def sentences(count, max_sentence: 0, repeats: nil)
11
+ super(count, repeats: repeats, max_sentence: max_sentence, filename: FILENAME)
11
12
  end
12
13
 
13
- def words(count, filename = FILENAME)
14
- super(count, filename)
14
+ def words(count, repeats: nil)
15
+ super(count, repeats: repeats, filename: FILENAME)
15
16
  end
16
17
  end
17
18
  end
18
19
  end
20
+ # Shorthand Alias
21
+ SherlockHolmes = Doyle::SherlockHolmes
19
22
  end
@@ -2,18 +2,21 @@
2
2
 
3
3
  module LitIpsum
4
4
  class Poe
5
+ # Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven
5
6
  class Raven < Base
6
- FILENAME = File.join(File.dirname(File.expand_path(__FILE__)), '../../texts/poe/the-raven.txt')
7
-
7
+ FILENAME = full_filename('texts/poe/the-raven.txt')
8
+
8
9
  class << self
9
- def sentences(count, max_sentence = 0, filename = FILENAME)
10
- super(count, max_sentence, filename)
10
+ def sentences(count, max_sentence: 0, repeats: nil)
11
+ super(count, repeats: repeats, max_sentence: max_sentence, filename: FILENAME)
11
12
  end
12
13
 
13
- def words(count, filename = FILENAME)
14
- super(count, filename)
14
+ def words(count, repeats: nil)
15
+ super(count, repeats: repeats, filename: FILENAME)
15
16
  end
16
17
  end
17
18
  end
18
19
  end
20
+ # Shorthand Alias
21
+ Raven = Poe::Raven
19
22
  end
@@ -2,18 +2,21 @@
2
2
 
3
3
  module LitIpsum
4
4
  class Poe
5
+ # Edgar Allen Poe's The Fall of House Usher
5
6
  class Usher < Base
6
- FILENAME = File.join(File.dirname(File.expand_path(__FILE__)), '../../texts/poe/the-fall-of-house-usher.txt')
7
+ FILENAME = full_filename('texts/poe/the-fall-of-house-usher.txt')
7
8
 
8
9
  class << self
9
- def sentences(count, max_sentence = 0, filename = FILENAME)
10
- super(count, max_sentence, filename)
10
+ def sentences(count, max_sentence: 0, repeats: nil)
11
+ super(count, repeats: repeats, max_sentence: max_sentence, filename: FILENAME)
11
12
  end
12
13
 
13
- def words(count, filename = FILENAME)
14
- super(count, filename)
14
+ def words(count, repeats: nil)
15
+ super(count, repeats: repeats, filename: FILENAME)
15
16
  end
16
17
  end
17
18
  end
18
19
  end
20
+ # Shorthand Alias
21
+ Usher = Poe::Usher
19
22
  end
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
1
1
  # frozen_string_literal: true
2
2
 
3
3
  module LitIpsum
4
- VERSION = '0.9.7'
4
+ VERSION = '0.9.8'
5
5
  end
@@ -0,0 +1,3600 @@
1
+ #Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
2
+
3
+ #ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND
4
+
5
+ #Lewis Carroll
6
+
7
+ #THE MILLENNIUM FULCRUM EDITION 3.0
8
+
9
+
10
+
11
+
12
+ #CHAPTER I
13
+
14
+ Down the Rabbit-Hole
15
+
16
+
17
+ Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister
18
+ on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had
19
+ peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no
20
+ pictures or conversations in it, `and what is the use of a book,'
21
+ thought Alice `without pictures or conversation?'
22
+
23
+ So she was considering in her own mind (as well as she could,
24
+ for the hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether
25
+ the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble
26
+ of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly a White
27
+ Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her.
28
+
29
+ There was nothing so VERY remarkable in that; nor did Alice
30
+ think it so VERY much out of the way to hear the Rabbit say to
31
+ itself, `Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!' (when she thought
32
+ it over afterwards, it occurred to her that she ought to have
33
+ wondered at this, but at the time it all seemed quite natural);
34
+ but when the Rabbit actually TOOK A WATCH OUT OF ITS WAISTCOAT-
35
+ POCKET, and looked at it, and then hurried on, Alice started to
36
+ her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had never
37
+ before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to
38
+ take out of it, and burning with curiosity, she ran across the
39
+ field after it, and fortunately was just in time to see it pop
40
+ down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge.
41
+
42
+ In another moment down went Alice after it, never once
43
+ considering how in the world she was to get out again.
44
+
45
+ The rabbit-hole went straight on like a tunnel for some way,
46
+ and then dipped suddenly down, so suddenly that Alice had not a
47
+ moment to think about stopping herself before she found herself
48
+ falling down a very deep well.
49
+
50
+ Either the well was very deep, or she fell very slowly, for she
51
+ had plenty of time as she went down to look about her and to
52
+ wonder what was going to happen next. First, she tried to look
53
+ down and make out what she was coming to, but it was too dark to
54
+ see anything; then she looked at the sides of the well, and
55
+ noticed that they were filled with cupboards and book-shelves;
56
+ here and there she saw maps and pictures hung upon pegs. She
57
+ took down a jar from one of the shelves as she passed; it was
58
+ labelled `ORANGE MARMALADE', but to her great disappointment it
59
+ was empty: she did not like to drop the jar for fear of killing
60
+ somebody, so managed to put it into one of the cupboards as she
61
+ fell past it.
62
+
63
+ `Well!' thought Alice to herself, `after such a fall as this, I
64
+ shall think nothing of tumbling down stairs! How brave they'll
65
+ all think me at home! Why, I wouldn't say anything about it,
66
+ even if I fell off the top of the house!' (Which was very likely
67
+ true.)
68
+
69
+ Down, down, down. Would the fall NEVER come to an end! `I
70
+ wonder how many miles I've fallen by this time?' she said aloud.
71
+ `I must be getting somewhere near the centre of the earth. Let
72
+ me see: that would be four thousand miles down, I think--' (for,
73
+ you see, Alice had learnt several things of this sort in her
74
+ lessons in the schoolroom, and though this was not a VERY good
75
+ opportunity for showing off her knowledge, as there was no one to
76
+ listen to her, still it was good practice to say it over) `--yes,
77
+ that's about the right distance--but then I wonder what Latitude
78
+ or Longitude I've got to?' (Alice had no idea what Latitude was,
79
+ or Longitude either, but thought they were nice grand words to
80
+ say.)
81
+
82
+ Presently she began again. `I wonder if I shall fall right
83
+ THROUGH the earth! How funny it'll seem to come out among the
84
+ people that walk with their heads downward! The Antipathies, I
85
+ think--' (she was rather glad there WAS no one listening, this
86
+ time, as it didn't sound at all the right word) `--but I shall
87
+ have to ask them what the name of the country is, you know.
88
+ Please, Ma'am, is this New Zealand or Australia?' (and she tried
89
+ to curtsey as she spoke--fancy CURTSEYING as you're falling
90
+ through the air! Do you think you could manage it?) `And what
91
+ an ignorant little girl she'll think me for asking! No, it'll
92
+ never do to ask: perhaps I shall see it written up somewhere.'
93
+
94
+ Down, down, down. There was nothing else to do, so Alice soon
95
+ began talking again. `Dinah'll miss me very much to-night, I
96
+ should think!' (Dinah was the cat.) `I hope they'll remember
97
+ her saucer of milk at tea-time. Dinah my dear! I wish you were
98
+ down here with me! There are no mice in the air, I'm afraid, but
99
+ you might catch a bat, and that's very like a mouse, you know.
100
+ But do cats eat bats, I wonder?' And here Alice began to get
101
+ rather sleepy, and went on saying to herself, in a dreamy sort of
102
+ way, `Do cats eat bats? Do cats eat bats?' and sometimes, `Do
103
+ bats eat cats?' for, you see, as she couldn't answer either
104
+ question, it didn't much matter which way she put it. She felt
105
+ that she was dozing off, and had just begun to dream that she
106
+ was walking hand in hand with Dinah, and saying to her very
107
+ earnestly, `Now, Dinah, tell me the truth: did you ever eat a
108
+ bat?' when suddenly, thump! thump! down she came upon a heap of
109
+ sticks and dry leaves, and the fall was over.
110
+
111
+ Alice was not a bit hurt, and she jumped up on to her feet in a
112
+ moment: she looked up, but it was all dark overhead; before her
113
+ was another long passage, and the White Rabbit was still in
114
+ sight, hurrying down it. There was not a moment to be lost:
115
+ away went Alice like the wind, and was just in time to hear it
116
+ say, as it turned a corner, `Oh my ears and whiskers, how late
117
+ it's getting!' She was close behind it when she turned the
118
+ corner, but the Rabbit was no longer to be seen: she found
119
+ herself in a long, low hall, which was lit up by a row of lamps
120
+ hanging from the roof.
121
+
122
+ There were doors all round the hall, but they were all locked;
123
+ and when Alice had been all the way down one side and up the
124
+ other, trying every door, she walked sadly down the middle,
125
+ wondering how she was ever to get out again.
126
+
127
+ Suddenly she came upon a little three-legged table, all made of
128
+ solid glass; there was nothing on it except a tiny golden key,
129
+ and Alice's first thought was that it might belong to one of the
130
+ doors of the hall; but, alas! either the locks were too large, or
131
+ the key was too small, but at any rate it would not open any of
132
+ them. However, on the second time round, she came upon a low
133
+ curtain she had not noticed before, and behind it was a little
134
+ door about fifteen inches high: she tried the little golden key
135
+ in the lock, and to her great delight it fitted!
136
+
137
+ Alice opened the door and found that it led into a small
138
+ passage, not much larger than a rat-hole: she knelt down and
139
+ looked along the passage into the loveliest garden you ever saw.
140
+ How she longed to get out of that dark hall, and wander about
141
+ among those beds of bright flowers and those cool fountains, but
142
+ she could not even get her head through the doorway; `and even if
143
+ my head would go through,' thought poor Alice, `it would be of
144
+ very little use without my shoulders. Oh, how I wish
145
+ I could shut up like a telescope! I think I could, if I only
146
+ know how to begin.' For, you see, so many out-of-the-way things
147
+ had happened lately, that Alice had begun to think that very few
148
+ things indeed were really impossible.
149
+
150
+ There seemed to be no use in waiting by the little door, so she
151
+ went back to the table, half hoping she might find another key on
152
+ it, or at any rate a book of rules for shutting people up like
153
+ telescopes: this time she found a little bottle on it, (`which
154
+ certainly was not here before,' said Alice,) and round the neck
155
+ of the bottle was a paper label, with the words `DRINK ME'
156
+ beautifully printed on it in large letters.
157
+
158
+ It was all very well to say `Drink me,' but the wise little
159
+ Alice was not going to do THAT in a hurry. `No, I'll look
160
+ first,' she said, `and see whether it's marked "poison" or not';
161
+ for she had read several nice little histories about children who
162
+ had got burnt, and eaten up by wild beasts and other unpleasant
163
+ things, all because they WOULD not remember the simple rules
164
+ their friends had taught them: such as, that a red-hot poker
165
+ will burn you if you hold it too long; and that if you cut your
166
+ finger VERY deeply with a knife, it usually bleeds; and she had
167
+ never forgotten that, if you drink much from a bottle marked
168
+ `poison,' it is almost certain to disagree with you, sooner or
169
+ later.
170
+
171
+ However, this bottle was NOT marked `poison,' so Alice ventured
172
+ to taste it, and finding it very nice, (it had, in fact, a sort
173
+ of mixed flavour of cherry-tart, custard, pine-apple, roast
174
+ turkey, toffee, and hot buttered toast,) she very soon finished
175
+ it off.
176
+
177
+ * * * * * * *
178
+
179
+ * * * * * *
180
+
181
+ * * * * * * *
182
+
183
+ `What a curious feeling!' said Alice; `I must be shutting up
184
+ like a telescope.'
185
+
186
+ And so it was indeed: she was now only ten inches high, and
187
+ her face brightened up at the thought that she was now the right
188
+ size for going through the little door into that lovely garden.
189
+ First, however, she waited for a few minutes to see if she was
190
+ going to shrink any further: she felt a little nervous about
191
+ this; `for it might end, you know,' said Alice to herself, `in my
192
+ going out altogether, like a candle. I wonder what I should be
193
+ like then?' And she tried to fancy what the flame of a candle is
194
+ like after the candle is blown out, for she could not remember
195
+ ever having seen such a thing.
196
+
197
+ After a while, finding that nothing more happened, she decided
198
+ on going into the garden at once; but, alas for poor Alice!
199
+ when she got to the door, she found she had forgotten the
200
+ little golden key, and when she went back to the table for it,
201
+ she found she could not possibly reach it: she could see it
202
+ quite plainly through the glass, and she tried her best to climb
203
+ up one of the legs of the table, but it was too slippery;
204
+ and when she had tired herself out with trying,
205
+ the poor little thing sat down and cried.
206
+
207
+ `Come, there's no use in crying like that!' said Alice to
208
+ herself, rather sharply; `I advise you to leave off this minute!'
209
+ She generally gave herself very good advice, (though she very
210
+ seldom followed it), and sometimes she scolded herself so
211
+ severely as to bring tears into her eyes; and once she remembered
212
+ trying to box her own ears for having cheated herself in a game
213
+ of croquet she was playing against herself, for this curious
214
+ child was very fond of pretending to be two people. `But it's no
215
+ use now,' thought poor Alice, `to pretend to be two people! Why,
216
+ there's hardly enough of me left to make ONE respectable
217
+ person!'
218
+
219
+ Soon her eye fell on a little glass box that was lying under
220
+ the table: she opened it, and found in it a very small cake, on
221
+ which the words `EAT ME' were beautifully marked in currants.
222
+ `Well, I'll eat it,' said Alice, `and if it makes me grow larger,
223
+ I can reach the key; and if it makes me grow smaller, I can creep
224
+ under the door; so either way I'll get into the garden, and I
225
+ don't care which happens!'
226
+
227
+ She ate a little bit, and said anxiously to herself, `Which
228
+ way? Which way?', holding her hand on the top of her head to
229
+ feel which way it was growing, and she was quite surprised to
230
+ find that she remained the same size: to be sure, this generally
231
+ happens when one eats cake, but Alice had got so much into the
232
+ way of expecting nothing but out-of-the-way things to happen,
233
+ that it seemed quite dull and stupid for life to go on in the
234
+ common way.
235
+
236
+ So she set to work, and very soon finished off the cake.
237
+
238
+ * * * * * * *
239
+
240
+ * * * * * *
241
+
242
+ * * * * * * *
243
+
244
+
245
+
246
+
247
+ CHAPTER II
248
+
249
+ The Pool of Tears
250
+
251
+
252
+ `Curiouser and curiouser!' cried Alice (she was so much
253
+ surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good
254
+ English); `now I'm opening out like the largest telescope that
255
+ ever was! Good-bye, feet!' (for when she looked down at her
256
+ feet, they seemed to be almost out of sight, they were getting so
257
+ far off). `Oh, my poor little feet, I wonder who will put on
258
+ your shoes and stockings for you now, dears? I'm sure _I_ shan't
259
+ be able! I shall be a great deal too far off to trouble myself
260
+ about you: you must manage the best way you can; --but I must be
261
+ kind to them,' thought Alice, `or perhaps they won't walk the
262
+ way I want to go! Let me see: I'll give them a new pair of
263
+ boots every Christmas.'
264
+
265
+ And she went on planning to herself how she would manage it.
266
+ `They must go by the carrier,' she thought; `and how funny it'll
267
+ seem, sending presents to one's own feet! And how odd the
268
+ directions will look!
269
+
270
+ ALICE'S RIGHT FOOT, ESQ.
271
+ HEARTHRUG,
272
+ NEAR THE FENDER,
273
+ (WITH ALICE'S LOVE).
274
+
275
+ Oh dear, what nonsense I'm talking!'
276
+
277
+ Just then her head struck against the roof of the hall: in
278
+ fact she was now more than nine feet high, and she at once took
279
+ up the little golden key and hurried off to the garden door.
280
+
281
+ Poor Alice! It was as much as she could do, lying down on one
282
+ side, to look through into the garden with one eye; but to get
283
+ through was more hopeless than ever: she sat down and began to
284
+ cry again.
285
+
286
+ `You ought to be ashamed of yourself,' said Alice, `a great
287
+ girl like you,' (she might well say this), `to go on crying in
288
+ this way! Stop this moment, I tell you!' But she went on all
289
+ the same, shedding gallons of tears, until there was a large pool
290
+ all round her, about four inches deep and reaching half down the
291
+ hall.
292
+
293
+ After a time she heard a little pattering of feet in the
294
+ distance, and she hastily dried her eyes to see what was coming.
295
+ It was the White Rabbit returning, splendidly dressed, with a
296
+ pair of white kid gloves in one hand and a large fan in the
297
+ other: he came trotting along in a great hurry, muttering to
298
+ himself as he came, `Oh! the Duchess, the Duchess! Oh! won't she
299
+ be savage if I've kept her waiting!' Alice felt so desperate
300
+ that she was ready to ask help of any one; so, when the Rabbit
301
+ came near her, she began, in a low, timid voice, `If you please,
302
+ sir--' The Rabbit started violently, dropped the white kid
303
+ gloves and the fan, and skurried away into the darkness as hard
304
+ as he could go.
305
+
306
+ Alice took up the fan and gloves, and, as the hall was very
307
+ hot, she kept fanning herself all the time she went on talking:
308
+ `Dear, dear! How queer everything is to-day! And yesterday
309
+ things went on just as usual. I wonder if I've been changed in
310
+ the night? Let me think: was I the same when I got up this
311
+ morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little
312
+ different. But if I'm not the same, the next question is, Who in
313
+ the world am I? Ah, THAT'S the great puzzle!' And she began
314
+ thinking over all the children she knew that were of the same age
315
+ as herself, to see if she could have been changed for any of
316
+ them.
317
+
318
+ `I'm sure I'm not Ada,' she said, `for her hair goes in such
319
+ long ringlets, and mine doesn't go in ringlets at all; and I'm
320
+ sure I can't be Mabel, for I know all sorts of things, and she,
321
+ oh! she knows such a very little! Besides, SHE'S she, and I'm I,
322
+ and--oh dear, how puzzling it all is! I'll try if I know all the
323
+ things I used to know. Let me see: four times five is twelve,
324
+ and four times six is thirteen, and four times seven is--oh dear!
325
+ I shall never get to twenty at that rate! However, the
326
+ Multiplication Table doesn't signify: let's try Geography.
327
+ London is the capital of Paris, and Paris is the capital of Rome,
328
+ and Rome--no, THAT'S all wrong, I'm certain! I must have been
329
+ changed for Mabel! I'll try and say "How doth the little--"'
330
+ and she crossed her hands on her lap as if she were saying lessons,
331
+ and began to repeat it, but her voice sounded hoarse and
332
+ strange, and the words did not come the same as they used to do:--
333
+
334
+ `How doth the little crocodile
335
+ Improve his shining tail,
336
+ And pour the waters of the Nile
337
+ On every golden scale!
338
+
339
+ `How cheerfully he seems to grin,
340
+ How neatly spread his claws,
341
+ And welcome little fishes in
342
+ With gently smiling jaws!'
343
+
344
+ `I'm sure those are not the right words,' said poor Alice, and
345
+ her eyes filled with tears again as she went on, `I must be Mabel
346
+ after all, and I shall have to go and live in that poky little
347
+ house, and have next to no toys to play with, and oh! ever so
348
+ many lessons to learn! No, I've made up my mind about it; if I'm
349
+ Mabel, I'll stay down here! It'll be no use their putting their
350
+ heads down and saying "Come up again, dear!" I shall only look
351
+ up and say "Who am I then? Tell me that first, and then, if I
352
+ like being that person, I'll come up: if not, I'll stay down
353
+ here till I'm somebody else"--but, oh dear!' cried Alice, with a
354
+ sudden burst of tears, `I do wish they WOULD put their heads
355
+ down! I am so VERY tired of being all alone here!'
356
+
357
+ As she said this she looked down at her hands, and was
358
+ surprised to see that she had put on one of the Rabbit's little
359
+ white kid gloves while she was talking. `How CAN I have done
360
+ that?' she thought. `I must be growing small again.' She got up
361
+ and went to the table to measure herself by it, and found that,
362
+ as nearly as she could guess, she was now about two feet high,
363
+ and was going on shrinking rapidly: she soon found out that the
364
+ cause of this was the fan she was holding, and she dropped it
365
+ hastily, just in time to avoid shrinking away altogether.
366
+
367
+ `That WAS a narrow escape!' said Alice, a good deal frightened at
368
+ the sudden change, but very glad to find herself still in
369
+ existence; `and now for the garden!' and she ran with all speed
370
+ back to the little door: but, alas! the little door was shut
371
+ again, and the little golden key was lying on the glass table as
372
+ before, `and things are worse than ever,' thought the poor child,
373
+ `for I never was so small as this before, never! And I declare
374
+ it's too bad, that it is!'
375
+
376
+ As she said these words her foot slipped, and in another
377
+ moment, splash! she was up to her chin in salt water. Her first
378
+ idea was that she had somehow fallen into the sea, `and in that
379
+ case I can go back by railway,' she said to herself. (Alice had
380
+ been to the seaside once in her life, and had come to the general
381
+ conclusion, that wherever you go to on the English coast you find
382
+ a number of bathing machines in the sea, some children digging in
383
+ the sand with wooden spades, then a row of lodging houses, and
384
+ behind them a railway station.) However, she soon made out that
385
+ she was in the pool of tears which she had wept when she was nine
386
+ feet high.
387
+
388
+ `I wish I hadn't cried so much!' said Alice, as she swam about,
389
+ trying to find her way out. `I shall be punished for it now, I
390
+ suppose, by being drowned in my own tears! That WILL be a queer
391
+ thing, to be sure! However, everything is queer to-day.'
392
+
393
+ Just then she heard something splashing about in the pool a
394
+ little way off, and she swam nearer to make out what it was: at
395
+ first she thought it must be a walrus or hippopotamus, but then
396
+ she remembered how small she was now, and she soon made out that
397
+ it was only a mouse that had slipped in like herself.
398
+
399
+ `Would it be of any use, now,' thought Alice, `to speak to this
400
+ mouse? Everything is so out-of-the-way down here, that I should
401
+ think very likely it can talk: at any rate, there's no harm in
402
+ trying.' So she began: `O Mouse, do you know the way out of
403
+ this pool? I am very tired of swimming about here, O Mouse!'
404
+ (Alice thought this must be the right way of speaking to a mouse:
405
+ she had never done such a thing before, but she remembered having
406
+ seen in her brother's Latin Grammar, `A mouse--of a mouse--to a
407
+ mouse--a mouse--O mouse!') The Mouse looked at her rather
408
+ inquisitively, and seemed to her to wink with one of its little
409
+ eyes, but it said nothing.
410
+
411
+ `Perhaps it doesn't understand English,' thought Alice; `I
412
+ daresay it's a French mouse, come over with William the
413
+ Conqueror.' (For, with all her knowledge of history, Alice had
414
+ no very clear notion how long ago anything had happened.) So she
415
+ began again: `Ou est ma chatte?' which was the first sentence in
416
+ her French lesson-book. The Mouse gave a sudden leap out of the
417
+ water, and seemed to quiver all over with fright. `Oh, I beg
418
+ your pardon!' cried Alice hastily, afraid that she had hurt the
419
+ poor animal's feelings. `I quite forgot you didn't like cats.'
420
+
421
+ `Not like cats!' cried the Mouse, in a shrill, passionate
422
+ voice. `Would YOU like cats if you were me?'
423
+
424
+ `Well, perhaps not,' said Alice in a soothing tone: `don't be
425
+ angry about it. And yet I wish I could show you our cat Dinah:
426
+ I think you'd take a fancy to cats if you could only see her.
427
+ She is such a dear quiet thing,' Alice went on, half to herself,
428
+ as she swam lazily about in the pool, `and she sits purring so
429
+ nicely by the fire, licking her paws and washing her face--and
430
+ she is such a nice soft thing to nurse--and she's such a capital
431
+ one for catching mice--oh, I beg your pardon!' cried Alice again,
432
+ for this time the Mouse was bristling all over, and she felt
433
+ certain it must be really offended. `We won't talk about her any
434
+ more if you'd rather not.'
435
+
436
+ `We indeed!' cried the Mouse, who was trembling down to the end
437
+ of his tail. `As if I would talk on such a subject! Our family
438
+ always HATED cats: nasty, low, vulgar things! Don't let me hear
439
+ the name again!'
440
+
441
+ `I won't indeed!' said Alice, in a great hurry to change the
442
+ subject of conversation. `Are you--are you fond--of--of dogs?'
443
+ The Mouse did not answer, so Alice went on eagerly: `There is
444
+ such a nice little dog near our house I should like to show you!
445
+ A little bright-eyed terrier, you know, with oh, such long curly
446
+ brown hair! And it'll fetch things when you throw them, and
447
+ it'll sit up and beg for its dinner, and all sorts of things--I
448
+ can't remember half of them--and it belongs to a farmer, you
449
+ know, and he says it's so useful, it's worth a hundred pounds!
450
+ He says it kills all the rats and--oh dear!' cried Alice in a
451
+ sorrowful tone, `I'm afraid I've offended it again!' For the
452
+ Mouse was swimming away from her as hard as it could go, and
453
+ making quite a commotion in the pool as it went.
454
+
455
+ So she called softly after it, `Mouse dear! Do come back
456
+ again, and we won't talk about cats or dogs either, if you don't
457
+ like them!' When the Mouse heard this, it turned round and swam
458
+ slowly back to her: its face was quite pale (with passion, Alice
459
+ thought), and it said in a low trembling voice, `Let us get to
460
+ the shore, and then I'll tell you my history, and you'll
461
+ understand why it is I hate cats and dogs.'
462
+
463
+ It was high time to go, for the pool was getting quite crowded
464
+ with the birds and animals that had fallen into it: there were a
465
+ Duck and a Dodo, a Lory and an Eaglet, and several other curious
466
+ creatures. Alice led the way, and the whole party swam to the
467
+ shore.
468
+
469
+
470
+
471
+ CHAPTER III
472
+
473
+ A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale
474
+
475
+
476
+ They were indeed a queer-looking party that assembled on the
477
+ bank--the birds with draggled feathers, the animals with their
478
+ fur clinging close to them, and all dripping wet, cross, and
479
+ uncomfortable.
480
+
481
+ The first question of course was, how to get dry again: they
482
+ had a consultation about this, and after a few minutes it seemed
483
+ quite natural to Alice to find herself talking familiarly with
484
+ them, as if she had known them all her life. Indeed, she had
485
+ quite a long argument with the Lory, who at last turned sulky,
486
+ and would only say, `I am older than you, and must know better';
487
+ and this Alice would not allow without knowing how old it was,
488
+ and, as the Lory positively refused to tell its age, there was no
489
+ more to be said.
490
+
491
+ At last the Mouse, who seemed to be a person of authority among
492
+ them, called out, `Sit down, all of you, and listen to me! I'LL
493
+ soon make you dry enough!' They all sat down at once, in a large
494
+ ring, with the Mouse in the middle. Alice kept her eyes
495
+ anxiously fixed on it, for she felt sure she would catch a bad
496
+ cold if she did not get dry very soon.
497
+
498
+ `Ahem!' said the Mouse with an important air, `are you all ready?
499
+ This is the driest thing I know. Silence all round, if you please!
500
+ "William the Conqueror, whose cause was favoured by the pope, was
501
+ soon submitted to by the English, who wanted leaders, and had been
502
+ of late much accustomed to usurpation and conquest. Edwin and
503
+ Morcar, the earls of Mercia and Northumbria--"'
504
+
505
+ `Ugh!' said the Lory, with a shiver.
506
+
507
+ `I beg your pardon!' said the Mouse, frowning, but very
508
+ politely: `Did you speak?'
509
+
510
+ `Not I!' said the Lory hastily.
511
+
512
+ `I thought you did,' said the Mouse. `--I proceed. "Edwin and
513
+ Morcar, the earls of Mercia and Northumbria, declared for him:
514
+ and even Stigand, the patriotic archbishop of Canterbury, found
515
+ it advisable--"'
516
+
517
+ `Found WHAT?' said the Duck.
518
+
519
+ `Found IT,' the Mouse replied rather crossly: `of course you
520
+ know what "it" means.'
521
+
522
+ `I know what "it" means well enough, when I find a thing,' said
523
+ the Duck: `it's generally a frog or a worm. The question is,
524
+ what did the archbishop find?'
525
+
526
+ The Mouse did not notice this question, but hurriedly went on,
527
+ `"--found it advisable to go with Edgar Atheling to meet William
528
+ and offer him the crown. William's conduct at first was
529
+ moderate. But the insolence of his Normans--" How are you
530
+ getting on now, my dear?' it continued, turning to Alice as it
531
+ spoke.
532
+
533
+ `As wet as ever,' said Alice in a melancholy tone: `it doesn't
534
+ seem to dry me at all.'
535
+
536
+ `In that case,' said the Dodo solemnly, rising to its feet, `I
537
+ move that the meeting adjourn, for the immediate adoption of more
538
+ energetic remedies--'
539
+
540
+ `Speak English!' said the Eaglet. `I don't know the meaning of
541
+ half those long words, and, what's more, I don't believe you do
542
+ either!' And the Eaglet bent down its head to hide a smile:
543
+ some of the other birds tittered audibly.
544
+
545
+ `What I was going to say,' said the Dodo in an offended tone,
546
+ `was, that the best thing to get us dry would be a Caucus-race.'
547
+
548
+ `What IS a Caucus-race?' said Alice; not that she wanted much
549
+ to know, but the Dodo had paused as if it thought that SOMEBODY
550
+ ought to speak, and no one else seemed inclined to say anything.
551
+
552
+ `Why,' said the Dodo, `the best way to explain it is to do it.'
553
+ (And, as you might like to try the thing yourself, some winter
554
+ day, I will tell you how the Dodo managed it.)
555
+
556
+ First it marked out a race-course, in a sort of circle, (`the
557
+ exact shape doesn't matter,' it said,) and then all the party
558
+ were placed along the course, here and there. There was no `One,
559
+ two, three, and away,' but they began running when they liked,
560
+ and left off when they liked, so that it was not easy to know
561
+ when the race was over. However, when they had been running half
562
+ an hour or so, and were quite dry again, the Dodo suddenly called
563
+ out `The race is over!' and they all crowded round it, panting,
564
+ and asking, `But who has won?'
565
+
566
+ This question the Dodo could not answer without a great deal of
567
+ thought, and it sat for a long time with one finger pressed upon
568
+ its forehead (the position in which you usually see Shakespeare,
569
+ in the pictures of him), while the rest waited in silence. At
570
+ last the Dodo said, `EVERYBODY has won, and all must have
571
+ prizes.'
572
+
573
+ `But who is to give the prizes?' quite a chorus of voices
574
+ asked.
575
+
576
+ `Why, SHE, of course,' said the Dodo, pointing to Alice with
577
+ one finger; and the whole party at once crowded round her,
578
+ calling out in a confused way, `Prizes! Prizes!'
579
+
580
+ Alice had no idea what to do, and in despair she put her hand
581
+ in her pocket, and pulled out a box of comfits, (luckily the salt
582
+ water had not got into it), and handed them round as prizes.
583
+ There was exactly one a-piece all round.
584
+
585
+ `But she must have a prize herself, you know,' said the Mouse.
586
+
587
+ `Of course,' the Dodo replied very gravely. `What else have
588
+ you got in your pocket?' he went on, turning to Alice.
589
+
590
+ `Only a thimble,' said Alice sadly.
591
+
592
+ `Hand it over here,' said the Dodo.
593
+
594
+ Then they all crowded round her once more, while the Dodo
595
+ solemnly presented the thimble, saying `We beg your acceptance of
596
+ this elegant thimble'; and, when it had finished this short
597
+ speech, they all cheered.
598
+
599
+ Alice thought the whole thing very absurd, but they all looked
600
+ so grave that she did not dare to laugh; and, as she could not
601
+ think of anything to say, she simply bowed, and took the thimble,
602
+ looking as solemn as she could.
603
+
604
+ The next thing was to eat the comfits: this caused some noise
605
+ and confusion, as the large birds complained that they could not
606
+ taste theirs, and the small ones choked and had to be patted on
607
+ the back. However, it was over at last, and they sat down again
608
+ in a ring, and begged the Mouse to tell them something more.
609
+
610
+ `You promised to tell me your history, you know,' said Alice,
611
+ `and why it is you hate--C and D,' she added in a whisper, half
612
+ afraid that it would be offended again.
613
+
614
+ `Mine is a long and a sad tale!' said the Mouse, turning to
615
+ Alice, and sighing.
616
+
617
+ `It IS a long tail, certainly,' said Alice, looking down with
618
+ wonder at the Mouse's tail; `but why do you call it sad?' And
619
+ she kept on puzzling about it while the Mouse was speaking, so
620
+ that her idea of the tale was something like this:--
621
+
622
+ `Fury said to a
623
+ mouse, That he
624
+ met in the
625
+ house,
626
+ "Let us
627
+ both go to
628
+ law: I will
629
+ prosecute
630
+ YOU. --Come,
631
+ I'll take no
632
+ denial; We
633
+ must have a
634
+ trial: For
635
+ really this
636
+ morning I've
637
+ nothing
638
+ to do."
639
+ Said the
640
+ mouse to the
641
+ cur, "Such
642
+ a trial,
643
+ dear Sir,
644
+ With
645
+ no jury
646
+ or judge,
647
+ would be
648
+ wasting
649
+ our
650
+ breath."
651
+ "I'll be
652
+ judge, I'll
653
+ be jury,"
654
+ Said
655
+ cunning
656
+ old Fury:
657
+ "I'll
658
+ try the
659
+ whole
660
+ cause,
661
+ and
662
+ condemn
663
+ you
664
+ to
665
+ death."'
666
+
667
+
668
+ `You are not attending!' said the Mouse to Alice severely.
669
+ `What are you thinking of?'
670
+
671
+ `I beg your pardon,' said Alice very humbly: `you had got to
672
+ the fifth bend, I think?'
673
+
674
+ `I had NOT!' cried the Mouse, sharply and very angrily.
675
+
676
+ `A knot!' said Alice, always ready to make herself useful, and
677
+ looking anxiously about her. `Oh, do let me help to undo it!'
678
+
679
+ `I shall do nothing of the sort,' said the Mouse, getting up
680
+ and walking away. `You insult me by talking such nonsense!'
681
+
682
+ `I didn't mean it!' pleaded poor Alice. `But you're so easily
683
+ offended, you know!'
684
+
685
+ The Mouse only growled in reply.
686
+
687
+ `Please come back and finish your story!' Alice called after
688
+ it; and the others all joined in chorus, `Yes, please do!' but
689
+ the Mouse only shook its head impatiently, and walked a little
690
+ quicker.
691
+
692
+ `What a pity it wouldn't stay!' sighed the Lory, as soon as it
693
+ was quite out of sight; and an old Crab took the opportunity of
694
+ saying to her daughter `Ah, my dear! Let this be a lesson to you
695
+ never to lose YOUR temper!' `Hold your tongue, Ma!' said the
696
+ young Crab, a little snappishly. `You're enough to try the
697
+ patience of an oyster!'
698
+
699
+ `I wish I had our Dinah here, I know I do!' said Alice aloud,
700
+ addressing nobody in particular. `She'd soon fetch it back!'
701
+
702
+ `And who is Dinah, if I might venture to ask the question?'
703
+ said the Lory.
704
+
705
+ Alice replied eagerly, for she was always ready to talk about
706
+ her pet: `Dinah's our cat. And she's such a capital one for
707
+ catching mice you can't think! And oh, I wish you could see her
708
+ after the birds! Why, she'll eat a little bird as soon as look
709
+ at it!'
710
+
711
+ This speech caused a remarkable sensation among the party.
712
+ Some of the birds hurried off at once: one old Magpie began
713
+ wrapping itself up very carefully, remarking, `I really must be
714
+ getting home; the night-air doesn't suit my throat!' and a Canary
715
+ called out in a trembling voice to its children, `Come away, my
716
+ dears! It's high time you were all in bed!' On various pretexts
717
+ they all moved off, and Alice was soon left alone.
718
+
719
+ `I wish I hadn't mentioned Dinah!' she said to herself in a
720
+ melancholy tone. `Nobody seems to like her, down here, and I'm
721
+ sure she's the best cat in the world! Oh, my dear Dinah! I
722
+ wonder if I shall ever see you any more!' And here poor Alice
723
+ began to cry again, for she felt very lonely and low-spirited.
724
+ In a little while, however, she again heard a little pattering of
725
+ footsteps in the distance, and she looked up eagerly, half hoping
726
+ that the Mouse had changed his mind, and was coming back to
727
+ finish his story.
728
+
729
+
730
+
731
+ CHAPTER IV
732
+
733
+ The Rabbit Sends in a Little Bill
734
+
735
+
736
+ It was the White Rabbit, trotting slowly back again, and
737
+ looking anxiously about as it went, as if it had lost something;
738
+ and she heard it muttering to itself `The Duchess! The Duchess!
739
+ Oh my dear paws! Oh my fur and whiskers! She'll get me
740
+ executed, as sure as ferrets are ferrets! Where CAN I have
741
+ dropped them, I wonder?' Alice guessed in a moment that it was
742
+ looking for the fan and the pair of white kid gloves, and she
743
+ very good-naturedly began hunting about for them, but they were
744
+ nowhere to be seen--everything seemed to have changed since her
745
+ swim in the pool, and the great hall, with the glass table and
746
+ the little door, had vanished completely.
747
+
748
+ Very soon the Rabbit noticed Alice, as she went hunting about,
749
+ and called out to her in an angry tone, `Why, Mary Ann, what ARE
750
+ you doing out here? Run home this moment, and fetch me a pair of
751
+ gloves and a fan! Quick, now!' And Alice was so much frightened
752
+ that she ran off at once in the direction it pointed to, without
753
+ trying to explain the mistake it had made.
754
+
755
+ `He took me for his housemaid,' she said to herself as she ran.
756
+ `How surprised he'll be when he finds out who I am! But I'd
757
+ better take him his fan and gloves--that is, if I can find them.'
758
+ As she said this, she came upon a neat little house, on the door
759
+ of which was a bright brass plate with the name `W. RABBIT'
760
+ engraved upon it. She went in without knocking, and hurried
761
+ upstairs, in great fear lest she should meet the real Mary Ann,
762
+ and be turned out of the house before she had found the fan and
763
+ gloves.
764
+
765
+ `How queer it seems,' Alice said to herself, `to be going
766
+ messages for a rabbit! I suppose Dinah'll be sending me on
767
+ messages next!' And she began fancying the sort of thing that
768
+ would happen: `"Miss Alice! Come here directly, and get ready
769
+ for your walk!" "Coming in a minute, nurse! But I've got to see
770
+ that the mouse doesn't get out." Only I don't think,' Alice went
771
+ on, `that they'd let Dinah stop in the house if it began ordering
772
+ people about like that!'
773
+
774
+ By this time she had found her way into a tidy little room with
775
+ a table in the window, and on it (as she had hoped) a fan and two
776
+ or three pairs of tiny white kid gloves: she took up the fan and
777
+ a pair of the gloves, and was just going to leave the room, when
778
+ her eye fell upon a little bottle that stood near the looking-
779
+ glass. There was no label this time with the words `DRINK ME,'
780
+ but nevertheless she uncorked it and put it to her lips. `I know
781
+ SOMETHING interesting is sure to happen,' she said to herself,
782
+ `whenever I eat or drink anything; so I'll just see what this
783
+ bottle does. I do hope it'll make me grow large again, for
784
+ really I'm quite tired of being such a tiny little thing!'
785
+
786
+ It did so indeed, and much sooner than she had expected:
787
+ before she had drunk half the bottle, she found her head pressing
788
+ against the ceiling, and had to stoop to save her neck from being
789
+ broken. She hastily put down the bottle, saying to herself
790
+ `That's quite enough--I hope I shan't grow any more--As it is, I
791
+ can't get out at the door--I do wish I hadn't drunk quite so
792
+ much!'
793
+
794
+ Alas! it was too late to wish that! She went on growing, and
795
+ growing, and very soon had to kneel down on the floor: in
796
+ another minute there was not even room for this, and she tried
797
+ the effect of lying down with one elbow against the door, and the
798
+ other arm curled round her head. Still she went on growing, and,
799
+ as a last resource, she put one arm out of the window, and one
800
+ foot up the chimney, and said to herself `Now I can do no more,
801
+ whatever happens. What WILL become of me?'
802
+
803
+ Luckily for Alice, the little magic bottle had now had its full
804
+ effect, and she grew no larger: still it was very uncomfortable,
805
+ and, as there seemed to be no sort of chance of her ever getting
806
+ out of the room again, no wonder she felt unhappy.
807
+
808
+ `It was much pleasanter at home,' thought poor Alice, `when one
809
+ wasn't always growing larger and smaller, and being ordered about
810
+ by mice and rabbits. I almost wish I hadn't gone down that
811
+ rabbit-hole--and yet--and yet--it's rather curious, you know,
812
+ this sort of life! I do wonder what CAN have happened to me!
813
+ When I used to read fairy-tales, I fancied that kind of thing
814
+ never happened, and now here I am in the middle of one! There
815
+ ought to be a book written about me, that there ought! And when
816
+ I grow up, I'll write one--but I'm grown up now,' she added in a
817
+ sorrowful tone; `at least there's no room to grow up any more
818
+ HERE.'
819
+
820
+ `But then,' thought Alice, `shall I NEVER get any older than I
821
+ am now? That'll be a comfort, one way--never to be an old woman--
822
+ but then--always to have lessons to learn! Oh, I shouldn't like THAT!'
823
+
824
+ `Oh, you foolish Alice!' she answered herself. `How can you
825
+ learn lessons in here? Why, there's hardly room for YOU, and no
826
+ room at all for any lesson-books!'
827
+
828
+ And so she went on, taking first one side and then the other,
829
+ and making quite a conversation of it altogether; but after a few
830
+ minutes she heard a voice outside, and stopped to listen.
831
+
832
+ `Mary Ann! Mary Ann!' said the voice. `Fetch me my gloves
833
+ this moment!' Then came a little pattering of feet on the
834
+ stairs. Alice knew it was the Rabbit coming to look for her, and
835
+ she trembled till she shook the house, quite forgetting that she
836
+ was now about a thousand times as large as the Rabbit, and had no
837
+ reason to be afraid of it.
838
+
839
+ Presently the Rabbit came up to the door, and tried to open it;
840
+ but, as the door opened inwards, and Alice's elbow was pressed
841
+ hard against it, that attempt proved a failure. Alice heard it
842
+ say to itself `Then I'll go round and get in at the window.'
843
+
844
+ `THAT you won't' thought Alice, and, after waiting till she
845
+ fancied she heard the Rabbit just under the window, she suddenly
846
+ spread out her hand, and made a snatch in the air. She did not
847
+ get hold of anything, but she heard a little shriek and a fall,
848
+ and a crash of broken glass, from which she concluded that it was
849
+ just possible it had fallen into a cucumber-frame, or something
850
+ of the sort.
851
+
852
+ Next came an angry voice--the Rabbit's--`Pat! Pat! Where are
853
+ you?' And then a voice she had never heard before, `Sure then
854
+ I'm here! Digging for apples, yer honour!'
855
+
856
+ `Digging for apples, indeed!' said the Rabbit angrily. `Here!
857
+ Come and help me out of THIS!' (Sounds of more broken glass.)
858
+
859
+ `Now tell me, Pat, what's that in the window?'
860
+
861
+ `Sure, it's an arm, yer honour!' (He pronounced it `arrum.')
862
+
863
+ `An arm, you goose! Who ever saw one that size? Why, it
864
+ fills the whole window!'
865
+
866
+ `Sure, it does, yer honour: but it's an arm for all that.'
867
+
868
+ `Well, it's got no business there, at any rate: go and take it
869
+ away!'
870
+
871
+ There was a long silence after this, and Alice could only hear
872
+ whispers now and then; such as, `Sure, I don't like it, yer
873
+ honour, at all, at all!' `Do as I tell you, you coward!' and at
874
+ last she spread out her hand again, and made another snatch in
875
+ the air. This time there were TWO little shrieks, and more
876
+ sounds of broken glass. `What a number of cucumber-frames there
877
+ must be!' thought Alice. `I wonder what they'll do next! As for
878
+ pulling me out of the window, I only wish they COULD! I'm sure I
879
+ don't want to stay in here any longer!'
880
+
881
+ She waited for some time without hearing anything more: at
882
+ last came a rumbling of little cartwheels, and the sound of a
883
+ good many voices all talking together: she made out the words:
884
+ `Where's the other ladder?--Why, I hadn't to bring but one;
885
+ Bill's got the other--Bill! fetch it here, lad!--Here, put 'em up
886
+ at this corner--No, tie 'em together first--they don't reach half
887
+ high enough yet--Oh! they'll do well enough; don't be particular--
888
+ Here, Bill! catch hold of this rope--Will the roof bear?--Mind
889
+ that loose slate--Oh, it's coming down! Heads below!' (a loud
890
+ crash)--`Now, who did that?--It was Bill, I fancy--Who's to go
891
+ down the chimney?--Nay, I shan't! YOU do it!--That I won't,
892
+ then!--Bill's to go down--Here, Bill! the master says you're to
893
+ go down the chimney!'
894
+
895
+ `Oh! So Bill's got to come down the chimney, has he?' said
896
+ Alice to herself. `Shy, they seem to put everything upon Bill!
897
+ I wouldn't be in Bill's place for a good deal: this fireplace is
898
+ narrow, to be sure; but I THINK I can kick a little!'
899
+
900
+ She drew her foot as far down the chimney as she could, and
901
+ waited till she heard a little animal (she couldn't guess of what
902
+ sort it was) scratching and scrambling about in the chimney close
903
+ above her: then, saying to herself `This is Bill,' she gave one
904
+ sharp kick, and waited to see what would happen next.
905
+
906
+ The first thing she heard was a general chorus of `There goes
907
+ Bill!' then the Rabbit's voice along--`Catch him, you by the
908
+ hedge!' then silence, and then another confusion of voices--`Hold
909
+ up his head--Brandy now--Don't choke him--How was it, old fellow?
910
+ What happened to you? Tell us all about it!'
911
+
912
+ Last came a little feeble, squeaking voice, (`That's Bill,'
913
+ thought Alice,) `Well, I hardly know--No more, thank ye; I'm
914
+ better now--but I'm a deal too flustered to tell you--all I know
915
+ is, something comes at me like a Jack-in-the-box, and up I goes
916
+ like a sky-rocket!'
917
+
918
+ `So you did, old fellow!' said the others.
919
+
920
+ `We must burn the house down!' said the Rabbit's voice; and
921
+ Alice called out as loud as she could, `If you do. I'll set
922
+ Dinah at you!'
923
+
924
+ There was a dead silence instantly, and Alice thought to
925
+ herself, `I wonder what they WILL do next! If they had any
926
+ sense, they'd take the roof off.' After a minute or two, they
927
+ began moving about again, and Alice heard the Rabbit say, `A
928
+ barrowful will do, to begin with.'
929
+
930
+ `A barrowful of WHAT?' thought Alice; but she had not long to
931
+ doubt, for the next moment a shower of little pebbles came
932
+ rattling in at the window, and some of them hit her in the face.
933
+ `I'll put a stop to this,' she said to herself, and shouted out,
934
+ `You'd better not do that again!' which produced another dead
935
+ silence.
936
+
937
+ Alice noticed with some surprise that the pebbles were all
938
+ turning into little cakes as they lay on the floor, and a bright
939
+ idea came into her head. `If I eat one of these cakes,' she
940
+ thought, `it's sure to make SOME change in my size; and as it
941
+ can't possibly make me larger, it must make me smaller, I
942
+ suppose.'
943
+
944
+ So she swallowed one of the cakes, and was delighted to find
945
+ that she began shrinking directly. As soon as she was small
946
+ enough to get through the door, she ran out of the house, and
947
+ found quite a crowd of little animals and birds waiting outside.
948
+ The poor little Lizard, Bill, was in the middle, being held up by
949
+ two guinea-pigs, who were giving it something out of a bottle.
950
+ They all made a rush at Alice the moment she appeared; but she
951
+ ran off as hard as she could, and soon found herself safe in a
952
+ thick wood.
953
+
954
+ `The first thing I've got to do,' said Alice to herself, as she
955
+ wandered about in the wood, `is to grow to my right size again;
956
+ and the second thing is to find my way into that lovely garden.
957
+ I think that will be the best plan.'
958
+
959
+ It sounded an excellent plan, no doubt, and very neatly and
960
+ simply arranged; the only difficulty was, that she had not the
961
+ smallest idea how to set about it; and while she was peering
962
+ about anxiously among the trees, a little sharp bark just over
963
+ her head made her look up in a great hurry.
964
+
965
+ An enormous puppy was looking down at her with large round
966
+ eyes, and feebly stretching out one paw, trying to touch her.
967
+ `Poor little thing!' said Alice, in a coaxing tone, and she tried
968
+ hard to whistle to it; but she was terribly frightened all the
969
+ time at the thought that it might be hungry, in which case it
970
+ would be very likely to eat her up in spite of all her coaxing.
971
+
972
+ Hardly knowing what she did, she picked up a little bit of
973
+ stick, and held it out to the puppy; whereupon the puppy jumped
974
+ into the air off all its feet at once, with a yelp of delight,
975
+ and rushed at the stick, and made believe to worry it; then Alice
976
+ dodged behind a great thistle, to keep herself from being run
977
+ over; and the moment she appeared on the other side, the puppy
978
+ made another rush at the stick, and tumbled head over heels in
979
+ its hurry to get hold of it; then Alice, thinking it was very
980
+ like having a game of play with a cart-horse, and expecting every
981
+ moment to be trampled under its feet, ran round the thistle
982
+ again; then the puppy began a series of short charges at the
983
+ stick, running a very little way forwards each time and a long
984
+ way back, and barking hoarsely all the while, till at last it sat
985
+ down a good way off, panting, with its tongue hanging out of its
986
+ mouth, and its great eyes half shut.
987
+
988
+ This seemed to Alice a good opportunity for making her escape;
989
+ so she set off at once, and ran till she was quite tired and out
990
+ of breath, and till the puppy's bark sounded quite faint in the
991
+ distance.
992
+
993
+ `And yet what a dear little puppy it was!' said Alice, as she
994
+ leant against a buttercup to rest herself, and fanned herself
995
+ with one of the leaves: `I should have liked teaching it tricks
996
+ very much, if--if I'd only been the right size to do it! Oh
997
+ dear! I'd nearly forgotten that I've got to grow up again! Let
998
+ me see--how IS it to be managed? I suppose I ought to eat or
999
+ drink something or other; but the great question is, what?'
1000
+
1001
+ The great question certainly was, what? Alice looked all round
1002
+ her at the flowers and the blades of grass, but she did not see
1003
+ anything that looked like the right thing to eat or drink under
1004
+ the circumstances. There was a large mushroom growing near her,
1005
+ about the same height as herself; and when she had looked under
1006
+ it, and on both sides of it, and behind it, it occurred to her
1007
+ that she might as well look and see what was on the top of it.
1008
+
1009
+ She stretched herself up on tiptoe, and peeped over the edge of
1010
+ the mushroom, and her eyes immediately met those of a large
1011
+ caterpillar, that was sitting on the top with its arms folded,
1012
+ quietly smoking a long hookah, and taking not the smallest notice
1013
+ of her or of anything else.
1014
+
1015
+
1016
+
1017
+ CHAPTER V
1018
+
1019
+ Advice from a Caterpillar
1020
+
1021
+
1022
+ The Caterpillar and Alice looked at each other for some time in
1023
+ silence: at last the Caterpillar took the hookah out of its
1024
+ mouth, and addressed her in a languid, sleepy voice.
1025
+
1026
+ `Who are YOU?' said the Caterpillar.
1027
+
1028
+ This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation. Alice
1029
+ replied, rather shyly, `I--I hardly know, sir, just at present--
1030
+ at least I know who I WAS when I got up this morning, but I think
1031
+ I must have been changed several times since then.'
1032
+
1033
+ `What do you mean by that?' said the Caterpillar sternly.
1034
+ `Explain yourself!'
1035
+
1036
+ `I can't explain MYSELF, I'm afraid, sir' said Alice, `because
1037
+ I'm not myself, you see.'
1038
+
1039
+ `I don't see,' said the Caterpillar.
1040
+
1041
+ `I'm afraid I can't put it more clearly,' Alice replied very
1042
+ politely, `for I can't understand it myself to begin with; and
1043
+ being so many different sizes in a day is very confusing.'
1044
+
1045
+ `It isn't,' said the Caterpillar.
1046
+
1047
+ `Well, perhaps you haven't found it so yet,' said Alice; `but
1048
+ when you have to turn into a chrysalis--you will some day, you
1049
+ know--and then after that into a butterfly, I should think you'll
1050
+ feel it a little queer, won't you?'
1051
+
1052
+ `Not a bit,' said the Caterpillar.
1053
+
1054
+ `Well, perhaps your feelings may be different,' said Alice;
1055
+ `all I know is, it would feel very queer to ME.'
1056
+
1057
+ `You!' said the Caterpillar contemptuously. `Who are YOU?'
1058
+
1059
+ Which brought them back again to the beginning of the
1060
+ conversation. Alice felt a little irritated at the Caterpillar's
1061
+ making such VERY short remarks, and she drew herself up and said,
1062
+ very gravely, `I think, you ought to tell me who YOU are, first.'
1063
+
1064
+ `Why?' said the Caterpillar.
1065
+
1066
+ Here was another puzzling question; and as Alice could not
1067
+ think of any good reason, and as the Caterpillar seemed to be in
1068
+ a VERY unpleasant state of mind, she turned away.
1069
+
1070
+ `Come back!' the Caterpillar called after her. `I've something
1071
+ important to say!'
1072
+
1073
+ This sounded promising, certainly: Alice turned and came back
1074
+ again.
1075
+
1076
+ `Keep your temper,' said the Caterpillar.
1077
+
1078
+ `Is that all?' said Alice, swallowing down her anger as well as
1079
+ she could.
1080
+
1081
+ `No,' said the Caterpillar.
1082
+
1083
+ Alice thought she might as well wait, as she had nothing else
1084
+ to do, and perhaps after all it might tell her something worth
1085
+ hearing. For some minutes it puffed away without speaking, but
1086
+ at last it unfolded its arms, took the hookah out of its mouth
1087
+ again, and said, `So you think you're changed, do you?'
1088
+
1089
+ `I'm afraid I am, sir,' said Alice; `I can't remember things as
1090
+ I used--and I don't keep the same size for ten minutes together!'
1091
+
1092
+ `Can't remember WHAT things?' said the Caterpillar.
1093
+
1094
+ `Well, I've tried to say "HOW DOTH THE LITTLE BUSY BEE," but it
1095
+ all came different!' Alice replied in a very melancholy voice.
1096
+
1097
+ `Repeat, "YOU ARE OLD, FATHER WILLIAM,"' said the Caterpillar.
1098
+
1099
+ Alice folded her hands, and began:--
1100
+
1101
+ `You are old, Father William,' the young man said,
1102
+ `And your hair has become very white;
1103
+ And yet you incessantly stand on your head--
1104
+ Do you think, at your age, it is right?'
1105
+
1106
+ `In my youth,' Father William replied to his son,
1107
+ `I feared it might injure the brain;
1108
+ But, now that I'm perfectly sure I have none,
1109
+ Why, I do it again and again.'
1110
+
1111
+ `You are old,' said the youth, `as I mentioned before,
1112
+ And have grown most uncommonly fat;
1113
+ Yet you turned a back-somersault in at the door--
1114
+ Pray, what is the reason of that?'
1115
+
1116
+ `In my youth,' said the sage, as he shook his grey locks,
1117
+ `I kept all my limbs very supple
1118
+ By the use of this ointment--one shilling the box--
1119
+ Allow me to sell you a couple?'
1120
+
1121
+ `You are old,' said the youth, `and your jaws are too weak
1122
+ For anything tougher than suet;
1123
+ Yet you finished the goose, with the bones and the beak--
1124
+ Pray how did you manage to do it?'
1125
+
1126
+ `In my youth,' said his father, `I took to the law,
1127
+ And argued each case with my wife;
1128
+ And the muscular strength, which it gave to my jaw,
1129
+ Has lasted the rest of my life.'
1130
+
1131
+ `You are old,' said the youth, `one would hardly suppose
1132
+ That your eye was as steady as ever;
1133
+ Yet you balanced an eel on the end of your nose--
1134
+ What made you so awfully clever?'
1135
+
1136
+ `I have answered three questions, and that is enough,'
1137
+ Said his father; `don't give yourself airs!
1138
+ Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff?
1139
+ Be off, or I'll kick you down stairs!'
1140
+
1141
+
1142
+ `That is not said right,' said the Caterpillar.
1143
+
1144
+ `Not QUITE right, I'm afraid,' said Alice, timidly; `some of the
1145
+ words have got altered.'
1146
+
1147
+ `It is wrong from beginning to end,' said the Caterpillar
1148
+ decidedly, and there was silence for some minutes.
1149
+
1150
+ The Caterpillar was the first to speak.
1151
+
1152
+ `What size do you want to be?' it asked.
1153
+
1154
+ `Oh, I'm not particular as to size,' Alice hastily replied;
1155
+ `only one doesn't like changing so often, you know.'
1156
+
1157
+ `I DON'T know,' said the Caterpillar.
1158
+
1159
+ Alice said nothing: she had never been so much contradicted in
1160
+ her life before, and she felt that she was losing her temper.
1161
+
1162
+ `Are you content now?' said the Caterpillar.
1163
+
1164
+ `Well, I should like to be a LITTLE larger, sir, if you
1165
+ wouldn't mind,' said Alice: `three inches is such a wretched
1166
+ height to be.'
1167
+
1168
+ `It is a very good height indeed!' said the Caterpillar
1169
+ angrily, rearing itself upright as it spoke (it was exactly three
1170
+ inches high).
1171
+
1172
+ `But I'm not used to it!' pleaded poor Alice in a piteous tone.
1173
+ And she thought of herself, `I wish the creatures wouldn't be so
1174
+ easily offended!'
1175
+
1176
+ `You'll get used to it in time,' said the Caterpillar; and it
1177
+ put the hookah into its mouth and began smoking again.
1178
+
1179
+ This time Alice waited patiently until it chose to speak again.
1180
+ In a minute or two the Caterpillar took the hookah out of its
1181
+ mouth and yawned once or twice, and shook itself. Then it got
1182
+ down off the mushroom, and crawled away in the grass, merely
1183
+ remarking as it went, `One side will make you grow taller, and
1184
+ the other side will make you grow shorter.'
1185
+
1186
+ `One side of WHAT? The other side of WHAT?' thought Alice to
1187
+ herself.
1188
+
1189
+ `Of the mushroom,' said the Caterpillar, just as if she had
1190
+ asked it aloud; and in another moment it was out of sight.
1191
+
1192
+ Alice remained looking thoughtfully at the mushroom for a
1193
+ minute, trying to make out which were the two sides of it; and as
1194
+ it was perfectly round, she found this a very difficult question.
1195
+ However, at last she stretched her arms round it as far as they
1196
+ would go, and broke off a bit of the edge with each hand.
1197
+
1198
+ `And now which is which?' she said to herself, and nibbled a
1199
+ little of the right-hand bit to try the effect: the next moment
1200
+ she felt a violent blow underneath her chin: it had struck her
1201
+ foot!
1202
+
1203
+ She was a good deal frightened by this very sudden change, but
1204
+ she felt that there was no time to be lost, as she was shrinking
1205
+ rapidly; so she set to work at once to eat some of the other bit.
1206
+ Her chin was pressed so closely against her foot, that there was
1207
+ hardly room to open her mouth; but she did it at last, and
1208
+ managed to swallow a morsel of the lefthand bit.
1209
+
1210
+
1211
+ * * * * * * *
1212
+
1213
+ * * * * * *
1214
+
1215
+ * * * * * * *
1216
+
1217
+ `Come, my head's free at last!' said Alice in a tone of
1218
+ delight, which changed into alarm in another moment, when she
1219
+ found that her shoulders were nowhere to be found: all she could
1220
+ see, when she looked down, was an immense length of neck, which
1221
+ seemed to rise like a stalk out of a sea of green leaves that lay
1222
+ far below her.
1223
+
1224
+ `What CAN all that green stuff be?' said Alice. `And where
1225
+ HAVE my shoulders got to? And oh, my poor hands, how is it I
1226
+ can't see you?' She was moving them about as she spoke, but no
1227
+ result seemed to follow, except a little shaking among the
1228
+ distant green leaves.
1229
+
1230
+ As there seemed to be no chance of getting her hands up to her
1231
+ head, she tried to get her head down to them, and was delighted
1232
+ to find that her neck would bend about easily in any direction,
1233
+ like a serpent. She had just succeeded in curving it down into a
1234
+ graceful zigzag, and was going to dive in among the leaves, which
1235
+ she found to be nothing but the tops of the trees under which she
1236
+ had been wandering, when a sharp hiss made her draw back in a
1237
+ hurry: a large pigeon had flown into her face, and was beating
1238
+ her violently with its wings.
1239
+
1240
+ `Serpent!' screamed the Pigeon.
1241
+
1242
+ `I'm NOT a serpent!' said Alice indignantly. `Let me alone!'
1243
+
1244
+ `Serpent, I say again!' repeated the Pigeon, but in a more
1245
+ subdued tone, and added with a kind of sob, `I've tried every
1246
+ way, and nothing seems to suit them!'
1247
+
1248
+ `I haven't the least idea what you're talking about,' said
1249
+ Alice.
1250
+
1251
+ `I've tried the roots of trees, and I've tried banks, and I've
1252
+ tried hedges,' the Pigeon went on, without attending to her; `but
1253
+ those serpents! There's no pleasing them!'
1254
+
1255
+ Alice was more and more puzzled, but she thought there was no
1256
+ use in saying anything more till the Pigeon had finished.
1257
+
1258
+ `As if it wasn't trouble enough hatching the eggs,' said the
1259
+ Pigeon; `but I must be on the look-out for serpents night and
1260
+ day! Why, I haven't had a wink of sleep these three weeks!'
1261
+
1262
+ `I'm very sorry you've been annoyed,' said Alice, who was
1263
+ beginning to see its meaning.
1264
+
1265
+ `And just as I'd taken the highest tree in the wood,' continued
1266
+ the Pigeon, raising its voice to a shriek, `and just as I was
1267
+ thinking I should be free of them at last, they must needs come
1268
+ wriggling down from the sky! Ugh, Serpent!'
1269
+
1270
+ `But I'm NOT a serpent, I tell you!' said Alice. `I'm a--I'm
1271
+ a--'
1272
+
1273
+ `Well! WHAT are you?' said the Pigeon. `I can see you're
1274
+ trying to invent something!'
1275
+
1276
+ `I--I'm a little girl,' said Alice, rather doubtfully, as she
1277
+ remembered the number of changes she had gone through that day.
1278
+
1279
+ `A likely story indeed!' said the Pigeon in a tone of the
1280
+ deepest contempt. `I've seen a good many little girls in my
1281
+ time, but never ONE with such a neck as that! No, no! You're a
1282
+ serpent; and there's no use denying it. I suppose you'll be
1283
+ telling me next that you never tasted an egg!'
1284
+
1285
+ `I HAVE tasted eggs, certainly,' said Alice, who was a very
1286
+ truthful child; `but little girls eat eggs quite as much as
1287
+ serpents do, you know.'
1288
+
1289
+ `I don't believe it,' said the Pigeon; `but if they do, why
1290
+ then they're a kind of serpent, that's all I can say.'
1291
+
1292
+ This was such a new idea to Alice, that she was quite silent
1293
+ for a minute or two, which gave the Pigeon the opportunity of
1294
+ adding, `You're looking for eggs, I know THAT well enough; and
1295
+ what does it matter to me whether you're a little girl or a
1296
+ serpent?'
1297
+
1298
+ `It matters a good deal to ME,' said Alice hastily; `but I'm
1299
+ not looking for eggs, as it happens; and if I was, I shouldn't
1300
+ want YOURS: I don't like them raw.'
1301
+
1302
+ `Well, be off, then!' said the Pigeon in a sulky tone, as it
1303
+ settled down again into its nest. Alice crouched down among the
1304
+ trees as well as she could, for her neck kept getting entangled
1305
+ among the branches, and every now and then she had to stop and
1306
+ untwist it. After a while she remembered that she still held the
1307
+ pieces of mushroom in her hands, and she set to work very
1308
+ carefully, nibbling first at one and then at the other, and
1309
+ growing sometimes taller and sometimes shorter, until she had
1310
+ succeeded in bringing herself down to her usual height.
1311
+
1312
+ It was so long since she had been anything near the right size,
1313
+ that it felt quite strange at first; but she got used to it in a
1314
+ few minutes, and began talking to herself, as usual. `Come,
1315
+ there's half my plan done now! How puzzling all these changes
1316
+ are! I'm never sure what I'm going to be, from one minute to
1317
+ another! However, I've got back to my right size: the next
1318
+ thing is, to get into that beautiful garden--how IS that to be
1319
+ done, I wonder?' As she said this, she came suddenly upon an
1320
+ open place, with a little house in it about four feet high.
1321
+ `Whoever lives there,' thought Alice, `it'll never do to come
1322
+ upon them THIS size: why, I should frighten them out of their
1323
+ wits!' So she began nibbling at the righthand bit again, and did
1324
+ not venture to go near the house till she had brought herself
1325
+ down to nine inches high.
1326
+
1327
+
1328
+
1329
+ CHAPTER VI
1330
+
1331
+ Pig and Pepper
1332
+
1333
+
1334
+ For a minute or two she stood looking at the house, and
1335
+ wondering what to do next, when suddenly a footman in livery came
1336
+ running out of the wood--(she considered him to be a footman
1337
+ because he was in livery: otherwise, judging by his face only,
1338
+ she would have called him a fish)--and rapped loudly at the door
1339
+ with his knuckles. It was opened by another footman in livery,
1340
+ with a round face, and large eyes like a frog; and both footmen,
1341
+ Alice noticed, had powdered hair that curled all over their
1342
+ heads. She felt very curious to know what it was all about, and
1343
+ crept a little way out of the wood to listen.
1344
+
1345
+ The Fish-Footman began by producing from under his arm a great
1346
+ letter, nearly as large as himself, and this he handed over to
1347
+ the other, saying, in a solemn tone, `For the Duchess. An
1348
+ invitation from the Queen to play croquet.' The Frog-Footman
1349
+ repeated, in the same solemn tone, only changing the order of the
1350
+ words a little, `From the Queen. An invitation for the Duchess
1351
+ to play croquet.'
1352
+
1353
+ Then they both bowed low, and their curls got entangled
1354
+ together.
1355
+
1356
+ Alice laughed so much at this, that she had to run back into
1357
+ the wood for fear of their hearing her; and when she next peeped
1358
+ out the Fish-Footman was gone, and the other was sitting on the
1359
+ ground near the door, staring stupidly up into the sky.
1360
+
1361
+ Alice went timidly up to the door, and knocked.
1362
+
1363
+ `There's no sort of use in knocking,' said the Footman, `and
1364
+ that for two reasons. First, because I'm on the same side of the
1365
+ door as you are; secondly, because they're making such a noise
1366
+ inside, no one could possibly hear you.' And certainly there was
1367
+ a most extraordinary noise going on within--a constant howling
1368
+ and sneezing, and every now and then a great crash, as if a dish
1369
+ or kettle had been broken to pieces.
1370
+
1371
+ `Please, then,' said Alice, `how am I to get in?'
1372
+
1373
+ `There might be some sense in your knocking,' the Footman went
1374
+ on without attending to her, `if we had the door between us. For
1375
+ instance, if you were INSIDE, you might knock, and I could let
1376
+ you out, you know.' He was looking up into the sky all the time
1377
+ he was speaking, and this Alice thought decidedly uncivil. `But
1378
+ perhaps he can't help it,' she said to herself; `his eyes are so
1379
+ VERY nearly at the top of his head. But at any rate he might
1380
+ answer questions.--How am I to get in?' she repeated, aloud.
1381
+
1382
+ `I shall sit here,' the Footman remarked, `till tomorrow--'
1383
+
1384
+ At this moment the door of the house opened, and a large plate
1385
+ came skimming out, straight at the Footman's head: it just
1386
+ grazed his nose, and broke to pieces against one of the trees
1387
+ behind him.
1388
+
1389
+ `--or next day, maybe,' the Footman continued in the same tone,
1390
+ exactly as if nothing had happened.
1391
+
1392
+ `How am I to get in?' asked Alice again, in a louder tone.
1393
+
1394
+ `ARE you to get in at all?' said the Footman. `That's the
1395
+ first question, you know.'
1396
+
1397
+ It was, no doubt: only Alice did not like to be told so.
1398
+ `It's really dreadful,' she muttered to herself, `the way all the
1399
+ creatures argue. It's enough to drive one crazy!'
1400
+
1401
+ The Footman seemed to think this a good opportunity for
1402
+ repeating his remark, with variations. `I shall sit here,' he
1403
+ said, `on and off, for days and days.'
1404
+
1405
+ `But what am I to do?' said Alice.
1406
+
1407
+ `Anything you like,' said the Footman, and began whistling.
1408
+
1409
+ `Oh, there's no use in talking to him,' said Alice desperately:
1410
+ `he's perfectly idiotic!' And she opened the door and went in.
1411
+
1412
+ The door led right into a large kitchen, which was full of
1413
+ smoke from one end to the other: the Duchess was sitting on a
1414
+ three-legged stool in the middle, nursing a baby; the cook was
1415
+ leaning over the fire, stirring a large cauldron which seemed to
1416
+ be full of soup.
1417
+
1418
+ `There's certainly too much pepper in that soup!' Alice said to
1419
+ herself, as well as she could for sneezing.
1420
+
1421
+ There was certainly too much of it in the air. Even the
1422
+ Duchess sneezed occasionally; and as for the baby, it was
1423
+ sneezing and howling alternately without a moment's pause. The
1424
+ only things in the kitchen that did not sneeze, were the cook,
1425
+ and a large cat which was sitting on the hearth and grinning from
1426
+ ear to ear.
1427
+
1428
+ `Please would you tell me,' said Alice, a little timidly, for
1429
+ she was not quite sure whether it was good manners for her to
1430
+ speak first, `why your cat grins like that?'
1431
+
1432
+ `It's a Cheshire cat,' said the Duchess, `and that's why. Pig!'
1433
+
1434
+ She said the last word with such sudden violence that Alice
1435
+ quite jumped; but she saw in another moment that it was addressed
1436
+ to the baby, and not to her, so she took courage, and went on
1437
+ again:--
1438
+
1439
+ `I didn't know that Cheshire cats always grinned; in fact, I
1440
+ didn't know that cats COULD grin.'
1441
+
1442
+ `They all can,' said the Duchess; `and most of 'em do.'
1443
+
1444
+ `I don't know of any that do,' Alice said very politely,
1445
+ feeling quite pleased to have got into a conversation.
1446
+
1447
+ `You don't know much,' said the Duchess; `and that's a fact.'
1448
+
1449
+ Alice did not at all like the tone of this remark, and thought
1450
+ it would be as well to introduce some other subject of
1451
+ conversation. While she was trying to fix on one, the cook took
1452
+ the cauldron of soup off the fire, and at once set to work
1453
+ throwing everything within her reach at the Duchess and the baby
1454
+ --the fire-irons came first; then followed a shower of saucepans,
1455
+ plates, and dishes. The Duchess took no notice of them even when
1456
+ they hit her; and the baby was howling so much already, that it
1457
+ was quite impossible to say whether the blows hurt it or not.
1458
+
1459
+ `Oh, PLEASE mind what you're doing!' cried Alice, jumping up
1460
+ and down in an agony of terror. `Oh, there goes his PRECIOUS
1461
+ nose'; as an unusually large saucepan flew close by it, and very
1462
+ nearly carried it off.
1463
+
1464
+ `If everybody minded their own business,' the Duchess said in a
1465
+ hoarse growl, `the world would go round a deal faster than it
1466
+ does.'
1467
+
1468
+ `Which would NOT be an advantage,' said Alice, who felt very
1469
+ glad to get an opportunity of showing off a little of her
1470
+ knowledge. `Just think of what work it would make with the day
1471
+ and night! You see the earth takes twenty-four hours to turn
1472
+ round on its axis--'
1473
+
1474
+ `Talking of axes,' said the Duchess, `chop off her head!'
1475
+
1476
+ Alice glanced rather anxiously at the cook, to see if she meant
1477
+ to take the hint; but the cook was busily stirring the soup, and
1478
+ seemed not to be listening, so she went on again: `Twenty-four
1479
+ hours, I THINK; or is it twelve? I--'
1480
+
1481
+ `Oh, don't bother ME,' said the Duchess; `I never could abide
1482
+ figures!' And with that she began nursing her child again,
1483
+ singing a sort of lullaby to it as she did so, and giving it a
1484
+ violent shake at the end of every line:
1485
+
1486
+ `Speak roughly to your little boy,
1487
+ And beat him when he sneezes:
1488
+ He only does it to annoy,
1489
+ Because he knows it teases.'
1490
+
1491
+ CHORUS.
1492
+
1493
+ (In which the cook and the baby joined):--
1494
+
1495
+ `Wow! wow! wow!'
1496
+
1497
+ While the Duchess sang the second verse of the song, she kept
1498
+ tossing the baby violently up and down, and the poor little thing
1499
+ howled so, that Alice could hardly hear the words:--
1500
+
1501
+ `I speak severely to my boy,
1502
+ I beat him when he sneezes;
1503
+ For he can thoroughly enjoy
1504
+ The pepper when he pleases!'
1505
+
1506
+ CHORUS.
1507
+
1508
+ `Wow! wow! wow!'
1509
+
1510
+ `Here! you may nurse it a bit, if you like!' the Duchess said
1511
+ to Alice, flinging the baby at her as she spoke. `I must go and
1512
+ get ready to play croquet with the Queen,' and she hurried out of
1513
+ the room. The cook threw a frying-pan after her as she went out,
1514
+ but it just missed her.
1515
+
1516
+ Alice caught the baby with some difficulty, as it was a queer-
1517
+ shaped little creature, and held out its arms and legs in all
1518
+ directions, `just like a star-fish,' thought Alice. The poor
1519
+ little thing was snorting like a steam-engine when she caught it,
1520
+ and kept doubling itself up and straightening itself out again,
1521
+ so that altogether, for the first minute or two, it was as much
1522
+ as she could do to hold it.
1523
+
1524
+ As soon as she had made out the proper way of nursing it,
1525
+ (which was to twist it up into a sort of knot, and then keep
1526
+ tight hold of its right ear and left foot, so as to prevent its
1527
+ undoing itself,) she carried it out into the open air. `IF I
1528
+ don't take this child away with me,' thought Alice, `they're sure
1529
+ to kill it in a day or two: wouldn't it be murder to leave it
1530
+ behind?' She said the last words out loud, and the little thing
1531
+ grunted in reply (it had left off sneezing by this time). `Don't
1532
+ grunt,' said Alice; `that's not at all a proper way of expressing
1533
+ yourself.'
1534
+
1535
+ The baby grunted again, and Alice looked very anxiously into
1536
+ its face to see what was the matter with it. There could be no
1537
+ doubt that it had a VERY turn-up nose, much more like a snout
1538
+ than a real nose; also its eyes were getting extremely small for
1539
+ a baby: altogether Alice did not like the look of the thing at
1540
+ all. `But perhaps it was only sobbing,' she thought, and looked
1541
+ into its eyes again, to see if there were any tears.
1542
+
1543
+ No, there were no tears. `If you're going to turn into a pig,
1544
+ my dear,' said Alice, seriously, `I'll have nothing more to do
1545
+ with you. Mind now!' The poor little thing sobbed again (or
1546
+ grunted, it was impossible to say which), and they went on for
1547
+ some while in silence.
1548
+
1549
+ Alice was just beginning to think to herself, `Now, what am I
1550
+ to do with this creature when I get it home?' when it grunted
1551
+ again, so violently, that she looked down into its face in some
1552
+ alarm. This time there could be NO mistake about it: it was
1553
+ neither more nor less than a pig, and she felt that it would be
1554
+ quite absurd for her to carry it further.
1555
+
1556
+ So she set the little creature down, and felt quite relieved to
1557
+ see it trot away quietly into the wood. `If it had grown up,'
1558
+ she said to herself, `it would have made a dreadfully ugly child:
1559
+ but it makes rather a handsome pig, I think.' And she began
1560
+ thinking over other children she knew, who might do very well as
1561
+ pigs, and was just saying to herself, `if one only knew the right
1562
+ way to change them--' when she was a little startled by seeing
1563
+ the Cheshire Cat sitting on a bough of a tree a few yards off.
1564
+
1565
+ The Cat only grinned when it saw Alice. It looked good-
1566
+ natured, she thought: still it had VERY long claws and a great
1567
+ many teeth, so she felt that it ought to be treated with respect.
1568
+
1569
+ `Cheshire Puss,' she began, rather timidly, as she did not at
1570
+ all know whether it would like the name: however, it only
1571
+ grinned a little wider. `Come, it's pleased so far,' thought
1572
+ Alice, and she went on. `Would you tell me, please, which way I
1573
+ ought to go from here?'
1574
+
1575
+ `That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said
1576
+ the Cat.
1577
+
1578
+ `I don't much care where--' said Alice.
1579
+
1580
+ `Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat.
1581
+
1582
+ `--so long as I get SOMEWHERE,' Alice added as an explanation.
1583
+
1584
+ `Oh, you're sure to do that,' said the Cat, `if you only walk
1585
+ long enough.'
1586
+
1587
+ Alice felt that this could not be denied, so she tried another
1588
+ question. `What sort of people live about here?'
1589
+
1590
+ `In THAT direction,' the Cat said, waving its right paw round,
1591
+ `lives a Hatter: and in THAT direction,' waving the other paw,
1592
+ `lives a March Hare. Visit either you like: they're both mad.'
1593
+
1594
+ `But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.
1595
+
1596
+ `Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: `we're all mad here.
1597
+ I'm mad. You're mad.'
1598
+
1599
+ `How do you know I'm mad?' said Alice.
1600
+
1601
+ `You must be,' said the Cat, `or you wouldn't have come here.'
1602
+
1603
+ Alice didn't think that proved it at all; however, she went on
1604
+ `And how do you know that you're mad?'
1605
+
1606
+ `To begin with,' said the Cat, `a dog's not mad. You grant
1607
+ that?'
1608
+
1609
+ `I suppose so,' said Alice.
1610
+
1611
+ `Well, then,' the Cat went on, `you see, a dog growls when it's
1612
+ angry, and wags its tail when it's pleased. Now I growl when I'm
1613
+ pleased, and wag my tail when I'm angry. Therefore I'm mad.'
1614
+
1615
+ `I call it purring, not growling,' said Alice.
1616
+
1617
+ `Call it what you like,' said the Cat. `Do you play croquet
1618
+ with the Queen to-day?'
1619
+
1620
+ `I should like it very much,' said Alice, `but I haven't been
1621
+ invited yet.'
1622
+
1623
+ `You'll see me there,' said the Cat, and vanished.
1624
+
1625
+ Alice was not much surprised at this, she was getting so used
1626
+ to queer things happening. While she was looking at the place
1627
+ where it had been, it suddenly appeared again.
1628
+
1629
+ `By-the-bye, what became of the baby?' said the Cat. `I'd
1630
+ nearly forgotten to ask.'
1631
+
1632
+ `It turned into a pig,' Alice quietly said, just as if it had
1633
+ come back in a natural way.
1634
+
1635
+ `I thought it would,' said the Cat, and vanished again.
1636
+
1637
+ Alice waited a little, half expecting to see it again, but it
1638
+ did not appear, and after a minute or two she walked on in the
1639
+ direction in which the March Hare was said to live. `I've seen
1640
+ hatters before,' she said to herself; `the March Hare will be
1641
+ much the most interesting, and perhaps as this is May it won't be
1642
+ raving mad--at least not so mad as it was in March.' As she said
1643
+ this, she looked up, and there was the Cat again, sitting on a
1644
+ branch of a tree.
1645
+
1646
+ `Did you say pig, or fig?' said the Cat.
1647
+
1648
+ `I said pig,' replied Alice; `and I wish you wouldn't keep
1649
+ appearing and vanishing so suddenly: you make one quite giddy.'
1650
+
1651
+ `All right,' said the Cat; and this time it vanished quite slowly,
1652
+ beginning with the end of the tail, and ending with the grin,
1653
+ which remained some time after the rest of it had gone.
1654
+
1655
+ `Well! I've often seen a cat without a grin,' thought Alice;
1656
+ `but a grin without a cat! It's the most curious thing I ever
1657
+ saw in my life!'
1658
+
1659
+ She had not gone much farther before she came in sight of the
1660
+ house of the March Hare: she thought it must be the right house,
1661
+ because the chimneys were shaped like ears and the roof was
1662
+ thatched with fur. It was so large a house, that she did not
1663
+ like to go nearer till she had nibbled some more of the lefthand
1664
+ bit of mushroom, and raised herself to about two feet high: even
1665
+ then she walked up towards it rather timidly, saying to herself
1666
+ `Suppose it should be raving mad after all! I almost wish I'd
1667
+ gone to see the Hatter instead!'
1668
+
1669
+
1670
+
1671
+ CHAPTER VII
1672
+
1673
+ A Mad Tea-Party
1674
+
1675
+
1676
+ There was a table set out under a tree in front of the house,
1677
+ and the March Hare and the Hatter were having tea at it: a
1678
+ Dormouse was sitting between them, fast asleep, and the other two
1679
+ were using it as a cushion, resting their elbows on it, and talking
1680
+ over its head. `Very uncomfortable for the Dormouse,' thought Alice;
1681
+ `only, as it's asleep, I suppose it doesn't mind.'
1682
+
1683
+ The table was a large one, but the three were all crowded
1684
+ together at one corner of it: `No room! No room!' they cried
1685
+ out when they saw Alice coming. `There's PLENTY of room!' said
1686
+ Alice indignantly, and she sat down in a large arm-chair at one
1687
+ end of the table.
1688
+
1689
+ `Have some wine,' the March Hare said in an encouraging tone.
1690
+
1691
+ Alice looked all round the table, but there was nothing on it
1692
+ but tea. `I don't see any wine,' she remarked.
1693
+
1694
+ `There isn't any,' said the March Hare.
1695
+
1696
+ `Then it wasn't very civil of you to offer it,' said Alice
1697
+ angrily.
1698
+
1699
+ `It wasn't very civil of you to sit down without being
1700
+ invited,' said the March Hare.
1701
+
1702
+ `I didn't know it was YOUR table,' said Alice; `it's laid for a
1703
+ great many more than three.'
1704
+
1705
+ `Your hair wants cutting,' said the Hatter. He had been
1706
+ looking at Alice for some time with great curiosity, and this was
1707
+ his first speech.
1708
+
1709
+ `You should learn not to make personal remarks,' Alice said
1710
+ with some severity; `it's very rude.'
1711
+
1712
+ The Hatter opened his eyes very wide on hearing this; but all
1713
+ he SAID was, `Why is a raven like a writing-desk?'
1714
+
1715
+ `Come, we shall have some fun now!' thought Alice. `I'm glad
1716
+ they've begun asking riddles.--I believe I can guess that,' she
1717
+ added aloud.
1718
+
1719
+ `Do you mean that you think you can find out the answer to it?'
1720
+ said the March Hare.
1721
+
1722
+ `Exactly so,' said Alice.
1723
+
1724
+ `Then you should say what you mean,' the March Hare went on.
1725
+
1726
+ `I do,' Alice hastily replied; `at least--at least I mean what
1727
+ I say--that's the same thing, you know.'
1728
+
1729
+ `Not the same thing a bit!' said the Hatter. `You might just
1730
+ as well say that "I see what I eat" is the same thing as "I eat
1731
+ what I see"!'
1732
+
1733
+ `You might just as well say,' added the March Hare, `that "I
1734
+ like what I get" is the same thing as "I get what I like"!'
1735
+
1736
+ `You might just as well say,' added the Dormouse, who seemed to
1737
+ be talking in his sleep, `that "I breathe when I sleep" is the
1738
+ same thing as "I sleep when I breathe"!'
1739
+
1740
+ `It IS the same thing with you,' said the Hatter, and here the
1741
+ conversation dropped, and the party sat silent for a minute,
1742
+ while Alice thought over all she could remember about ravens and
1743
+ writing-desks, which wasn't much.
1744
+
1745
+ The Hatter was the first to break the silence. `What day of
1746
+ the month is it?' he said, turning to Alice: he had taken his
1747
+ watch out of his pocket, and was looking at it uneasily, shaking
1748
+ it every now and then, and holding it to his ear.
1749
+
1750
+ Alice considered a little, and then said `The fourth.'
1751
+
1752
+ `Two days wrong!' sighed the Hatter. `I told you butter
1753
+ wouldn't suit the works!' he added looking angrily at the March
1754
+ Hare.
1755
+
1756
+ `It was the BEST butter,' the March Hare meekly replied.
1757
+
1758
+ `Yes, but some crumbs must have got in as well,' the Hatter
1759
+ grumbled: `you shouldn't have put it in with the bread-knife.'
1760
+
1761
+ The March Hare took the watch and looked at it gloomily: then
1762
+ he dipped it into his cup of tea, and looked at it again: but he
1763
+ could think of nothing better to say than his first remark, `It
1764
+ was the BEST butter, you know.'
1765
+
1766
+ Alice had been looking over his shoulder with some curiosity.
1767
+ `What a funny watch!' she remarked. `It tells the day of the
1768
+ month, and doesn't tell what o'clock it is!'
1769
+
1770
+ `Why should it?' muttered the Hatter. `Does YOUR watch tell
1771
+ you what year it is?'
1772
+
1773
+ `Of course not,' Alice replied very readily: `but that's
1774
+ because it stays the same year for such a long time together.'
1775
+
1776
+ `Which is just the case with MINE,' said the Hatter.
1777
+
1778
+ Alice felt dreadfully puzzled. The Hatter's remark seemed to
1779
+ have no sort of meaning in it, and yet it was certainly English.
1780
+ `I don't quite understand you,' she said, as politely as she
1781
+ could.
1782
+
1783
+ `The Dormouse is asleep again,' said the Hatter, and he poured
1784
+ a little hot tea upon its nose.
1785
+
1786
+ The Dormouse shook its head impatiently, and said, without
1787
+ opening its eyes, `Of course, of course; just what I was going to
1788
+ remark myself.'
1789
+
1790
+ `Have you guessed the riddle yet?' the Hatter said, turning to
1791
+ Alice again.
1792
+
1793
+ `No, I give it up,' Alice replied: `what's the answer?'
1794
+
1795
+ `I haven't the slightest idea,' said the Hatter.
1796
+
1797
+ `Nor I,' said the March Hare.
1798
+
1799
+ Alice sighed wearily. `I think you might do something better
1800
+ with the time,' she said, `than waste it in asking riddles that
1801
+ have no answers.'
1802
+
1803
+ `If you knew Time as well as I do,' said the Hatter, `you
1804
+ wouldn't talk about wasting IT. It's HIM.'
1805
+
1806
+ `I don't know what you mean,' said Alice.
1807
+
1808
+ `Of course you don't!' the Hatter said, tossing his head
1809
+ contemptuously. `I dare say you never even spoke to Time!'
1810
+
1811
+ `Perhaps not,' Alice cautiously replied: `but I know I have to
1812
+ beat time when I learn music.'
1813
+
1814
+ `Ah! that accounts for it,' said the Hatter. `He won't stand
1815
+ beating. Now, if you only kept on good terms with him, he'd do
1816
+ almost anything you liked with the clock. For instance, suppose
1817
+ it were nine o'clock in the morning, just time to begin lessons:
1818
+ you'd only have to whisper a hint to Time, and round goes the
1819
+ clock in a twinkling! Half-past one, time for dinner!'
1820
+
1821
+ (`I only wish it was,' the March Hare said to itself in a
1822
+ whisper.)
1823
+
1824
+ `That would be grand, certainly,' said Alice thoughtfully:
1825
+ `but then--I shouldn't be hungry for it, you know.'
1826
+
1827
+ `Not at first, perhaps,' said the Hatter: `but you could keep
1828
+ it to half-past one as long as you liked.'
1829
+
1830
+ `Is that the way YOU manage?' Alice asked.
1831
+
1832
+ The Hatter shook his head mournfully. `Not I!' he replied.
1833
+ `We quarrelled last March--just before HE went mad, you know--'
1834
+ (pointing with his tea spoon at the March Hare,) `--it was at the
1835
+ great concert given by the Queen of Hearts, and I had to sing
1836
+
1837
+ "Twinkle, twinkle, little bat!
1838
+ How I wonder what you're at!"
1839
+
1840
+ You know the song, perhaps?'
1841
+
1842
+ `I've heard something like it,' said Alice.
1843
+
1844
+ `It goes on, you know,' the Hatter continued, `in this way:--
1845
+
1846
+ "Up above the world you fly,
1847
+ Like a tea-tray in the sky.
1848
+ Twinkle, twinkle--"'
1849
+
1850
+ Here the Dormouse shook itself, and began singing in its sleep
1851
+ `Twinkle, twinkle, twinkle, twinkle--' and went on so long that
1852
+ they had to pinch it to make it stop.
1853
+
1854
+ `Well, I'd hardly finished the first verse,' said the Hatter,
1855
+ `when the Queen jumped up and bawled out, "He's murdering the
1856
+ time! Off with his head!"'
1857
+
1858
+ `How dreadfully savage!' exclaimed Alice.
1859
+
1860
+ `And ever since that,' the Hatter went on in a mournful tone,
1861
+ `he won't do a thing I ask! It's always six o'clock now.'
1862
+
1863
+ A bright idea came into Alice's head. `Is that the reason so
1864
+ many tea-things are put out here?' she asked.
1865
+
1866
+ `Yes, that's it,' said the Hatter with a sigh: `it's always
1867
+ tea-time, and we've no time to wash the things between whiles.'
1868
+
1869
+ `Then you keep moving round, I suppose?' said Alice.
1870
+
1871
+ `Exactly so,' said the Hatter: `as the things get used up.'
1872
+
1873
+ `But what happens when you come to the beginning again?' Alice
1874
+ ventured to ask.
1875
+
1876
+ `Suppose we change the subject,' the March Hare interrupted,
1877
+ yawning. `I'm getting tired of this. I vote the young lady
1878
+ tells us a story.'
1879
+
1880
+ `I'm afraid I don't know one,' said Alice, rather alarmed at
1881
+ the proposal.
1882
+
1883
+ `Then the Dormouse shall!' they both cried. `Wake up,
1884
+ Dormouse!' And they pinched it on both sides at once.
1885
+
1886
+ The Dormouse slowly opened his eyes. `I wasn't asleep,' he
1887
+ said in a hoarse, feeble voice: `I heard every word you fellows
1888
+ were saying.'
1889
+
1890
+ `Tell us a story!' said the March Hare.
1891
+
1892
+ `Yes, please do!' pleaded Alice.
1893
+
1894
+ `And be quick about it,' added the Hatter, `or you'll be asleep
1895
+ again before it's done.'
1896
+
1897
+ `Once upon a time there were three little sisters,' the
1898
+ Dormouse began in a great hurry; `and their names were Elsie,
1899
+ Lacie, and Tillie; and they lived at the bottom of a well--'
1900
+
1901
+ `What did they live on?' said Alice, who always took a great
1902
+ interest in questions of eating and drinking.
1903
+
1904
+ `They lived on treacle,' said the Dormouse, after thinking a
1905
+ minute or two.
1906
+
1907
+ `They couldn't have done that, you know,' Alice gently
1908
+ remarked; `they'd have been ill.'
1909
+
1910
+ `So they were,' said the Dormouse; `VERY ill.'
1911
+
1912
+ Alice tried to fancy to herself what such an extraordinary ways
1913
+ of living would be like, but it puzzled her too much, so she went
1914
+ on: `But why did they live at the bottom of a well?'
1915
+
1916
+ `Take some more tea,' the March Hare said to Alice, very
1917
+ earnestly.
1918
+
1919
+ `I've had nothing yet,' Alice replied in an offended tone, `so
1920
+ I can't take more.'
1921
+
1922
+ `You mean you can't take LESS,' said the Hatter: `it's very
1923
+ easy to take MORE than nothing.'
1924
+
1925
+ `Nobody asked YOUR opinion,' said Alice.
1926
+
1927
+ `Who's making personal remarks now?' the Hatter asked
1928
+ triumphantly.
1929
+
1930
+ Alice did not quite know what to say to this: so she helped
1931
+ herself to some tea and bread-and-butter, and then turned to the
1932
+ Dormouse, and repeated her question. `Why did they live at the
1933
+ bottom of a well?'
1934
+
1935
+ The Dormouse again took a minute or two to think about it, and
1936
+ then said, `It was a treacle-well.'
1937
+
1938
+ `There's no such thing!' Alice was beginning very angrily, but
1939
+ the Hatter and the March Hare went `Sh! sh!' and the Dormouse
1940
+ sulkily remarked, `If you can't be civil, you'd better finish the
1941
+ story for yourself.'
1942
+
1943
+ `No, please go on!' Alice said very humbly; `I won't interrupt
1944
+ again. I dare say there may be ONE.'
1945
+
1946
+ `One, indeed!' said the Dormouse indignantly. However, he
1947
+ consented to go on. `And so these three little sisters--they
1948
+ were learning to draw, you know--'
1949
+
1950
+ `What did they draw?' said Alice, quite forgetting her promise.
1951
+
1952
+ `Treacle,' said the Dormouse, without considering at all this
1953
+ time.
1954
+
1955
+ `I want a clean cup,' interrupted the Hatter: `let's all move
1956
+ one place on.'
1957
+
1958
+ He moved on as he spoke, and the Dormouse followed him: the
1959
+ March Hare moved into the Dormouse's place, and Alice rather
1960
+ unwillingly took the place of the March Hare. The Hatter was the
1961
+ only one who got any advantage from the change: and Alice was a
1962
+ good deal worse off than before, as the March Hare had just upset
1963
+ the milk-jug into his plate.
1964
+
1965
+ Alice did not wish to offend the Dormouse again, so she began
1966
+ very cautiously: `But I don't understand. Where did they draw
1967
+ the treacle from?'
1968
+
1969
+ `You can draw water out of a water-well,' said the Hatter; `so
1970
+ I should think you could draw treacle out of a treacle-well--eh,
1971
+ stupid?'
1972
+
1973
+ `But they were IN the well,' Alice said to the Dormouse, not
1974
+ choosing to notice this last remark.
1975
+
1976
+ `Of course they were', said the Dormouse; `--well in.'
1977
+
1978
+ This answer so confused poor Alice, that she let the Dormouse
1979
+ go on for some time without interrupting it.
1980
+
1981
+ `They were learning to draw,' the Dormouse went on, yawning and
1982
+ rubbing its eyes, for it was getting very sleepy; `and they drew
1983
+ all manner of things--everything that begins with an M--'
1984
+
1985
+ `Why with an M?' said Alice.
1986
+
1987
+ `Why not?' said the March Hare.
1988
+
1989
+ Alice was silent.
1990
+
1991
+ The Dormouse had closed its eyes by this time, and was going
1992
+ off into a doze; but, on being pinched by the Hatter, it woke up
1993
+ again with a little shriek, and went on: `--that begins with an
1994
+ M, such as mouse-traps, and the moon, and memory, and muchness--
1995
+ you know you say things are "much of a muchness"--did you ever
1996
+ see such a thing as a drawing of a muchness?'
1997
+
1998
+ `Really, now you ask me,' said Alice, very much confused, `I
1999
+ don't think--'
2000
+
2001
+ `Then you shouldn't talk,' said the Hatter.
2002
+
2003
+ This piece of rudeness was more than Alice could bear: she got
2004
+ up in great disgust, and walked off; the Dormouse fell asleep
2005
+ instantly, and neither of the others took the least notice of her
2006
+ going, though she looked back once or twice, half hoping that
2007
+ they would call after her: the last time she saw them, they were
2008
+ trying to put the Dormouse into the teapot.
2009
+
2010
+ `At any rate I'll never go THERE again!' said Alice as she
2011
+ picked her way through the wood. `It's the stupidest tea-party I
2012
+ ever was at in all my life!'
2013
+
2014
+ Just as she said this, she noticed that one of the trees had a
2015
+ door leading right into it. `That's very curious!' she thought.
2016
+ `But everything's curious today. I think I may as well go in at once.'
2017
+ And in she went.
2018
+
2019
+ Once more she found herself in the long hall, and close to the
2020
+ little glass table. `Now, I'll manage better this time,'
2021
+ she said to herself, and began by taking the little golden key,
2022
+ and unlocking the door that led into the garden. Then she went
2023
+ to work nibbling at the mushroom (she had kept a piece of it
2024
+ in her pocket) till she was about a foot high: then she walked down
2025
+ the little passage: and THEN--she found herself at last in the
2026
+ beautiful garden, among the bright flower-beds and the cool fountains.
2027
+
2028
+
2029
+
2030
+ CHAPTER VIII
2031
+
2032
+ The Queen's Croquet-Ground
2033
+
2034
+
2035
+ A large rose-tree stood near the entrance of the garden: the
2036
+ roses growing on it were white, but there were three gardeners at
2037
+ it, busily painting them red. Alice thought this a very curious
2038
+ thing, and she went nearer to watch them, and just as she came up
2039
+ to them she heard one of them say, `Look out now, Five! Don't go
2040
+ splashing paint over me like that!'
2041
+
2042
+ `I couldn't help it,' said Five, in a sulky tone; `Seven jogged
2043
+ my elbow.'
2044
+
2045
+ On which Seven looked up and said, `That's right, Five! Always
2046
+ lay the blame on others!'
2047
+
2048
+ `YOU'D better not talk!' said Five. `I heard the Queen say only
2049
+ yesterday you deserved to be beheaded!'
2050
+
2051
+ `What for?' said the one who had spoken first.
2052
+
2053
+ `That's none of YOUR business, Two!' said Seven.
2054
+
2055
+ `Yes, it IS his business!' said Five, `and I'll tell him--it
2056
+ was for bringing the cook tulip-roots instead of onions.'
2057
+
2058
+ Seven flung down his brush, and had just begun `Well, of all
2059
+ the unjust things--' when his eye chanced to fall upon Alice, as
2060
+ she stood watching them, and he checked himself suddenly: the
2061
+ others looked round also, and all of them bowed low.
2062
+
2063
+ `Would you tell me,' said Alice, a little timidly, `why you are
2064
+ painting those roses?'
2065
+
2066
+ Five and Seven said nothing, but looked at Two. Two began in a
2067
+ low voice, `Why the fact is, you see, Miss, this here ought to
2068
+ have been a RED rose-tree, and we put a white one in by mistake;
2069
+ and if the Queen was to find it out, we should all have our heads
2070
+ cut off, you know. So you see, Miss, we're doing our best, afore
2071
+ she comes, to--' At this moment Five, who had been anxiously
2072
+ looking across the garden, called out `The Queen! The Queen!'
2073
+ and the three gardeners instantly threw themselves flat upon
2074
+ their faces. There was a sound of many footsteps, and Alice
2075
+ looked round, eager to see the Queen.
2076
+
2077
+ First came ten soldiers carrying clubs; these were all shaped
2078
+ like the three gardeners, oblong and flat, with their hands and
2079
+ feet at the corners: next the ten courtiers; these were
2080
+ ornamented all over with diamonds, and walked two and two, as the
2081
+ soldiers did. After these came the royal children; there were
2082
+ ten of them, and the little dears came jumping merrily along hand
2083
+ in hand, in couples: they were all ornamented with hearts. Next
2084
+ came the guests, mostly Kings and Queens, and among them Alice
2085
+ recognised the White Rabbit: it was talking in a hurried nervous
2086
+ manner, smiling at everything that was said, and went by without
2087
+ noticing her. Then followed the Knave of Hearts, carrying the
2088
+ King's crown on a crimson velvet cushion; and, last of all this
2089
+ grand procession, came THE KING AND QUEEN OF HEARTS.
2090
+
2091
+ Alice was rather doubtful whether she ought not to lie down on
2092
+ her face like the three gardeners, but she could not remember
2093
+ ever having heard of such a rule at processions; `and besides,
2094
+ what would be the use of a procession,' thought she, `if people
2095
+ had all to lie down upon their faces, so that they couldn't see it?'
2096
+ So she stood still where she was, and waited.
2097
+
2098
+ When the procession came opposite to Alice, they all stopped
2099
+ and looked at her, and the Queen said severely `Who is this?'
2100
+ She said it to the Knave of Hearts, who only bowed and smiled in reply.
2101
+
2102
+ `Idiot!' said the Queen, tossing her head impatiently; and,
2103
+ turning to Alice, she went on, `What's your name, child?'
2104
+
2105
+ `My name is Alice, so please your Majesty,' said Alice very
2106
+ politely; but she added, to herself, `Why, they're only a pack of
2107
+ cards, after all. I needn't be afraid of them!'
2108
+
2109
+ `And who are THESE?' said the Queen, pointing to the three
2110
+ gardeners who were lying round the rosetree; for, you see, as
2111
+ they were lying on their faces, and the pattern on their backs
2112
+ was the same as the rest of the pack, she could not tell whether
2113
+ they were gardeners, or soldiers, or courtiers, or three of her
2114
+ own children.
2115
+
2116
+ `How should I know?' said Alice, surprised at her own courage.
2117
+ `It's no business of MINE.'
2118
+
2119
+ The Queen turned crimson with fury, and, after glaring at her
2120
+ for a moment like a wild beast, screamed `Off with her head!
2121
+ Off--'
2122
+
2123
+ `Nonsense!' said Alice, very loudly and decidedly, and the
2124
+ Queen was silent.
2125
+
2126
+ The King laid his hand upon her arm, and timidly said
2127
+ `Consider, my dear: she is only a child!'
2128
+
2129
+ The Queen turned angrily away from him, and said to the Knave
2130
+ `Turn them over!'
2131
+
2132
+ The Knave did so, very carefully, with one foot.
2133
+
2134
+ `Get up!' said the Queen, in a shrill, loud voice, and the
2135
+ three gardeners instantly jumped up, and began bowing to the
2136
+ King, the Queen, the royal children, and everybody else.
2137
+
2138
+ `Leave off that!' screamed the Queen. `You make me giddy.'
2139
+ And then, turning to the rose-tree, she went on, `What HAVE you
2140
+ been doing here?'
2141
+
2142
+ `May it please your Majesty,' said Two, in a very humble tone,
2143
+ going down on one knee as he spoke, `we were trying--'
2144
+
2145
+ `I see!' said the Queen, who had meanwhile been examining the
2146
+ roses. `Off with their heads!' and the procession moved on,
2147
+ three of the soldiers remaining behind to execute the unfortunate
2148
+ gardeners, who ran to Alice for protection.
2149
+
2150
+ `You shan't be beheaded!' said Alice, and she put them into a
2151
+ large flower-pot that stood near. The three soldiers wandered
2152
+ about for a minute or two, looking for them, and then quietly
2153
+ marched off after the others.
2154
+
2155
+ `Are their heads off?' shouted the Queen.
2156
+
2157
+ `Their heads are gone, if it please your Majesty!' the soldiers
2158
+ shouted in reply.
2159
+
2160
+ `That's right!' shouted the Queen. `Can you play croquet?'
2161
+
2162
+ The soldiers were silent, and looked at Alice, as the question
2163
+ was evidently meant for her.
2164
+
2165
+ `Yes!' shouted Alice.
2166
+
2167
+ `Come on, then!' roared the Queen, and Alice joined the
2168
+ procession, wondering very much what would happen next.
2169
+
2170
+ `It's--it's a very fine day!' said a timid voice at her side.
2171
+ She was walking by the White Rabbit, who was peeping anxiously
2172
+ into her face.
2173
+
2174
+ `Very,' said Alice: `--where's the Duchess?'
2175
+
2176
+ `Hush! Hush!' said the Rabbit in a low, hurried tone. He
2177
+ looked anxiously over his shoulder as he spoke, and then raised
2178
+ himself upon tiptoe, put his mouth close to her ear, and
2179
+ whispered `She's under sentence of execution.'
2180
+
2181
+ `What for?' said Alice.
2182
+
2183
+ `Did you say "What a pity!"?' the Rabbit asked.
2184
+
2185
+ `No, I didn't,' said Alice: `I don't think it's at all a pity.
2186
+ I said "What for?"'
2187
+
2188
+ `She boxed the Queen's ears--' the Rabbit began. Alice gave a
2189
+ little scream of laughter. `Oh, hush!' the Rabbit whispered in a
2190
+ frightened tone. `The Queen will hear you! You see, she came
2191
+ rather late, and the Queen said--'
2192
+
2193
+ `Get to your places!' shouted the Queen in a voice of thunder,
2194
+ and people began running about in all directions, tumbling up
2195
+ against each other; however, they got settled down in a minute or
2196
+ two, and the game began. Alice thought she had never seen such a
2197
+ curious croquet-ground in her life; it was all ridges and
2198
+ furrows; the balls were live hedgehogs, the mallets live
2199
+ flamingoes, and the soldiers had to double themselves up and to
2200
+ stand on their hands and feet, to make the arches.
2201
+
2202
+ The chief difficulty Alice found at first was in managing her
2203
+ flamingo: she succeeded in getting its body tucked away,
2204
+ comfortably enough, under her arm, with its legs hanging down,
2205
+ but generally, just as she had got its neck nicely straightened
2206
+ out, and was going to give the hedgehog a blow with its head, it
2207
+ WOULD twist itself round and look up in her face, with such a
2208
+ puzzled expression that she could not help bursting out laughing:
2209
+ and when she had got its head down, and was going to begin again,
2210
+ it was very provoking to find that the hedgehog had unrolled
2211
+ itself, and was in the act of crawling away: besides all this,
2212
+ there was generally a ridge or furrow in the way wherever she
2213
+ wanted to send the hedgehog to, and, as the doubled-up soldiers
2214
+ were always getting up and walking off to other parts of the
2215
+ ground, Alice soon came to the conclusion that it was a very
2216
+ difficult game indeed.
2217
+
2218
+ The players all played at once without waiting for turns,
2219
+ quarrelling all the while, and fighting for the hedgehogs; and in
2220
+ a very short time the Queen was in a furious passion, and went
2221
+ stamping about, and shouting `Off with his head!' or `Off with
2222
+ her head!' about once in a minute.
2223
+
2224
+ Alice began to feel very uneasy: to be sure, she had not as
2225
+ yet had any dispute with the Queen, but she knew that it might
2226
+ happen any minute, `and then,' thought she, `what would become of
2227
+ me? They're dreadfully fond of beheading people here; the great
2228
+ wonder is, that there's any one left alive!'
2229
+
2230
+ She was looking about for some way of escape, and wondering
2231
+ whether she could get away without being seen, when she noticed a
2232
+ curious appearance in the air: it puzzled her very much at
2233
+ first, but, after watching it a minute or two, she made it out to
2234
+ be a grin, and she said to herself `It's the Cheshire Cat: now I
2235
+ shall have somebody to talk to.'
2236
+
2237
+ `How are you getting on?' said the Cat, as soon as there was
2238
+ mouth enough for it to speak with.
2239
+
2240
+ Alice waited till the eyes appeared, and then nodded. `It's no
2241
+ use speaking to it,' she thought, `till its ears have come, or at
2242
+ least one of them.' In another minute the whole head appeared,
2243
+ and then Alice put down her flamingo, and began an account of the
2244
+ game, feeling very glad she had someone to listen to her. The
2245
+ Cat seemed to think that there was enough of it now in sight, and
2246
+ no more of it appeared.
2247
+
2248
+ `I don't think they play at all fairly,' Alice began, in rather
2249
+ a complaining tone, `and they all quarrel so dreadfully one can't
2250
+ hear oneself speak--and they don't seem to have any rules in
2251
+ particular; at least, if there are, nobody attends to them--and
2252
+ you've no idea how confusing it is all the things being alive;
2253
+ for instance, there's the arch I've got to go through next
2254
+ walking about at the other end of the ground--and I should have
2255
+ croqueted the Queen's hedgehog just now, only it ran away when it
2256
+ saw mine coming!'
2257
+
2258
+ `How do you like the Queen?' said the Cat in a low voice.
2259
+
2260
+ `Not at all,' said Alice: `she's so extremely--' Just then
2261
+ she noticed that the Queen was close behind her, listening: so
2262
+ she went on, `--likely to win, that it's hardly worth while
2263
+ finishing the game.'
2264
+
2265
+ The Queen smiled and passed on.
2266
+
2267
+ `Who ARE you talking to?' said the King, going up to Alice, and
2268
+ looking at the Cat's head with great curiosity.
2269
+
2270
+ `It's a friend of mine--a Cheshire Cat,' said Alice: `allow me
2271
+ to introduce it.'
2272
+
2273
+ `I don't like the look of it at all,' said the King:
2274
+ `however, it may kiss my hand if it likes.'
2275
+
2276
+ `I'd rather not,' the Cat remarked.
2277
+
2278
+ `Don't be impertinent,' said the King, `and don't look at me
2279
+ like that!' He got behind Alice as he spoke.
2280
+
2281
+ `A cat may look at a king,' said Alice. `I've read that in
2282
+ some book, but I don't remember where.'
2283
+
2284
+ `Well, it must be removed,' said the King very decidedly, and
2285
+ he called the Queen, who was passing at the moment, `My dear! I
2286
+ wish you would have this cat removed!'
2287
+
2288
+ The Queen had only one way of settling all difficulties, great
2289
+ or small. `Off with his head!' she said, without even looking
2290
+ round.
2291
+
2292
+ `I'll fetch the executioner myself,' said the King eagerly, and
2293
+ he hurried off.
2294
+
2295
+ Alice thought she might as well go back, and see how the game
2296
+ was going on, as she heard the Queen's voice in the distance,
2297
+ screaming with passion. She had already heard her sentence three
2298
+ of the players to be executed for having missed their turns, and
2299
+ she did not like the look of things at all, as the game was in
2300
+ such confusion that she never knew whether it was her turn or
2301
+ not. So she went in search of her hedgehog.
2302
+
2303
+ The hedgehog was engaged in a fight with another hedgehog,
2304
+ which seemed to Alice an excellent opportunity for croqueting one
2305
+ of them with the other: the only difficulty was, that her
2306
+ flamingo was gone across to the other side of the garden, where
2307
+ Alice could see it trying in a helpless sort of way to fly up
2308
+ into a tree.
2309
+
2310
+ By the time she had caught the flamingo and brought it back,
2311
+ the fight was over, and both the hedgehogs were out of sight:
2312
+ `but it doesn't matter much,' thought Alice, `as all the arches
2313
+ are gone from this side of the ground.' So she tucked it away
2314
+ under her arm, that it might not escape again, and went back for
2315
+ a little more conversation with her friend.
2316
+
2317
+ When she got back to the Cheshire Cat, she was surprised to
2318
+ find quite a large crowd collected round it: there was a dispute
2319
+ going on between the executioner, the King, and the Queen, who
2320
+ were all talking at once, while all the rest were quite silent,
2321
+ and looked very uncomfortable.
2322
+
2323
+ The moment Alice appeared, she was appealed to by all three to
2324
+ settle the question, and they repeated their arguments to her,
2325
+ though, as they all spoke at once, she found it very hard indeed
2326
+ to make out exactly what they said.
2327
+
2328
+ The executioner's argument was, that you couldn't cut off a
2329
+ head unless there was a body to cut it off from: that he had
2330
+ never had to do such a thing before, and he wasn't going to begin
2331
+ at HIS time of life.
2332
+
2333
+ The King's argument was, that anything that had a head could be
2334
+ beheaded, and that you weren't to talk nonsense.
2335
+
2336
+ The Queen's argument was, that if something wasn't done about
2337
+ it in less than no time she'd have everybody executed, all round.
2338
+ (It was this last remark that had made the whole party look so
2339
+ grave and anxious.)
2340
+
2341
+ Alice could think of nothing else to say but `It belongs to the
2342
+ Duchess: you'd better ask HER about it.'
2343
+
2344
+ `She's in prison,' the Queen said to the executioner: `fetch
2345
+ her here.' And the executioner went off like an arrow.
2346
+
2347
+ The Cat's head began fading away the moment he was gone, and,
2348
+ by the time he had come back with the Duchess, it had entirely
2349
+ disappeared; so the King and the executioner ran wildly up and down
2350
+ looking for it, while the rest of the party went back to the game.
2351
+
2352
+
2353
+
2354
+ CHAPTER IX
2355
+
2356
+ The Mock Turtle's Story
2357
+
2358
+
2359
+ `You can't think how glad I am to see you again, you dear old
2360
+ thing!' said the Duchess, as she tucked her arm affectionately
2361
+ into Alice's, and they walked off together.
2362
+
2363
+ Alice was very glad to find her in such a pleasant temper, and
2364
+ thought to herself that perhaps it was only the pepper that had
2365
+ made her so savage when they met in the kitchen.
2366
+
2367
+ `When I'M a Duchess,' she said to herself, (not in a very
2368
+ hopeful tone though), `I won't have any pepper in my kitchen AT
2369
+ ALL. Soup does very well without--Maybe it's always pepper that
2370
+ makes people hot-tempered,' she went on, very much pleased at
2371
+ having found out a new kind of rule, `and vinegar that makes them
2372
+ sour--and camomile that makes them bitter--and--and barley-sugar
2373
+ and such things that make children sweet-tempered. I only wish
2374
+ people knew that: then they wouldn't be so stingy about it, you
2375
+ know--'
2376
+
2377
+ She had quite forgotten the Duchess by this time, and was a
2378
+ little startled when she heard her voice close to her ear.
2379
+ `You're thinking about something, my dear, and that makes you
2380
+ forget to talk. I can't tell you just now what the moral of that
2381
+ is, but I shall remember it in a bit.'
2382
+
2383
+ `Perhaps it hasn't one,' Alice ventured to remark.
2384
+
2385
+ `Tut, tut, child!' said the Duchess. `Everything's got a
2386
+ moral, if only you can find it.' And she squeezed herself up
2387
+ closer to Alice's side as she spoke.
2388
+
2389
+ Alice did not much like keeping so close to her: first,
2390
+ because the Duchess was VERY ugly; and secondly, because she was
2391
+ exactly the right height to rest her chin upon Alice's shoulder,
2392
+ and it was an uncomfortably sharp chin. However, she did not
2393
+ like to be rude, so she bore it as well as she could.
2394
+
2395
+ `The game's going on rather better now,' she said, by way of
2396
+ keeping up the conversation a little.
2397
+
2398
+ `'Tis so,' said the Duchess: `and the moral of that is--"Oh,
2399
+ 'tis love, 'tis love, that makes the world go round!"'
2400
+
2401
+ `Somebody said,' Alice whispered, `that it's done by everybody
2402
+ minding their own business!'
2403
+
2404
+ `Ah, well! It means much the same thing,' said the Duchess,
2405
+ digging her sharp little chin into Alice's shoulder as she added,
2406
+ `and the moral of THAT is--"Take care of the sense, and the
2407
+ sounds will take care of themselves."'
2408
+
2409
+ `How fond she is of finding morals in things!' Alice thought to
2410
+ herself.
2411
+
2412
+ `I dare say you're wondering why I don't put my arm round your
2413
+ waist,' the Duchess said after a pause: `the reason is, that I'm
2414
+ doubtful about the temper of your flamingo. Shall I try the
2415
+ experiment?'
2416
+
2417
+ `HE might bite,' Alice cautiously replied, not feeling at all
2418
+ anxious to have the experiment tried.
2419
+
2420
+ `Very true,' said the Duchess: `flamingoes and mustard both
2421
+ bite. And the moral of that is--"Birds of a feather flock
2422
+ together."'
2423
+
2424
+ `Only mustard isn't a bird,' Alice remarked.
2425
+
2426
+ `Right, as usual,' said the Duchess: `what a clear way you
2427
+ have of putting things!'
2428
+
2429
+ `It's a mineral, I THINK,' said Alice.
2430
+
2431
+ `Of course it is,' said the Duchess, who seemed ready to agree
2432
+ to everything that Alice said; `there's a large mustard-mine near
2433
+ here. And the moral of that is--"The more there is of mine, the
2434
+ less there is of yours."'
2435
+
2436
+ `Oh, I know!' exclaimed Alice, who had not attended to this
2437
+ last remark, `it's a vegetable. It doesn't look like one, but it
2438
+ is.'
2439
+
2440
+ `I quite agree with you,' said the Duchess; `and the moral of
2441
+ that is--"Be what you would seem to be"--or if you'd like it put
2442
+ more simply--"Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than
2443
+ what it might appear to others that what you were or might have
2444
+ been was not otherwise than what you had been would have appeared
2445
+ to them to be otherwise."'
2446
+
2447
+ `I think I should understand that better,' Alice said very
2448
+ politely, `if I had it written down: but I can't quite follow it
2449
+ as you say it.'
2450
+
2451
+ `That's nothing to what I could say if I chose,' the Duchess
2452
+ replied, in a pleased tone.
2453
+
2454
+ `Pray don't trouble yourself to say it any longer than that,'
2455
+ said Alice.
2456
+
2457
+ `Oh, don't talk about trouble!' said the Duchess. `I make you
2458
+ a present of everything I've said as yet.'
2459
+
2460
+ `A cheap sort of present!' thought Alice. `I'm glad they don't
2461
+ give birthday presents like that!' But she did not venture to
2462
+ say it out loud.
2463
+
2464
+ `Thinking again?' the Duchess asked, with another dig of her
2465
+ sharp little chin.
2466
+
2467
+ `I've a right to think,' said Alice sharply, for she was
2468
+ beginning to feel a little worried.
2469
+
2470
+ `Just about as much right,' said the Duchess, `as pigs have to fly;
2471
+ and the m--'
2472
+
2473
+ But here, to Alice's great surprise, the Duchess's voice died
2474
+ away, even in the middle of her favourite word `moral,' and the
2475
+ arm that was linked into hers began to tremble. Alice looked up,
2476
+ and there stood the Queen in front of them, with her arms folded,
2477
+ frowning like a thunderstorm.
2478
+
2479
+ `A fine day, your Majesty!' the Duchess began in a low, weak
2480
+ voice.
2481
+
2482
+ `Now, I give you fair warning,' shouted the Queen, stamping on
2483
+ the ground as she spoke; `either you or your head must be off,
2484
+ and that in about half no time! Take your choice!'
2485
+
2486
+ The Duchess took her choice, and was gone in a moment.
2487
+
2488
+ `Let's go on with the game,' the Queen said to Alice; and Alice
2489
+ was too much frightened to say a word, but slowly followed her
2490
+ back to the croquet-ground.
2491
+
2492
+ The other guests had taken advantage of the Queen's absence,
2493
+ and were resting in the shade: however, the moment they saw her,
2494
+ they hurried back to the game, the Queen merely remarking that a
2495
+ moment's delay would cost them their lives.
2496
+
2497
+ All the time they were playing the Queen never left off
2498
+ quarrelling with the other players, and shouting `Off with his
2499
+ head!' or `Off with her head!' Those whom she sentenced were
2500
+ taken into custody by the soldiers, who of course had to leave
2501
+ off being arches to do this, so that by the end of half an hour
2502
+ or so there were no arches left, and all the players, except the
2503
+ King, the Queen, and Alice, were in custody and under sentence of
2504
+ execution.
2505
+
2506
+ Then the Queen left off, quite out of breath, and said to
2507
+ Alice, `Have you seen the Mock Turtle yet?'
2508
+
2509
+ `No,' said Alice. `I don't even know what a Mock Turtle is.'
2510
+
2511
+ `It's the thing Mock Turtle Soup is made from,' said the Queen.
2512
+
2513
+ `I never saw one, or heard of one,' said Alice.
2514
+
2515
+ `Come on, then,' said the Queen, `and he shall tell you his
2516
+ history,'
2517
+
2518
+ As they walked off together, Alice heard the King say in a low
2519
+ voice, to the company generally, `You are all pardoned.' `Come,
2520
+ THAT'S a good thing!' she said to herself, for she had felt quite
2521
+ unhappy at the number of executions the Queen had ordered.
2522
+
2523
+ They very soon came upon a Gryphon, lying fast asleep in the
2524
+ sun. (IF you don't know what a Gryphon is, look at the picture.)
2525
+ `Up, lazy thing!' said the Queen, `and take this young lady to
2526
+ see the Mock Turtle, and to hear his history. I must go back and
2527
+ see after some executions I have ordered'; and she walked off,
2528
+ leaving Alice alone with the Gryphon. Alice did not quite like
2529
+ the look of the creature, but on the whole she thought it would
2530
+ be quite as safe to stay with it as to go after that savage
2531
+ Queen: so she waited.
2532
+
2533
+ The Gryphon sat up and rubbed its eyes: then it watched the
2534
+ Queen till she was out of sight: then it chuckled. `What fun!'
2535
+ said the Gryphon, half to itself, half to Alice.
2536
+
2537
+ `What IS the fun?' said Alice.
2538
+
2539
+ `Why, SHE,' said the Gryphon. `It's all her fancy, that: they
2540
+ never executes nobody, you know. Come on!'
2541
+
2542
+ `Everybody says "come on!" here,' thought Alice, as she went
2543
+ slowly after it: `I never was so ordered about in all my life,
2544
+ never!'
2545
+
2546
+ They had not gone far before they saw the Mock Turtle in the
2547
+ distance, sitting sad and lonely on a little ledge of rock, and,
2548
+ as they came nearer, Alice could hear him sighing as if his heart
2549
+ would break. She pitied him deeply. `What is his sorrow?' she
2550
+ asked the Gryphon, and the Gryphon answered, very nearly in the
2551
+ same words as before, `It's all his fancy, that: he hasn't got
2552
+ no sorrow, you know. Come on!'
2553
+
2554
+ So they went up to the Mock Turtle, who looked at them with
2555
+ large eyes full of tears, but said nothing.
2556
+
2557
+ `This here young lady,' said the Gryphon, `she wants for to
2558
+ know your history, she do.'
2559
+
2560
+ `I'll tell it her,' said the Mock Turtle in a deep, hollow
2561
+ tone: `sit down, both of you, and don't speak a word till I've
2562
+ finished.'
2563
+
2564
+ So they sat down, and nobody spoke for some minutes. Alice
2565
+ thought to herself, `I don't see how he can EVEN finish, if he
2566
+ doesn't begin.' But she waited patiently.
2567
+
2568
+ `Once,' said the Mock Turtle at last, with a deep sigh, `I was
2569
+ a real Turtle.'
2570
+
2571
+ These words were followed by a very long silence, broken only
2572
+ by an occasional exclamation of `Hjckrrh!' from the Gryphon, and
2573
+ the constant heavy sobbing of the Mock Turtle. Alice was very
2574
+ nearly getting up and saying, `Thank you, sir, for your
2575
+ interesting story,' but she could not help thinking there MUST be
2576
+ more to come, so she sat still and said nothing.
2577
+
2578
+ `When we were little,' the Mock Turtle went on at last, more
2579
+ calmly, though still sobbing a little now and then, `we went to
2580
+ school in the sea. The master was an old Turtle--we used to call
2581
+ him Tortoise--'
2582
+
2583
+ `Why did you call him Tortoise, if he wasn't one?' Alice asked.
2584
+
2585
+ `We called him Tortoise because he taught us,' said the Mock
2586
+ Turtle angrily: `really you are very dull!'
2587
+
2588
+ `You ought to be ashamed of yourself for asking such a simple
2589
+ question,' added the Gryphon; and then they both sat silent and
2590
+ looked at poor Alice, who felt ready to sink into the earth. At
2591
+ last the Gryphon said to the Mock Turtle, `Drive on, old fellow!
2592
+ Don't be all day about it!' and he went on in these words:
2593
+
2594
+ `Yes, we went to school in the sea, though you mayn't believe
2595
+ it--'
2596
+
2597
+ `I never said I didn't!' interrupted Alice.
2598
+
2599
+ `You did,' said the Mock Turtle.
2600
+
2601
+ `Hold your tongue!' added the Gryphon, before Alice could speak
2602
+ again. The Mock Turtle went on.
2603
+
2604
+ `We had the best of educations--in fact, we went to school
2605
+ every day--'
2606
+
2607
+ `I'VE been to a day-school, too,' said Alice; `you needn't be
2608
+ so proud as all that.'
2609
+
2610
+ `With extras?' asked the Mock Turtle a little anxiously.
2611
+
2612
+ `Yes,' said Alice, `we learned French and music.'
2613
+
2614
+ `And washing?' said the Mock Turtle.
2615
+
2616
+ `Certainly not!' said Alice indignantly.
2617
+
2618
+ `Ah! then yours wasn't a really good school,' said the Mock
2619
+ Turtle in a tone of great relief. `Now at OURS they had at the
2620
+ end of the bill, "French, music, AND WASHING--extra."'
2621
+
2622
+ `You couldn't have wanted it much,' said Alice; `living at the
2623
+ bottom of the sea.'
2624
+
2625
+ `I couldn't afford to learn it.' said the Mock Turtle with a
2626
+ sigh. `I only took the regular course.'
2627
+
2628
+ `What was that?' inquired Alice.
2629
+
2630
+ `Reeling and Writhing, of course, to begin with,' the Mock
2631
+ Turtle replied; `and then the different branches of Arithmetic--
2632
+ Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision.'
2633
+
2634
+ `I never heard of "Uglification,"' Alice ventured to say. `What is it?'
2635
+
2636
+ The Gryphon lifted up both its paws in surprise. `What! Never
2637
+ heard of uglifying!' it exclaimed. `You know what to beautify is,
2638
+ I suppose?'
2639
+
2640
+ `Yes,' said Alice doubtfully: `it means--to--make--anything--prettier.'
2641
+
2642
+ `Well, then,' the Gryphon went on, `if you don't know what to
2643
+ uglify is, you ARE a simpleton.'
2644
+
2645
+ Alice did not feel encouraged to ask any more questions about
2646
+ it, so she turned to the Mock Turtle, and said `What else had you
2647
+ to learn?'
2648
+
2649
+ `Well, there was Mystery,' the Mock Turtle replied, counting
2650
+ off the subjects on his flappers, `--Mystery, ancient and modern,
2651
+ with Seaography: then Drawling--the Drawling-master was an old
2652
+ conger-eel, that used to come once a week: HE taught us
2653
+ Drawling, Stretching, and Fainting in Coils.'
2654
+
2655
+ `What was THAT like?' said Alice.
2656
+
2657
+ `Well, I can't show it you myself,' the Mock Turtle said: `I'm
2658
+ too stiff. And the Gryphon never learnt it.'
2659
+
2660
+ `Hadn't time,' said the Gryphon: `I went to the Classics
2661
+ master, though. He was an old crab, HE was.'
2662
+
2663
+ `I never went to him,' the Mock Turtle said with a sigh: `he
2664
+ taught Laughing and Grief, they used to say.'
2665
+
2666
+ `So he did, so he did,' said the Gryphon, sighing in his turn;
2667
+ and both creatures hid their faces in their paws.
2668
+
2669
+ `And how many hours a day did you do lessons?' said Alice, in a
2670
+ hurry to change the subject.
2671
+
2672
+ `Ten hours the first day,' said the Mock Turtle: `nine the
2673
+ next, and so on.'
2674
+
2675
+ `What a curious plan!' exclaimed Alice.
2676
+
2677
+ `That's the reason they're called lessons,' the Gryphon
2678
+ remarked: `because they lessen from day to day.'
2679
+
2680
+ This was quite a new idea to Alice, and she thought it over a
2681
+ little before she made her next remark. `Then the eleventh day
2682
+ must have been a holiday?'
2683
+
2684
+ `Of course it was,' said the Mock Turtle.
2685
+
2686
+ `And how did you manage on the twelfth?' Alice went on eagerly.
2687
+
2688
+ `That's enough about lessons,' the Gryphon interrupted in a
2689
+ very decided tone: `tell her something about the games now.'
2690
+
2691
+
2692
+
2693
+ CHAPTER X
2694
+
2695
+ The Lobster Quadrille
2696
+
2697
+
2698
+ The Mock Turtle sighed deeply, and drew the back of one flapper
2699
+ across his eyes. He looked at Alice, and tried to speak, but for
2700
+ a minute or two sobs choked his voice. `Same as if he had a bone
2701
+ in his throat,' said the Gryphon: and it set to work shaking him
2702
+ and punching him in the back. At last the Mock Turtle recovered
2703
+ his voice, and, with tears running down his cheeks, he went on
2704
+ again:--
2705
+
2706
+ `You may not have lived much under the sea--' (`I haven't,' said Alice)--
2707
+ `and perhaps you were never even introduced to a lobster--'
2708
+ (Alice began to say `I once tasted--' but checked herself hastily,
2709
+ and said `No, never') `--so you can have no idea what a delightful
2710
+ thing a Lobster Quadrille is!'
2711
+
2712
+ `No, indeed,' said Alice. `What sort of a dance is it?'
2713
+
2714
+ `Why,' said the Gryphon, `you first form into a line along the sea-shore--'
2715
+
2716
+ `Two lines!' cried the Mock Turtle. `Seals, turtles, salmon, and so on;
2717
+ then, when you've cleared all the jelly-fish out of the way--'
2718
+
2719
+ `THAT generally takes some time,' interrupted the Gryphon.
2720
+
2721
+ `--you advance twice--'
2722
+
2723
+ `Each with a lobster as a partner!' cried the Gryphon.
2724
+
2725
+ `Of course,' the Mock Turtle said: `advance twice, set to
2726
+ partners--'
2727
+
2728
+ `--change lobsters, and retire in same order,' continued the
2729
+ Gryphon.
2730
+
2731
+ `Then, you know,' the Mock Turtle went on, `you throw the--'
2732
+
2733
+ `The lobsters!' shouted the Gryphon, with a bound into the air.
2734
+
2735
+ `--as far out to sea as you can--'
2736
+
2737
+ `Swim after them!' screamed the Gryphon.
2738
+
2739
+ `Turn a somersault in the sea!' cried the Mock Turtle,
2740
+ capering wildly about.
2741
+
2742
+ `Change lobsters again!' yelled the Gryphon at the top of its voice.
2743
+
2744
+ `Back to land again, and that's all the first figure,' said the
2745
+ Mock Turtle, suddenly dropping his voice; and the two creatures,
2746
+ who had been jumping about like mad things all this time, sat
2747
+ down again very sadly and quietly, and looked at Alice.
2748
+
2749
+ `It must be a very pretty dance,' said Alice timidly.
2750
+
2751
+ `Would you like to see a little of it?' said the Mock Turtle.
2752
+
2753
+ `Very much indeed,' said Alice.
2754
+
2755
+ `Come, let's try the first figure!' said the Mock Turtle to the
2756
+ Gryphon. `We can do without lobsters, you know. Which shall
2757
+ sing?'
2758
+
2759
+ `Oh, YOU sing,' said the Gryphon. `I've forgotten the words.'
2760
+
2761
+ So they began solemnly dancing round and round Alice, every now
2762
+ and then treading on her toes when they passed too close, and
2763
+ waving their forepaws to mark the time, while the Mock Turtle
2764
+ sang this, very slowly and sadly:--
2765
+
2766
+
2767
+ `"Will you walk a little faster?" said a whiting to a snail.
2768
+ "There's a porpoise close behind us, and he's treading on my
2769
+ tail.
2770
+ See how eagerly the lobsters and the turtles all advance!
2771
+ They are waiting on the shingle--will you come and join the
2772
+ dance?
2773
+
2774
+ Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, will you join the
2775
+ dance?
2776
+ Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, won't you join the
2777
+ dance?
2778
+
2779
+
2780
+ "You can really have no notion how delightful it will be
2781
+ When they take us up and throw us, with the lobsters, out to
2782
+ sea!"
2783
+ But the snail replied "Too far, too far!" and gave a look
2784
+ askance--
2785
+ Said he thanked the whiting kindly, but he would not join the
2786
+ dance.
2787
+ Would not, could not, would not, could not, would not join
2788
+ the dance.
2789
+ Would not, could not, would not, could not, could not join
2790
+ the dance.
2791
+
2792
+ `"What matters it how far we go?" his scaly friend replied.
2793
+ "There is another shore, you know, upon the other side.
2794
+ The further off from England the nearer is to France--
2795
+ Then turn not pale, beloved snail, but come and join the dance.
2796
+
2797
+ Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, will you join the
2798
+ dance?
2799
+ Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, won't you join the
2800
+ dance?"'
2801
+
2802
+
2803
+
2804
+ `Thank you, it's a very interesting dance to watch,' said
2805
+ Alice, feeling very glad that it was over at last: `and I do so
2806
+ like that curious song about the whiting!'
2807
+
2808
+ `Oh, as to the whiting,' said the Mock Turtle, `they--you've
2809
+ seen them, of course?'
2810
+
2811
+ `Yes,' said Alice, `I've often seen them at dinn--' she
2812
+ checked herself hastily.
2813
+
2814
+ `I don't know where Dinn may be,' said the Mock Turtle, `but
2815
+ if you've seen them so often, of course you know what they're
2816
+ like.'
2817
+
2818
+ `I believe so,' Alice replied thoughtfully. `They have their
2819
+ tails in their mouths--and they're all over crumbs.'
2820
+
2821
+ `You're wrong about the crumbs,' said the Mock Turtle:
2822
+ `crumbs would all wash off in the sea. But they HAVE their tails
2823
+ in their mouths; and the reason is--' here the Mock Turtle
2824
+ yawned and shut his eyes.--`Tell her about the reason and all
2825
+ that,' he said to the Gryphon.
2826
+
2827
+ `The reason is,' said the Gryphon, `that they WOULD go with
2828
+ the lobsters to the dance. So they got thrown out to sea. So
2829
+ they had to fall a long way. So they got their tails fast in
2830
+ their mouths. So they couldn't get them out again. That's all.'
2831
+
2832
+ `Thank you,' said Alice, `it's very interesting. I never knew
2833
+ so much about a whiting before.'
2834
+
2835
+ `I can tell you more than that, if you like,' said the
2836
+ Gryphon. `Do you know why it's called a whiting?'
2837
+
2838
+ `I never thought about it,' said Alice. `Why?'
2839
+
2840
+ `IT DOES THE BOOTS AND SHOES.' the Gryphon replied very
2841
+ solemnly.
2842
+
2843
+ Alice was thoroughly puzzled. `Does the boots and shoes!' she
2844
+ repeated in a wondering tone.
2845
+
2846
+ `Why, what are YOUR shoes done with?' said the Gryphon. `I
2847
+ mean, what makes them so shiny?'
2848
+
2849
+ Alice looked down at them, and considered a little before she
2850
+ gave her answer. `They're done with blacking, I believe.'
2851
+
2852
+ `Boots and shoes under the sea,' the Gryphon went on in a deep
2853
+ voice, `are done with a whiting. Now you know.'
2854
+
2855
+ `And what are they made of?' Alice asked in a tone of great
2856
+ curiosity.
2857
+
2858
+ `Soles and eels, of course,' the Gryphon replied rather
2859
+ impatiently: `any shrimp could have told you that.'
2860
+
2861
+ `If I'd been the whiting,' said Alice, whose thoughts were
2862
+ still running on the song, `I'd have said to the porpoise, "Keep
2863
+ back, please: we don't want YOU with us!"'
2864
+
2865
+ `They were obliged to have him with them,' the Mock Turtle
2866
+ said: `no wise fish would go anywhere without a porpoise.'
2867
+
2868
+ `Wouldn't it really?' said Alice in a tone of great surprise.
2869
+
2870
+ `Of course not,' said the Mock Turtle: `why, if a fish came
2871
+ to ME, and told me he was going a journey, I should say "With
2872
+ what porpoise?"'
2873
+
2874
+ `Don't you mean "purpose"?' said Alice.
2875
+
2876
+ `I mean what I say,' the Mock Turtle replied in an offended
2877
+ tone. And the Gryphon added `Come, let's hear some of YOUR
2878
+ adventures.'
2879
+
2880
+ `I could tell you my adventures--beginning from this morning,'
2881
+ said Alice a little timidly: `but it's no use going back to
2882
+ yesterday, because I was a different person then.'
2883
+
2884
+ `Explain all that,' said the Mock Turtle.
2885
+
2886
+ `No, no! The adventures first,' said the Gryphon in an
2887
+ impatient tone: `explanations take such a dreadful time.'
2888
+
2889
+ So Alice began telling them her adventures from the time when
2890
+ she first saw the White Rabbit. She was a little nervous about
2891
+ it just at first, the two creatures got so close to her, one on
2892
+ each side, and opened their eyes and mouths so VERY wide, but she
2893
+ gained courage as she went on. Her listeners were perfectly
2894
+ quiet till she got to the part about her repeating `YOU ARE OLD,
2895
+ FATHER WILLIAM,' to the Caterpillar, and the words all coming
2896
+ different, and then the Mock Turtle drew a long breath, and said
2897
+ `That's very curious.'
2898
+
2899
+ `It's all about as curious as it can be,' said the Gryphon.
2900
+
2901
+ `It all came different!' the Mock Turtle repeated
2902
+ thoughtfully. `I should like to hear her try and repeat
2903
+ something now. Tell her to begin.' He looked at the Gryphon as
2904
+ if he thought it had some kind of authority over Alice.
2905
+
2906
+ `Stand up and repeat "'TIS THE VOICE OF THE SLUGGARD,"' said
2907
+ the Gryphon.
2908
+
2909
+ `How the creatures order one about, and make one repeat
2910
+ lessons!' thought Alice; `I might as well be at school at once.'
2911
+ However, she got up, and began to repeat it, but her head was so
2912
+ full of the Lobster Quadrille, that she hardly knew what she was
2913
+ saying, and the words came very queer indeed:--
2914
+
2915
+ `'Tis the voice of the Lobster; I heard him declare,
2916
+ "You have baked me too brown, I must sugar my hair."
2917
+ As a duck with its eyelids, so he with his nose
2918
+ Trims his belt and his buttons, and turns out his toes.'
2919
+
2920
+ [later editions continued as follows
2921
+ When the sands are all dry, he is gay as a lark,
2922
+ And will talk in contemptuous tones of the Shark,
2923
+ But, when the tide rises and sharks are around,
2924
+ His voice has a timid and tremulous sound.]
2925
+
2926
+ `That's different from what I used to say when I was a child,'
2927
+ said the Gryphon.
2928
+
2929
+ `Well, I never heard it before,' said the Mock Turtle; `but it
2930
+ sounds uncommon nonsense.'
2931
+
2932
+ Alice said nothing; she had sat down with her face in her
2933
+ hands, wondering if anything would EVER happen in a natural way
2934
+ again.
2935
+
2936
+ `I should like to have it explained,' said the Mock Turtle.
2937
+
2938
+ `She can't explain it,' said the Gryphon hastily. `Go on with
2939
+ the next verse.'
2940
+
2941
+ `But about his toes?' the Mock Turtle persisted. `How COULD
2942
+ he turn them out with his nose, you know?'
2943
+
2944
+ `It's the first position in dancing.' Alice said; but was
2945
+ dreadfully puzzled by the whole thing, and longed to change the
2946
+ subject.
2947
+
2948
+ `Go on with the next verse,' the Gryphon repeated impatiently:
2949
+ `it begins "I passed by his garden."'
2950
+
2951
+ Alice did not dare to disobey, though she felt sure it would
2952
+ all come wrong, and she went on in a trembling voice:--
2953
+
2954
+ `I passed by his garden, and marked, with one eye,
2955
+ How the Owl and the Panther were sharing a pie--'
2956
+
2957
+ [later editions continued as follows
2958
+ The Panther took pie-crust, and gravy, and meat,
2959
+ While the Owl had the dish as its share of the treat.
2960
+ When the pie was all finished, the Owl, as a boon,
2961
+ Was kindly permitted to pocket the spoon:
2962
+ While the Panther received knife and fork with a growl,
2963
+ And concluded the banquet--]
2964
+
2965
+ `What IS the use of repeating all that stuff,' the Mock Turtle
2966
+ interrupted, `if you don't explain it as you go on? It's by far
2967
+ the most confusing thing I ever heard!'
2968
+
2969
+ `Yes, I think you'd better leave off,' said the Gryphon: and
2970
+ Alice was only too glad to do so.
2971
+
2972
+ `Shall we try another figure of the Lobster Quadrille?' the
2973
+ Gryphon went on. `Or would you like the Mock Turtle to sing you
2974
+ a song?'
2975
+
2976
+ `Oh, a song, please, if the Mock Turtle would be so kind,'
2977
+ Alice replied, so eagerly that the Gryphon said, in a rather
2978
+ offended tone, `Hm! No accounting for tastes! Sing her
2979
+ "Turtle Soup," will you, old fellow?'
2980
+
2981
+ The Mock Turtle sighed deeply, and began, in a voice sometimes
2982
+ choked with sobs, to sing this:--
2983
+
2984
+
2985
+ `Beautiful Soup, so rich and green,
2986
+ Waiting in a hot tureen!
2987
+ Who for such dainties would not stoop?
2988
+ Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup!
2989
+ Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup!
2990
+ Beau--ootiful Soo--oop!
2991
+ Beau--ootiful Soo--oop!
2992
+ Soo--oop of the e--e--evening,
2993
+ Beautiful, beautiful Soup!
2994
+
2995
+ `Beautiful Soup! Who cares for fish,
2996
+ Game, or any other dish?
2997
+ Who would not give all else for two
2998
+ Pennyworth only of beautiful Soup?
2999
+ Pennyworth only of beautiful Soup?
3000
+ Beau--ootiful Soo--oop!
3001
+ Beau--ootiful Soo--oop!
3002
+ Soo--oop of the e--e--evening,
3003
+ Beautiful, beauti--FUL SOUP!'
3004
+
3005
+ `Chorus again!' cried the Gryphon, and the Mock Turtle had
3006
+ just begun to repeat it, when a cry of `The trial's beginning!'
3007
+ was heard in the distance.
3008
+
3009
+ `Come on!' cried the Gryphon, and, taking Alice by the hand,
3010
+ it hurried off, without waiting for the end of the song.
3011
+
3012
+ `What trial is it?' Alice panted as she ran; but the Gryphon
3013
+ only answered `Come on!' and ran the faster, while more and more
3014
+ faintly came, carried on the breeze that followed them, the
3015
+ melancholy words:--
3016
+
3017
+ `Soo--oop of the e--e--evening,
3018
+ Beautiful, beautiful Soup!'
3019
+
3020
+
3021
+
3022
+ CHAPTER XI
3023
+
3024
+ Who Stole the Tarts?
3025
+
3026
+
3027
+ The King and Queen of Hearts were seated on their throne when
3028
+ they arrived, with a great crowd assembled about them--all sorts
3029
+ of little birds and beasts, as well as the whole pack of cards:
3030
+ the Knave was standing before them, in chains, with a soldier on
3031
+ each side to guard him; and near the King was the White Rabbit,
3032
+ with a trumpet in one hand, and a scroll of parchment in the
3033
+ other. In the very middle of the court was a table, with a large
3034
+ dish of tarts upon it: they looked so good, that it made Alice
3035
+ quite hungry to look at them--`I wish they'd get the trial done,'
3036
+ she thought, `and hand round the refreshments!' But there seemed
3037
+ to be no chance of this, so she began looking at everything about
3038
+ her, to pass away the time.
3039
+
3040
+ Alice had never been in a court of justice before, but she had
3041
+ read about them in books, and she was quite pleased to find that
3042
+ she knew the name of nearly everything there. `That's the
3043
+ judge,' she said to herself, `because of his great wig.'
3044
+
3045
+ The judge, by the way, was the King; and as he wore his crown
3046
+ over the wig, (look at the frontispiece if you want to see how he
3047
+ did it,) he did not look at all comfortable, and it was certainly
3048
+ not becoming.
3049
+
3050
+ `And that's the jury-box,' thought Alice, `and those twelve
3051
+ creatures,' (she was obliged to say `creatures,' you see, because
3052
+ some of them were animals, and some were birds,) `I suppose they
3053
+ are the jurors.' She said this last word two or three times over
3054
+ to herself, being rather proud of it: for she thought, and
3055
+ rightly too, that very few little girls of her age knew the
3056
+ meaning of it at all. However, `jury-men' would have done just
3057
+ as well.
3058
+
3059
+ The twelve jurors were all writing very busily on slates.
3060
+ `What are they doing?' Alice whispered to the Gryphon. `They
3061
+ can't have anything to put down yet, before the trial's begun.'
3062
+
3063
+ `They're putting down their names,' the Gryphon whispered in
3064
+ reply, `for fear they should forget them before the end of the
3065
+ trial.'
3066
+
3067
+ `Stupid things!' Alice began in a loud, indignant voice, but
3068
+ she stopped hastily, for the White Rabbit cried out, `Silence in
3069
+ the court!' and the King put on his spectacles and looked
3070
+ anxiously round, to make out who was talking.
3071
+
3072
+ Alice could see, as well as if she were looking over their
3073
+ shoulders, that all the jurors were writing down `stupid things!'
3074
+ on their slates, and she could even make out that one of them
3075
+ didn't know how to spell `stupid,' and that he had to ask his
3076
+ neighbour to tell him. `A nice muddle their slates'll be in
3077
+ before the trial's over!' thought Alice.
3078
+
3079
+ One of the jurors had a pencil that squeaked. This of course,
3080
+ Alice could not stand, and she went round the court and got
3081
+ behind him, and very soon found an opportunity of taking it
3082
+ away. She did it so quickly that the poor little juror (it was
3083
+ Bill, the Lizard) could not make out at all what had become of
3084
+ it; so, after hunting all about for it, he was obliged to write
3085
+ with one finger for the rest of the day; and this was of very
3086
+ little use, as it left no mark on the slate.
3087
+
3088
+ `Herald, read the accusation!' said the King.
3089
+
3090
+ On this the White Rabbit blew three blasts on the trumpet, and
3091
+ then unrolled the parchment scroll, and read as follows:--
3092
+
3093
+ `The Queen of Hearts, she made some tarts,
3094
+ All on a summer day:
3095
+ The Knave of Hearts, he stole those tarts,
3096
+ And took them quite away!'
3097
+
3098
+ `Consider your verdict,' the King said to the jury.
3099
+
3100
+ `Not yet, not yet!' the Rabbit hastily interrupted. `There's
3101
+ a great deal to come before that!'
3102
+
3103
+ `Call the first witness,' said the King; and the White Rabbit
3104
+ blew three blasts on the trumpet, and called out, `First
3105
+ witness!'
3106
+
3107
+ The first witness was the Hatter. He came in with a teacup in
3108
+ one hand and a piece of bread-and-butter in the other. `I beg
3109
+ pardon, your Majesty,' he began, `for bringing these in: but I
3110
+ hadn't quite finished my tea when I was sent for.'
3111
+
3112
+ `You ought to have finished,' said the King. `When did you
3113
+ begin?'
3114
+
3115
+ The Hatter looked at the March Hare, who had followed him into
3116
+ the court, arm-in-arm with the Dormouse. `Fourteenth of March, I
3117
+ think it was,' he said.
3118
+
3119
+ `Fifteenth,' said the March Hare.
3120
+
3121
+ `Sixteenth,' added the Dormouse.
3122
+
3123
+ `Write that down,' the King said to the jury, and the jury
3124
+ eagerly wrote down all three dates on their slates, and then
3125
+ added them up, and reduced the answer to shillings and pence.
3126
+
3127
+ `Take off your hat,' the King said to the Hatter.
3128
+
3129
+ `It isn't mine,' said the Hatter.
3130
+
3131
+ `Stolen!' the King exclaimed, turning to the jury, who
3132
+ instantly made a memorandum of the fact.
3133
+
3134
+ `I keep them to sell,' the Hatter added as an explanation;
3135
+ `I've none of my own. I'm a hatter.'
3136
+
3137
+ Here the Queen put on her spectacles, and began staring at the
3138
+ Hatter, who turned pale and fidgeted.
3139
+
3140
+ `Give your evidence,' said the King; `and don't be nervous, or
3141
+ I'll have you executed on the spot.'
3142
+
3143
+ This did not seem to encourage the witness at all: he kept
3144
+ shifting from one foot to the other, looking uneasily at the
3145
+ Queen, and in his confusion he bit a large piece out of his
3146
+ teacup instead of the bread-and-butter.
3147
+
3148
+ Just at this moment Alice felt a very curious sensation, which
3149
+ puzzled her a good deal until she made out what it was: she was
3150
+ beginning to grow larger again, and she thought at first she
3151
+ would get up and leave the court; but on second thoughts she
3152
+ decided to remain where she was as long as there was room for
3153
+ her.
3154
+
3155
+ `I wish you wouldn't squeeze so.' said the Dormouse, who was
3156
+ sitting next to her. `I can hardly breathe.'
3157
+
3158
+ `I can't help it,' said Alice very meekly: `I'm growing.'
3159
+
3160
+ `You've no right to grow here,' said the Dormouse.
3161
+
3162
+ `Don't talk nonsense,' said Alice more boldly: `you know
3163
+ you're growing too.'
3164
+
3165
+ `Yes, but I grow at a reasonable pace,' said the Dormouse:
3166
+ `not in that ridiculous fashion.' And he got up very sulkily
3167
+ and crossed over to the other side of the court.
3168
+
3169
+ All this time the Queen had never left off staring at the
3170
+ Hatter, and, just as the Dormouse crossed the court, she said to
3171
+ one of the officers of the court, `Bring me the list of the
3172
+ singers in the last concert!' on which the wretched Hatter
3173
+ trembled so, that he shook both his shoes off.
3174
+
3175
+ `Give your evidence,' the King repeated angrily, `or I'll have
3176
+ you executed, whether you're nervous or not.'
3177
+
3178
+ `I'm a poor man, your Majesty,' the Hatter began, in a
3179
+ trembling voice, `--and I hadn't begun my tea--not above a week
3180
+ or so--and what with the bread-and-butter getting so thin--and
3181
+ the twinkling of the tea--'
3182
+
3183
+ `The twinkling of the what?' said the King.
3184
+
3185
+ `It began with the tea,' the Hatter replied.
3186
+
3187
+ `Of course twinkling begins with a T!' said the King sharply.
3188
+ `Do you take me for a dunce? Go on!'
3189
+
3190
+ `I'm a poor man,' the Hatter went on, `and most things
3191
+ twinkled after that--only the March Hare said--'
3192
+
3193
+ `I didn't!' the March Hare interrupted in a great hurry.
3194
+
3195
+ `You did!' said the Hatter.
3196
+
3197
+ `I deny it!' said the March Hare.
3198
+
3199
+ `He denies it,' said the King: `leave out that part.'
3200
+
3201
+ `Well, at any rate, the Dormouse said--' the Hatter went on,
3202
+ looking anxiously round to see if he would deny it too: but the
3203
+ Dormouse denied nothing, being fast asleep.
3204
+
3205
+ `After that,' continued the Hatter, `I cut some more bread-
3206
+ and-butter--'
3207
+
3208
+ `But what did the Dormouse say?' one of the jury asked.
3209
+
3210
+ `That I can't remember,' said the Hatter.
3211
+
3212
+ `You MUST remember,' remarked the King, `or I'll have you
3213
+ executed.'
3214
+
3215
+ The miserable Hatter dropped his teacup and bread-and-butter,
3216
+ and went down on one knee. `I'm a poor man, your Majesty,' he
3217
+ began.
3218
+
3219
+ `You're a very poor speaker,' said the King.
3220
+
3221
+ Here one of the guinea-pigs cheered, and was immediately
3222
+ suppressed by the officers of the court. (As that is rather a
3223
+ hard word, I will just explain to you how it was done. They had
3224
+ a large canvas bag, which tied up at the mouth with strings:
3225
+ into this they slipped the guinea-pig, head first, and then sat
3226
+ upon it.)
3227
+
3228
+ `I'm glad I've seen that done,' thought Alice. `I've so often
3229
+ read in the newspapers, at the end of trials, "There was some
3230
+ attempts at applause, which was immediately suppressed by the
3231
+ officers of the court," and I never understood what it meant
3232
+ till now.'
3233
+
3234
+ `If that's all you know about it, you may stand down,'
3235
+ continued the King.
3236
+
3237
+ `I can't go no lower,' said the Hatter: `I'm on the floor, as
3238
+ it is.'
3239
+
3240
+ `Then you may SIT down,' the King replied.
3241
+
3242
+ Here the other guinea-pig cheered, and was suppressed.
3243
+
3244
+ `Come, that finished the guinea-pigs!' thought Alice. `Now we
3245
+ shall get on better.'
3246
+
3247
+ `I'd rather finish my tea,' said the Hatter, with an anxious
3248
+ look at the Queen, who was reading the list of singers.
3249
+
3250
+ `You may go,' said the King, and the Hatter hurriedly left the
3251
+ court, without even waiting to put his shoes on.
3252
+
3253
+ `--and just take his head off outside,' the Queen added to one
3254
+ of the officers: but the Hatter was out of sight before the
3255
+ officer could get to the door.
3256
+
3257
+ `Call the next witness!' said the King.
3258
+
3259
+ The next witness was the Duchess's cook. She carried the
3260
+ pepper-box in her hand, and Alice guessed who it was, even before
3261
+ she got into the court, by the way the people near the door began
3262
+ sneezing all at once.
3263
+
3264
+ `Give your evidence,' said the King.
3265
+
3266
+ `Shan't,' said the cook.
3267
+
3268
+ The King looked anxiously at the White Rabbit, who said in a
3269
+ low voice, `Your Majesty must cross-examine THIS witness.'
3270
+
3271
+ `Well, if I must, I must,' the King said, with a melancholy
3272
+ air, and, after folding his arms and frowning at the cook till
3273
+ his eyes were nearly out of sight, he said in a deep voice, `What
3274
+ are tarts made of?'
3275
+
3276
+ `Pepper, mostly,' said the cook.
3277
+
3278
+ `Treacle,' said a sleepy voice behind her.
3279
+
3280
+ `Collar that Dormouse,' the Queen shrieked out. `Behead that
3281
+ Dormouse! Turn that Dormouse out of court! Suppress him! Pinch
3282
+ him! Off with his whiskers!'
3283
+
3284
+ For some minutes the whole court was in confusion, getting the
3285
+ Dormouse turned out, and, by the time they had settled down
3286
+ again, the cook had disappeared.
3287
+
3288
+ `Never mind!' said the King, with an air of great relief.
3289
+ `Call the next witness.' And he added in an undertone to the
3290
+ Queen, `Really, my dear, YOU must cross-examine the next witness.
3291
+ It quite makes my forehead ache!'
3292
+
3293
+ Alice watched the White Rabbit as he fumbled over the list,
3294
+ feeling very curious to see what the next witness would be like,
3295
+ `--for they haven't got much evidence YET,' she said to herself.
3296
+ Imagine her surprise, when the White Rabbit read out, at the top
3297
+ of his shrill little voice, the name `Alice!'
3298
+
3299
+
3300
+
3301
+ CHAPTER XII
3302
+
3303
+ Alice's Evidence
3304
+
3305
+
3306
+ `Here!' cried Alice, quite forgetting in the flurry of the
3307
+ moment how large she had grown in the last few minutes, and she
3308
+ jumped up in such a hurry that she tipped over the jury-box with
3309
+ the edge of her skirt, upsetting all the jurymen on to the heads
3310
+ of the crowd below, and there they lay sprawling about, reminding
3311
+ her very much of a globe of goldfish she had accidentally upset
3312
+ the week before.
3313
+
3314
+ `Oh, I BEG your pardon!' she exclaimed in a tone of great
3315
+ dismay, and began picking them up again as quickly as she could,
3316
+ for the accident of the goldfish kept running in her head, and
3317
+ she had a vague sort of idea that they must be collected at once
3318
+ and put back into the jury-box, or they would die.
3319
+
3320
+ `The trial cannot proceed,' said the King in a very grave
3321
+ voice, `until all the jurymen are back in their proper places--
3322
+ ALL,' he repeated with great emphasis, looking hard at Alice as
3323
+ he said do.
3324
+
3325
+ Alice looked at the jury-box, and saw that, in her haste, she
3326
+ had put the Lizard in head downwards, and the poor little thing
3327
+ was waving its tail about in a melancholy way, being quite unable
3328
+ to move. She soon got it out again, and put it right; `not that
3329
+ it signifies much,' she said to herself; `I should think it
3330
+ would be QUITE as much use in the trial one way up as the other.'
3331
+
3332
+ As soon as the jury had a little recovered from the shock of
3333
+ being upset, and their slates and pencils had been found and
3334
+ handed back to them, they set to work very diligently to write
3335
+ out a history of the accident, all except the Lizard, who seemed
3336
+ too much overcome to do anything but sit with its mouth open,
3337
+ gazing up into the roof of the court.
3338
+
3339
+ `What do you know about this business?' the King said to
3340
+ Alice.
3341
+
3342
+ `Nothing,' said Alice.
3343
+
3344
+ `Nothing WHATEVER?' persisted the King.
3345
+
3346
+ `Nothing whatever,' said Alice.
3347
+
3348
+ `That's very important,' the King said, turning to the jury.
3349
+ They were just beginning to write this down on their slates, when
3350
+ the White Rabbit interrupted: `UNimportant, your Majesty means,
3351
+ of course,' he said in a very respectful tone, but frowning and
3352
+ making faces at him as he spoke.
3353
+
3354
+ `UNimportant, of course, I meant,' the King hastily said, and
3355
+ went on to himself in an undertone, `important--unimportant--
3356
+ unimportant--important--' as if he were trying which word
3357
+ sounded best.
3358
+
3359
+ Some of the jury wrote it down `important,' and some
3360
+ `unimportant.' Alice could see this, as she was near enough to
3361
+ look over their slates; `but it doesn't matter a bit,' she
3362
+ thought to herself.
3363
+
3364
+ At this moment the King, who had been for some time busily
3365
+ writing in his note-book, cackled out `Silence!' and read out
3366
+ from his book, `Rule Forty-two. ALL PERSONS MORE THAN A MILE
3367
+ HIGH TO LEAVE THE COURT.'
3368
+
3369
+ Everybody looked at Alice.
3370
+
3371
+ `I'M not a mile high,' said Alice.
3372
+
3373
+ `You are,' said the King.
3374
+
3375
+ `Nearly two miles high,' added the Queen.
3376
+
3377
+ `Well, I shan't go, at any rate,' said Alice: `besides,
3378
+ that's not a regular rule: you invented it just now.'
3379
+
3380
+ `It's the oldest rule in the book,' said the King.
3381
+
3382
+ `Then it ought to be Number One,' said Alice.
3383
+
3384
+ The King turned pale, and shut his note-book hastily.
3385
+ `Consider your verdict,' he said to the jury, in a low, trembling
3386
+ voice.
3387
+
3388
+ `There's more evidence to come yet, please your Majesty,' said
3389
+ the White Rabbit, jumping up in a great hurry; `this paper has
3390
+ just been picked up.'
3391
+
3392
+ `What's in it?' said the Queen.
3393
+
3394
+ `I haven't opened it yet,' said the White Rabbit, `but it seems
3395
+ to be a letter, written by the prisoner to--to somebody.'
3396
+
3397
+ `It must have been that,' said the King, `unless it was
3398
+ written to nobody, which isn't usual, you know.'
3399
+
3400
+ `Who is it directed to?' said one of the jurymen.
3401
+
3402
+ `It isn't directed at all,' said the White Rabbit; `in fact,
3403
+ there's nothing written on the OUTSIDE.' He unfolded the paper
3404
+ as he spoke, and added `It isn't a letter, after all: it's a set
3405
+ of verses.'
3406
+
3407
+ `Are they in the prisoner's handwriting?' asked another of
3408
+ the jurymen.
3409
+
3410
+ `No, they're not,' said the White Rabbit, `and that's the
3411
+ queerest thing about it.' (The jury all looked puzzled.)
3412
+
3413
+ `He must have imitated somebody else's hand,' said the King.
3414
+ (The jury all brightened up again.)
3415
+
3416
+ `Please your Majesty,' said the Knave, `I didn't write it, and
3417
+ they can't prove I did: there's no name signed at the end.'
3418
+
3419
+ `If you didn't sign it,' said the King, `that only makes the
3420
+ matter worse. You MUST have meant some mischief, or else you'd
3421
+ have signed your name like an honest man.'
3422
+
3423
+ There was a general clapping of hands at this: it was the
3424
+ first really clever thing the King had said that day.
3425
+
3426
+ `That PROVES his guilt,' said the Queen.
3427
+
3428
+ `It proves nothing of the sort!' said Alice. `Why, you don't
3429
+ even know what they're about!'
3430
+
3431
+ `Read them,' said the King.
3432
+
3433
+ The White Rabbit put on his spectacles. `Where shall I begin,
3434
+ please your Majesty?' he asked.
3435
+
3436
+ `Begin at the beginning,' the King said gravely, `and go on
3437
+ till you come to the end: then stop.'
3438
+
3439
+ These were the verses the White Rabbit read:--
3440
+
3441
+ `They told me you had been to her,
3442
+ And mentioned me to him:
3443
+ She gave me a good character,
3444
+ But said I could not swim.
3445
+
3446
+ He sent them word I had not gone
3447
+ (We know it to be true):
3448
+ If she should push the matter on,
3449
+ What would become of you?
3450
+
3451
+ I gave her one, they gave him two,
3452
+ You gave us three or more;
3453
+ They all returned from him to you,
3454
+ Though they were mine before.
3455
+
3456
+ If I or she should chance to be
3457
+ Involved in this affair,
3458
+ He trusts to you to set them free,
3459
+ Exactly as we were.
3460
+
3461
+ My notion was that you had been
3462
+ (Before she had this fit)
3463
+ An obstacle that came between
3464
+ Him, and ourselves, and it.
3465
+
3466
+ Don't let him know she liked them best,
3467
+ For this must ever be
3468
+ A secret, kept from all the rest,
3469
+ Between yourself and me.'
3470
+
3471
+ `That's the most important piece of evidence we've heard yet,'
3472
+ said the King, rubbing his hands; `so now let the jury--'
3473
+
3474
+ `If any one of them can explain it,' said Alice, (she had
3475
+ grown so large in the last few minutes that she wasn't a bit
3476
+ afraid of interrupting him,) `I'll give him sixpence. _I_ don't
3477
+ believe there's an atom of meaning in it.'
3478
+
3479
+ The jury all wrote down on their slates, `SHE doesn't believe
3480
+ there's an atom of meaning in it,' but none of them attempted to
3481
+ explain the paper.
3482
+
3483
+ `If there's no meaning in it,' said the King, `that saves a
3484
+ world of trouble, you know, as we needn't try to find any. And
3485
+ yet I don't know,' he went on, spreading out the verses on his
3486
+ knee, and looking at them with one eye; `I seem to see some
3487
+ meaning in them, after all. "--SAID I COULD NOT SWIM--" you
3488
+ can't swim, can you?' he added, turning to the Knave.
3489
+
3490
+ The Knave shook his head sadly. `Do I look like it?' he said.
3491
+ (Which he certainly did NOT, being made entirely of cardboard.)
3492
+
3493
+ `All right, so far,' said the King, and he went on muttering
3494
+ over the verses to himself: `"WE KNOW IT TO BE TRUE--" that's
3495
+ the jury, of course-- "I GAVE HER ONE, THEY GAVE HIM TWO--" why,
3496
+ that must be what he did with the tarts, you know--'
3497
+
3498
+ `But, it goes on "THEY ALL RETURNED FROM HIM TO YOU,"' said
3499
+ Alice.
3500
+
3501
+ `Why, there they are!' said the King triumphantly, pointing to
3502
+ the tarts on the table. `Nothing can be clearer than THAT.
3503
+ Then again--"BEFORE SHE HAD THIS FIT--" you never had fits, my
3504
+ dear, I think?' he said to the Queen.
3505
+
3506
+ `Never!' said the Queen furiously, throwing an inkstand at the
3507
+ Lizard as she spoke. (The unfortunate little Bill had left off
3508
+ writing on his slate with one finger, as he found it made no
3509
+ mark; but he now hastily began again, using the ink, that was
3510
+ trickling down his face, as long as it lasted.)
3511
+
3512
+ `Then the words don't FIT you,' said the King, looking round
3513
+ the court with a smile. There was a dead silence.
3514
+
3515
+ `It's a pun!' the King added in an offended tone, and
3516
+ everybody laughed, `Let the jury consider their verdict,' the
3517
+ King said, for about the twentieth time that day.
3518
+
3519
+ `No, no!' said the Queen. `Sentence first--verdict afterwards.'
3520
+
3521
+ `Stuff and nonsense!' said Alice loudly. `The idea of having
3522
+ the sentence first!'
3523
+
3524
+ `Hold your tongue!' said the Queen, turning purple.
3525
+
3526
+ `I won't!' said Alice.
3527
+
3528
+ `Off with her head!' the Queen shouted at the top of her voice.
3529
+ Nobody moved.
3530
+
3531
+ `Who cares for you?' said Alice, (she had grown to her full
3532
+ size by this time.) `You're nothing but a pack of cards!'
3533
+
3534
+ At this the whole pack rose up into the air, and came flying
3535
+ down upon her: she gave a little scream, half of fright and half
3536
+ of anger, and tried to beat them off, and found herself lying on
3537
+ the bank, with her head in the lap of her sister, who was gently
3538
+ brushing away some dead leaves that had fluttered down from the
3539
+ trees upon her face.
3540
+
3541
+ `Wake up, Alice dear!' said her sister; `Why, what a long
3542
+ sleep you've had!'
3543
+
3544
+ `Oh, I've had such a curious dream!' said Alice, and she told
3545
+ her sister, as well as she could remember them, all these strange
3546
+ Adventures of hers that you have just been reading about; and
3547
+ when she had finished, her sister kissed her, and said, `It WAS a
3548
+ curious dream, dear, certainly: but now run in to your tea; it's
3549
+ getting late.' So Alice got up and ran off, thinking while she
3550
+ ran, as well she might, what a wonderful dream it had been.
3551
+
3552
+ But her sister sat still just as she left her, leaning her
3553
+ head on her hand, watching the setting sun, and thinking of
3554
+ little Alice and all her wonderful Adventures, till she too began
3555
+ dreaming after a fashion, and this was her dream:--
3556
+
3557
+ First, she dreamed of little Alice herself, and once again the
3558
+ tiny hands were clasped upon her knee, and the bright eager eyes
3559
+ were looking up into hers--she could hear the very tones of her
3560
+ voice, and see that queer little toss of her head to keep back
3561
+ the wandering hair that WOULD always get into her eyes--and
3562
+ still as she listened, or seemed to listen, the whole place
3563
+ around her became alive the strange creatures of her little
3564
+ sister's dream.
3565
+
3566
+ The long grass rustled at her feet as the White Rabbit hurried
3567
+ by--the frightened Mouse splashed his way through the
3568
+ neighbouring pool--she could hear the rattle of the teacups as
3569
+ the March Hare and his friends shared their never-ending meal,
3570
+ and the shrill voice of the Queen ordering off her unfortunate
3571
+ guests to execution--once more the pig-baby was sneezing on the
3572
+ Duchess's knee, while plates and dishes crashed around it--once
3573
+ more the shriek of the Gryphon, the squeaking of the Lizard's
3574
+ slate-pencil, and the choking of the suppressed guinea-pigs,
3575
+ filled the air, mixed up with the distant sobs of the miserable
3576
+ Mock Turtle.
3577
+
3578
+ So she sat on, with closed eyes, and half believed herself in
3579
+ Wonderland, though she knew she had but to open them again, and
3580
+ all would change to dull reality--the grass would be only
3581
+ rustling in the wind, and the pool rippling to the waving of the
3582
+ reeds--the rattling teacups would change to tinkling sheep-
3583
+ bells, and the Queen's shrill cries to the voice of the shepherd
3584
+ boy--and the sneeze of the baby, the shriek of the Gryphon, and
3585
+ all the other queer noises, would change (she knew) to the
3586
+ confused clamour of the busy farm-yard--while the lowing of the
3587
+ cattle in the distance would take the place of the Mock Turtle's
3588
+ heavy sobs.
3589
+
3590
+ Lastly, she pictured to herself how this same little sister of
3591
+ hers would, in the after-time, be herself a grown woman; and how
3592
+ she would keep, through all her riper years, the simple and
3593
+ loving heart of her childhood: and how she would gather about
3594
+ her other little children, and make THEIR eyes bright and eager
3595
+ with many a strange tale, perhaps even with the dream of
3596
+ Wonderland of long ago: and how she would feel with all their
3597
+ simple sorrows, and find a pleasure in all their simple joys,
3598
+ remembering her own child-life, and the happy summer days.
3599
+
3600
+ THE END