|
The Baldwin Library
University
RmB x
Florida
oo
-TuroucH THE Looxinc-Gtass,
AND f
WHAT ALICE FOUND THERE.
BY
LEWIS CARROLL,
AUTHOR OF “ ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND.â€
NEW YORK: 46 East 147TH Street.
THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO,
BOSTON: ‘100 PurcHast STREET.
Copyricut, 1893,
By THOMAS Y, CROWELL & CO.
Noriooot Jpregs :
J. 8. Cushing & Co. — Berwick & Smith,
Boston, Mass., U.S.A.
Cup of the pure unclouded brow
And dreaming eyes of wonder!
‘Though time be fleet, and I and thou
Are half a life asunder,
Thy loving smile will surely hail
The love-gift of a fairy-tale.
I have not seen thy sunny face,
Nor heard thy silver laughter;
No thought of me shall find a place
In thy young life’s hereafter —
Enough that now thou wilt not fail
To listen to my fairy-tale.
A tale begun in other days,
When summer suns were glowing —
A simple chime, that served to time
The rhythm of our rowing —
Whose echoes live in memory yet,
Though envious years would say ‘‘ forget.â€
Come, hearken then, ere voice of dread,
With bitter tidings laden,
e
Shall summon to unwelcome bed
A melancholy maiden!
We are but older children, dear,
Who fret to find our bedtime near.
Without, the frost, the blinding snow,
The storm-wind’s moody madness —
Within, the firelight’s ruddy glow
And childhood’s nest of gladness.
The magic words shall hold thee fast:
Thou shalt not heed the raving blast.
And though the shadow of a sigh
_May tremble through the story,
For “ happy summer days� gone by,
And vanish’d summer glory —
It shall not touch with breath of bale
The pleasance of our fairy tale.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER PAGE
I, Looxine-auass Houss........ tL
Il Tur Garpen or Live Frowmrs .-. . . 35
III. Looxine-eiass Insects ....... 55
IV. TWEEDLEDUM AND TWEEDLEDER .... 5
V. Woon AnD WATER . ~~... sss 99
VI. Humpry Dumpry .......... 112i
VII. Tur Lion AND THE UNICORN » . 144
VIII. ‘It’s My Own Inventionâ€. . ... . 164
EXS OS QUEBN A LION 5 35 oc aplenye aula relee a lO
OSU AIRING 5.0. ee Sa eee : 222
SKC [Se WVEAIOEN Gissig as 2a iene see teens pansvemas 223
XII. WHIcH DREAMED IT?. . 2. 2 6 © 6 « 228
DRAMATIS PERSONAL
(As arranged before commencement of game.)
WHITE.
PIECES.
Tweedledee .
Unicorn
Sheep
W. Queen.
W. King .
Aged man
W. Knight
Tweedledum
——
PAWNS:
Daisy.
Haigha.
Oyster.
cc Lily.â€
Fawn.
Oyster.
Hatta.
Daisy.
RED.
PAWNS. PIECES.
Daisy - Humpty Dumpty.
Messenger, Carpenter.
Oyster. . Walrus.
Tiger-lily, R. Queen.
Rose. . R. King.
Oyster . Crow.
Frog. . RB. Knight.
Daisy . Lion.
i
oo bom
CS oe
S
FES SOOT
RED.
a
wat
Be
Cy
ae wale
Be ee
ios
ae oe
eee
ZY
Vi
see
WHITE,
White Pawn (Alice) to play, and win in eleven moves.
PAGE
. Alice meets R.Q. . 35
. Alice through Q.’s
3d (by railway) . 48
to Q.’s 4th (Twee-
‘dledum and Twee-
dledee). . . 54
Alice meets W. Q.
(with shawl) . ste
Alice to Q.’s 5th
(shop, river pahep) 101
Alice to Qs 6th
Cree Dump-
Aline to Q’s 7th
(forest). . . 155
W. Kt. takes R. Kt. 161
Alice to Q.’s 8th
(coronation) . . 183
Alice becomes Q’en, 196
Alice castles (feast) 204
Alice takes R
and wins . . 215
2
i)
10.
1.
. Ww.
ee
PAGE
R.Q. to K. Rvs 4th. 45
Q. to Q.B.’s 4th
(after shawl). . 91
. W.Q. to Q.B.’s 3th
(becomes sheep) . 100
W.Q. to K.B.’s 8th
(leaves egg on
shelf)
. W.Q. to Q.B. ’s 8th
(fying from R. Bt.) 149
R.Kt. to K.’s 2d(ch) 158
- ii
W.Kt. toK.B.’s 5th, 182
R.Q. to K.’s sq. (ex-
amination) . .1
Queen’s castle .
Ww. Q. to Q. RB. 6th
(soup) . ee
CHAPTER I.
LOOKING-—GLASS HOUSE.
One thing was certain, that the white kitten
had had nothing to do with it:—it was the
black kitten’s fault entirely. For the white
kitten had been having its face washed by the
old cat for the last quarter of an hour (and bear-
ing it pretty well, considering) ; so you see that
it couldn’t have had any hand in the mischief.
The way Dinah washed her children’s faces
i 11 3
12 | THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS.
was this: first she held the poor thing down by
its ear with one paw, and then with the other
paw she rubbed its face all over, the wrong way,
beginning at the nose: and just now, as I said,
she was hard at work on the white kitten, which
was lying quite still and trying to purr = no
doubt feeling that it was all meant for its good.
But the black kitten had been finished with
earlier in the afternoon, and so, while Alice was
- sitting curled up in a corner of the great arm-
chair, half talking to herself and half asleep, the
kitten had been having a grand game of romps
with the ball of worsted Alice had been trying
to wind up, and had been rolling it up and
down till it had all come undone again, and
there it was, spread over the hearth-rug, all
knots and tangles, with the kitten running
after its own tail in the middle.
“Oh, you wicked wicked little thing!†cried
Alice, catching up the kitten and giving it a
little kiss to make it understand that it was in
disgrace. “Really, Dinah ought to have taught
LOOKING-GLASS HOUSE. 138
you better manners! You ought, Dinah, -you ©
know you ought!†she added, looking reproach-
fully at the old. cat, and speaking in as cross @
voice as she could manage— and then she
scrambled back into the arm-chair, taking the
kitten and the worsted with her, and began
winding up the ball again. But she didn’t get
on very fast, as she was talking all the time,
sometimes to the kitten, and sometimes to herself.
Kitty sat very demurely on her knee, pretending
to watch the progress of the winding, and now
and then putting out one paw and gently touch- |
ing the ball, as if it would be glad to help if it
might.
“Do you know what to-morrow is, Kitty?â€
Alice began. “Youd have guessed if you ’d
- been up in the window with me — only Dinah
was making you tidy, so you could n’t. I was -
watching the boys getting in sticks for the bon- .
fire —and it wants plenty of sticks, Kitty!
Only it got so cold, and it snowed so, they had
to leave off. Never mind, Kitty, we “ll go and
14 THROUGH THE LOOKING-—GLASS.
see the bonfire to-morrow.†Here Alice wound
two or three turns of the worsted round the kit-
ten’s neck, just to see how it would look: this ~
led to a scramble, in which the ball rolled down
upon the floor, and yards and yards of it got
unwound again.
“Do you know, I was so angry, Kitty,†Alice
‘went on, as soon as they were comfortably
settled again, “ when I saw all the mischief you
had been doing, I was very nearly opening the
window, and putting you out into the snow!
And you ’d have deserved it, you little mis-
chievous darling! What have you got to say
for yourself? Now don’t interrupt me 1†she
went on, holding up one finger. “I’m going to
tell you all your faults. Number one: you
squeaked twice while Dinah was washing your
face this morning. Now you can’t deny it,
Kitty: I heard you! What’s that you say?†.
(pretending that the kitten was speaking.)
“Her paw went into your eye? Well, that ’s
your fault, for keeping your eyes open — if
LOOKING-GLASS HOUSE. 15
you ’d shut them tight up, it would n’t have
happened. Now, don’t make any more excuses
PP ’
but listen! Number two: you pulled Snowdrop
away by the tail just as I had put down the
saucer of milk before her! What, you were
16 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
thirsty, were you? How do you know she
was n’t thirsty too? Now for number three:
you unwound every bit of the worsted while I
wasn’t looking!
“That ’s three faults, Kitty, and you ’ve not
been punished for any of them yet. You know
I’m saving up all your punishments for Wednes-
day week — Suppose they had saved up all my
punishments!†she went on, talking more to
herself than the kitten. “ What would they do
at the end of a year? I should be sent to
prison, I suppose, when the day came. Or— ©
let me see —suppose each punishment was to’
be going without a dinner : then, when the mis-
erable day came, I should have to go without
fifty dinners at once! Well, I should n’t mind
that much! I’d far rather go without them
than eat them! ;
“Do you hear the snow against the window-
panes, Kitty? How nice and soft it sounds!
Just as if some one was kissing the window all
over outside. JI wonder if the snow doves the
LOOKING-—GLASS HOUSE. 17
trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently ?
And then it covers them up snug, you know,
with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, ‘ Go to
sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.’
And when they wake up in the summer, Kitty,
they-dress themselves all in green, and dance
about— whenever the wind blows — oh, that ’s
very pretty!†cried Alice, dropping the ball of
worsted to clasp her hands. “And I do so wish
it was true! I’m sure the woods look sleepy
in the autumn, when the leaves are getting
brown.
« Kitty, can you play chess? Now, don’t
smile, my dear, I’m asking it seriously. Be-
cause, when we were playing just now, you
watched just as if you understood it: and
when I said ‘Check!’ you purred! Well it
was a nice check, Kitty, and really I might
have won, if it had n’t been for that nasty
Knight, that came wriggling down among my
pieces. Kitty, dear, let’s pretend —†And here
I wish I could tell you half the things Alice
18 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS. .
used to say, beginning with her favorite phrase
“Let ’s pretend.†She had had quite a long
argument with her sister only the day before —
all because Alice had begun with “ Let’s pre-
tend we ’re kings and queens ;â€
and her sister,
who liked being very exact, had argued that
they could n’t, because there were only two of
them, and Alice had been reduced at last to say,
“ Well, you can be one of them then, and Ill
be all the rest.†And once she had really
frightened her old nurse by shouting suddenly
in her ear, “ Nurse! Do let’s pretend that I’m
a hungry hyena, and you’re a bone!â€
But this is taking us away from Alice’s
speech to the kitten. “Let’s pretend that
you ’re the Red Queen, Kitty! Do you know,
I think if you sat up and folded your arms,
you ’d look exactly like her. Now do try,
there ’s a dear!†And Alice got the Red
Queen off the table, and set it up before the
kitten as a model for it to imitate: however,
the thing didn’t succeed, principally, Alice said,
‘ LOOKING-GLASS HOUSE. 19
because the kitten would n’t fold its arms prop-
erly. So, to punish it, she held it up to the
Looking-glass, that it might see how sulky it
was — “and if you ’re not good directly,’’ she
added, “I ’l] put you through into Looking-glass
House. How would you like that ?
“Now, if you ‘ll only attend, Kitty, and not
talk so much, I ’ll tell you all my ideas about
Looking-glass House. First, there ’s the room
you can see through the glass — that ’s just the
same as our drawing-room, only the things go
the other way. I can see all of it when I get
upon a chair —all but the bit just behind the
fireplace. Oh! I do so wish I could see that bit!
I want so much to know whether they ’ve a fire
in the winter: you never can tell, you know,
unless our fire smokes, and then smoke comes
up in that room too— but that may be only
pretence, just to make it look as if they had a
fire. Well then, the books are something like
our books, only the words go the wrong way; I
know that, because I ’ve held up one of our
20 THROUGH THE LOOKING-—GLASS.
books to the glass, and then they held up one
in the other room. |
“How would you like to live in Looking-
glass House, Kitty? I wonder if they ’d give
you milk in there? Perhaps Looking-glass
milk is n’t good to drink — But oh, Kitty! now
we come to the passage. You can just see a
little peep of the passage in Looking-glass
House, if you leave the door of our drawing.
room wide open: and it’s very like our pas-
sage as faras you can see, only you know it
may be quite different on beyond. Oh, Kitty!
how nice it would be if we could only get.
through into Looking-glass House! I’m sure _
it’s got, oh! such beautiful things init! Let’s-
pretend there ’s a way of getting through into
“it, somehow, Kitty. Let’s pretend the glass
has got all soft like gauze, so that we can get
through. Why, it’s turning into a sort of
mist now, Ideclare! It ll be easy enough to
get through —†She was up on the chimney-
piece while she said this, though she hardly
LOOKING-GLASS: HOUSE. 91
knew how she had got there. And certainly
the glass was beginning to melt away, just like
a bright silvery mist.
In another moment Alice was through the
22 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
glass, and had jumped lightly down into the
Looking-glass room. The very first thing she
did was to look whether there was a fire in the
fireplace, and she was quite pleased to find that
LOOKING-GLASS HOUSE. 93
there was areal one, blazing away as brightly
as the one she had left behind. “So I shall be
as warm here as I was in the old room,†thought
Alice: “warmer, in fact, because there ’ll be no
one here to scold me away from the fire. Oh,
what fun it ’ll be, when they see me through
the glass in here, and can’t get at me!â€
‘Then she began looking about, and noticed
that what could be seen from the old room was
quite common and uninteresting, but that all
the rest was as different as possible. For in-
stance, the pictures on the wall next the fire
seemed to be all alive, and the very clock on
the chimney-piece (you. know you can only see
the back of it in the Looking-glass) had got
the face of a little old man, and grinned at
her.
“They don’t keep this room so tidy as the
other,†Alice thought to herself, as she noticed
several of the chessmen down in the hearth
among the cinders: but in another moment, with
_ a little “Oh!†of surprise, she was down on her
24 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
hands and knees watching them. The chessmen
were walking about, two and two!
‘« Here are the Red King and the Red Queen,â€
Alice said (in a whisper, for fear of frightening
them), “‘and there are the White King and the
White Queen sitting on the edge of the shovel
—and here are two Castles walking arm in
arm—TI don’t think they can hear me,†she '
went on as she put her head closer down, “and
. LOOKING—GLASS HOUSE.. 25
I ’m nearly sure they can’t see me. I feel
somehow as if I were invisible —â€
Here something began squeaking on the
table behind Alice, and made her turn her
head just in time to see one of the White Pawns
roll over and begin kicking: she watched it
with great curiosity to see what would happen
next.
“Ti is the voice of my child!†the White
Queen cried out, as she rushed past the King, so
violently that she knocked him over among the
cinders. “My precious Lily! My’ imperial
kitten!†and she began scrambling wildly up
the side of the fender.
“Imperial fiddlestick!†said the King, rub-
bing his nose, which had been hurt by the fall.
He had a right to be a little annoyed with the
Queen, for he was covered with ashes from
head to foot.
Alice was very anxious to be of use; and, as
the poor little Lily was nearly screaming herself
into a fit, she hastily picked up the Queen and
26 THROUGH THE LOOKING-—GLASS.
set her on the table by the side of her noisy
little daughter.
The Queen gasped, and sat down: the rapid
journey through the air had quite taken away
her breath, and for a minute or two she could
do nothing but hug the little Lily in silence.
As soon as she had recovered her breath a little,
she called out to the White King, who was
sitting sulkily among the ashes, “ Mind the vol-
cano!†|
“What voleano?†said the King, looking up
anxiously into the fire, as if he thought that was
the most likely place to find one.
“ Blew —me—up,†panted the Queen, who
was still a little out of breath. “Mind you
come up— the regular way — don’t get blown
“up!â€
Alice watched the White King as he slowly
struggled up from bar to bar, till at last she
said, “ Why, youll be hours and hours getting
to the table, at that rate. I’d far better help
you, had n’t 1?†. But the King took no notice
LOOKING-GLASS HOUSE. QT
of the question: it was quite clear that he could
neither hear her nor see her.
So Alice picked him up very gently, and
lifted him across more slowly than she had
lifted the Queen, that she might n’t take his
breath away; but, before she put him on the
table, she thought she might as well dust him a
little, he was so covered with ashes.
She said afterwards that she had never seen in
28 THROUGH THE LOOKING-—GLASS.
all her life such a face as the King made, when
he found himself held in the air by an in-
visible hand, and being dusted: he was far too
much astonished to cry out, but his eyes and —
his mouth went on getting larger and larger,
and rounder and rounder, till her hand shook
so with laughing that she nearly let him drop
upon the floor. -
“ Oh! please don’t make such faces, my dear !â€
she cried out, quite forgetting that the King
could n’t hear her. “You make me laugh so
that I can hardly hold you! And don’t keep
your mouth so wide open! .All the ashes will
get into it—there, now I think you ’re tidy
enough!†she added, as she smoothed his hair,
and set him upon the table near the Queen.
The King immediately fell flat on his back
and lay perfectly still; and Alice was a little
alarmed at what she had done, and went round
the room to see if she could find any water to
throw over him. However, she could find
nothing but a bottle of ink, and when she got
LOOKING-GLASS HOUSE. 29
back with it she found he had recovered, and
he and the Queen were talking together in a
frightened whisper—so low, that Alice could
hardly hear what they said.
The King was saying, “I assure you, my
dear, I turned cold to the very ends of my
whiskers !â€
To which the Queen replied, “You have n’t
got any whiskers.â€
“The horror of that moment,†the King
went on, “I shall never, never forget |â€
“You will, though,†the Queen said, “if you
‘don’t make a memorandum of it.â€
Alice looked. -on with great interest as the
King took an enormous memorandum-book out
of his pocket, and began writing. A sudden °
thought struck her, and she took hold of the
end of the pencil, which came some “way over
his shoulder, and began writing for him.
The poor King looked puzzled and unhappy,
and struggled with the pencil for some time
without saying anything; but Alice was too
hy
80 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
strong for him, and at last he panted out, “My
dear! Ireally must get athinner pencil. I can’t
manage this one a bit; it writes all manner of
things that I don’t intend —â€
“ What manner of things?†said the Queen,
looking over the book (in which Alice had put
“The White Knight is sliding down the poker.
He balances very badlyâ€). ‘ That’s not a mem-
orandum of your feelings ! â€
There was a book lying near Alice on the
table, and while she sat watching the White
LOOKING-—GLASS HOUSE. 31
King (for she was still a little anxious about
him, and had the ink all ready to throw over
him, in case he fainted again), she turned over
the leaves, to find some part that she could
read, “for it’s all in some language I don’t
know,†she said to herself.
It was like this.
YHOOWASGGAL
gevod Ydiile edt bas .gillixd esw T*
zoedew odd ai oldmig bas o1yg bid
eovogoiod ed? stow Yeomion ILA
-edstgivo adisi sotom odd boA
She puzzled over this for some time, but at
last a bright thought struck her. “Why, it’s a
Looking-glass book, of course! And if I hold
it up to a glass, the words will all go the right
way again.â€
This was the poem that Alice read: —
JABBERWOCKY.
*T was brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe 3
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe,
82 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
“Beware the J: abberwock, my son! - 2
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch !
- Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch !�
He took his vorpal sword in hand :
Long time the manxome foe he sought —
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.
And as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
‘He went galumphing back.
“ And hast thou slain the Jabberwock ?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy !
O frabjous day! Callooh!. Callay!â€
He chortled in his joy.
°T was brillig, and the slithy toves ~~
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
' An& the mome.raths outgrabe.
‘* Beware the Jabberwock my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!’
LOOKING—GLASS HOUSE. 35
“It seems very pretty,’ she said when she
had finished it, “but it ’s rather hard to
understand!’? (You see she did n’t like to
confess, even to herself, that she could n’t make
it out at all). “Somehow it seems to fill
my head with ideas—only I don’t exactly
know what they are! However, some-
body killed something: that’s clear, at any
rate —â€
“But oh!†thought Alice, suddenly jumping
up, “if I don’t make haste I shall have to go
back through the Looking-glass, before I ’ve
seen what the rest of the house is like! Let’s
have a look at the garden first!’ She was out
of the room in a moment, and. ran down-stairs
— or, at least, it was n’t exactly running, but
a new invention for getting down-stairs quickly
and easily, as Alice said to herself. She just
kept the tips of her fingers on the hand-rail,
and floated gently down without even touching
the stairs with her feet; then she floated on
through the hall, and would haye gone straight
34 THROUGH THE LOOKING-—GLASS.
out at the door in the same way, if she had n’t
caught hold of the door-post. She was getting
a little giddy with so much floating in the air,
and was rather glad to find herself walking
again in the natural way.
CHAPTER II.
THE GARDEN OF LIVE FLOWERS.
“I gHOULD see the garden far better,†said -
Alice to herself, “if I could get to the top of
that hill: and here’s a path that leads straight
to it —at least, no, it does n’t do that —†(after
going a few yards along the path, and turning
several sharp corners), “ but I suppose it will
at last. But how curiously it twists! It’s
more like a corkscrew than a path! Well,
this turn goes to the hill, I suppose —no, it
does n’t! This goes straight back to the house !
Well then, I'll try it the other way.â€
And so she did: wandering up and down,
and trying turn after turn, but always coming
back to the house, do what she would. Indeed,
once, when she turned a corner rather more
35
36 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
quickly than usual, she ran against it before
she could stop herself.
“It’s no use tal. ing about it,†Alice said,
looking up at the hous. and pretending it was
arguing with her. “I’m not going in again yet.
I know I should have to get through the Look-
ing-glass again — back into the old room — and
there ’d be an end of all my adventures ! â€
So, resolutely turning her back upon the
house, she set out once more down the path,
determined to keep straight on till she got to
the hill. For a few minutes all went on well,
and she was just saying, “I really shall do it this
time —†when the path gave a sudden twist and
shook itself (as she described it afterwards),
and the next moment’she found herself actually
walking in at the door.
— « Oh, it’s too bad!†she cried. “I never saw
such a house for getting i. the way! Never!â€
However, there was the hill full in sight, so
there was nothing to be done but start again.
This time she came upon a large flower-bed, with
THE GARDEN OF LIVE FLOWERS. 37
a border of daisies, and a willow-tree growing in
the middle.
“O Tiger-lily!†said Alice, addressing herself ,
to one that was waving gracefully about in
the wind, “I wish you could talk!â€
“We can talk,’ said the Tiger-lily: “when
there’s anybody worth talking to.â€
Alice was. so astonished that she could n’t
speak for a minute: it quite seemed to take her
breath away. At length, as the Tiger-lily only:
went on waving about, she spoke again, in a
timid voice — almost in a whisper. “ And can
all the flowers talk?â€
“As well as you can,†said the Tiger-lily.
“ And a great deal louder.â€
“It isn’t manners for us to begin, you know,â€
said the Rose, “and I really was wondering
when you’d speak! Said I to myself, ‘ Her face
has got some sense in it, though it’s not a clever
one!’ Still oom ’re the right color, and that
goes a long way.â€
“T don’t care about the color,†the Tigerdily
38 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
-remarked.. “If only her
petals curled up a little
more, she’d be all right.â€
cae
elle a
iain
Alice did n’t like being criticised, so she be-
gan asking questions. “Are n’t you sometimes
Wh
frightened at being planted out here, with no-
body to take care of you?â€
THE GARDEN OF LIVE FLOWERS. 89
' «There’s the tree in the middle,†said the
Rose: “ what else is it good for?â€
“But what could it do, if any danger came?â€
Alice asked.
“Tt could bark,†said the Rose.
“It says ‘Bough-wough!’†cried a Daisy.
“ That’s why its branches are called boughs!â€
“Did n’t you know that?†eried another
Daisy; and here they all began shouting to-
gether, till the air seemed quite full of little
shrill voices. “Silence, every one of you!â€
cried the Tiger-lily, waving itself passionately
from side to side, and trembling with excite-
ment. ‘They know I can’t get at them!†it
panted, bending its quivering head towards
Alice, “or they would n’t dare to doit!†.
“Never mind!†Alice said in a soothing tone;
and stooping down to the daisies, who were just
beginning again, she whispered, “If you don’t
hold your tongues, I’ll pick you!â€
There was silence in a moment, and several
of the pink daisies turned white.
40 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS,.
«“That’s right!†said the Tigerlily. “The
daisies are worst of all. When one speaks,
they all begin together, and it’s enough to make
one wither to hear the way they go on!â€
“How is it you can all talk so nicely ?â€
Alice said, hoping to get it into a better temper
by a compliment. “I’ve been in many gardens
before, but none of the flowers could talk.â€
“Put your hand down, and feel the ground,â€
said the Tigerlily. “Then youll know
why.â€
Alice did so. “It’s very hard,†she said,
“but I don’t see what that has to do with it.â€
“In most gardens,†the Tiger-lily said, “they
make the beds too soft —so that the flowers are
always asleep.â€
This sounded a very good reason, and Alice
was quite pleased to knowit. “Inever thought
of that before!†she said.
“It’s my opinion that you never think at ail,â€
the Rose said in a rather severe tone.
“I never saw anybody that looked stupider,â€
THE GARDEN OF LIVE FLOWERS. 41
a Violet said, so suddenly, that Alice quite’
jumped; for it had n’t spoken before. :
'“ Hold your tongue!†cried the Tiger-lily.
“ As if you ever saw anybody ! You keep your
head under the leaves, and snore away there,
till you know no more what’s going on in the
world, than if you were a bud!â€
“Are there any more people in the garden
besides me?†Alice said, not choosing to notice
the Rose’s last remark.
“There ’s one other flower in the garden that
can move about like you,†said the Rose. «J
wonder how you do it—†(You're always
wondering,†said the Tiger-lily), “but she’s
more bushy than you are.â€
‘Is she like me?†Alice asked eagerly, for
the thought crossed her mind, “ There ’s another
little girl in the garden, somewhere!†_
“Well, she has the same awkward shape as
you,†the Rose said; “but she’s redder —and
her petals are shorter, I think.â€
“Her petals are done up close, almost like
42 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
a dahlia,†the Tiger-lily interrupted: “not
tumbled about anyhow, like yours.â€
“But that’s not your fault,†the Rose addéd
kindly: “ you’re beginning to fade, you know
—and then one can’t help one’s petals getting
a little untidy.â€
Alice didn’t like this idea at all: so, to
change the subject, she asked “Does she ever
come out here?â€
“J dare say you'll see her soon,†said the
Rose. ‘She ’s one of the thorny kind.â€
“Where does she wear the thorns?†Alice
asked with some curiosity.
“Why, all round her head, of course,†the
Rose replied. “I was wondering you had n’t
got some too. I thought it was the regular
rule.â€
?
“She’s coming!†cried the Larkspur. “J
hear her footstep, thump, thump, along the
gravel-walk!†7 :
Alice looked round eagerly, and found that ~
it was the Red Queen. ‘“She’s grown a good
THE GARDEN OF LIVE FLOWERS. . 43
deal!†was her first remark. She had indeed:
when Alice first found her in the ashes, she
had been only three inches high— and here
she was, half a head taller than Alice her-
self!
“Tt’s the fresh air that does it,†said the
' Rose: “ wonderfully fine air it is, out here.â€
“T think I’ll go and meet her,†said Alice ;
for, though the flowers were interesting enough,
she felt that it would be far grander to have a
talk with a real Queen.
“You can’t possibly do that,†said the
. Rose: “Z should advise you to walk the other
way.†;
This sounded nonsense to Alice, so she said
nothing, but set off at once towards the Red
Queen. To her surprise, she lost sight of her
in a moment, and found herself walking in at
the front-door again.
A little provoked, she drew back, and after
looking everywhere for the Queen (whom she
spied out at last, a long way off), she thought
44 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
she would try the plan, this time, of walking
in the opposite direction.
— s = eed
It succeeded beautifully. She had not been
walking a minute before she found herself
THE GARDEN OF LIVE FLOWERS. 45
face to face with the Red Queen, and full in
sight of the hill she had been so long aiming
at. . a
“Where do you come from?†said the Red
Queen. “And where are you going? Look
_ up, speak nicely, and don’t twiddle your fingers
all the time.â€
Alice attended to all these directions, and
‘explained, as well as she could, that she had
lost her way.
“TI don’t know what you mean by your
way,†said the Queen: “all the ways about here
belong to me —but why did you come out
here at all?†she added in a kinder tone.
“Courtesy while you ’re thinking what to say.
It saves time.â€
Alice wondered a little at this, but she was
too much in awe of the Queen. to disbelieve it.
“Tll try it when I go home,†ghe thought to
herself, “the next time I’m a little late for
dinner.â€
“It’s time for you to answer now,†the Queen
46 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
said, looking at her watch: “open your mouth
a little wider when you speak, and always say
‘your Majesty.’ †;
“JT only wanted to see what the garden was
like, your Majesty —â€
“That’s right,†said the Queen, patting her
on the head, which Alice did n’t like at all
“though, when you say ‘garden,’ —/’ve seen
gardens, compared with which this would be a
wilderness.â€
Alice did n’t dare to argue the point, but
went on: “—and I thought I’d try and find
my way to the top of that hill —â€
“When you say ‘hill,’†the Queen inter-
rupted, “ Z could show you hills, in comparison
, with which you’d call that a valley.â€
“No, I should n’t,†said Alice, surprised
into contradicting her at last: “a hill can’t
be a valley, you know. That would be non-
sense —â€
The Red Queen shook her head. “You may
call it ‘nonsense’ if you like,†she said, “but
THE GARDEN OF LIVE FLOWERS. 4T
I ’ve heard nonsense, compared with which that
would be as sensible as a dictionary ! â€
Alice courtesied again, as she was afraid from
the Queen’s tone that she was a ttle offended,
and they walked on in silence till they got to
the top of the little hill. .
For some minutes Alice stood without speak-
ing, looking out in all directions over the
country —and a most curious country it was.
There were a number of tiny little brooks run-
ning straight across it from side to side, and the
48 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS,
ground between was divided up into squares by
a number of little. green hedges, that reached
from brook to brook.
“TJ declare it’s marked out just like a large -
_chess-board!†Alice said at last. “There
ought to be some men moving about somewhere
—and so there are!†she added in a tone of
delight, and her heart began to beat quick with -
excitement as she went on. “It’s a great huge
game of chess that’s being played —all over
the world—if this és the world at all, you
“know. Oh, what fun it is! How I wish I was
one of them! I would n’t mind being a Pawn,
if only I might join —though of course I should
like to be a Queen, best.â€
. She glanced rather shyly at the real Queen as __
she said this, but her companion only smiled
pleasantly, and said, ‘“That’s easily managed.
You can be the White Queen’s Pawn, if you
like, as Lily’s too young to play; and you re
inthe Second Square to begin with: when you
get to the Eighth Square you’ll be a Queen Sm
THE GARDEN OF LIVE FLOWERS. 49
Just at this moment, somehow or other, they
began to run.
Alice never could quite make out, in think-
ing it over afterwards, how it was that they
began: all she remembers is, that they were
running hand in hand, and the Queen went so
fast that it was all she could do to keep up with
her: and still the Queen kept crying, “ Faster!
Faster!†but Alice felt she could not go faster,
though she had no breath left to say so.
The most curious part of the thing was, that
the trees and the other things round them never .
changed their places at all: however fast they
went, they never seemed to pass anything. “T
wonder if all the things move along with us?â€
thought poor puzzled Alice. And the Queen
seemed to guess her thoughts, for she cried,
“Faster! Don’t try to talk!â€
Not that Alice had any idea of doing that.
She felt as if she would never be able to talk
again, she was getting so much out of breath:
_ and still the Queen cried, « Faster! Faster!â€
50 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
and dragged heralong. “Are we nearly there?â€
Alice managed to pant out at last.
“ Nearly there!†the Queen repeated. ‘“ Why,
we passed it ten minutes ago! Faster!†And
they ran on for a time in silence, with the wind
whistling in Alice’s ears, and almost blowing
her hair off her head, she fancied.
“Now! Now!†cried the Queen. “Faster!
Faster!†And they went so fast that at last
they seemed to skim through the air, hardly
touching the ground with their feet, till sud-
denly, just as Alice was getting quite exhausted,
THE GARDEN OF LIVE FLOWERS. 51
they stopped, and she found herself sitting on
the ground, breathless and giddy.
The Queen propped her up against a tree
and said kindly, “ You may rest a little now.â€
Alice looked round her in great surprise.
“Why, I do believe we’ve been under this tree
the whole time! Everything ’s just as it was!â€
“Of course it is,†said the Queen: “ what
would you have it?â€
“Well, in our country,†said Alice, still
panting a little, “you’d generally get to some-
where else — if you ran very fast for a long time,
as we ’ve been doing.â€
«A slow sort of country!†said the Queen.
“Now, here, you see, it takes all the running
you can do, to keep in the same place. If you
want to get somewhere else, you must run at
least twice as fast as that!â€
“Id rather not try, please!†said Alice.
“T’m quite content to stay here — only I am so
hot and thirsty!â€
“I know-what you’d like!†the Queen said
52 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS,
good-naturedly, taking a little box out of her
pocket. “ Have a biscuit?â€
Alice thought it would not be civil to say
“No,†though it was n’t at all what she wanted,
so she took it, and ate it as well as she could:
and it was very dry; and she thought she had
never been so nearly choked in all her life.
.“ While you’re refreshing yourself,†said the
Queen, “I’ll just take the measurements.†And
she took a ribbon out of her pocket, marked in
inches, and began measuring the ground, and
sticking little pegs in here and there.
“ At the end of two yards,†she said, putting
in a peg to mark the distance, “I shall give you
your directions — have another biscuit?â€
“No, thank you,†said Alice; “one’s quite
enough!â€
“ Thirst quenched, I hope?†said the Queen.
- Alice did not know what to say to this, but
luckily the Queen did not wait for an answer,
but went on. “At the end of three yards I shall
repeat them — for fear of your forgetting them.
THE GARDEN OF LIVE FLOWERS. 58
At the end of four, I shall say good- e And at
the end of five, I shall go!â€
She had got all the pegs put in by this time,
and Alice looked on with great interest as she
returned to the tree, and then began slowly
walking down the row.
At the two-yard peg she faced round, and
said, “A pawn goes two squares in its first
move, you know. So you’ll go very quickly
through the Third Square — by railway, I should
think —and you ’ll find yourself in the Fourth
Square in no time. Well, that square. be-
longs to Tweedledum and Tweedledee —the
Fifth is mostly water-——the Sixth belongs
to Humpty Dumpty— But you make no
remark ?â€
“T—I did n’t know I had to make one —
just then,†Alice faltered out.
“You should have said,†the Queen went on
. in a tone of grave reproof, “ ‘it’s extremely kind
of you to tell me all this’ —however, we ‘ll
suppose it said—the Seventh Square is all
54 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
forest — however, one of the Knights will show
you the way—and in the Eighth Square we
shall be Queens together, and it’s all feasting
and fun!†Alice got up and courtesied, and
sat down again.
At the next peg the Queen turned again, and
this time she said, “ Speak in French when you
can’t think of the English for a thing — turn
out your toes as you walk—and remember who
you are!†She did not wait for Alice to
courtesy this time, but walked on quickly to the
next peg, where she turned for a moment to say
“good-by,†and then hurried on to the last.
How it happened, Alice never knew, but ex-
actly as she came to the last peg, she was gone.
Whether she vanished into the air, or whether
she ran quickly into the wood (“and she can
run very fast!†thought Alice), there was no
way of guessing, but she was gone, and Alice
began to remember that she was a Pawn, and
that it would soon be time for her to move.
_ CHAPTER IIL.
LOOKING—GLASS INSECTS,
OF course the first thing to do waa to make a
grand survey of the country she way going to
travel through. “It’s something very like learn-
ing geography,†thought Alice, as she stood on
tiptoe in hopes of being able to see. a little
further. ‘ Principal rivers — there are none.
Principal mountains —I’m on the only one, but I
don’t think it’s got any name. Principal towns
—why, what are those creatures, making honey
down there? They can’t be bees — nobody
ever saw bees a mile off, you know —†and for
some time she stood silent, watching one of
them that was bustling about among the flowers,
poking its probtscis into them, “just as if it
was a regular bee,†thought Alice.
55
56 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
However, this was anything but a regular
bee: in fact, it was an elephant — as Alice soon
found out, though the idea quite took her breath.
away at first. “And what enormous flowers
they must be!†was her next idea. ‘ Some-
thing like cottages with the roofs taken off, and
stalks put to them—and what quantities of
honey they must make! I think I’ll go down
and —no, I won’t go just yet,’ she went on,
checking herself just as she was beginning to
run down the hill, and trying to find some
excuse for turning shy so suddenly. “It’ll
never do to go down among them without a
good long branch to brush them away —
and what fun it’ll be when they ask me how
I liked my walk. I shall say—‘Oh, I liked
it well enough—’ (here came the favorite
little toss of the head), ‘only it was so
dusty and hot, and the elephants did. tease
so!’â€
“T think I’ll go down the other way,†she
said after a pause: “and perhaps I may visit
LOOKING-GLASS INSECTS. 57
the elephants later on. Besides, I do so want —
to get into the Third Square!†|
So with this excuse she ran down the hill and
_ jumped over the first of the six little brooks.
“Tickets, please!†said the Guard, putting
his head in at the window. In a moment every-
body was holding out a ticket: they were about
the same size as the people, and quite seemed
to fill the carriage.
“Now then! Show your ticket, child!†the
Guard went on, looking angrily at Alice. And
a great many voices all said together (“like the
chorus of a song,†thought Alice), “ Don’t keep
him waiting, child! Why, his time is worth a
thousand pounds a minute!â€
“J’m afraid I have n’t got one,†Alice said in
a frightened tone: “there was n’t a ticket-office
where I came from.†And again the chorus of
voices went on. “There was n’t room for one
where she came from. The land there is worth
a thousand pounds an inch!â€
58 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
“Don’t make excuses,†said the Guard: “you
should have bought one from the engine-driver.â€
And once more the chorus of voices went on
with “The man that drives the engine. Why,
the smoke alone is worth a thousand pounds a
puff!â€
Alice thought to herself, “Then there’s no
use in speaking.†The voices did n’t join in
this time, as she had n’t spoken, but, to her great
surprise, they all thought in chorus (I hope you
understand what thinking in chorus means — for
-Imust confess that J don’t), “Better say noth-
ing at all. Language is worth a thousand
pounds a word!â€
“TJ shall dream about a thousand pounds to-
night, I know I shall!†thought Alice.
All this time the Guard was looking at her,
first through a telescope, then through a micro-
scope, and then through an opera-glass. At
last he said, “You re travelling the wrong way,â€
and shut up the window and went away.
“So young a child,†said the gentleman sit-
LOOKING—GLASS INSECTS. 59
ting opposite to her (he was dressed in white
paper), “ought to know which way she’s going,
even if she docs n’t know her own name!â€
A Goat, that was sitting next to the gentle-
man in white, shut his eyes and said in a loud
Ve
if
voice, “She ought to know her way to the
ticket-office, even if she does n’t know her
alphabet !â€â€
There was a Beetle sitting next the Goat at
was a very queer carriage-full of passengers
altogether), and, as the rule seemed to be that
60 THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS.: |
they should all speak in turn, he went on with
“She ll have to go back from here as lug.
gage!â€
Alice could n't see who was sitting beyond
the Beetle, but a hoarse voice spoke next.
“Change engines — â€
it said, and there it
choked and was obliged to leave off.
“Tt sounds like a horse,†Alice thought. to
herself. And an extremely small voice, close
to her ear, said, «You might make a joke on that something about
‘horse’ and ‘ hoarse,’ you know.â€
Then a very gentle voice in the distance said,
“She must be labelled ‘Lass, with care,’ you
know —â€
And after that other voices went on (* What
a number of people there are in the carriage !â€â€™
thought Alice), saying, “She must go by post,
as she’s got.a head on her—†“She must be |
sent as a message by the telegraph—â€â€™ “She
must draw the train herself the rest of the way
.—,†and so on.
But the’ gentleman dressed in white paper
LOOKING-GLASS INSECTS. 61
‘leaned forwards and whispered in her ear,
“Never mind what they all say, my dear, but
take a return-ticket every time the train stops.â€
“Indeed I sha’n’t!†Alice said rather impa-
tiently. “I don’t belong to this railway
journey at all—I was in a wood just now —
and I wish I could get back there ! â€
“You might make a joke on chai," Said the little voice
close to her ear: something about ‘you would if you could,’ you
know.â€
“Don’t tease so,†said Alice, looking about
in vain to see where the voice came from; “if
you’re so anxious to have a joke made, why
don’t you make one yourself? â€
The little voice sighed deeply; it was very
unhappy, evidently, and Alice would have said
something pitying to comfort it, “if it would
only sigh like other people!†she thought.
But this was such a wonderfully small sigh,
that she would n’t have heard it at all, if it
had n’t come quite close to her ear. The conse-
quence of this was that it tickled her ear very
62 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
much, and quite took off her thoughts from the
unhappiness of the poor little creature.
“I know you are « ftioyd,†the little voice went on;
“a dear friend, and an old friend. And you won't hurt me, though Iam an
insect.â€
“What kind of insect?†Alice inquired a
little anxiously. What she really wanted to
know was, whether it could sting or not, but
she thought this would n’t be quite a civil
question to ask.
“What, then you dont—" the little voice began,
when it was drowned by a shrill scream from
‘ the engine, and everybody jumped up in alarm,
Alice among the rest.
The Horse, who had put his head out of the
window, quietly drew it in and said, “It’s only
a brook we have to jump over.†Everybody
seemed satisfied with this, though Alice felt a
little nervous at the idea of trains jumping
at all. “However, it ’ll take us into the Fourth
Square, that’s some comfort!†she said to her-
self. In another moment she felt the carriage
LOOKING-GLASS INSECTS. 63
rise straight up into the air, and in her fright
she caught at the thing nearest to her hand,
which happened to be the Goat’s beard.
But the beard seemed to melt away as she
touched it, and she found herself sitting quietly
under a tree — while the Gnat (for that was
the insect she had been talking to) was balan-
cing itself on a twig just over her head, and
fanning her with its wings. --
Tt certainly was a very large Gnat: “about
the size of a chicken,†Alice thought. Still,
she could wt feel nervous with-it, after they
had been talking together so long.
“then you don’t like all insects?†the
Gnat went on, as quietly as if nothing had
happened.
“T like them when they can talk,†Alice said.
* None of them ever talk, where I come from.â€
“What sort of insects do you rejoice in,
where you come from?†the Gnat inquired.
“T don’t rejoice in insects at all,†Alice ex:
64 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
plained, “ because I’m rather afraid of them —
at least the large kinds. But I can tell you the
names of some of them.â€
“Of course they answer to their names?â€
the Gnat remarked carelessly.
“T never knew them do it.â€
“What's the use of their having names,â€
the Gnat said, “if they won’t answer to them?â€
“No use to them,†said Alice; “ but it’s use-
ful to the people that name them, I suppose.
If not, why do things have names at all?â€
“T can’t say,†the Gnat replied. “Further
on, in the wood down there, they’ve got no
names — however, go on with your list of in-
sects; you re wasting time.â€
“Well, there’s the Horse-fly,†Alice began,
counting off the names on her fingers.
“All right,†said the Gnat: “half way up
that bush you ’ll see a Rocking-horse-fly, if you
look. It’s made entirely of wood, and gets
about by swinging itself from branch te
branch.â€
LOOKING—GLASS. INSECTS. 65
“What does it live on?†“Alice asked, with
great curiosity.
“Sap and sawdust,†said the Gnat. “Go on
with the list.â€
Alice looked at the Rocking-horse-fly with
great interest, and made up her mind that it
must have been just repainted, it looked so
bright and sticky ; and then she went on.
“And there ’s the Dragon-fly.†;
“Look on the branch above your head,†said
the Gnat, “and there youll find a Snap-dragon-
fly. Its body is made of plum-pudding, its
66 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
wings of holly-leaves, and its head is a raisin
burning in brandy.â€
~ “And what does it live on?†Alice asked, as
before. .
“ Frumenty and mince-pie,†the Gnat replied;
“and it makes its nest in a Christmas-box.â€
“And then there ’s the Butterfly,†Alice
went on, after she had taken’a good look at the
insect with its head on fire, and had thought to
herself, “I wonder if that’s the reason insects
are so fond of flying into candles — because
they want to turn into Snap-dragon-flies ! â€
“ Crawling at your feet,†said the Gnat (Alice
LOOKING-GLASS INSECTS. 67
drew her feet back in some alarm), “you may
observe a Bread-and-butter-fly. Its wings are
thin slices of bread-and-butter, its body is a
crust, and its head is a lump of sugar.â€
«“ And what does zt live on?â€
é Ses et ==
OP Pied Roe
— ee ET
“ Weak tea with cream in it.â€
A new difficulty came into Alice’s head.
“Supposing it could n’t find any?†she sug-
gested.
«Then it would die, of course.â€
“But that must happen very often,†Alice
remarked thoughtfully.
“It always happens,†said the Gnat.-
68 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS,
After this, Alice was silent for a minute or
two, pondering. The Gnat amused itself mean-
while by humming round and round her head:
at last it settled again and remarked, “I sup-
pose you don’t want to lose your name?â€
“No, indeed,†Alice said, a little anxiously.
“ And ‘yet I don’t know,†the Gnat went on
in a careless tone: “only think how convenient
it would be if you. could manage to go home
withoutit! For instance, if the governess wanted
to call you to your lessons, she would call out
‘Come here—,’ and there she would have to
leave off, because there would n’t be any name
for her to call, and of course you would n’t have
to go, you know.â€
“ That would never do, I’m sure,†said Alice: °
“the governess would never think of excusing
me from my lessons for that. If she could n’t
remember my name, she’d call me ‘Miss!’ as
the servants do.â€
“Well, if she said ‘ Miss,’ and did n’t say
anything more,†the Gnat remarked, “ of course
LOOKING-—GLASS INSECTS. 69
you’d miss your lessons. That’s a joke. I-
wish you had made it.â€
“Why do you wish / had made it?†Alice
asked. “It’s a very bad one.â€
But the Gnat only sighed deeply, while two
large tears came rolling down its cheeks.
“You should n’t make jokes,†Alice said, “if
it makes you so unhappy.â€
Then came another of those melancholy little
sighs, and this time the poor Gnat really seemed
to have sighed itself away, for, when Alice looked
up, there was nothing whatever to be seen on
the twig, and,asshe was getting quite chilly with
sitting still so long, she got up and walked on.
She very soon came to an open field, with a
wood on the other side of it: it looked much
darker than the last wood, and Alice felt a Jittle
timid about going into it. However, on second
thoughts, she made up her mind to go on: “for
I certainly won’t go back,†she thought to her-
self, and this was the only way to the Eighth
Square.
70 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
“This must be the wood,†she said thought-
fully to herself, “where things have no names.
I wonder what ll become of my name when I go
in? I should n’t like to lose it at all — because
they ’d have to give me another, and it would be
almost certain to be an ugly one. But then the
fun would be trying to find the creature that
had got my old name! That’s just like the
advertisements, you know, when people lose
dogs — ‘answer's to the name of “ Dash:†had on
a brass collar’ — just fancy calling everything
you met ‘Alice,’ till one of them answered!
Only they would n’t answer at all, if they were
wise.â€
She was rambling on in this way when she
reached the wood: it looked very cool and
shady. “ Well, at any rate, it’s a great comfort,â€
she said asshe stepped under the trees, “ after
being so hot, to get into the— into the — into
what 2?†she went on, rather surprised at not
being able to think of the word. “ I mean to get
~ under the — under the — under this, you know!â€
LOOKING—GLASS INSECTS. 71
putting her hand on the trunk of the tree.
“ What doesit call itself, I wonder? I dobelieve
it’s got no name — why, to be sure it has n’t!â€
She stood silent fora minute, thinking: then
she suddenly began again. “Then it really has
happened, after all! And now, who am I? I
will remember, if I can! I’m determined to do
it!†But being determined did n’t help her
much, and all she could say, after a great deal
of puzzling, was, “ L, I know it begins with L!â€
Just then a Fawn ‘came wandering by: it
looked at Alice with its large gentle eyes, but
did n’tseem atall frightened. ‘“ Here then! Here
then!†Alice said, as she held out her hand and
tried to stroke it; but it only started back a
little, and then stood looking at her again.
“ What do you call yourself?†the Fawn said
at last. Such a soft sweet voice it had!
“J wish I knew!†thought poor Alice. She
answered, rather sadly, “ Nothing, just now.â€
“Think again,†it said: “that won’t do.â€
Alice thought, but nothing came of it. Please,
72 THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS.
would you tell me what you call yourself? †she
saidtimidly. “I think that might help a little.â€
“Ill tell you, if you'll come a little further
on,†the Fawn said. “I can’t remember here.â€
So they walked on together through the wood,
_ Alice with her arms clasped lovingly round the
LOOKING-GLASS INSECTS. 73
soft neck of the Fawn, till they.came out into
another open field, and here the Fawn gave
a sudden bound into the air, and shook itself
free from Alice’s arms. “J’m a Fawn!†it
cried out in a voice of delight, “and, dear me!
you’re a human child!†A sudden look of
alarm came into its beautiful brown eyes, and
in another moment it had darted away at full
speed.
Alice stood looking after it, almost ready to
cry with vexation at having lost her dear little
fellow-traveller so suddenly. ‘“ However, I know
my name now,†she said, “that’s some comfort.
Alice — Alice —I won’t forget it again. And
now, which of these finger-posts ought I to fol-
low, I wonder? â€
It was not a very difficult question to answer,
as there was only one road through the wood,
and the two finger-posts both pointed along it.
“Tl settle it,†Alice said to herself, “ when the
road divides and they point different ways.†.
But this did not seem likely to happen. She
74 THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS. |
went on and on, a long way, but wherever the
road divided there was sure to be two finger-
posts pointing the same way, one marked “ TO
TWEEDLEDUM’S HOUSE,†and the other
“TO THE HOUSE OF TWEEDLEDEE.â€
“T do believe,†said Alice at last, “ that they
live in the same house! I wonder I never
thought of that before — But I can’t stay there :
long. I'll just call and say ‘How d’ye do?’
and ask them the way out of the wood. If I
could only get to the Eighth Square before it
gets dark!†So she wandered on, talking to
herself as she went, till, on turning a sharp
corner, she came upon two fat little men, so
suddenly that she could not help starting back,
but in another moment she recovered herself,
feeling sure that they must be
‘CHAPTER IV.
TWEEDLEDUM AND TWEEDLEDEE.
Tury were standing under a tree, each with
an arm round the other’s neck, and Alice knew
which was which in a moment, because one of
them had “DUM†embroidered on his collar,
and the other “DEE.†“I suppose they’ve
each got ‘TWEEDLE’ round at the back of
the collar,†she said to herself.
They stood so still that she quite forgot they
were alive, and she was just looking round to
see if the word “ TWEEDLE†was written at
- the back of each collar, when she was startled
by a voice coming from the one marked “DUM.â€
“Tf you think we re wax-works,†he said,
“you ought to pay, you know. Wax-works
were n’t made to be looked at for nothing.
Nohow!â€
5
76 THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS.
_ “Contrariwise,†added the one marked
“DEE,†“if you think we’re alive, you ought
to speak.â€
“I’m sure I’m very sorry,†was all Alice
could say; for the words of the old song kept
‘Yinging through her head like the ticking of a
clock, and she could hardly help saying them
out loud : —
“Tweedledum and Tweedledee
Agreed to have a battle;
For Tweedledum said Tweedledee
Had spoiled his nice new rattle,
TWEEDLEDUM AND TWEEDLEDEE. TT
Just then flew down a monstrous Crow, |
As black as a tar-barrel;
Which frightened both the heroes so,
They quite forgot their quarrel.â€
“JT know what you’re thinking about,†said
Tweedledum: “ but it is n’t so, nohow.â€â€™
“ Contrariwise,†continued Tweedledee, “if
it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it
would be; but as it isn’t, it ain’t. That’s
logic.â€
“JT was thinking,’’ Alice said very politely,
“which is the best way out of this wood: it’s
getting so dark. Would you tell me, please ? â€â€™
But the fat little men only looked at each
other and grinned.
They looked so exactly like a couple of great
schoolboys, that Alice couldn’t help pointing her
finger at Tweedledum, and saying “First Boy!â€
“Nohow!� Tweedledum cried out briskly,
and shut his mouth up again with a snap.
“Next boy!†said Alice, passing on to Twee-
dledee, though she felt quite certain he would
K
78 THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS.
only shout out ‘Contrariwise!†and so he
did.
“You've begun wrong!†cried Tweedledum.
“The first thing in a visit is to say ‘How d’ ye
do?’ and shake hands!†And here the two
brothers gave each other a hug, and then they
held out the two hands that were free, to shake
hands with her.
Alice did not like shaking hands with either
of them first, for fear of hurting the other one’s
feelings; so, as the best way out of the difficulty,
she took hold of both hands at once: the next
moment they were dancing round in a ring.
This seemed quite natural (she remembered
afterwards), and she was not even surprised to
hear music playing: it seemed to come from the
tree under which they were dancing, and it was
done (as well as she could make it out) by the
branches rubbing one across the other, like
fiddles and fiddle-sticks.
“But it certainly was funny,†(Alice said
afterwards, when she was telling her sister the
TWEEDLEDUM AND TWEEDLEDEE. 79
history of all this,) “to find myself singing
‘Here we go round the mulberry bush.’ I don’t
know when I began it, but somehow I felt as if
I’d been singing it a long long time!â€
The other two dancers were fat, and very
goon out of breath. “Four times round is
9
enough for one dance,’ Tweedledum panted
out, and they left off dancing as suddenly as
they had begun: the music ee at the same
moment.
Then they let go of Alice’s hands, and stood
looking at her for a minute: there was a rather
awkward pause, as Alice didn’t know how to
begin a conversation with people she had just
been dancing with. “It would never do to
say ‘How d’ ye do?’ now,†she said to her-
self: “we seem to have got beyond that, some-
how!â€
“T hope you ’re not much tired?†she said at
‘last.
“Nohow. And thank you very much for
asking,†said Tweedledum.
380 . THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
“So much obliged!†added: Teecdiace
“ You like poetry ? â€
“Ye-es, pretty well—some poetry,†Alice
said doubtfully. ‘“ Would you tell me which |
road leads out of the wood?â€
“What shall I repeat to her?†said Tweedle-
dee, looking round at Tweedledum with great
solemn eyes, and not noticing Alice’s ques-
tion.
“<< The Walrus and the Carpenter’ is the
longest,†Tweedledum replied, giving his
brother an affectionate hug. *
Tweedledee began instantly :
“The sun was shining —’?
Here Alice ventured to interrupt him. “If
it’s very long,†she said, as politely as she
could, “ would on please tell me first which
road — â€
Tweedledee smiled gently, and heeen
again :
TWEEDLEDUM AND TWEEDLEDER. 81
**The sun was shining on the sea,
Shining with all his might :
He did his very best to make
The billows smooth and bright —
And this was odd, because it was
The middle of the night.
The moon was shining sulkily,
Because she thought the sun
Had got no business to be there
After the day was done —
‘It’s very rude of him,’ she said,
“To come and spoil the fun!’
The sea was wet as wet could be,
The sands were dry as dry.
You could not see a cloud, because
No cloud was in the sky: |
No birds were flying overhead —
There were no birds to fly.
The Walrus and the Carpenter
“Were walking close at hand;
They wept like anything to see -
Such quantities of sand:
‘If this were only cleared away,’
They said, ‘it would be grand!’
82 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS
‘If seven maids with seven mops
Swept it for half a year,
Do you suppose,’ the Walrus said,
‘That they could get it clear ?’
‘TI doubt it,’ said the Carpenter,
And shed a bitter tear.
©O Oysters, come and walk with us!’
The Walrus did beseech. A
_‘A pleasant walk, a pleasant talk,
Along the briny beach:
We cannot do with more than four,
To give a hand to each.
TWEEDLEDUM AND TWEEDLEDEE. 83
. The eldest Oyster looked at him,
‘But never a word he said:
The eldest Oyster winked his eye,
And shook his heavy head —
Meaning to say he did not choose
. To leave the oyster-bed. —
*... But four young Oysters hurried up,
AL éager for the treat:
Their coats were brushed, their faces washed,
Their shoes were clean and neat —
_And this was odd, because, you know,
’ They hadn’t any feet.
£
Four other Oysters followed them,
And yet another four ; :
And thick and fast they came at last,
And more, and more, and more —
All hopping through the frothy waves,
And scrambling to the shore.
The Walrus and the Carpenter
Walked on a mile or so, |
' And then they rested on a rock
Conveniently low: ‘
And all the little Oysters stood
_ And waited in a row.
84 THROUGH THE LOOKING-—GLASS..
* The time has come,’ the Walrus said,
‘To talk of many things:
Of shoes — and ships — and sealing-wax—
Of cabbages — and kings —~ ;
And why the sea is boiling hot —
And whether pigs have wings.’
‘But wait a bit,‘ the Oysters cried,
Before we have our chat ;
For some of us are out of breath,
And all of us are fat!’
© No hurry!’ said the Carpenter.
They thanked him much for that.
TWEEDLEDUM AND TWEEDLEDEE. 85
‘A loaf of bread,’ the Walrus said,
‘Is what we chiefly need :
Pepper and vinegar besides
. Are very good indeed — ‘
Now if you’re ready, Oysters dear,
We can begin to feed.’
‘But not.on us!’ the Oysters cried,
: Turning a, little blue.
After such kindness, that would be
A dismal thing to do!’
“The night is fine,’ the Walrus said.
‘Do you admire the view ?
‘It was so kind of you to come!
And you are very nice!’
The Carpenter said nothing but
‘Cut us another slice:
I wish you were not quite so deaf —
I’ve had to ask you twice!’
“It seems a shame,’ the Walrus said,
“To play them such a trick,
After we ’ve brought them out so far,
And made them trot so quick!â€
The Carpenter said nothing but
‘The butter’s spread too thick!’
86 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
‘TY weep for you,’ the Walrus said:
‘I deeply sympathize.’
With sobs and tears he sorted out
Those of the largest size,
Holding his pocket-handkerchief
Before his streaming eyes.
‘O Oysters,’ said the Carpenter,
‘Youve had a pleaanst run!
Shall we be trotting home again ?’
But answer came there none —
And this was scarcely odd, because
They ’d eaten every one.â€
TWEEDLEDUM AND TWEEDLEDEE. 8T
“J like the Walrus best,†said Alice: “be-
cause you see he was a little sorry for the poor
oysters.â€
“He ate more than the Carpenter, though,â€
said Tweedledee. “You see he held his hand-
kerchief in front, so that the Carpenter could n’t
count how many he took: contrariwise.â€
“That was mean!†Alice said indignantly.
«Then I like the Carpenter best —if he didn’t
eat so many as the Walrus.†|
“But he ate as many as he could get,†said
Tweedledum.
This was a puzzler. After a pause, Alice
began, “ Well! They were both very unpleas-
ant characters —†Here she checked herself in
some alarm, at hearing something that sounded
to her like the puffing of a large steam-engine
in the wood near them, though she feared it
was more likely to be a wild beast. “ Are there
any lions or tigers about here?†she asked
timidly.
“It’s only the Red King snoring,†said Twee-
diedee.
88 THROUGH THE LOOKING-—GLASS.
«Come and look at him!†the brothers cried,
and they each took one of Alice’s hands, and
led her up to where the King was sleeping.
“Ts n’t he a lovely sight?†said Tweedledum.
Asia a
ae iY a
; : ay Mh
Ut 3
IS 4
VME Ug.
a Gf ior
tl Confer
omrnouy thei =
- Lh
es ) POU 1d
Yu AN, wy
eg?
ppanytitig \
Alice could n’t say honestly that he was. He
had a tall red night-cap on, with a tassel, and.
he was lying crumpled up into a sort of untidy
heap, and snoring aloud — “fit to snore his
head off!†as Tweedledum remarked.
“T’m afraid hell catch cold with lying on
TWEEDLEDUM AND TWEEDLEDEE. 89
the damp grass,†said Alice, who was a very
thoughtful little girl.
“He's dreaming now,†said Tweedledee:
“and what do you think he’s dreaming
about? â€
Alice said, “ Nobody can guess that.â€
“Why, about you!†Tweedledee exclaimed,
clapping his hands triumphantly. “ And if he
left off dreaming about you, where do you sup-
pose youd be?â€
“Where J am now, of course,†said Alice.
“Not you!†Tweedledee retorted contempt-
uously. “You ’d be nowhere. Why, you ’re
only a sort of thing in his dream!â€
“Jf that there King was to wake,†added
Tweedledum, “you’d go out— bang!—just
like a candle!â€
“T should n’t!’? Alice exclaimed indig-
nantly. “Besides, if I’m only a sort of thing
in his dream, what are you, I should like to
know?â€â€™
“ Ditto,’’ said Tweedledum.
90 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
“Ditto, ditto!’’ cried Tweedledee.
He shouted this so loud that Alice could n’t
help saying, “Hush! You ‘ll be waking him,
I’m afraid, if you make so much noise.â€
“ Well, it’s no use your talking about waking
him,â€â€™? said Tweedledum, “when you’re only
one of the things in his dream. You know
very well you ’re not real.â€
“T am real!’’ said Alice, and began to cry.
“You won’t make yourself a bit realler by
crying,’ Tweedledee remarked : “there ’s noth-
ing to cry about.â€
“If I was n’t real,’ Alice said —halflaugh-
ing through her tears, it all seemed so ridiculous
—TJ should n’t be able to cry.â€
“I hope you don’t suppose those are real
tears??? Tweedledum interrupted in a tone of
great contempt.
“I know they ’re talking nonsense,†Alice
thought to herself: “and it’s foolish to cry
about it? So she brushed away her tears, and
went on as cheerfully as she could, “ At any
{WEEDLEDUM AND TWEEDLEDEE. 91+
rate, I ’d better be getting out of the wood, for
really it’s coming on very dark. Do you think
it’s going to rain?â€
Tweedledum spread a large umbrella over
himself and his brother, and looked up into it.
“No, I don’t think it is,†he said: “at least —
not under here. Nohow.â€
“ But it may rain outside ?â€
“JTé may —if it chooses,†said Tweedledee:
“we ve no objection. Contrariwise.â€
“ Selfish things!’ thought Alice, and she was
just going to say “ Good-night †and leave them,
when Tweedledum sprang out from under the
umbrella, and seized her by the wrist.
“Do you see that?†he said, in a voice chok-
ing with passion, and his eyes grew large and
yellow all in a moment, as he pointed with a
trembling finger at a small white thing lying
under the tree.
“Tt’s only a rattle,†Alice said, after a careful
examination of the little white thing. “Not a
rattle-snake, you know,†she added hastily, think-
92 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
ing that he was frightened: “ only an old rattle
— quite old and broken.â€â€™
oe I knew it was!†cried Tweedledum, begin-
ning to stamp about wildly and tear his hair.
“Tt’s spoilt, of course!†Here he looked at
: k fel
A
_Tweedledee, who immediately sat down on the
ground, and tried to hide himself under the
umbrella. :
Alice laid her hand upon his arm, and said in
-a soothing tone, “ You need n’t be so angry about
an old rattle.â€
TWEEDLEDUM AND TWEEDLEDEE. 93
“But it is n’t old!’? Tweedledum cried, in a
greater fury than ever. “It’s new, I tell you
—I bought it yesterday —my nice Nsw RAT-—
TLE!†and his voice rose to a perfect scream.
All this time Tweedledee was trying his best
to fold up the umbrella, with himself in it:
which was such an extraordinary thing to do,
that it quite took off Alice’s attention from the
angry brother. But he could n’t quite succeed,
and it ended in his rolling over, bundled up in
the umbrella, with only his head out; and there
he lay, opening and shutting his mouth and his
large eyes — “looking more like a fish than any-
thing else,†Alice thought.
“Of course you agree to have a battle?â€
Tweedledum said in a calmer tone.
“J suppose so,†the other sulkily replied, as he
crawled out of the umbrella: “only she must
help us to dress up, you know.†:
So the two brothers went off hand-in-hand
into the wood, and returned in a minute with.
their arms full of things—such as bolsters,
94 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
blankets, hearth-rugs, table-cloths, dish-covers,
and coal-scuttles. “I hope you’re a good hand
at pinning and tying strings?†Tweedledum
remarked. “ Every one of these things has got
to go on, somehow or other.â€
_ Alice said afterwards she had never seen such -
a fuss made about anything in all her life —
the way those two bustled about— and the
quantity of things they put on — and the trouble
they gave her in tying strings and fastening
buctons. “Really, they ’1l be more like bundles
of old clothes than anything else, by the time
they ’re ready!†she said to herself, as she
arranged a bolster round the neck of Tweedle-
dee, “to keep his head from being cut off,†as
he said. ;
“You know,†he added very gravely, “it’s one
of the most serious things that can possibly hap-
pen to one in a battle — to get one’s head cut
off.â€â€
Alice laughed loud; but she managed to turn
itinto a cough, for fear of hurting his feelings.
TWEEDLEDUM AND TWEEDLEDEE. 95
et te aber:
COALS GE
aria es a =
gee
' «Do I look very pale?†said Tweedledum,
coming up to have his helmet tied on. (He
called it a helmet, though it certainly looked
much more like a saucepan.)
“ Well — yes —a little,†Alice replied gently.
“J’m very brave generally,†he went on in
a low voice: “only to-day I happen to have a
headache.â€â€™
“And I’ve gota toothache!†said Tweedle-
dee, who had overheard the remark. “I’m far
worse than you!â€
|
|
The Baldwin Library
University
RmB x
Florida
oo
-TuroucH THE Looxinc-Gtass,
AND f
WHAT ALICE FOUND THERE.
BY
LEWIS CARROLL,
AUTHOR OF “ ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND.â€
NEW YORK: 46 East 147TH Street.
THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO,
BOSTON: ‘100 PurcHast STREET.
Copyricut, 1893,
By THOMAS Y, CROWELL & CO.
Noriooot Jpregs :
J. 8. Cushing & Co. — Berwick & Smith,
Boston, Mass., U.S.A.
Cup of the pure unclouded brow
And dreaming eyes of wonder!
‘Though time be fleet, and I and thou
Are half a life asunder,
Thy loving smile will surely hail
The love-gift of a fairy-tale.
I have not seen thy sunny face,
Nor heard thy silver laughter;
No thought of me shall find a place
In thy young life’s hereafter —
Enough that now thou wilt not fail
To listen to my fairy-tale.
A tale begun in other days,
When summer suns were glowing —
A simple chime, that served to time
The rhythm of our rowing —
Whose echoes live in memory yet,
Though envious years would say ‘‘ forget.â€
Come, hearken then, ere voice of dread,
With bitter tidings laden,
e
Shall summon to unwelcome bed
A melancholy maiden!
We are but older children, dear,
Who fret to find our bedtime near.
Without, the frost, the blinding snow,
The storm-wind’s moody madness —
Within, the firelight’s ruddy glow
And childhood’s nest of gladness.
The magic words shall hold thee fast:
Thou shalt not heed the raving blast.
And though the shadow of a sigh
_May tremble through the story,
For “ happy summer days� gone by,
And vanish’d summer glory —
It shall not touch with breath of bale
The pleasance of our fairy tale.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER PAGE
I, Looxine-auass Houss........ tL
Il Tur Garpen or Live Frowmrs .-. . . 35
III. Looxine-eiass Insects ....... 55
IV. TWEEDLEDUM AND TWEEDLEDER .... 5
V. Woon AnD WATER . ~~... sss 99
VI. Humpry Dumpry .......... 112i
VII. Tur Lion AND THE UNICORN » . 144
VIII. ‘It’s My Own Inventionâ€. . ... . 164
EXS OS QUEBN A LION 5 35 oc aplenye aula relee a lO
OSU AIRING 5.0. ee Sa eee : 222
SKC [Se WVEAIOEN Gissig as 2a iene see teens pansvemas 223
XII. WHIcH DREAMED IT?. . 2. 2 6 © 6 « 228
DRAMATIS PERSONAL
(As arranged before commencement of game.)
WHITE.
PIECES.
Tweedledee .
Unicorn
Sheep
W. Queen.
W. King .
Aged man
W. Knight
Tweedledum
——
PAWNS:
Daisy.
Haigha.
Oyster.
cc Lily.â€
Fawn.
Oyster.
Hatta.
Daisy.
RED.
PAWNS. PIECES.
Daisy - Humpty Dumpty.
Messenger, Carpenter.
Oyster. . Walrus.
Tiger-lily, R. Queen.
Rose. . R. King.
Oyster . Crow.
Frog. . RB. Knight.
Daisy . Lion.
i
oo bom
CS oe
S
FES SOOT
RED.
a
wat
Be
Cy
ae wale
Be ee
ios
ae oe
eee
ZY
Vi
see
WHITE,
White Pawn (Alice) to play, and win in eleven moves.
PAGE
. Alice meets R.Q. . 35
. Alice through Q.’s
3d (by railway) . 48
to Q.’s 4th (Twee-
‘dledum and Twee-
dledee). . . 54
Alice meets W. Q.
(with shawl) . ste
Alice to Q.’s 5th
(shop, river pahep) 101
Alice to Qs 6th
Cree Dump-
Aline to Q’s 7th
(forest). . . 155
W. Kt. takes R. Kt. 161
Alice to Q.’s 8th
(coronation) . . 183
Alice becomes Q’en, 196
Alice castles (feast) 204
Alice takes R
and wins . . 215
2
i)
10.
1.
. Ww.
ee
PAGE
R.Q. to K. Rvs 4th. 45
Q. to Q.B.’s 4th
(after shawl). . 91
. W.Q. to Q.B.’s 3th
(becomes sheep) . 100
W.Q. to K.B.’s 8th
(leaves egg on
shelf)
. W.Q. to Q.B. ’s 8th
(fying from R. Bt.) 149
R.Kt. to K.’s 2d(ch) 158
- ii
W.Kt. toK.B.’s 5th, 182
R.Q. to K.’s sq. (ex-
amination) . .1
Queen’s castle .
Ww. Q. to Q. RB. 6th
(soup) . ee
CHAPTER I.
LOOKING-—GLASS HOUSE.
One thing was certain, that the white kitten
had had nothing to do with it:—it was the
black kitten’s fault entirely. For the white
kitten had been having its face washed by the
old cat for the last quarter of an hour (and bear-
ing it pretty well, considering) ; so you see that
it couldn’t have had any hand in the mischief.
The way Dinah washed her children’s faces
i 11 3
12 | THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS.
was this: first she held the poor thing down by
its ear with one paw, and then with the other
paw she rubbed its face all over, the wrong way,
beginning at the nose: and just now, as I said,
she was hard at work on the white kitten, which
was lying quite still and trying to purr = no
doubt feeling that it was all meant for its good.
But the black kitten had been finished with
earlier in the afternoon, and so, while Alice was
- sitting curled up in a corner of the great arm-
chair, half talking to herself and half asleep, the
kitten had been having a grand game of romps
with the ball of worsted Alice had been trying
to wind up, and had been rolling it up and
down till it had all come undone again, and
there it was, spread over the hearth-rug, all
knots and tangles, with the kitten running
after its own tail in the middle.
“Oh, you wicked wicked little thing!†cried
Alice, catching up the kitten and giving it a
little kiss to make it understand that it was in
disgrace. “Really, Dinah ought to have taught
LOOKING-GLASS HOUSE. 138
you better manners! You ought, Dinah, -you ©
know you ought!†she added, looking reproach-
fully at the old. cat, and speaking in as cross @
voice as she could manage— and then she
scrambled back into the arm-chair, taking the
kitten and the worsted with her, and began
winding up the ball again. But she didn’t get
on very fast, as she was talking all the time,
sometimes to the kitten, and sometimes to herself.
Kitty sat very demurely on her knee, pretending
to watch the progress of the winding, and now
and then putting out one paw and gently touch- |
ing the ball, as if it would be glad to help if it
might.
“Do you know what to-morrow is, Kitty?â€
Alice began. “Youd have guessed if you ’d
- been up in the window with me — only Dinah
was making you tidy, so you could n’t. I was -
watching the boys getting in sticks for the bon- .
fire —and it wants plenty of sticks, Kitty!
Only it got so cold, and it snowed so, they had
to leave off. Never mind, Kitty, we “ll go and
14 THROUGH THE LOOKING-—GLASS.
see the bonfire to-morrow.†Here Alice wound
two or three turns of the worsted round the kit-
ten’s neck, just to see how it would look: this ~
led to a scramble, in which the ball rolled down
upon the floor, and yards and yards of it got
unwound again.
“Do you know, I was so angry, Kitty,†Alice
‘went on, as soon as they were comfortably
settled again, “ when I saw all the mischief you
had been doing, I was very nearly opening the
window, and putting you out into the snow!
And you ’d have deserved it, you little mis-
chievous darling! What have you got to say
for yourself? Now don’t interrupt me 1†she
went on, holding up one finger. “I’m going to
tell you all your faults. Number one: you
squeaked twice while Dinah was washing your
face this morning. Now you can’t deny it,
Kitty: I heard you! What’s that you say?†.
(pretending that the kitten was speaking.)
“Her paw went into your eye? Well, that ’s
your fault, for keeping your eyes open — if
LOOKING-GLASS HOUSE. 15
you ’d shut them tight up, it would n’t have
happened. Now, don’t make any more excuses
PP ’
but listen! Number two: you pulled Snowdrop
away by the tail just as I had put down the
saucer of milk before her! What, you were
16 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
thirsty, were you? How do you know she
was n’t thirsty too? Now for number three:
you unwound every bit of the worsted while I
wasn’t looking!
“That ’s three faults, Kitty, and you ’ve not
been punished for any of them yet. You know
I’m saving up all your punishments for Wednes-
day week — Suppose they had saved up all my
punishments!†she went on, talking more to
herself than the kitten. “ What would they do
at the end of a year? I should be sent to
prison, I suppose, when the day came. Or— ©
let me see —suppose each punishment was to’
be going without a dinner : then, when the mis-
erable day came, I should have to go without
fifty dinners at once! Well, I should n’t mind
that much! I’d far rather go without them
than eat them! ;
“Do you hear the snow against the window-
panes, Kitty? How nice and soft it sounds!
Just as if some one was kissing the window all
over outside. JI wonder if the snow doves the
LOOKING-—GLASS HOUSE. 17
trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently ?
And then it covers them up snug, you know,
with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, ‘ Go to
sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.’
And when they wake up in the summer, Kitty,
they-dress themselves all in green, and dance
about— whenever the wind blows — oh, that ’s
very pretty!†cried Alice, dropping the ball of
worsted to clasp her hands. “And I do so wish
it was true! I’m sure the woods look sleepy
in the autumn, when the leaves are getting
brown.
« Kitty, can you play chess? Now, don’t
smile, my dear, I’m asking it seriously. Be-
cause, when we were playing just now, you
watched just as if you understood it: and
when I said ‘Check!’ you purred! Well it
was a nice check, Kitty, and really I might
have won, if it had n’t been for that nasty
Knight, that came wriggling down among my
pieces. Kitty, dear, let’s pretend —†And here
I wish I could tell you half the things Alice
18 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS. .
used to say, beginning with her favorite phrase
“Let ’s pretend.†She had had quite a long
argument with her sister only the day before —
all because Alice had begun with “ Let’s pre-
tend we ’re kings and queens ;â€
and her sister,
who liked being very exact, had argued that
they could n’t, because there were only two of
them, and Alice had been reduced at last to say,
“ Well, you can be one of them then, and Ill
be all the rest.†And once she had really
frightened her old nurse by shouting suddenly
in her ear, “ Nurse! Do let’s pretend that I’m
a hungry hyena, and you’re a bone!â€
But this is taking us away from Alice’s
speech to the kitten. “Let’s pretend that
you ’re the Red Queen, Kitty! Do you know,
I think if you sat up and folded your arms,
you ’d look exactly like her. Now do try,
there ’s a dear!†And Alice got the Red
Queen off the table, and set it up before the
kitten as a model for it to imitate: however,
the thing didn’t succeed, principally, Alice said,
‘ LOOKING-GLASS HOUSE. 19
because the kitten would n’t fold its arms prop-
erly. So, to punish it, she held it up to the
Looking-glass, that it might see how sulky it
was — “and if you ’re not good directly,’’ she
added, “I ’l] put you through into Looking-glass
House. How would you like that ?
“Now, if you ‘ll only attend, Kitty, and not
talk so much, I ’ll tell you all my ideas about
Looking-glass House. First, there ’s the room
you can see through the glass — that ’s just the
same as our drawing-room, only the things go
the other way. I can see all of it when I get
upon a chair —all but the bit just behind the
fireplace. Oh! I do so wish I could see that bit!
I want so much to know whether they ’ve a fire
in the winter: you never can tell, you know,
unless our fire smokes, and then smoke comes
up in that room too— but that may be only
pretence, just to make it look as if they had a
fire. Well then, the books are something like
our books, only the words go the wrong way; I
know that, because I ’ve held up one of our
20 THROUGH THE LOOKING-—GLASS.
books to the glass, and then they held up one
in the other room. |
“How would you like to live in Looking-
glass House, Kitty? I wonder if they ’d give
you milk in there? Perhaps Looking-glass
milk is n’t good to drink — But oh, Kitty! now
we come to the passage. You can just see a
little peep of the passage in Looking-glass
House, if you leave the door of our drawing.
room wide open: and it’s very like our pas-
sage as faras you can see, only you know it
may be quite different on beyond. Oh, Kitty!
how nice it would be if we could only get.
through into Looking-glass House! I’m sure _
it’s got, oh! such beautiful things init! Let’s-
pretend there ’s a way of getting through into
“it, somehow, Kitty. Let’s pretend the glass
has got all soft like gauze, so that we can get
through. Why, it’s turning into a sort of
mist now, Ideclare! It ll be easy enough to
get through —†She was up on the chimney-
piece while she said this, though she hardly
LOOKING-GLASS: HOUSE. 91
knew how she had got there. And certainly
the glass was beginning to melt away, just like
a bright silvery mist.
In another moment Alice was through the
22 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
glass, and had jumped lightly down into the
Looking-glass room. The very first thing she
did was to look whether there was a fire in the
fireplace, and she was quite pleased to find that
LOOKING-GLASS HOUSE. 93
there was areal one, blazing away as brightly
as the one she had left behind. “So I shall be
as warm here as I was in the old room,†thought
Alice: “warmer, in fact, because there ’ll be no
one here to scold me away from the fire. Oh,
what fun it ’ll be, when they see me through
the glass in here, and can’t get at me!â€
‘Then she began looking about, and noticed
that what could be seen from the old room was
quite common and uninteresting, but that all
the rest was as different as possible. For in-
stance, the pictures on the wall next the fire
seemed to be all alive, and the very clock on
the chimney-piece (you. know you can only see
the back of it in the Looking-glass) had got
the face of a little old man, and grinned at
her.
“They don’t keep this room so tidy as the
other,†Alice thought to herself, as she noticed
several of the chessmen down in the hearth
among the cinders: but in another moment, with
_ a little “Oh!†of surprise, she was down on her
24 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
hands and knees watching them. The chessmen
were walking about, two and two!
‘« Here are the Red King and the Red Queen,â€
Alice said (in a whisper, for fear of frightening
them), “‘and there are the White King and the
White Queen sitting on the edge of the shovel
—and here are two Castles walking arm in
arm—TI don’t think they can hear me,†she '
went on as she put her head closer down, “and
. LOOKING—GLASS HOUSE.. 25
I ’m nearly sure they can’t see me. I feel
somehow as if I were invisible —â€
Here something began squeaking on the
table behind Alice, and made her turn her
head just in time to see one of the White Pawns
roll over and begin kicking: she watched it
with great curiosity to see what would happen
next.
“Ti is the voice of my child!†the White
Queen cried out, as she rushed past the King, so
violently that she knocked him over among the
cinders. “My precious Lily! My’ imperial
kitten!†and she began scrambling wildly up
the side of the fender.
“Imperial fiddlestick!†said the King, rub-
bing his nose, which had been hurt by the fall.
He had a right to be a little annoyed with the
Queen, for he was covered with ashes from
head to foot.
Alice was very anxious to be of use; and, as
the poor little Lily was nearly screaming herself
into a fit, she hastily picked up the Queen and
26 THROUGH THE LOOKING-—GLASS.
set her on the table by the side of her noisy
little daughter.
The Queen gasped, and sat down: the rapid
journey through the air had quite taken away
her breath, and for a minute or two she could
do nothing but hug the little Lily in silence.
As soon as she had recovered her breath a little,
she called out to the White King, who was
sitting sulkily among the ashes, “ Mind the vol-
cano!†|
“What voleano?†said the King, looking up
anxiously into the fire, as if he thought that was
the most likely place to find one.
“ Blew —me—up,†panted the Queen, who
was still a little out of breath. “Mind you
come up— the regular way — don’t get blown
“up!â€
Alice watched the White King as he slowly
struggled up from bar to bar, till at last she
said, “ Why, youll be hours and hours getting
to the table, at that rate. I’d far better help
you, had n’t 1?†. But the King took no notice
LOOKING-GLASS HOUSE. QT
of the question: it was quite clear that he could
neither hear her nor see her.
So Alice picked him up very gently, and
lifted him across more slowly than she had
lifted the Queen, that she might n’t take his
breath away; but, before she put him on the
table, she thought she might as well dust him a
little, he was so covered with ashes.
She said afterwards that she had never seen in
28 THROUGH THE LOOKING-—GLASS.
all her life such a face as the King made, when
he found himself held in the air by an in-
visible hand, and being dusted: he was far too
much astonished to cry out, but his eyes and —
his mouth went on getting larger and larger,
and rounder and rounder, till her hand shook
so with laughing that she nearly let him drop
upon the floor. -
“ Oh! please don’t make such faces, my dear !â€
she cried out, quite forgetting that the King
could n’t hear her. “You make me laugh so
that I can hardly hold you! And don’t keep
your mouth so wide open! .All the ashes will
get into it—there, now I think you ’re tidy
enough!†she added, as she smoothed his hair,
and set him upon the table near the Queen.
The King immediately fell flat on his back
and lay perfectly still; and Alice was a little
alarmed at what she had done, and went round
the room to see if she could find any water to
throw over him. However, she could find
nothing but a bottle of ink, and when she got
LOOKING-GLASS HOUSE. 29
back with it she found he had recovered, and
he and the Queen were talking together in a
frightened whisper—so low, that Alice could
hardly hear what they said.
The King was saying, “I assure you, my
dear, I turned cold to the very ends of my
whiskers !â€
To which the Queen replied, “You have n’t
got any whiskers.â€
“The horror of that moment,†the King
went on, “I shall never, never forget |â€
“You will, though,†the Queen said, “if you
‘don’t make a memorandum of it.â€
Alice looked. -on with great interest as the
King took an enormous memorandum-book out
of his pocket, and began writing. A sudden °
thought struck her, and she took hold of the
end of the pencil, which came some “way over
his shoulder, and began writing for him.
The poor King looked puzzled and unhappy,
and struggled with the pencil for some time
without saying anything; but Alice was too
hy
80 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
strong for him, and at last he panted out, “My
dear! Ireally must get athinner pencil. I can’t
manage this one a bit; it writes all manner of
things that I don’t intend —â€
“ What manner of things?†said the Queen,
looking over the book (in which Alice had put
“The White Knight is sliding down the poker.
He balances very badlyâ€). ‘ That’s not a mem-
orandum of your feelings ! â€
There was a book lying near Alice on the
table, and while she sat watching the White
LOOKING-—GLASS HOUSE. 31
King (for she was still a little anxious about
him, and had the ink all ready to throw over
him, in case he fainted again), she turned over
the leaves, to find some part that she could
read, “for it’s all in some language I don’t
know,†she said to herself.
It was like this.
YHOOWASGGAL
gevod Ydiile edt bas .gillixd esw T*
zoedew odd ai oldmig bas o1yg bid
eovogoiod ed? stow Yeomion ILA
-edstgivo adisi sotom odd boA
She puzzled over this for some time, but at
last a bright thought struck her. “Why, it’s a
Looking-glass book, of course! And if I hold
it up to a glass, the words will all go the right
way again.â€
This was the poem that Alice read: —
JABBERWOCKY.
*T was brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe 3
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe,
82 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
“Beware the J: abberwock, my son! - 2
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch !
- Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch !�
He took his vorpal sword in hand :
Long time the manxome foe he sought —
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.
And as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
‘He went galumphing back.
“ And hast thou slain the Jabberwock ?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy !
O frabjous day! Callooh!. Callay!â€
He chortled in his joy.
°T was brillig, and the slithy toves ~~
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
' An& the mome.raths outgrabe.
‘* Beware the Jabberwock my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!’
LOOKING—GLASS HOUSE. 35
“It seems very pretty,’ she said when she
had finished it, “but it ’s rather hard to
understand!’? (You see she did n’t like to
confess, even to herself, that she could n’t make
it out at all). “Somehow it seems to fill
my head with ideas—only I don’t exactly
know what they are! However, some-
body killed something: that’s clear, at any
rate —â€
“But oh!†thought Alice, suddenly jumping
up, “if I don’t make haste I shall have to go
back through the Looking-glass, before I ’ve
seen what the rest of the house is like! Let’s
have a look at the garden first!’ She was out
of the room in a moment, and. ran down-stairs
— or, at least, it was n’t exactly running, but
a new invention for getting down-stairs quickly
and easily, as Alice said to herself. She just
kept the tips of her fingers on the hand-rail,
and floated gently down without even touching
the stairs with her feet; then she floated on
through the hall, and would haye gone straight
34 THROUGH THE LOOKING-—GLASS.
out at the door in the same way, if she had n’t
caught hold of the door-post. She was getting
a little giddy with so much floating in the air,
and was rather glad to find herself walking
again in the natural way.
CHAPTER II.
THE GARDEN OF LIVE FLOWERS.
“I gHOULD see the garden far better,†said -
Alice to herself, “if I could get to the top of
that hill: and here’s a path that leads straight
to it —at least, no, it does n’t do that —†(after
going a few yards along the path, and turning
several sharp corners), “ but I suppose it will
at last. But how curiously it twists! It’s
more like a corkscrew than a path! Well,
this turn goes to the hill, I suppose —no, it
does n’t! This goes straight back to the house !
Well then, I'll try it the other way.â€
And so she did: wandering up and down,
and trying turn after turn, but always coming
back to the house, do what she would. Indeed,
once, when she turned a corner rather more
35
36 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
quickly than usual, she ran against it before
she could stop herself.
“It’s no use tal. ing about it,†Alice said,
looking up at the hous. and pretending it was
arguing with her. “I’m not going in again yet.
I know I should have to get through the Look-
ing-glass again — back into the old room — and
there ’d be an end of all my adventures ! â€
So, resolutely turning her back upon the
house, she set out once more down the path,
determined to keep straight on till she got to
the hill. For a few minutes all went on well,
and she was just saying, “I really shall do it this
time —†when the path gave a sudden twist and
shook itself (as she described it afterwards),
and the next moment’she found herself actually
walking in at the door.
— « Oh, it’s too bad!†she cried. “I never saw
such a house for getting i. the way! Never!â€
However, there was the hill full in sight, so
there was nothing to be done but start again.
This time she came upon a large flower-bed, with
THE GARDEN OF LIVE FLOWERS. 37
a border of daisies, and a willow-tree growing in
the middle.
“O Tiger-lily!†said Alice, addressing herself ,
to one that was waving gracefully about in
the wind, “I wish you could talk!â€
“We can talk,’ said the Tiger-lily: “when
there’s anybody worth talking to.â€
Alice was. so astonished that she could n’t
speak for a minute: it quite seemed to take her
breath away. At length, as the Tiger-lily only:
went on waving about, she spoke again, in a
timid voice — almost in a whisper. “ And can
all the flowers talk?â€
“As well as you can,†said the Tiger-lily.
“ And a great deal louder.â€
“It isn’t manners for us to begin, you know,â€
said the Rose, “and I really was wondering
when you’d speak! Said I to myself, ‘ Her face
has got some sense in it, though it’s not a clever
one!’ Still oom ’re the right color, and that
goes a long way.â€
“T don’t care about the color,†the Tigerdily
38 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
-remarked.. “If only her
petals curled up a little
more, she’d be all right.â€
cae
elle a
iain
Alice did n’t like being criticised, so she be-
gan asking questions. “Are n’t you sometimes
Wh
frightened at being planted out here, with no-
body to take care of you?â€
THE GARDEN OF LIVE FLOWERS. 89
' «There’s the tree in the middle,†said the
Rose: “ what else is it good for?â€
“But what could it do, if any danger came?â€
Alice asked.
“Tt could bark,†said the Rose.
“It says ‘Bough-wough!’†cried a Daisy.
“ That’s why its branches are called boughs!â€
“Did n’t you know that?†eried another
Daisy; and here they all began shouting to-
gether, till the air seemed quite full of little
shrill voices. “Silence, every one of you!â€
cried the Tiger-lily, waving itself passionately
from side to side, and trembling with excite-
ment. ‘They know I can’t get at them!†it
panted, bending its quivering head towards
Alice, “or they would n’t dare to doit!†.
“Never mind!†Alice said in a soothing tone;
and stooping down to the daisies, who were just
beginning again, she whispered, “If you don’t
hold your tongues, I’ll pick you!â€
There was silence in a moment, and several
of the pink daisies turned white.
40 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS,.
«“That’s right!†said the Tigerlily. “The
daisies are worst of all. When one speaks,
they all begin together, and it’s enough to make
one wither to hear the way they go on!â€
“How is it you can all talk so nicely ?â€
Alice said, hoping to get it into a better temper
by a compliment. “I’ve been in many gardens
before, but none of the flowers could talk.â€
“Put your hand down, and feel the ground,â€
said the Tigerlily. “Then youll know
why.â€
Alice did so. “It’s very hard,†she said,
“but I don’t see what that has to do with it.â€
“In most gardens,†the Tiger-lily said, “they
make the beds too soft —so that the flowers are
always asleep.â€
This sounded a very good reason, and Alice
was quite pleased to knowit. “Inever thought
of that before!†she said.
“It’s my opinion that you never think at ail,â€
the Rose said in a rather severe tone.
“I never saw anybody that looked stupider,â€
THE GARDEN OF LIVE FLOWERS. 41
a Violet said, so suddenly, that Alice quite’
jumped; for it had n’t spoken before. :
'“ Hold your tongue!†cried the Tiger-lily.
“ As if you ever saw anybody ! You keep your
head under the leaves, and snore away there,
till you know no more what’s going on in the
world, than if you were a bud!â€
“Are there any more people in the garden
besides me?†Alice said, not choosing to notice
the Rose’s last remark.
“There ’s one other flower in the garden that
can move about like you,†said the Rose. «J
wonder how you do it—†(You're always
wondering,†said the Tiger-lily), “but she’s
more bushy than you are.â€
‘Is she like me?†Alice asked eagerly, for
the thought crossed her mind, “ There ’s another
little girl in the garden, somewhere!†_
“Well, she has the same awkward shape as
you,†the Rose said; “but she’s redder —and
her petals are shorter, I think.â€
“Her petals are done up close, almost like
42 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
a dahlia,†the Tiger-lily interrupted: “not
tumbled about anyhow, like yours.â€
“But that’s not your fault,†the Rose addéd
kindly: “ you’re beginning to fade, you know
—and then one can’t help one’s petals getting
a little untidy.â€
Alice didn’t like this idea at all: so, to
change the subject, she asked “Does she ever
come out here?â€
“J dare say you'll see her soon,†said the
Rose. ‘She ’s one of the thorny kind.â€
“Where does she wear the thorns?†Alice
asked with some curiosity.
“Why, all round her head, of course,†the
Rose replied. “I was wondering you had n’t
got some too. I thought it was the regular
rule.â€
?
“She’s coming!†cried the Larkspur. “J
hear her footstep, thump, thump, along the
gravel-walk!†7 :
Alice looked round eagerly, and found that ~
it was the Red Queen. ‘“She’s grown a good
THE GARDEN OF LIVE FLOWERS. . 43
deal!†was her first remark. She had indeed:
when Alice first found her in the ashes, she
had been only three inches high— and here
she was, half a head taller than Alice her-
self!
“Tt’s the fresh air that does it,†said the
' Rose: “ wonderfully fine air it is, out here.â€
“T think I’ll go and meet her,†said Alice ;
for, though the flowers were interesting enough,
she felt that it would be far grander to have a
talk with a real Queen.
“You can’t possibly do that,†said the
. Rose: “Z should advise you to walk the other
way.†;
This sounded nonsense to Alice, so she said
nothing, but set off at once towards the Red
Queen. To her surprise, she lost sight of her
in a moment, and found herself walking in at
the front-door again.
A little provoked, she drew back, and after
looking everywhere for the Queen (whom she
spied out at last, a long way off), she thought
44 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
she would try the plan, this time, of walking
in the opposite direction.
— s = eed
It succeeded beautifully. She had not been
walking a minute before she found herself
THE GARDEN OF LIVE FLOWERS. 45
face to face with the Red Queen, and full in
sight of the hill she had been so long aiming
at. . a
“Where do you come from?†said the Red
Queen. “And where are you going? Look
_ up, speak nicely, and don’t twiddle your fingers
all the time.â€
Alice attended to all these directions, and
‘explained, as well as she could, that she had
lost her way.
“TI don’t know what you mean by your
way,†said the Queen: “all the ways about here
belong to me —but why did you come out
here at all?†she added in a kinder tone.
“Courtesy while you ’re thinking what to say.
It saves time.â€
Alice wondered a little at this, but she was
too much in awe of the Queen. to disbelieve it.
“Tll try it when I go home,†ghe thought to
herself, “the next time I’m a little late for
dinner.â€
“It’s time for you to answer now,†the Queen
46 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
said, looking at her watch: “open your mouth
a little wider when you speak, and always say
‘your Majesty.’ †;
“JT only wanted to see what the garden was
like, your Majesty —â€
“That’s right,†said the Queen, patting her
on the head, which Alice did n’t like at all
“though, when you say ‘garden,’ —/’ve seen
gardens, compared with which this would be a
wilderness.â€
Alice did n’t dare to argue the point, but
went on: “—and I thought I’d try and find
my way to the top of that hill —â€
“When you say ‘hill,’†the Queen inter-
rupted, “ Z could show you hills, in comparison
, with which you’d call that a valley.â€
“No, I should n’t,†said Alice, surprised
into contradicting her at last: “a hill can’t
be a valley, you know. That would be non-
sense —â€
The Red Queen shook her head. “You may
call it ‘nonsense’ if you like,†she said, “but
THE GARDEN OF LIVE FLOWERS. 4T
I ’ve heard nonsense, compared with which that
would be as sensible as a dictionary ! â€
Alice courtesied again, as she was afraid from
the Queen’s tone that she was a ttle offended,
and they walked on in silence till they got to
the top of the little hill. .
For some minutes Alice stood without speak-
ing, looking out in all directions over the
country —and a most curious country it was.
There were a number of tiny little brooks run-
ning straight across it from side to side, and the
48 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS,
ground between was divided up into squares by
a number of little. green hedges, that reached
from brook to brook.
“TJ declare it’s marked out just like a large -
_chess-board!†Alice said at last. “There
ought to be some men moving about somewhere
—and so there are!†she added in a tone of
delight, and her heart began to beat quick with -
excitement as she went on. “It’s a great huge
game of chess that’s being played —all over
the world—if this és the world at all, you
“know. Oh, what fun it is! How I wish I was
one of them! I would n’t mind being a Pawn,
if only I might join —though of course I should
like to be a Queen, best.â€
. She glanced rather shyly at the real Queen as __
she said this, but her companion only smiled
pleasantly, and said, ‘“That’s easily managed.
You can be the White Queen’s Pawn, if you
like, as Lily’s too young to play; and you re
inthe Second Square to begin with: when you
get to the Eighth Square you’ll be a Queen Sm
THE GARDEN OF LIVE FLOWERS. 49
Just at this moment, somehow or other, they
began to run.
Alice never could quite make out, in think-
ing it over afterwards, how it was that they
began: all she remembers is, that they were
running hand in hand, and the Queen went so
fast that it was all she could do to keep up with
her: and still the Queen kept crying, “ Faster!
Faster!†but Alice felt she could not go faster,
though she had no breath left to say so.
The most curious part of the thing was, that
the trees and the other things round them never .
changed their places at all: however fast they
went, they never seemed to pass anything. “T
wonder if all the things move along with us?â€
thought poor puzzled Alice. And the Queen
seemed to guess her thoughts, for she cried,
“Faster! Don’t try to talk!â€
Not that Alice had any idea of doing that.
She felt as if she would never be able to talk
again, she was getting so much out of breath:
_ and still the Queen cried, « Faster! Faster!â€
50 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
and dragged heralong. “Are we nearly there?â€
Alice managed to pant out at last.
“ Nearly there!†the Queen repeated. ‘“ Why,
we passed it ten minutes ago! Faster!†And
they ran on for a time in silence, with the wind
whistling in Alice’s ears, and almost blowing
her hair off her head, she fancied.
“Now! Now!†cried the Queen. “Faster!
Faster!†And they went so fast that at last
they seemed to skim through the air, hardly
touching the ground with their feet, till sud-
denly, just as Alice was getting quite exhausted,
THE GARDEN OF LIVE FLOWERS. 51
they stopped, and she found herself sitting on
the ground, breathless and giddy.
The Queen propped her up against a tree
and said kindly, “ You may rest a little now.â€
Alice looked round her in great surprise.
“Why, I do believe we’ve been under this tree
the whole time! Everything ’s just as it was!â€
“Of course it is,†said the Queen: “ what
would you have it?â€
“Well, in our country,†said Alice, still
panting a little, “you’d generally get to some-
where else — if you ran very fast for a long time,
as we ’ve been doing.â€
«A slow sort of country!†said the Queen.
“Now, here, you see, it takes all the running
you can do, to keep in the same place. If you
want to get somewhere else, you must run at
least twice as fast as that!â€
“Id rather not try, please!†said Alice.
“T’m quite content to stay here — only I am so
hot and thirsty!â€
“I know-what you’d like!†the Queen said
52 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS,
good-naturedly, taking a little box out of her
pocket. “ Have a biscuit?â€
Alice thought it would not be civil to say
“No,†though it was n’t at all what she wanted,
so she took it, and ate it as well as she could:
and it was very dry; and she thought she had
never been so nearly choked in all her life.
.“ While you’re refreshing yourself,†said the
Queen, “I’ll just take the measurements.†And
she took a ribbon out of her pocket, marked in
inches, and began measuring the ground, and
sticking little pegs in here and there.
“ At the end of two yards,†she said, putting
in a peg to mark the distance, “I shall give you
your directions — have another biscuit?â€
“No, thank you,†said Alice; “one’s quite
enough!â€
“ Thirst quenched, I hope?†said the Queen.
- Alice did not know what to say to this, but
luckily the Queen did not wait for an answer,
but went on. “At the end of three yards I shall
repeat them — for fear of your forgetting them.
THE GARDEN OF LIVE FLOWERS. 58
At the end of four, I shall say good- e And at
the end of five, I shall go!â€
She had got all the pegs put in by this time,
and Alice looked on with great interest as she
returned to the tree, and then began slowly
walking down the row.
At the two-yard peg she faced round, and
said, “A pawn goes two squares in its first
move, you know. So you’ll go very quickly
through the Third Square — by railway, I should
think —and you ’ll find yourself in the Fourth
Square in no time. Well, that square. be-
longs to Tweedledum and Tweedledee —the
Fifth is mostly water-——the Sixth belongs
to Humpty Dumpty— But you make no
remark ?â€
“T—I did n’t know I had to make one —
just then,†Alice faltered out.
“You should have said,†the Queen went on
. in a tone of grave reproof, “ ‘it’s extremely kind
of you to tell me all this’ —however, we ‘ll
suppose it said—the Seventh Square is all
54 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
forest — however, one of the Knights will show
you the way—and in the Eighth Square we
shall be Queens together, and it’s all feasting
and fun!†Alice got up and courtesied, and
sat down again.
At the next peg the Queen turned again, and
this time she said, “ Speak in French when you
can’t think of the English for a thing — turn
out your toes as you walk—and remember who
you are!†She did not wait for Alice to
courtesy this time, but walked on quickly to the
next peg, where she turned for a moment to say
“good-by,†and then hurried on to the last.
How it happened, Alice never knew, but ex-
actly as she came to the last peg, she was gone.
Whether she vanished into the air, or whether
she ran quickly into the wood (“and she can
run very fast!†thought Alice), there was no
way of guessing, but she was gone, and Alice
began to remember that she was a Pawn, and
that it would soon be time for her to move.
_ CHAPTER IIL.
LOOKING—GLASS INSECTS,
OF course the first thing to do waa to make a
grand survey of the country she way going to
travel through. “It’s something very like learn-
ing geography,†thought Alice, as she stood on
tiptoe in hopes of being able to see. a little
further. ‘ Principal rivers — there are none.
Principal mountains —I’m on the only one, but I
don’t think it’s got any name. Principal towns
—why, what are those creatures, making honey
down there? They can’t be bees — nobody
ever saw bees a mile off, you know —†and for
some time she stood silent, watching one of
them that was bustling about among the flowers,
poking its probtscis into them, “just as if it
was a regular bee,†thought Alice.
55
56 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
However, this was anything but a regular
bee: in fact, it was an elephant — as Alice soon
found out, though the idea quite took her breath.
away at first. “And what enormous flowers
they must be!†was her next idea. ‘ Some-
thing like cottages with the roofs taken off, and
stalks put to them—and what quantities of
honey they must make! I think I’ll go down
and —no, I won’t go just yet,’ she went on,
checking herself just as she was beginning to
run down the hill, and trying to find some
excuse for turning shy so suddenly. “It’ll
never do to go down among them without a
good long branch to brush them away —
and what fun it’ll be when they ask me how
I liked my walk. I shall say—‘Oh, I liked
it well enough—’ (here came the favorite
little toss of the head), ‘only it was so
dusty and hot, and the elephants did. tease
so!’â€
“T think I’ll go down the other way,†she
said after a pause: “and perhaps I may visit
LOOKING-GLASS INSECTS. 57
the elephants later on. Besides, I do so want —
to get into the Third Square!†|
So with this excuse she ran down the hill and
_ jumped over the first of the six little brooks.
“Tickets, please!†said the Guard, putting
his head in at the window. In a moment every-
body was holding out a ticket: they were about
the same size as the people, and quite seemed
to fill the carriage.
“Now then! Show your ticket, child!†the
Guard went on, looking angrily at Alice. And
a great many voices all said together (“like the
chorus of a song,†thought Alice), “ Don’t keep
him waiting, child! Why, his time is worth a
thousand pounds a minute!â€
“J’m afraid I have n’t got one,†Alice said in
a frightened tone: “there was n’t a ticket-office
where I came from.†And again the chorus of
voices went on. “There was n’t room for one
where she came from. The land there is worth
a thousand pounds an inch!â€
58 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
“Don’t make excuses,†said the Guard: “you
should have bought one from the engine-driver.â€
And once more the chorus of voices went on
with “The man that drives the engine. Why,
the smoke alone is worth a thousand pounds a
puff!â€
Alice thought to herself, “Then there’s no
use in speaking.†The voices did n’t join in
this time, as she had n’t spoken, but, to her great
surprise, they all thought in chorus (I hope you
understand what thinking in chorus means — for
-Imust confess that J don’t), “Better say noth-
ing at all. Language is worth a thousand
pounds a word!â€
“TJ shall dream about a thousand pounds to-
night, I know I shall!†thought Alice.
All this time the Guard was looking at her,
first through a telescope, then through a micro-
scope, and then through an opera-glass. At
last he said, “You re travelling the wrong way,â€
and shut up the window and went away.
“So young a child,†said the gentleman sit-
LOOKING—GLASS INSECTS. 59
ting opposite to her (he was dressed in white
paper), “ought to know which way she’s going,
even if she docs n’t know her own name!â€
A Goat, that was sitting next to the gentle-
man in white, shut his eyes and said in a loud
Ve
if
voice, “She ought to know her way to the
ticket-office, even if she does n’t know her
alphabet !â€â€
There was a Beetle sitting next the Goat at
was a very queer carriage-full of passengers
altogether), and, as the rule seemed to be that
60 THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS.: |
they should all speak in turn, he went on with
“She ll have to go back from here as lug.
gage!â€
Alice could n't see who was sitting beyond
the Beetle, but a hoarse voice spoke next.
“Change engines — â€
it said, and there it
choked and was obliged to leave off.
“Tt sounds like a horse,†Alice thought. to
herself. And an extremely small voice, close
to her ear, said, «You might make a joke on that something about
‘horse’ and ‘ hoarse,’ you know.â€
Then a very gentle voice in the distance said,
“She must be labelled ‘Lass, with care,’ you
know —â€
And after that other voices went on (* What
a number of people there are in the carriage !â€â€™
thought Alice), saying, “She must go by post,
as she’s got.a head on her—†“She must be |
sent as a message by the telegraph—â€â€™ “She
must draw the train herself the rest of the way
.—,†and so on.
But the’ gentleman dressed in white paper
LOOKING-GLASS INSECTS. 61
‘leaned forwards and whispered in her ear,
“Never mind what they all say, my dear, but
take a return-ticket every time the train stops.â€
“Indeed I sha’n’t!†Alice said rather impa-
tiently. “I don’t belong to this railway
journey at all—I was in a wood just now —
and I wish I could get back there ! â€
“You might make a joke on chai," Said the little voice
close to her ear: something about ‘you would if you could,’ you
know.â€
“Don’t tease so,†said Alice, looking about
in vain to see where the voice came from; “if
you’re so anxious to have a joke made, why
don’t you make one yourself? â€
The little voice sighed deeply; it was very
unhappy, evidently, and Alice would have said
something pitying to comfort it, “if it would
only sigh like other people!†she thought.
But this was such a wonderfully small sigh,
that she would n’t have heard it at all, if it
had n’t come quite close to her ear. The conse-
quence of this was that it tickled her ear very
62 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
much, and quite took off her thoughts from the
unhappiness of the poor little creature.
“I know you are « ftioyd,†the little voice went on;
“a dear friend, and an old friend. And you won't hurt me, though Iam an
insect.â€
“What kind of insect?†Alice inquired a
little anxiously. What she really wanted to
know was, whether it could sting or not, but
she thought this would n’t be quite a civil
question to ask.
“What, then you dont—" the little voice began,
when it was drowned by a shrill scream from
‘ the engine, and everybody jumped up in alarm,
Alice among the rest.
The Horse, who had put his head out of the
window, quietly drew it in and said, “It’s only
a brook we have to jump over.†Everybody
seemed satisfied with this, though Alice felt a
little nervous at the idea of trains jumping
at all. “However, it ’ll take us into the Fourth
Square, that’s some comfort!†she said to her-
self. In another moment she felt the carriage
LOOKING-GLASS INSECTS. 63
rise straight up into the air, and in her fright
she caught at the thing nearest to her hand,
which happened to be the Goat’s beard.
But the beard seemed to melt away as she
touched it, and she found herself sitting quietly
under a tree — while the Gnat (for that was
the insect she had been talking to) was balan-
cing itself on a twig just over her head, and
fanning her with its wings. --
Tt certainly was a very large Gnat: “about
the size of a chicken,†Alice thought. Still,
she could wt feel nervous with-it, after they
had been talking together so long.
“then you don’t like all insects?†the
Gnat went on, as quietly as if nothing had
happened.
“T like them when they can talk,†Alice said.
* None of them ever talk, where I come from.â€
“What sort of insects do you rejoice in,
where you come from?†the Gnat inquired.
“T don’t rejoice in insects at all,†Alice ex:
64 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
plained, “ because I’m rather afraid of them —
at least the large kinds. But I can tell you the
names of some of them.â€
“Of course they answer to their names?â€
the Gnat remarked carelessly.
“T never knew them do it.â€
“What's the use of their having names,â€
the Gnat said, “if they won’t answer to them?â€
“No use to them,†said Alice; “ but it’s use-
ful to the people that name them, I suppose.
If not, why do things have names at all?â€
“T can’t say,†the Gnat replied. “Further
on, in the wood down there, they’ve got no
names — however, go on with your list of in-
sects; you re wasting time.â€
“Well, there’s the Horse-fly,†Alice began,
counting off the names on her fingers.
“All right,†said the Gnat: “half way up
that bush you ’ll see a Rocking-horse-fly, if you
look. It’s made entirely of wood, and gets
about by swinging itself from branch te
branch.â€
LOOKING—GLASS. INSECTS. 65
“What does it live on?†“Alice asked, with
great curiosity.
“Sap and sawdust,†said the Gnat. “Go on
with the list.â€
Alice looked at the Rocking-horse-fly with
great interest, and made up her mind that it
must have been just repainted, it looked so
bright and sticky ; and then she went on.
“And there ’s the Dragon-fly.†;
“Look on the branch above your head,†said
the Gnat, “and there youll find a Snap-dragon-
fly. Its body is made of plum-pudding, its
66 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
wings of holly-leaves, and its head is a raisin
burning in brandy.â€
~ “And what does it live on?†Alice asked, as
before. .
“ Frumenty and mince-pie,†the Gnat replied;
“and it makes its nest in a Christmas-box.â€
“And then there ’s the Butterfly,†Alice
went on, after she had taken’a good look at the
insect with its head on fire, and had thought to
herself, “I wonder if that’s the reason insects
are so fond of flying into candles — because
they want to turn into Snap-dragon-flies ! â€
“ Crawling at your feet,†said the Gnat (Alice
LOOKING-GLASS INSECTS. 67
drew her feet back in some alarm), “you may
observe a Bread-and-butter-fly. Its wings are
thin slices of bread-and-butter, its body is a
crust, and its head is a lump of sugar.â€
«“ And what does zt live on?â€
é Ses et ==
OP Pied Roe
— ee ET
“ Weak tea with cream in it.â€
A new difficulty came into Alice’s head.
“Supposing it could n’t find any?†she sug-
gested.
«Then it would die, of course.â€
“But that must happen very often,†Alice
remarked thoughtfully.
“It always happens,†said the Gnat.-
68 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS,
After this, Alice was silent for a minute or
two, pondering. The Gnat amused itself mean-
while by humming round and round her head:
at last it settled again and remarked, “I sup-
pose you don’t want to lose your name?â€
“No, indeed,†Alice said, a little anxiously.
“ And ‘yet I don’t know,†the Gnat went on
in a careless tone: “only think how convenient
it would be if you. could manage to go home
withoutit! For instance, if the governess wanted
to call you to your lessons, she would call out
‘Come here—,’ and there she would have to
leave off, because there would n’t be any name
for her to call, and of course you would n’t have
to go, you know.â€
“ That would never do, I’m sure,†said Alice: °
“the governess would never think of excusing
me from my lessons for that. If she could n’t
remember my name, she’d call me ‘Miss!’ as
the servants do.â€
“Well, if she said ‘ Miss,’ and did n’t say
anything more,†the Gnat remarked, “ of course
LOOKING-—GLASS INSECTS. 69
you’d miss your lessons. That’s a joke. I-
wish you had made it.â€
“Why do you wish / had made it?†Alice
asked. “It’s a very bad one.â€
But the Gnat only sighed deeply, while two
large tears came rolling down its cheeks.
“You should n’t make jokes,†Alice said, “if
it makes you so unhappy.â€
Then came another of those melancholy little
sighs, and this time the poor Gnat really seemed
to have sighed itself away, for, when Alice looked
up, there was nothing whatever to be seen on
the twig, and,asshe was getting quite chilly with
sitting still so long, she got up and walked on.
She very soon came to an open field, with a
wood on the other side of it: it looked much
darker than the last wood, and Alice felt a Jittle
timid about going into it. However, on second
thoughts, she made up her mind to go on: “for
I certainly won’t go back,†she thought to her-
self, and this was the only way to the Eighth
Square.
70 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
“This must be the wood,†she said thought-
fully to herself, “where things have no names.
I wonder what ll become of my name when I go
in? I should n’t like to lose it at all — because
they ’d have to give me another, and it would be
almost certain to be an ugly one. But then the
fun would be trying to find the creature that
had got my old name! That’s just like the
advertisements, you know, when people lose
dogs — ‘answer's to the name of “ Dash:†had on
a brass collar’ — just fancy calling everything
you met ‘Alice,’ till one of them answered!
Only they would n’t answer at all, if they were
wise.â€
She was rambling on in this way when she
reached the wood: it looked very cool and
shady. “ Well, at any rate, it’s a great comfort,â€
she said asshe stepped under the trees, “ after
being so hot, to get into the— into the — into
what 2?†she went on, rather surprised at not
being able to think of the word. “ I mean to get
~ under the — under the — under this, you know!â€
LOOKING—GLASS INSECTS. 71
putting her hand on the trunk of the tree.
“ What doesit call itself, I wonder? I dobelieve
it’s got no name — why, to be sure it has n’t!â€
She stood silent fora minute, thinking: then
she suddenly began again. “Then it really has
happened, after all! And now, who am I? I
will remember, if I can! I’m determined to do
it!†But being determined did n’t help her
much, and all she could say, after a great deal
of puzzling, was, “ L, I know it begins with L!â€
Just then a Fawn ‘came wandering by: it
looked at Alice with its large gentle eyes, but
did n’tseem atall frightened. ‘“ Here then! Here
then!†Alice said, as she held out her hand and
tried to stroke it; but it only started back a
little, and then stood looking at her again.
“ What do you call yourself?†the Fawn said
at last. Such a soft sweet voice it had!
“J wish I knew!†thought poor Alice. She
answered, rather sadly, “ Nothing, just now.â€
“Think again,†it said: “that won’t do.â€
Alice thought, but nothing came of it. Please,
72 THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS.
would you tell me what you call yourself? †she
saidtimidly. “I think that might help a little.â€
“Ill tell you, if you'll come a little further
on,†the Fawn said. “I can’t remember here.â€
So they walked on together through the wood,
_ Alice with her arms clasped lovingly round the
LOOKING-GLASS INSECTS. 73
soft neck of the Fawn, till they.came out into
another open field, and here the Fawn gave
a sudden bound into the air, and shook itself
free from Alice’s arms. “J’m a Fawn!†it
cried out in a voice of delight, “and, dear me!
you’re a human child!†A sudden look of
alarm came into its beautiful brown eyes, and
in another moment it had darted away at full
speed.
Alice stood looking after it, almost ready to
cry with vexation at having lost her dear little
fellow-traveller so suddenly. ‘“ However, I know
my name now,†she said, “that’s some comfort.
Alice — Alice —I won’t forget it again. And
now, which of these finger-posts ought I to fol-
low, I wonder? â€
It was not a very difficult question to answer,
as there was only one road through the wood,
and the two finger-posts both pointed along it.
“Tl settle it,†Alice said to herself, “ when the
road divides and they point different ways.†.
But this did not seem likely to happen. She
74 THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS. |
went on and on, a long way, but wherever the
road divided there was sure to be two finger-
posts pointing the same way, one marked “ TO
TWEEDLEDUM’S HOUSE,†and the other
“TO THE HOUSE OF TWEEDLEDEE.â€
“T do believe,†said Alice at last, “ that they
live in the same house! I wonder I never
thought of that before — But I can’t stay there :
long. I'll just call and say ‘How d’ye do?’
and ask them the way out of the wood. If I
could only get to the Eighth Square before it
gets dark!†So she wandered on, talking to
herself as she went, till, on turning a sharp
corner, she came upon two fat little men, so
suddenly that she could not help starting back,
but in another moment she recovered herself,
feeling sure that they must be
‘CHAPTER IV.
TWEEDLEDUM AND TWEEDLEDEE.
Tury were standing under a tree, each with
an arm round the other’s neck, and Alice knew
which was which in a moment, because one of
them had “DUM†embroidered on his collar,
and the other “DEE.†“I suppose they’ve
each got ‘TWEEDLE’ round at the back of
the collar,†she said to herself.
They stood so still that she quite forgot they
were alive, and she was just looking round to
see if the word “ TWEEDLE†was written at
- the back of each collar, when she was startled
by a voice coming from the one marked “DUM.â€
“Tf you think we re wax-works,†he said,
“you ought to pay, you know. Wax-works
were n’t made to be looked at for nothing.
Nohow!â€
5
76 THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS.
_ “Contrariwise,†added the one marked
“DEE,†“if you think we’re alive, you ought
to speak.â€
“I’m sure I’m very sorry,†was all Alice
could say; for the words of the old song kept
‘Yinging through her head like the ticking of a
clock, and she could hardly help saying them
out loud : —
“Tweedledum and Tweedledee
Agreed to have a battle;
For Tweedledum said Tweedledee
Had spoiled his nice new rattle,
TWEEDLEDUM AND TWEEDLEDEE. TT
Just then flew down a monstrous Crow, |
As black as a tar-barrel;
Which frightened both the heroes so,
They quite forgot their quarrel.â€
“JT know what you’re thinking about,†said
Tweedledum: “ but it is n’t so, nohow.â€â€™
“ Contrariwise,†continued Tweedledee, “if
it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it
would be; but as it isn’t, it ain’t. That’s
logic.â€
“JT was thinking,’’ Alice said very politely,
“which is the best way out of this wood: it’s
getting so dark. Would you tell me, please ? â€â€™
But the fat little men only looked at each
other and grinned.
They looked so exactly like a couple of great
schoolboys, that Alice couldn’t help pointing her
finger at Tweedledum, and saying “First Boy!â€
“Nohow!� Tweedledum cried out briskly,
and shut his mouth up again with a snap.
“Next boy!†said Alice, passing on to Twee-
dledee, though she felt quite certain he would
K
78 THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS.
only shout out ‘Contrariwise!†and so he
did.
“You've begun wrong!†cried Tweedledum.
“The first thing in a visit is to say ‘How d’ ye
do?’ and shake hands!†And here the two
brothers gave each other a hug, and then they
held out the two hands that were free, to shake
hands with her.
Alice did not like shaking hands with either
of them first, for fear of hurting the other one’s
feelings; so, as the best way out of the difficulty,
she took hold of both hands at once: the next
moment they were dancing round in a ring.
This seemed quite natural (she remembered
afterwards), and she was not even surprised to
hear music playing: it seemed to come from the
tree under which they were dancing, and it was
done (as well as she could make it out) by the
branches rubbing one across the other, like
fiddles and fiddle-sticks.
“But it certainly was funny,†(Alice said
afterwards, when she was telling her sister the
TWEEDLEDUM AND TWEEDLEDEE. 79
history of all this,) “to find myself singing
‘Here we go round the mulberry bush.’ I don’t
know when I began it, but somehow I felt as if
I’d been singing it a long long time!â€
The other two dancers were fat, and very
goon out of breath. “Four times round is
9
enough for one dance,’ Tweedledum panted
out, and they left off dancing as suddenly as
they had begun: the music ee at the same
moment.
Then they let go of Alice’s hands, and stood
looking at her for a minute: there was a rather
awkward pause, as Alice didn’t know how to
begin a conversation with people she had just
been dancing with. “It would never do to
say ‘How d’ ye do?’ now,†she said to her-
self: “we seem to have got beyond that, some-
how!â€
“T hope you ’re not much tired?†she said at
‘last.
“Nohow. And thank you very much for
asking,†said Tweedledum.
380 . THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
“So much obliged!†added: Teecdiace
“ You like poetry ? â€
“Ye-es, pretty well—some poetry,†Alice
said doubtfully. ‘“ Would you tell me which |
road leads out of the wood?â€
“What shall I repeat to her?†said Tweedle-
dee, looking round at Tweedledum with great
solemn eyes, and not noticing Alice’s ques-
tion.
“<< The Walrus and the Carpenter’ is the
longest,†Tweedledum replied, giving his
brother an affectionate hug. *
Tweedledee began instantly :
“The sun was shining —’?
Here Alice ventured to interrupt him. “If
it’s very long,†she said, as politely as she
could, “ would on please tell me first which
road — â€
Tweedledee smiled gently, and heeen
again :
TWEEDLEDUM AND TWEEDLEDER. 81
**The sun was shining on the sea,
Shining with all his might :
He did his very best to make
The billows smooth and bright —
And this was odd, because it was
The middle of the night.
The moon was shining sulkily,
Because she thought the sun
Had got no business to be there
After the day was done —
‘It’s very rude of him,’ she said,
“To come and spoil the fun!’
The sea was wet as wet could be,
The sands were dry as dry.
You could not see a cloud, because
No cloud was in the sky: |
No birds were flying overhead —
There were no birds to fly.
The Walrus and the Carpenter
“Were walking close at hand;
They wept like anything to see -
Such quantities of sand:
‘If this were only cleared away,’
They said, ‘it would be grand!’
82 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS
‘If seven maids with seven mops
Swept it for half a year,
Do you suppose,’ the Walrus said,
‘That they could get it clear ?’
‘TI doubt it,’ said the Carpenter,
And shed a bitter tear.
©O Oysters, come and walk with us!’
The Walrus did beseech. A
_‘A pleasant walk, a pleasant talk,
Along the briny beach:
We cannot do with more than four,
To give a hand to each.
TWEEDLEDUM AND TWEEDLEDEE. 83
. The eldest Oyster looked at him,
‘But never a word he said:
The eldest Oyster winked his eye,
And shook his heavy head —
Meaning to say he did not choose
. To leave the oyster-bed. —
*... But four young Oysters hurried up,
AL éager for the treat:
Their coats were brushed, their faces washed,
Their shoes were clean and neat —
_And this was odd, because, you know,
’ They hadn’t any feet.
£
Four other Oysters followed them,
And yet another four ; :
And thick and fast they came at last,
And more, and more, and more —
All hopping through the frothy waves,
And scrambling to the shore.
The Walrus and the Carpenter
Walked on a mile or so, |
' And then they rested on a rock
Conveniently low: ‘
And all the little Oysters stood
_ And waited in a row.
84 THROUGH THE LOOKING-—GLASS..
* The time has come,’ the Walrus said,
‘To talk of many things:
Of shoes — and ships — and sealing-wax—
Of cabbages — and kings —~ ;
And why the sea is boiling hot —
And whether pigs have wings.’
‘But wait a bit,‘ the Oysters cried,
Before we have our chat ;
For some of us are out of breath,
And all of us are fat!’
© No hurry!’ said the Carpenter.
They thanked him much for that.
TWEEDLEDUM AND TWEEDLEDEE. 85
‘A loaf of bread,’ the Walrus said,
‘Is what we chiefly need :
Pepper and vinegar besides
. Are very good indeed — ‘
Now if you’re ready, Oysters dear,
We can begin to feed.’
‘But not.on us!’ the Oysters cried,
: Turning a, little blue.
After such kindness, that would be
A dismal thing to do!’
“The night is fine,’ the Walrus said.
‘Do you admire the view ?
‘It was so kind of you to come!
And you are very nice!’
The Carpenter said nothing but
‘Cut us another slice:
I wish you were not quite so deaf —
I’ve had to ask you twice!’
“It seems a shame,’ the Walrus said,
“To play them such a trick,
After we ’ve brought them out so far,
And made them trot so quick!â€
The Carpenter said nothing but
‘The butter’s spread too thick!’
86 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
‘TY weep for you,’ the Walrus said:
‘I deeply sympathize.’
With sobs and tears he sorted out
Those of the largest size,
Holding his pocket-handkerchief
Before his streaming eyes.
‘O Oysters,’ said the Carpenter,
‘Youve had a pleaanst run!
Shall we be trotting home again ?’
But answer came there none —
And this was scarcely odd, because
They ’d eaten every one.â€
TWEEDLEDUM AND TWEEDLEDEE. 8T
“J like the Walrus best,†said Alice: “be-
cause you see he was a little sorry for the poor
oysters.â€
“He ate more than the Carpenter, though,â€
said Tweedledee. “You see he held his hand-
kerchief in front, so that the Carpenter could n’t
count how many he took: contrariwise.â€
“That was mean!†Alice said indignantly.
«Then I like the Carpenter best —if he didn’t
eat so many as the Walrus.†|
“But he ate as many as he could get,†said
Tweedledum.
This was a puzzler. After a pause, Alice
began, “ Well! They were both very unpleas-
ant characters —†Here she checked herself in
some alarm, at hearing something that sounded
to her like the puffing of a large steam-engine
in the wood near them, though she feared it
was more likely to be a wild beast. “ Are there
any lions or tigers about here?†she asked
timidly.
“It’s only the Red King snoring,†said Twee-
diedee.
88 THROUGH THE LOOKING-—GLASS.
«Come and look at him!†the brothers cried,
and they each took one of Alice’s hands, and
led her up to where the King was sleeping.
“Ts n’t he a lovely sight?†said Tweedledum.
Asia a
ae iY a
; : ay Mh
Ut 3
IS 4
VME Ug.
a Gf ior
tl Confer
omrnouy thei =
- Lh
es ) POU 1d
Yu AN, wy
eg?
ppanytitig \
Alice could n’t say honestly that he was. He
had a tall red night-cap on, with a tassel, and.
he was lying crumpled up into a sort of untidy
heap, and snoring aloud — “fit to snore his
head off!†as Tweedledum remarked.
“T’m afraid hell catch cold with lying on
TWEEDLEDUM AND TWEEDLEDEE. 89
the damp grass,†said Alice, who was a very
thoughtful little girl.
“He's dreaming now,†said Tweedledee:
“and what do you think he’s dreaming
about? â€
Alice said, “ Nobody can guess that.â€
“Why, about you!†Tweedledee exclaimed,
clapping his hands triumphantly. “ And if he
left off dreaming about you, where do you sup-
pose youd be?â€
“Where J am now, of course,†said Alice.
“Not you!†Tweedledee retorted contempt-
uously. “You ’d be nowhere. Why, you ’re
only a sort of thing in his dream!â€
“Jf that there King was to wake,†added
Tweedledum, “you’d go out— bang!—just
like a candle!â€
“T should n’t!’? Alice exclaimed indig-
nantly. “Besides, if I’m only a sort of thing
in his dream, what are you, I should like to
know?â€â€™
“ Ditto,’’ said Tweedledum.
90 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
“Ditto, ditto!’’ cried Tweedledee.
He shouted this so loud that Alice could n’t
help saying, “Hush! You ‘ll be waking him,
I’m afraid, if you make so much noise.â€
“ Well, it’s no use your talking about waking
him,â€â€™? said Tweedledum, “when you’re only
one of the things in his dream. You know
very well you ’re not real.â€
“T am real!’’ said Alice, and began to cry.
“You won’t make yourself a bit realler by
crying,’ Tweedledee remarked : “there ’s noth-
ing to cry about.â€
“If I was n’t real,’ Alice said —halflaugh-
ing through her tears, it all seemed so ridiculous
—TJ should n’t be able to cry.â€
“I hope you don’t suppose those are real
tears??? Tweedledum interrupted in a tone of
great contempt.
“I know they ’re talking nonsense,†Alice
thought to herself: “and it’s foolish to cry
about it? So she brushed away her tears, and
went on as cheerfully as she could, “ At any
{WEEDLEDUM AND TWEEDLEDEE. 91+
rate, I ’d better be getting out of the wood, for
really it’s coming on very dark. Do you think
it’s going to rain?â€
Tweedledum spread a large umbrella over
himself and his brother, and looked up into it.
“No, I don’t think it is,†he said: “at least —
not under here. Nohow.â€
“ But it may rain outside ?â€
“JTé may —if it chooses,†said Tweedledee:
“we ve no objection. Contrariwise.â€
“ Selfish things!’ thought Alice, and she was
just going to say “ Good-night †and leave them,
when Tweedledum sprang out from under the
umbrella, and seized her by the wrist.
“Do you see that?†he said, in a voice chok-
ing with passion, and his eyes grew large and
yellow all in a moment, as he pointed with a
trembling finger at a small white thing lying
under the tree.
“Tt’s only a rattle,†Alice said, after a careful
examination of the little white thing. “Not a
rattle-snake, you know,†she added hastily, think-
92 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
ing that he was frightened: “ only an old rattle
— quite old and broken.â€â€™
oe I knew it was!†cried Tweedledum, begin-
ning to stamp about wildly and tear his hair.
“Tt’s spoilt, of course!†Here he looked at
: k fel
A
_Tweedledee, who immediately sat down on the
ground, and tried to hide himself under the
umbrella. :
Alice laid her hand upon his arm, and said in
-a soothing tone, “ You need n’t be so angry about
an old rattle.â€
TWEEDLEDUM AND TWEEDLEDEE. 93
“But it is n’t old!’? Tweedledum cried, in a
greater fury than ever. “It’s new, I tell you
—I bought it yesterday —my nice Nsw RAT-—
TLE!†and his voice rose to a perfect scream.
All this time Tweedledee was trying his best
to fold up the umbrella, with himself in it:
which was such an extraordinary thing to do,
that it quite took off Alice’s attention from the
angry brother. But he could n’t quite succeed,
and it ended in his rolling over, bundled up in
the umbrella, with only his head out; and there
he lay, opening and shutting his mouth and his
large eyes — “looking more like a fish than any-
thing else,†Alice thought.
“Of course you agree to have a battle?â€
Tweedledum said in a calmer tone.
“J suppose so,†the other sulkily replied, as he
crawled out of the umbrella: “only she must
help us to dress up, you know.†:
So the two brothers went off hand-in-hand
into the wood, and returned in a minute with.
their arms full of things—such as bolsters,
94 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
blankets, hearth-rugs, table-cloths, dish-covers,
and coal-scuttles. “I hope you’re a good hand
at pinning and tying strings?†Tweedledum
remarked. “ Every one of these things has got
to go on, somehow or other.â€
_ Alice said afterwards she had never seen such -
a fuss made about anything in all her life —
the way those two bustled about— and the
quantity of things they put on — and the trouble
they gave her in tying strings and fastening
buctons. “Really, they ’1l be more like bundles
of old clothes than anything else, by the time
they ’re ready!†she said to herself, as she
arranged a bolster round the neck of Tweedle-
dee, “to keep his head from being cut off,†as
he said. ;
“You know,†he added very gravely, “it’s one
of the most serious things that can possibly hap-
pen to one in a battle — to get one’s head cut
off.â€â€
Alice laughed loud; but she managed to turn
itinto a cough, for fear of hurting his feelings.
TWEEDLEDUM AND TWEEDLEDEE. 95
et te aber:
COALS GE
aria es a =
gee
' «Do I look very pale?†said Tweedledum,
coming up to have his helmet tied on. (He
called it a helmet, though it certainly looked
much more like a saucepan.)
“ Well — yes —a little,†Alice replied gently.
“J’m very brave generally,†he went on in
a low voice: “only to-day I happen to have a
headache.â€â€™
“And I’ve gota toothache!†said Tweedle-
dee, who had overheard the remark. “I’m far
worse than you!â€
~ 96 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
“Then you’d better not fight to-day,†said
Alice, thinking it a | good opportunity to make
peace.
We must have a bit of a fight, hee I don’t
care ‘about going on long,†said Tweedledum. -
« What’s the time now?â€
Tweédledee looked at his Eto and eaid
“ Half-past four.†i
“ Let’s fight till six, and then have dinner,â€
said Tweedledum.
“Very well,†the other said, rather sadly:
“and she can watch us — only you ’d better not
come very close,†he added: “I generally hit
everything I can see — when I get really ex-
cited.â€
“And J hit everything within reach,†ined
Tweedledum, “ whether I can see it or not!†-
Alice laughed. “You must hit the trees
pretty often, I should think,†she said.
Tweedledum looked round him with a satisfied
smile. “I don’t suppose,†he said, “there “ll
be a tree left standing, for ever so far round, by
the time we ’ve finished!â€
TWEEDLEDUM AND TWEEDLEDEER. 97
“And all about a rattle!†said Alice, still
hoping to make them a little ashamed of fighting
for such a trifle.
“T should n’t have minded it so much,†said
Tweedledum, “if it had n’t been a new one.â€
“I wish the monstrous crow would come!â€
thought Alice.
“ There’s only one sword, you know,†Twee-
dledum said to his brother; “ but you can have
the umbrella—it’s quite as sharp. Only we
must begin quick. It’s getting as dark as it
can.â€
« And darker,†said Tweedledee.
It was getting dark so suddenly that Alice
thought there must be a thunderstorm coming
on. * What a thick black cloud that is!†she
said. “And how fast it comes! Why, I do
believe it’s got wings!â€
“It’s the crow!†Tweedledum cried out in
a shrill voice of alarm: and the two brothers
took to their heels and were out of sight in a
moment.
98 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
Alice ran a little way into the wood, and
stopped under a large tree. “It can never get
at me here,†she thought: “ it ’s far too large to
squeeze itself in among the trees. But I wish
it would n’t flap its wings so—it makes quite
a hurricane in the wood—here ’s somebody’s
shawl being blown away !â€
CHAPTER V.
WOOL AND WATER.
Sue caught the shawl as she spoke, and looked
about for the owner: in another moment the
White Queen came running wildly through the
wood, with both arms stretched out wide, as if
she were flying, and Alice very civilly went to
meet her with the shawl.
“I’m very glad I happened to be in the way,â€
Alice said, as she helped her to put on her shawl
again.
The White Queen only looked at her ina help-
less frightened sort of way, and kept repeating
something in a whisper to herself that sounded
like “ Bread-and-butter, bread-and-butter,†and
Alice felt that if there was to be any conversa-
99
100 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
tion at all, she must manage it herself. So she
began rather timidly: “Am I addressing the
White Queen?â€
“Well, yes, if you call that a-dressing,†the
Queen said. “Jt is n’t my notion of the thing,
at all.â€
Alice thought it would never do to have an
argument at the very beginning of their conver-
sation, so she smiled and said, “If your Majesty
will only tell me the right way to begin, I'll do
it as well as I can.â€
“But I don’t want it done at all!†groaned
the poor Queen. “I’ve been a-dressing myself
for the last two hours.â€
Tt would have been all the better, as it seemed
to Alice, if she had got some one else to dress
her, she was so dreadfully untidy. “Every
single thing’s crooked,†Alice thought to her-
self, “and she’s all over pins! May I put.
your shawl straight for you?†she added aloud.
“TJ don’t know what’s the matter with it!â€
the Queen said, in a melancholy voice. “It’s
WOOL AND WATER. 101
1M Oy Ss
out of temper, I think. I’ve pinned it here, and
I’ve pinned it there, but. there ’s no pleasing it!â€
“Tt can’t go straight, you know, if you pin it
102 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
all on one side,†Alice said, as she gently put it
right for her; “ and, dear me, what a state your
hair is in!†:
“The brush has got entangled in it!†the
Queen said witha sigh. ‘“ And I lost the comb .
yesterday.â€
Alice carefully released the brush, and did her
best to get the hair into order. “ Come, you
look rather better now!†she said, after alter-
ing most of the pins. “But really you should
have a lady’s-maid!â€
“1’m sure Ill take you with pleasure!†the
Queen said. “ Twopence a week, and jam every
other day.â€
Alice could n’t help laughing, as she said, “I
don’t want you to hire me—and I don’t care
for jam.â€
“It’s very good jam,†said the Queen.
“ Well, I don’t want any to-day, at any rate.â€.
“You could n’t have it if you did want it,â€
the Queen said. “ The rule is, jam to-morrow
and jam yesterday — but never jam to-day.â€
WOOL AND WATER. 103
“It must come sometimes to ‘jam to-day,’ â€
Alice objected.
“No, it can’t,†said the Queen. “It’s jam
every other day: to-day is n’t any other day, you
know. â€
“J don’t understand you,†said Alice. “It’s
dreadfully confusing ! â€
“ That’s the effect of living backwards,†the
Queen said kindly: “it always makes one a
little giddy at firstâ€â€â€”
“Living backwards!†Alice repeated in great
astonishment. “Inever heard of such a thing!â€
“but there ’s one great advantage in it, that
one’s memory works both ways.â€
“T’m sure mine only works one way,†Alice
remarked. “I can’t remember things before
they happen.â€
“Tt’s a poor sort of memory that only works
backwards,†the Queen remarked.
“ What sort of things do you remember best ?â€
Alice ventured to ask.
“Oh, things that happened the week after
104. THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
next,†the Queen replied in a careless tone.
“ For instance, now,†she went on, sticking a
large piece of plaster on her finger as she spoke,
“ there ’s the King’s messenger. He’s in prison
now, being punished: and the trial does n’t even
begin till next Wednesday: and of course the.
crime comes last of all.â€
«Suppose he never commits the crime ?†said
PP
Alice.
WOOL AND WATER. 105
“ That would be all the better, would n’t it?â€
the Queen said, as she bound the plaster round
her finger with a bit of ribbon.
Alice felt there was no denying that. “Of
course it would be all the better,†she said ;
“but it would n’t be all the better his being
punished.â€
& You’re wrong there, at any rate,†said the
Queen: “were you ever punished ? ee
“ Only for faults,†said Alice.
« And you were all the better for it, I know!â€
the Queen said triumphantly.
“ Yes, but then I had done the things I was
punished for,†said Alice; “ that makes all the
difference.â€
“But if you had n’t done them,†the Queen
said, “that would have been better still; better,
and better, and better!†Her voice went higher
with each “ better,†till it got quite to a squeak
at last.
Alice was just beginning to say, “ There’s a
mistake somewhere,—†when the Queen began
106 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
screaming so loud that she had to leave the
sentence unfinished. “Oh, oh, oh!†shouted the
Queen, shaking her hand about as if she wanted
to shake it off. ‘My finger’s bleeding! Oh,
oh, oh, oh!â€
Her screams were so exactly like the whistle
of a steam-engine, that Alice had to hold both
her hands over her ears.
“What is the matter?†she said, as soon as
there was a chance of making herself heard.
“ Have you pricked your finger?â€
“T have n’t pricked it yet,†the Queen said,
“ but I soon shall—oh, oh, oh!â€
“When do you expect to doit?†Alice asked,
feeling very much inclined to laugh.
“ When I fasten my shawl again,†the poor
Queen groaned out: “ the brooch will come un-
done directly. Oh,oh!†As she said the words
the brooch flew open, and the Queen clutched -
wildly at it, and tried to clasp it again.
“Take care!†cried Alice. “ You’re holding
it all crooked!†And she caught at the brooch;
WOOL AND WATER. 107
but it was too late : the pin had slipped, and the
Queen had pricked her finger.
«That accounts for the bleeding, you see,â€
she said to Alice with a smile. “Now you un-
derstand the way things happen here.â€
«But why don’t you scream now?†Alice
asked, holding her hands ready to put over her
ears again.
“ Why, I’ve done all the screaming already,â€
‘said the Queen. “ What would be the good of
_ having it all over again?â€
By this time it was getting light. “The crow
must have flown away, I think,†said Alice:
“I’m so glad it’s gone. I thought it was the
night coming on.â€
“I wish ZJ could manage to be glad!†the
Queen said. “Only I never can remember the
rule. You must be very happy, living in this
wood, and being glad whenever you like!â€
“ Only it is so very lonely here!†Alice said
in a melancholy voice; and at the thought of
her loneliness two large tears came rolling down
her cheeks.
108 THROUGH THE LOOKING-—GLASS.
“Oh, don’t go on like that!†cried the
poor Queen, wringing her hands in despair.
“Consider what a great girl you are. Consider
what a long way you’ve come to-day. Con-
sider what o’clock it is. Wonsider anything,
only don’t ery!â€
Alice could not help eshte at this, even
in the midst of her tears. “Can you keep from
erying by considering things?â€
“That’s the way it’s done,†the Queen
said with great decision: “nobody can do two
things at once, you know. Let’s consider your
age to begin with — how old are you?â€
“T’m seven and a half exactly.â€
“You need n’t say ‘exactually,’†the Queen
remarked : “I can believe it without that. Now
Tl. give you something to believe. I’m just
one hundred and one, five months and a day.â€
“T can’t believe that!†said Alice. a
“Can’t you?†the Queen said in a pitying
tone. “Try again: draw a long breath, and
shut your eyes.â€
WOOL AND WATER. 109
Alice laughed. ‘“There’s no use trying,†she
said: “one can’t believe impossible things.â€
«J dare say you have n’t had much practice,â€
said the Queen. “ When I was your age, I
always did it for halfan-hour a day. Why,
sometimes I’ve believed as many as six im-
possible things before breakfast. There goes
the shawl again!â€
_ The brooch had come undone as she spoke,
and asudden gust of wind blew the Queen’s
shawl across a little brook. The Queen spread
out her arms again, and went flying after it, and
this time she succeeded in catching it for herself.
“I’ve got it!†she cried in a triumphant tone.
“Now you shall see me pin it on again, all
by myself!â€
“Then I hope your finger is better now?â€
Alice said very politely, as she crossed the little
brook after the Queen.
“Oh, much better!†cried the Queen, her
voice rising into a squeak as she went on.
110 THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS.
“Much be-etter! Be-etter! Be-e-e-etter! Be-e-
ehh!†The last word ended in a long bleat, so
like a sheep that Alice quite started.
She looked at the Queen, who seemed to have
suddenly wrapped herself up in wool. Alice
rubbed her eyes, and looked again. She
could n’t make out what had happened at all.
Was she ina shop? And was that really —
was it really a sheep that was sitting on the
other side of the counter? Rub as she would,
she could make nothing more of it: she was in
a little dark shop, leaning with her elbows on
the counter, and opposite to her was an old
Sheep, sitting in an arm-chair knitting, and
every now-and then leaving off to look at her
through a great pair of spectacles.
“ What is it you want to buy?†the Sheep
said at last, looking up for a moment from her
knitting.
“TI don’t quite know yet,†Alice said very
gently. “I should like to look all round me
first, if I might.â€
“You may look in front of you, and on both
sides, if you like,†said the Sheep; “but you
can’t look all round you— unless you ’ve got
eyes at the back of your head.â€
112 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
But these, as it happened, Alice had not got:
so she contented herself with turning round,
looking at the shelves as she came to them.
The shop seemed to be full of all manner
of curious things —but the oddest part of it
all was, that whenever she looked hard at any
shelf, to make out exactly what it had on it,
that particular shelf was always quite empty:
though the others round it were crowded as
full as they could hold. |
“Things flow about so here! Le ae said at
last in a plaintive tone, after she had spent
a minute or so in vainly pursuing a large
bright thing, that looked sometimes like a doll
and sometimes like a work-box, and was always
in the shelf next above the one she was looking
at. “And this one is the most provoking of all
—but I'll tell you what—â€â€™ she added, as a
sudden thought struck her, “Il follow it up
to the very top shelf of all. It ll puzzle it to
go through the ceiling, I expect 12
But even this plan failed: the “thing†went
WOOL AND WATER. 113
through the ceiling as quietly as possible, as if
it were quite used to it.
“ Are you a child, or a teetotum ?â€â€™ the Sheep
said, as she took up another pair of needles.
“Youll make me giddy soon, if you go on
turning round like that.’? She was now work-
ing with fourteen pairs at once, and Alice
could n’t help looking at her in great astonish-
ment.
“ How can she knit with so many?’’ the puz-_
zled child thought to herself. “ She gets more
and more like a porcupine every minute!â€
“Can you row?†the Sheep asked, handing
her a pair of knitting-needles as she spoke.
“Yes, a little —but.not on land —and not
with needles —’’ Alice was beginning to say,
when suddenly the needles turned into oars in
her hands, and she found they were in a little
boat gliding along between banks: so there was
nothing for it but to do her best.
“ Feather! ’’ cried the Sheep, as she took up
another pair of needles.
114 THROUGH THE LOOKING-—GLASS.
' This didn’t sound like a remark that needed
any answer, so Alice said nothing, but pulled
away. ‘There was something very queer about
the water, she thought, as every now and then
‘ the oars got fast in it, and would hardly come
out again.
“Feather! Feather!†the Sheep cried again,
taking more needles. “You'll be catching a
crab directly.â€
“A dear little crab!’ thought Alice. “I
should like that.â€
“Did n’t you hear me say ‘Feather’?†the
Sheep cried angrily, taking up quite a bunch of
needles.
“Indeed I did,†said Alice: “you’ve said it
very often —and very loud. Please, where
are the crabs?â€
“In the water, of course!†said the Sheep,
sticking some of the needles into her hair, as
her hands were full, “Feather, I say!â€
“ Why do you say ‘ Feather’ so often?†Alice
asked at last, rather vexed. “I’m nota bird!â€
WOOL AND WATER. 115
“You are,†said the Sheep: “you’re a little
goose.†—
This offended Alice a little, so there was no
more conversation fora minute or two, while
the boat glided gently on, sometimes among
beds of weeds (which made the oars stick fast
in the water, worse than ever), and sometimes_
under trees, but always with the same tall river
banks frowning over their heads.
“Oh, please! There are some scented
-rushes!†Alice cried in a sudden transport
of delight. ‘There really are — and such beau-
ties!â€
“You need n’t say ‘ please’ to me about’em,â€
the Sheep said, without looking up from her
knitting: “I didn’t put em there, and I’m
not going to take ’em away.â€
“No, but I meant— please, may we wait
and pick some?†Alice pleaded. “If you
don’t mind stopping the boat for a minute.â€
“How am I tostop it?†said the Sheep. “If
you leave off rowing, itll stop of itself.â€
116 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
So the boat was left to drift down the stream
as it would, till it glided gently in among
the waving rushes. And then the little sleeves
were carefully rolled up, and the- little arms
were plunged in elbow-deep, to get hold of the
rushes a good long way down before breaking
them off —and fora while Alice forgot all about
the Sheep and the knitting, as she bent over the
side of the boat, with just the ends of her tangled
hair dipping into the water — while with bright
eager eyes she caught at one bunch after another
of the darling scented rushes.
“I only hope the boat won’t tipple over!â€
she said to herself. “Oh, what a lovely one!
Only I could n’t quite reach it.†And it cer-
tainly did seem a little provoking (‘almost as
if it happened on purpose,†she thought) that,
though she managed to pick plenty of beautiful
rushes as the boat glided by, there was always
a more lovely one that she could n’t reach.
“ The prettiest are always further!†she said
at last, with a sigh at the obstinacy of the rushes
WOOL AND WATER. 117
in growing so far off, as with flushed cheeks and
dripping hair and hands she scrambled back into
her place, and began to arrange her new-found
treasures.
What mattered it to her just then that the
rushes had begun to fade, and to lose all their
scent and beauty, from the very moment that
she picked them? Even real scented rushes,
you know, last only a very little while — and
these, being dream-rushes, melted away almost
like snow, as they lay in heaps at her feet —
but Alice hardly noticed this, there were so
many other curious things to think about.
They had n’t gone much farther before the
blade of one of the oars got fast in the water and
would vt come out again (so Alice explained it
afterwards), and the consequence was that the
handle of it caught her under the chin, and, in
spite of a series of little shrieks of ‘ Oh, oh, oh!â€
from poor Alice, it swept her straight off the
seat, and down among the heap of rushes.
However, she was n’t a bit hurt, and was soon
118 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
up again: the Sheep went on with her knitting
"all the while, just as if nothing had happened.
“That was a nice crab you caught!†she re-
marked, as Alice got back into her place, very
much relieved to find herself still in the boat.
“Was it? I didn’t see it,†said Alice, peep-
ing cautiously over the side of the boat into the
‘dark water. “I wish it had n’t let go —I should
so like a little crab to take home with me!â€
But the Sheep only laughed scornfully, and
~went on with her knitting..
“ Are there many. crabs here?†said Alice.
“Crabs, and all sorts of things,†said the
Sheep: “ plenty of choice, only make up your
mind. Now, what do you want to buy?â€
“To buy!†Alice echoed in a tone that
was half astonished and half frightened; for the
oars, and the boat, and the river, had vanished
all in a moment, and she was back again in the
little dark shop.
“T should like to buy an egg, please,†she
said timidly. ‘How do you sell them?â€
. “T wish it had n’t let go—I should so like a little
crab to take home.â€
WOOL AND WATER. 119
« Fivepence farthing for one — twopence for
two,†the Sheep replied. “
“Then two are cheaper than one?†Alice
said in a surprised tone, taking out her purse.
“Only you must eat them both, if you buy
two,†said the Sheep.
“Then I’ll have one, please,†said Alice, as
she put the money down on the counter. For
she thought to herself, “They might n’t be at:
all nice, you know.â€
The Sheep took the money, and put it away
in a box: then she said, “I never put things
into people’s hands — that would never do —
you must get it for yourself.†And so saying,
she went off to the other end of the shop, and
_set the egg upright on a shelf.
“T wonder why it would n’t do?†thought
Alice, as she groped her way among the tables
and chairs, for the shop was very dark towards
the end. “The egg seems to get further away
the more I walk towards it. Let me see, is this
a chair? Why it’s got branches, I declare!
120 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
How very odd to find trees growing here! And
actually here ’s a little brook! Well, this is the
very queerest shop I ever saw!â€
So she went on, wondering more and more at
every step, as everything turned into a tree the
moment she came up to it, and she quite ex.
pected the egg to do the same.
CHAPTER VI.
HUMPTY DUMPTY.
However, the egg only got larger and larger,
and more and more human: when she had come
within a few yards of it, she saw that it had
eyes and a nose and mouth; and when she
had come close to it, she saw clearly that it was
HUMPTY DUMPTY himself. “It can’t be
anybody else!†she said to herself. “I’m as
certain of it, as if his name were written all
over his face!â€
It might have been written a hundred times,
easily, on that enormous face. Humpty Dumpty
was sitting with his legs crossed, like a Turk,
on the top of a high wall — such a narrow one
that Alice quite wondered how he could keep
his balance —and, as his eyes were steadily
121
122 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
fixed in the opposite direction, and he didn’t
take the least notice of her, she thought he
must be a stuffed figure after all.
“And how exactly like an egg he is!†she
said aloud, standing with her hands ready to
catch him, for she was every moment expecting
him to fall.
“Tt’s very provoking,†Humpty Dumpty said
after a long silence, looking away from Alice as
he spoke, “to be called an egg — very!â€
“TI said you looked like an egg, Sir,’ Alice
gently explained. “And some eggs are very
pretty, you know,†she added, hoping to turn
her remark into a sort of compliment.
“Some people,†said Humpty Dumpty, look-
ing away from her as usual, “ have no more
sense than a baby!â€
Alice didn’t know what to say to this: it
wasn’t at all like conversation, she thought, as
he never said anything to her; in fact, his last
remark was evidently addressed to a tree —so
she stood and softly repeated to herself: —.
HUMPTY DUMPTY. 123
*‘ Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall:
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall,
All the King’s horses and all the King’s men
Could n’t put Humpty Dumpty in his place again.â€
“That last line is much too long for the
poetry,†she added, almost out loud, forgetting
that Humpty Dumpty would hear her.
“Don’t stand chattering to yourself like
that,†Humpty Dumpty said, looking at her for
the first time, “ but tell me your name and your
business.â€
“My name is Alice, but—â€
“It’s a stupid name enough!†Humpty
Dumpty interrupted a ny “ What does
it mean?â€
“ Must a name mean something?†Alice
asked doubtfully.
“Of course it must,†Humpty Dumpty said
with a short laugh: “ my name means the shape
I am—and a good handsome shape it is, too.
With a-name like yours, you ce be any
shape, almost.â€
124 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
“Why do you sit out here all alone?†said
Alice, not wishing to begin an argument.
“Why, because there’s nobody with me!â€
cried Humpty Dumpty. “Did you think
I didn’t know the answer to that? Ask an-
other.†:
“Don’t you think you ’dbe safer down on
the ground?†Alice went on, not with any idea
of making another riddle, but simply in her
good-natured anxiety for the queer creature.
“That wall is so very narrow!â€
“What tremendously easy riddles you ask!â€
Humpty Dumpty growled out. “Of course I
‘don’t think so! Why, if ever I did fall off —
which there’s no chance of —but if I did—â€â€™
Here he pursed up his lips, and looked so solemn
and grand that Alice could hardly help laugh-
ing. ‘“‘ TfJ did fall,’ he went on, the King has
promised me—ah, you may turn pale, if you
like! You didn’t think I was going to say
that, did you? The King has promised me—
with his very own mouth— to— to —â€
HUMPTY DUMPTY. 125
“To gend all his horses and all his men,â€
Alice interrupted, ‘rather unwisely.
“Now I declare that’s too bad!†Humpty
Dumpty cried, breaking into a sudden passion.
* Youve been listening at doors — and behind
_ trees —and down chimneys — or you could n’t
have known it!â€
“T have n’t, indeed!†Alice said very gently.
“Tt ’s in a book.â€
“Ah, well! They may write. such things in
a book,’ Humpty Dumpty said in a calmer tone.
“That’s what you call a History of England,
that is. Now take a good look at me! I’m
one that has spoken to a King, Jam: mayhap
you ’ll never see such another: and to show you
I’m not proud, you may shake hands with me!â€
‘And he grinned almost from ear to ear, as he
leant forwards (and as nearly as possible fell off
the wall in doing so) and offered Alice his hand. —
She watched him a little anxiously as she took
it. “If he smiled. much more, the ends of his
mouth might meet behind,’ she thought: “and _
126 THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS.
{We T= —
Ww OE) I aa
NaS ARS
Wis ih : iI then I don’t know
| what would happen to
his head! I’m afraid
it would come off!â€
“Yes, all his horses
and all his men,â€â€™
Humpty Dumpty went
on. “ They’d pick me
up again in a minute, they would! However,
this conversation is going on a little too fast:
let’s go back to the last remark but one.â€
“T’m afraid I can’t quite remember it,†Alice
said very politely.
HUMPTY DUMPTY. 127
“In that case we start fresh, †said Humpty
Dumpty, “and it’s my turn to choose a sub-
ject —†(“He talks about it just as if it was a
game!†thought Alice.) ‘So here’s a question
for you. How old did you say you were? â€â€™
Alice made a short calculation, and said
“Seven years and six months.â€
“Wrong!†Humpty Dunpty exclaimed tri-
umphantly. “You never said a word like it!â€
“J thought you meant ‘ How old are you?’ â€
Alice explained.
“Tf I’d meant that, I’d have said it, †said
Humpty Dumpty.
Alice did n’t want to begin another argument,
so she said nothing.
“Seven years and six months!†Humpty
Dumpty repeated thoughtfully. “An uncom-
fortable sort of age. Now if you’d asked my
advice, I’d have said ‘ Leave off at seven ’— but
it’s too late now.â€
“I never ask advice about growing,†Alice
said indignantly.
128 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
_ “Too proud?†the other inquired.
Alice felt even more indignant, at this sug-
gestion. “J mean,†she said, “that one can’t
- help growing older.â€
“ One can’t, perhaps,†said Humpty Dampte
“but two can. With proper assistance, you
might have left off at seven.â€
“What a beautiful belt you’ve got on!â€
Alice suddenly remarked. (They had had quite
enough of the subject of age, she thought: and
if they really were to take turns in choosing
subjects, it was her turn now.) “At least,â€
she corrected herself on second thoughts, “a
beautiful cravat, I should have said— no, a
belt, I mean —I beg your pardon!†she added
in dismay, for Humpty Dumpty looked thor-
oughly offended, and she began to wish she
had n’t chosen that subject. “If only I knew,â€
she thought to herself, “ which was neck and
which was waist! â€
Evidently Humpty Dumpty was very angry,
_ though he said nothing for a minute or two.
HUMPTY DUMPTY. 129
When he did speak again, it was in a deep
growl.
“It is a — most — provoking — thing,†he said
at last, ““ when a person doesn’t know a cravat
from a belt!â€
“I know it’s very ignorant of me,†Alice
said, in so humble a tone that Humpty Dumpty
relented.
“Tt’s a cravat, child, and a beautiful one, as
you say. It’s a present from the White King
and Queen. There now!†:
“Ts it really?’’ said Alice, quite pleased to
find that she had chosen a good subject, after
all.
“They gave it me,†Humpty Dumpty con-
tinued thoughtfully, as he crossed one knee over
the other and clasped his hands round it, “ they
gave it me —for an un-birthday present.â€
“T beg your pardon?’ Alice said with a
puzzled air.
“I’m not offended,†said Humpty Dumpty.
“I mean, what zs an un-birthday present?â€
1380 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
“A present given when it isn’t your birth-
day, of course.â€
Alice considered a little. “I like birthday
' presents best,†she said at last.
“You don’t know what you’re talking -
about!’’ cried Humpty Dumpty. “How many
days are there in a year?Չۉ۪
“ Three hundred and sixty-five,†said Alice.
“And how many birthdays have you?’
“One.’’
“And if you take one from three hundred
and sixty-five, what remains ?â€â€™
“Three hundred and sixty-four, of course.’
Humpty Dumpty looked doubtful. “I’d
rather see that done on paper,†he said. .
Alice couldn’t help smiling as she took out
her memorandum-book, and worked the sum
for him:
865
1
864
HUMPTY DUMPTY. 131
Humpty Dumpty took the book, and looked
at it carefully. “That seems to be done right
—†he began.
“You’re holding it upside down!†Alice
interrupted.
“To be sure I was!†Humpty Dumpty
said gayly, as she turned it round for him. “TI
thought it looked a little queer. As I was say-
ing, that seems to be done right—though I
haven’t time to look it over thoroughly just
now — and that shows that there are three hun-
dred and sixty-four days when you might get
un-birthday presents —â€
“ Certainly,†said Alice.
“And only one for birthday presents, you
know. There.’s glory for you!â€
“J don’t know what you mean by ‘glory,’ â€
Alice said.
Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously.
“Of course you don’t—till I tell you. I
meant ‘there’s a nice knock-down argument
for youl’ â€
1382 THROUGH THE LOOKING-—GLASS.
“But ‘glory,’ does n’t mean ‘a nice knock-
down argument,’†Alice objected.
“When J.use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty
said in a rather scornful tone, “it means just
‘what I choose it to mean —neither more nor
less.†%
“The question is,†said Alice, “ whether you
can make words mean so many different things.â€
“The question is,†said Humpty Dumpty,
“ which is to be master — that’s all.â€
Alice was too much puzzled to say anything,
so after a minute Humpty Dumpty began again.
“They ’ve a temper, some of them — particu-
larly verbs, they ’re the proudest — adjectives
yon can do anything with, but not verbs —
however, I can manage the whole lot of them!
Impenetrability ! That’s what I say!â€
“ Would you tell me, please,†said Alice,
“ what that. means?â€
_“ Now you talk like a reasonable child,†said
Humpty Dumpty, looking very much pleased.
“I meant by ‘impenetrability’ that we ’ve had
_ HUMPTY DUMPTY. — 1383
enough of that subject, and it would be just as
well if you’d mention what you mean to do
next, as I suppose you don’t mean to stop here
_ all the rest of your life.â€
“That’s'a great deal to make one word
mean,†Alice said in a thoughtful tone.
“When I make a word do a lot of work like
that,†said Humpty Dumpty, “I always pay it
extra.â€
“Oh!†said Alice. She was too much puz-
zled to make any other remark.
“ Ab, you should see ’em come round me of
a Saturday night,†Humpty Dumpty went on,
wagging his head gravely from side to side:
“for to get their wages, you know.â€
(Alice did n’t venture to ask what he paid
them with; and so you see I can’t tell you.)
“You seem very clever at explaining words,
Sir,†said Alice. “ Would you kindly tell me
the meaning of the poem called Jabberwocky’?â€
' “Let’s hear it,†said Humpty Dumpty. “I
can explain all the poems that ever were in-
184 THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS.
vented — and a good many that. have n’t been
‘invented just yet.â€
This sounded very hopeful, so Alice repeated
the first verse :.
‘oT was brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe :
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.â€
“That’s enough to begin with,†Humpty
Dumpty interrupted: “there are plenty of hard
words there. ‘Brillig’? means four o’clock in.
the afternoon —the time when you begin broil-
ing things for dinner.â€
“That “ll do very well,†said Alice: “and
‘ slithy’?�
“Well ‘slithy’ means ‘lithe and slimy.’
‘Lithe’ is the same as ‘active.’ You see it’s
like a portmanteau — there are two meanings
packed up into one word.â€
“T see it now,†Alice remarked thoughtfully :
“and what are ‘toves’?â€
“Well, ‘toves’ are something like badgers —
ee
&
HUMPTY DUMPTY. 185
they’re something like lizards — and they re
something like corkscrews.â€
Y A
aoe
we On OO
“They must be very curious-looking crea-
tures.â€
“They are that,†said Humpty Dumpty,
186 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
“also they make their nests under sun-dials —
also they live on cheese.â€
“ And what’s to ‘gyre’ and to cae: sta
“To ‘gyre’ is to go round and round like a
gyroscope. To ‘gimble’ is to make holes like
- a gimlet.â€
“And ‘the wabe’ is the grass-plot round a
sun-dial, I suppose?†said Alice, surprised at
her own ingenuity.
“Of course it is. It’s called ‘wabe,’ you
know, because it goes a long way before it, and
a long way behind it —â€
“ And a long way beyond-it on each side,â€
Alice added.
“Exactly so. Well then, ‘mimsy’ is ‘flimsy
and miserable’ (there’s another portmanteau for
you). And a ‘borogove’ is a thin shabby-looking
bird with its feathers sticking out all round —
something like a live mop.â€
“And then ‘mome raths’?†said Alice.
“T’m afraid I’m giving you a great deal of
trouble.â€
HUMPTY DUMPTY. : 137
© Well, a ‘rath’ is a sort of green pig: but
‘mome’ I’m not certain about. I think it’s
short for ‘from home ’ — meaning that they’d
lost their way, you know.â€
“ And what does ‘ outgrabe’ mean?â€â€™
_ “Well, ‘outgribing’ is something between
bellowing and whistling, with a kind of sneeze
in the middle: however, you ll hear it done,
maybe — down in the wood yonder — and when
you ’ve once heard it you ‘ll be quite content.
Who’s been repeating all that hard stuff to
you?â€
“I read it in a book,†said Alice. “But I
had some poetry repeated to me, much easier
than that by — Tweedledee, I think it was.â€
“As to poetry, you know,†said Humpty
Dumpty, stretching out one of his great hands,
“ J can repeat poetry as well as other folk, if it
comes to thatщۉ۪
“ Oh, it need n’t come to that!†Alice hastily
said, hoping to keep him from beginning.
“The piece I’m going to repeat,†he went
138 THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS.
on without noticing her remark, “was written
entirely for your amusement.â€
Alice felt that in that case she really hoe
to listen to it, so she sat down, and said “ Thank
you,†rather sadly.
“In winter, when the fields are white,
I sing this song for your delight —
only I don’t sing it,†he added, as an explana-
‘tion.
“TI see you don’t,†said Alice.
“Tf you can see whether I’m singing or not,
you’ve sharper eyes than most,†Humpty Dumpty
remarked severely. Alice was silent.
“In spring, when the woods are getting green,
I’ll try and tell you what I mean,â€
“Thank you very much,†said Alice.
‘¢In summer, when the days are long,
Perhaps yon ’ll understand the song :
In autumn, when the leaves are brown,
Take pen and ink, and write it down.â€
HUMPTY DUMPTY. 1389
«J will, if I ean remember it so long,†said
Alice.
“You need n’t go on making remarks like that,â€
Humpty Dumpty said: “they ’re not sensible,
and they put me out.â€
“T sent a message to the fish :
I told them ‘ This is what I wish.’
The little fishes of the sea,
They sent an answer back to me.
The little fishes’ answer was,
‘We cannot do it, Sir, because—â€â€™
“I’m afraid I don’t quite understand,â€â€™ said
Alice.
“It gets easier further on,†Humpty Dumpty
replied.
“T sent to them again to say
‘It will be better to obey.’
The fishes answered with a grin,
‘Why, what a temper you are in!’
I told them once, I told them twice :
They would not listen to advice.
140 THROUGH THE LOOKING-—GLASS.
I took a kettle large and new,
Fit for the deed I had to do.
My heart went hop, my heart went thump ;
I filled the kettle at the pump.
Then some one came to me and said,
‘The little fishes are in bed.’
T said to him, I said it plain,
‘Then you must wake them up again.’
HUMPTY DUMPTY. - 141
I said it very loud and clear ;
I went and shouted in his ear.â€
Humpty Dumpty raised his voice almost to -
a scream as he repeated this verse, and Alice
thought with a shudder, “I would n’t have been
the messenger for anything!â€
‘But he was very stiff and proud ;
He said ‘ You need n’t shout so loud !â€
And he was very proud and stiff ;
He said ‘1’d go and wake them, if—’
I took a corkscrew from the shelf:
I went to wake them up myself.
‘And when I found the door was locked,
I pulled and.pushed and kicked and knocked.
And when I found the door was shut,
I tried to turn the handle, butщۉ۪
There was a long pause.
“Ts that all?†Alice timidly asked.
_“That’s all,†said Humpty Dumpty. “ Good-
by.†‘
This was rather sudden, Alice thought: but,
142 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
after such a very strong hint that she ought to
be ‘going, she felt that it would hardly be civil
to stay. So she got up, and held out her hand.
1
“Good-by, till we meet again!†she said as
cheerfully as she could.
“J should n’t know you again if we did meet,â€
Humpty Dumpty replied in a discontented tone,
giving her one of his fingers to shake; “ you’re
so exactly like other people.â€
“The face is what one goes by, generally,â€
Alice remarked in a thoughtful tone.
“'That’s just what I complain of,†said Humpty
Dumpty. ‘Your face is the same as everybody
has — the two eyes, so—†(marking their places
in the air with his thumb) “ nose in the middle,
mouth under. It’s always the same. Now if
you had the two eyes on the same side of the
nose, for instance —or the mouth at the top —
that would be some help.â€
“Tt wouldn’t look nice,†Alice objected. But
Humpty Dumpty only shut his eyes and said,
“Wait till you’ve tried.â€
HUMPTY DUMPTY. 143
Alice waited a minute to see if he would
speak again, but as he never opened his eyes
or took any further notice of her, she said
“ Good-by !†once more, and, getting no answer
to this, she quietly walked away: but she
could n’t help saying to herself as she went, “ Of
oF
all the unsatisfactory —†(she repeated this
aloud, as it was a great comfort to have such a
long word to say) “of all the unsatisfactory
people I ever met—†She never finished the
sentence, for at this moment a heavy crash shook
. the forest from end to end.
CHAPTER VII.
THE LION AND THE UNICORN.
THE next moment soldiers came running
through the wood, at first in twos and threes,
then ten or twenty together, and at last in such
crowds that they seemed to fill the whole forest.
Alice got behind a tree, for fear of being run
over, and watched them go by.
She thought that in all her life she had never
seen soldiers so uncertain on their feet: they
were always tripping over something or other,
and whenever one went down, several more
always fell over him, so that the ground was,
soon covered with little heaps of men.
Then came the horses. Having four feet,
these managed rather better than the foot-sol-
144
THE LION AND THE UNICORN. 145
diers; but even they stumbled now and then:
and it seemed to be a regular rule that, when-
ever a horse stumbled, the rider fell off instantly.
The: confusion got worse every moment, and
Alice was very glad to get out of the wood
into an open place, where she found the White
146 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
King seated on the ground, busily writing in
his memorandum-book.
' “I’ve sent them all!†the King cried in a
tone of delight, on seeing Alice. “Did -you
happen to meet any soldiers, my dear, as you
came through the wood?†: .
“Yes, I did,†said Alice: “several thousand, _
I should think.†a ie
“Four thousand two hundred and. seven,
that’s the exact number,†the King said, refer-
ring to his book. “I couldn’t send all the
horses, you know, because two of them are
wanted in the game. And I have n’t sent the
two Messengers, either. They ’re both gone to
the town. Just look along the road, and tell
me if you can see either of them.â€
“I see nobody on the road,†said Alice.
“T only wish J had such eyes,†the King
remarked in a fretful tone. ‘To be able to see
‘Nobody! And at that distance too! Why,
it’s as much as I can do to see real people, by
this light!â€
THE LION AND THE UNICORN. 147
All this was lost on Alice, who was still look-
ing intently along the road, shading her eyes
with one hand. “I see somebody now!†she ex-
claimed at last. “ But he’s coming very slowly
—and' what curious attitudes he goes into!â€
(For the Messenger kept skipping up and down,
and wriggling like an eel, as he came along,
with his great hands spread out like fans on
each side.)
. “Not at all,†said the King. “He’s /an
Anglo-Saxon Messenger —and those are Anglo- -
Saxon attitudes. He only does them when he’s
happy. His name is. Haigha.†(He pro-
nounced it so as to rhyme with “ mayor.â€)
“T love my love with an‘H,†Alice could n’t
help beginning, “because he is Happy. I hate
him with an H, because he is Hideous. I fed
‘him with— with —with Ham-sandwiches and
Hay. His name is Haigha, and he lives —â€
“ He lives on the Hill,†the King remarked
simply, without the least idea that he was join-
ing in the game, while Alice was still hesitating
148 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
for the name of a town beginning with H.
“ The other Messenger’s called Hatta. I must
have two, you know — to come and go. One to
come, and one to go.â€
“I beg your pardon?†said Alice.
“Tt is n’t respectable to beg,†said the King.
“T only meant that I didn’t understand,†said
Alice.’ “Why one to come and one to go?â€
“Don’t I tell you?†the King repeated im-
patiently. “I must have two—to fetch and
carry. One to fetch, and one to carry.â€
At this moment the Messenger arrived: he
was far too much out of breath to say a word,
and could only wave his hands about, and make
the most fearful faces at the poor King.
“This young lady loves you with an H,†the —
King said, introducing Alice in the hope of
turning off the Messenger’s attention from him-
self—but it was no use—the Anglo-Saxon
attitudes only got more extraordinary every
moment, while the great eyes rolled wildly from
side to side.
THE LION AND THE UNICORN. 149
“You alarm me!†said the King. “I feel
faint. Give me a ham-sandwich!†.
On which the Messenger, to Alice’s great
amusement, opened a bag that hung round his
neck, and handed a sandwich to the King, who
devoured it greedily.
“ Another sandwich!†said the King.
“There ’s nothing but hay left now,†the
Messenger said, peeping into the bag.
“ Hay, then,†the King murmured in a faint
whisper.
150 THROUGH THE LOOKING-—GLASS.
Alice was glad to see that it revived him a
good deal. “There ’s nothing like eating hay
when you’re faint,†he remarked to her, as he
munched away.
“J should think throwing cold water over you
would be better,†Alice suggested : “— or some
sal-volatile.†:
“J did n’t.say there was nothing better,†the
King replied. “I said there was nothing like
it.†Which Alice did not venture to deny.
“ Who did you pass on the road?†the King
went on, holding out his hand to the Messenger. |
for some more hay.
“ Nobody,†said the Messenger.
“ Quite right,†said the King: “this young
lady saw him too. So of course Nobody walks
slower than you.â€
“I do my best,†the Messenger said in a
sullen tone. “I’m sure nobody. walks much
faster than I do!â€
“ He can’t do that,†said the King, “or else
he ’d have been here first. However, now
THE LION AND THE UNICORN. 151
you ve got your breath, you may tell us what’s
| happened in the town.â€
“J ll whisper it,†said the Messenger, putting
his hands to his mouth in the shape of a trumpet,
and stooping so as to get close to the King’s
ear. Alice was sorry for this, as she wanted to
hear the news too. However, instead of whis-
pering, he simply shouted at the top of his voice,
“ They ’re atit again!†a
“Do you call that a whisper?†cried the poor
King, jumping up and shaking himself. «If
you do such a thing again, I’ll have you but-
tered! It went through and through my head
like an earthquake ! â€
“It would have to be a very tiny earth-
quake!†thought Alice. “Who are at it
again ?†she ventured to ask.
‘Why, the Lion and the Unicorn, of course,â€
said the King.
_ “Fighting for the crown?â€
“Yes, to be sure,†said the King: “and the
best of the joke is, that it’s my crown all
152 THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS.
the while! Let ’s run and see them.†And
they trotted off, Alice repeating to herself, as
she ran, the words of the old song : —
‘The Lion and the Unicorn were fighting for the crown:
The Lion beat the Unicorn all round the town.
Some gave them white bread, some gave them brown ;
Some gave them plum-cake and drummed them out of
town.â€
“Does — the one — that wins — get the
crown?†she asked, as well at she could, for
the run was putting her quite out of breath. -
“Dear me, no!†said the King. “ What an |
idea!â€
“ Would you — be good enough,†Alice panted
out, after running a little further, “to stop a
minute — just to get — one’s breath again ?â€
_ “I’m good enough,†the King said, “ only I’m
not strong enough. You see, a minute goes by
so fearfully quick. You might as well try to
stop a Bandersnatch !â€
Alice had no more breath for talking, so they
trotted on in silence, till they came in sight of
THE LION AND THE UNICORN. 153
a great crowd, in the middle of which the Lion
and Unicorn were fighting. They were in such
a cloud of dust, that at first Alice could not —
make -out which was which; but she soon
managed to distinguish the Unicorn by his
horn.
| They placed themselves close to where
Hatta, the other Messenger, was standing
watching the fight, with a cup of tea in one
hand and a piece of bread-and-butter in the
other.
“He’s only just out of prison, and he had n’t
finished his tea when he was sent in,†Hai-
gha whispered to Alice: “and they only give
them oyster-shells in there—so you see he’s
very hungry and thirsty. How are you, dear
child?†he went on, putting his arm affection-
ately round Hatta’s neck.
Hatta looked round and nodded, and went on
with his bread-and-butter.
“Were you happy in prison, dear child?â€
said Haigha.
154 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
Hatta looked round once more, and this time
a tear or two trickled down his cheek; but not
a word would he say.
“ Speak, can’t you!†Haigha cried impatiently.
But Hatta only munched away, and drank some
more tea.
(FF iN Ia Pe Ss
wi a ;
pO ih, Meas
“ Speak, won’t you!†cried the King. “How
are they getting on with the fight?â€
Hatta made a desperate effort, and swallowed
a large piece of bread-and-butter. “They ’re
THE LION AND THE UNICORN. 5S
getting on very well,†he said in a choking
voice: “each of them has been down about
eighty-seven times.â€
“Then I suppose they ’1l soon arin the white
bread and the brown?†Alice ventured to remark.
“Jt’s waiting for em now,†said Hatta: “ this
is a bit of it as I’m eating.â€
There was a pause in the fight just then, and
the Lion and the Unicorn sat down, panting,
while the King called out, “Ten minutes allowed
for refreshments ! †Haigha and Hatta set to
work at once, carrying round trays of white and
brown bread. Alice took a piece to taste, but
it was very dry.
“I don’t think they ‘Il fight any more to-day,â€
the King said to Hatta: “go and order the drums
to begin.†And Hatta went bounding away like
a grasshopper.
For a minute or two Alice stood silent, watch-
ing him. Suddenly she brightened up. “Look, .
look!†she cried, pointing eagerly. “There’s
the White Queen running across the country!
156 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS. °
She came flying out of the wood over yonder
— How fast those Queens can run!â€
“There ’s some enemy after her, no doubt,â€
the King said, without even looking round.
_ “That wood’s full of them.â€
“ But are n’t you going to run and help her?â€
Alice asked, very much surprised at his taking
it so quietly. —
“No use, no use!†said the King. “She
_Tuns so fearfully quick. You might as well try
to catch a Bandersnatch! But I’ll make a
memorandum about her, if you like —She’s a
dear good creature,†he repeated softly to him-
self, as he opened his memorandum-book. “Do
you spell ‘ creature’ with a double ‘e??â€
At this moment the Unicorn sauntered by
them, with his hands in his pockets. “I had
the best of it this time?†he said to the King,
just glancing at him as he passed. =
“A little—a little,†the King replied,
rather nervously. ‘You should n’t have run
him through with your horn, you know.â€
THE LION AND THE UNICORN. 157
“Tt did n’t hurt him,†the Unicorn said care-
lessly, and he was going on, when his eye hap-
pened to fall upon Alice: he turned round
instantly, and stood for some time looking at
her with an air of the deepest disgust.
“ What —is — this?†he said at last.
“This is a child!†Haigha replied eagerly,
coming in front of Alice to introduce her, and
spreading out both his hands towards her in
an Anglo-Saxon attitude. “We only found it
to-day. It’s as large as life, and twice as
natural!â€
“TI always thought they were fabulous mon-
sters!†said the Unicorn. “Is it alive?â€
“It can talk,†said Haigha, solemnly.
The Unicorn looked dreamily at Alice, and
said, “ Talk, child.â€
Alice could not help her lips curling up into
a smile as she began: “Do you know, I always
thought Unicorns were fabulous monsters, too!
I never saw one alive before!†‘
“Well, now that we have seen each other,â€
158 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS,
said the Unicorn, “if you ‘ll believe in me, I’ll
believe in you. Is that a bargain?â€
“ Yes, if you like,†said Alice.
“ Come, fetch out the plum-cake, old man!â€
the Unicorn went on, turning from her to the
King. “None of your brown bread for me! â€
Wie
aN MOULD ge
LES
ath
ya,
re UD
t
“ Certainly —certainly!†the King muttered,
and beckoned to Haigha. “Open the bag!â€
he whispered. “Quick! Not that one—that’s
full of hay!â€
THE LION AND THE UNICORN. 159
Haigha took a large cake out of the bag, and
gave it to Alice to hold, while he got out a dish
and carving-knife. How they all came out of
it Alice could n’t guess. It was just like a con-
juring-trick, she thought.
The Lion had joined them while ae was
going on: he looked very tired and sleepy, and
his eyes were half shut. “ What’s this!†he
said, blinking lazily at Alice, and speaking in a
deep hollow tone that sounded like the tolling
of a great bell.
“Ah, what zs it, now?†the Unicorn cried
eagerly. “You'll never guess! I couldn’t.â€
The Lion looked at Alice wearily. “ Are
you animal —or vegetable —or mineral?†he
said, yawning at every other word.
“Jt ’s a fabulous monster!â€â€™ the Unicorn cried
out, before Alice could reply.
“Then hand round the plum-cake, Monster,â€
the Lion said, lying down and putting his chin
on his paws. ‘And sit down, both of you,†(to
the King and the Unicorn): “fair play with
the cake, you know!â€
160 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
The King was evidently very uncomfortable
at having to sit down between the two great
creatures ; but there was no other place for him.
“What a fight we might have for the crown,
now /†the Unicorn said, looking slyly up at
the crown, which the poor King was nearly
shaking off his head, he trembled so much.
“JT should win easy,†said the Lion.
“Dm not so sure of that,’ said the Unicorn.
“ Why, I beat you all round the town, you.
chicken!’’ the Lion replied angrily, half get-
ting up as he spoke.
Here the King interrupted, to prevent the
quarrel going on: he was, very nervous, and his
voice quite quivered. “All round the town?â€
he said. “That’sa good long way. Did you
go by the old bridge, or the market-place?
You get the best view by the old bridge.â€
“JT’m sure I don’t know,†the Lion growled
out as he lay down again. “There was too
much dust to see anything. What a time the
Monster is, cutting up that cake!â€
THE LION AND THE UNICORN. 161
Alice had seated herself on the bank of a
little brook, with the great dish on her knees,
and was sawing away diligently with the knife.
“It’s very provoking!â€
she said, in reply to
the Lion (she was getting quite used to being
called “ the Monster’’), “I’ve cut several slices
already, but they always join on again!â€
“You don’t know how to manage Looking-
glass cakes,†the Unicorn remarked. “ Hand it
round first, and cut it afterwards.â€
This sounded nonsense, but Alice very obedi-
ently got up, and carried the dish round, and
the cake divided itself into three pieces as she
did so. “Now cut it up,†said the Lion, as
she returned to her place with the empty
dish.
“T say, this isn’t fair !’’ cried the Unicorn, as
Alice sat with the knife in her hand, very much
puzzled how to begin. ‘“ The Monster has given
the Lion twice as much as me!â€
“She’s kept none for herself, anyhow,†said
the Lion. “Do you like plum-cake, Monster?â€
162 THROUGH THE LOOKING-—GLASS.
~.S sy
VIN 4
ers ts
WW
y kar
\
"
CZ
( Pre < Tai
ar te
But before Alice could answer him, the drums
= Ti
began.
THE LION AND THE UNICORN. 163
Where the noise came from, she could n’t
make out: the air seemed full of it, and it rang
through and through her head till she felt quite
deafened. She started to her feet and sprang
across the little brook in her terror, and had just
time to see the Lion and the Unicorn rise to
their feet, with angry looks at being interrupted
in their feast, before she dropped to her knees
and put her hands over her ears, vainly trying
to shut out the dreadful uproar.
“Tf that doesn’t ‘drum them out of town,’ â€
she thought to herself, “nothing ever will!â€
CHAPTER VIII.
“rg MY OWN INVENTION.â€
Arter a while the noise seemed gradually to
die away, till all was dead silence, and Alice
lifted up her head in some alarm. There was
no one to be seen, and her first thought was that
she must have been dreaming about the Lion
and the Unicorn and those queer Anglo-Saxon
Messengers. However, there was the great dish
still lying at her feet, on which she had tried to
cut the plum-cake. “So I was n’t dreaming, after
all,†she said to herself, “ unless — unless we ’re
all part of the same dream. Only I do hope
it’s my dream, and not the Red King’s!
I don’t like belonging to another person’s
dream,†she went on in a rather complaining
164
“Ip ’S MY OWN INVENTION.†165
tone: “I’ve a great mind to go and wake him,
and see what happens !â€
At this moment her thoughts were interrupted
by a loud shouting of “ Ahoy! Ahoy! Check!â€
anda Knight, dressed in crimson armor, came
galloping down upon her, brandishing a great
elub. Just as he reached her, the horse stopped
suddenly: “ You’re my prisoner!†the Knight
eried, as he tumbled off his horse.
Startled as she was, Alice was more fright-
ened for him than for herself at the moment,
and watched him with some anxiety as he
mounted again. As soon as he was comfortably
in the saddle, he began once more: “ You ’re my
—†but here another voice broke in “ Ahoy!
Ahoy! Check!†and Alice looked round in
some surprise for the new enemy.
This time it was a White Knight. He drew
‘up at Alice’s side, and tumbled off his horse just
as the Red Knight had done: then he got on
again, and the two Knights sat and looked at
each other for some time without speaking. Alice
" 166 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
looked from one to the other in some bewilder-
ment. |
“She’s my prisoner, you know!†the Red
Knight said at last.
“Yes, but then J came and rescued her!â€
the White Knight replied.
“ Well, we must fight for her, then,†said the
Red Knight, as he took up his helmet (which
hung from the saddle, and was something the
shape of a horse’s head), and put it on.
a You will observe the Rules of Battle, of
course?†the White Knight remarked, putting
on his helmet too.
i always do,†said the Red Knight, and they
began banging away at. each other with such
fury that Alice got behind a tree to be out of ~
the way of the blows.
‘“T wonder, now, what the Rules of Battle are,â€
she said to herself, as she watched the fight
timidly peeping out from her hiding-place : “one
Rule seems to be, that if one Knight hits the
other, he knocks him off his horse, and if he
“rr ’s MY OWN INVENTION.†—« 167
misses, he tumbles off himself —and another
Rule seems to be that they hold their clubs
with their arms, as if they were Punch and
Judy —What a noise they make when they
tumble! Just like a whole set of fire-irons fall-
ing into the fender! And how quiet the horses
168 THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS.
are! They let them get on and off them just as
if they were tables!†:
Another Rule of Battle, that Alice had not
noticed, seemed to be that they always fell on
their heads, and the battle ended with their both
falling off in this way, side by side: when they
' got up again, they shook hands, and then the
Red Knight mounted and galloped off.
“Jt was a glorious victory, was n’t it?†said
the White Knight, as he came up panting.
“TI don’t know,†Alice said doubtfully. “I
don’t want to be anybody’s prisoner. I want to
be a Queen.â€
“So you will, when you’ve crossed the next
brook,†said the White Knight. “TI ’ll see you
safe to the end of the wood — and then I must go
back, you know. That’s the end of my move.â€
- “Thank you very much,†said Alice. “ May
T help you off with your helmet?†It was evi-
dently more than he could manage by himself:
however, she managed to shake him out of it at
last.
“Ip ’s MY OWN INVENTION.†169 ©
“Now one can breathe more easily,†said the
Knight, putting back his shaggy hair with both
hands, and turning his gentle face and large
mild eyes to Alice. She thought she had never
seen such a strange-looking soldier in all her
life.
He was dressed in tin armor, which seemed
to fit him very badly, and he had a queer-shaped
little deal box fastened across his shoulders, up-
side-down, and with the lidhanging open. Alice
looked at it with great curiosity.
“JT see you’re admiring my little box,†the
Knight said in a friendly tone. “It’s my own
invention — to keep clothes and sandwiches in.
You see I carry it upside-down, so that the rain
can’t get in.†|
“But the things can get out,†Alice gently
remarked. ‘Do you know the lid’s open?â€
“TI didn’t know it,†the Knight said, a shade
of vexation passing over his face. “Then all
the things must have fallen out! And the box
is no use without them.†He unfastened it as
170 THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS.
he spoke, and was just going to throw it into
the bushes, when a sudden thought seemed to
strike him, and he hung it carefully on a tree.
“Can you guess why I did that?†he said to
Alice.
Alice shook her head.
“In hopes some bees may make a nest in it
— then I should get the honey.â€
“But you’ve got a bee-hive — or something
like one — fastened to the saddle,†said Alice.
“Yes, it’s a very good bee-hive,†the Knight
said in a discontented tone, “one of the best
kind. But not a single bee has come near it
yet. And the other thing is a mouse-trap. I
suppose the mice keep the bees out— or the
bees keep the mice out, I don’t know which.â€
“JT was wondering what the mouse-trap was
for,†said Alice. “It isn’t very likely there —
would be any mice on the horse’s back.â€
“ Not very likely, perhaps,†said the Knight;
“but if they do come, I don’t choose to have
them running all about.â€
Alice and the White Knight.
“7p ’s MY OWN INVENTION.†171
You see,’â€â€™ he went on after a pause, “it’s
as well to be provided for everything. ‘“ That 8
the reason the horse has all those anklets round
his feet.â€
“But what are they for?†Alice asked in
a tone of great curiosity.
“To guard against the bites of sharks,†the
Knight replied. ‘It’s an invention of my own.
And now help me on. I'll go with you to the
end of the wood. What’s that dish for?â€
“It’s meant for plum-cake,†said Alice.
“We'd better take it with us,†the Knight
‘gaid. “It’ll come in handy if we find any plum-
cake. Help me to get it into this bag.â€
This took a long time to manage, though
Alice held the bag open very carefully, because
the Knight was so very awkward in putting in
the dish: the first two or three times that he
tried he fell in himself instead. “It’s rather a
tight fit, you see,†he said, as they got it in at
last; “there are so many candlesticks in. the
bag.†And he hung it to the saddle, which was
172 THROUGH THE LOOKING-—GLASS.
already loaded with bunches of carrots, and fire-
irons, and many other things. |
“JT hope you’ve got your hair well fastened
on?†he continued as they set off.
“Only in the usual way,†Alice said, smiling.
“That’s hardly enough,†he said anxiously.
“You see the wind is so very strong here. It’s
as strong as soup.†- ;
“Have you invented a plan for keeping the
hair from being blown off?†Alice inquired.
“Not yet,†said the Knight. “But I’ve got
a plan for keeping it from falling off.â€
“JT should like to hear it, very much.â€
“First you take an upright stick,†said the
Knight. “Then you make your hair creep up
it, like a fruit-tree. Now the reason hair falls
off is because it hangs down — things never fall
upwards, you know. It’s a plan of my own in-
vention. You may try it if you like.â€
It didn’t sound a comfortable plan, Alice
thought, and for a few minutes she walked on
in silence, puzzling over the idea, and every now
“ip ’s MY OWN INVENTION.†173
and then stopping to help the poor Knight, who
certainly was not a good rider.
Whenever the horse stopped (which it did
very often), he fell off in front; and whenever
it went on again (which it generally did rather
suddenly), he fell off behind. Otherwise he
174 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
kept on pretty well, except that he had a habit
of now and then falling off sideways ; and as he
generally did this on the side on which Alice
was walking, she soon found that it was the best
plan not to walk quite close to the horse.
“I’m afraid you’ve not had. much practice in
riding,†she ventured to say, as she was helping
him up from his fifth tumble.
The Knight looked very much surprised, and
a little offended at the remark. “ What makes
you say that?†he asked, as he scrambled back
into the saddle, keeping hold of Alice’s hair
with one hand, to save himself from falling over
on the other side.
“Because people don’t fall off quite so often,
when they ’ve had much practice.â€
“T’ve had plenty of practice,†the Knight
said very gravely: “plenty of practice!â€
Alice could think of nothing better to say
than “Indeed?†but she said it as heartily as
she could. They went on a little way in silence
after this, the Knight with his eyes shut, mut-
“IT’S MY OWN INVENTION.†175
tering to himself, and Alice watching anxiously
for the next tumble.
“The great art of riding,†the Knight sud-
denly began in a loud voice, waving his right
arm as he spoke, “is to keep—’’ Here the
sentence ended as suddenly as it had begun, as
the Knight fell heavily on the top of his head
exactly in the path where Alice was walking.
She was quite frightened this time, and said in
an anxious tone, as she picked him up, “I hope
no bones are broken?â€
“ None to speak of,†the Knight said, as if he
didn’t mind breaking two or three of them.
“The great art of riding, as I was saying is —
to keep your balance properly. Like this, you
know —â€
He let go the bridle, and stretched out both
his arms to show Alice what he meant, and this
time he fell flat on his back, right under the
horse’s feet.
“ Plenty of practice!†he went on repeating,
all the time that Alice was getting him on his
feet again. “ Plenty of practice!â€
176 THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS.
“Tt ’s too ridiculous!†cried Alice, losing all
her patience this time. “You ought to have a
wooden horse on wheels, that you ought!â€
“Does that kind go smoothly?†the Knight
asked in a tone of great interest, clasping his
arms round the horse’s neck as he spoke, just in
time to save himself from tumbling off again.
“Much more smoothly than a live horse,â€
Alice said, with a little scream of laughter, in
spite of all she could do to prevent it.
“Tl get one,†the Knight said thoughtfully
to himself. “ One or two — several.â€
There was a short silence after this, and then
the Knight went on again. “I’m a great hand
at inventing things. Now, I dare say you
noticed, the last time you picked me up, that I
was looking rather thoughtful ?†.
© You were a little grave,†said Alice.
“Well, just then I was inventing a new way
of getting over a gate —would you like to
hear it?â€
“Very much indeed,†Alice said politely.
“TT ’s MY OWN INVENTION.†177
“I'll tell you how I came to think of it,†said
the Knight. “You see, I said to myself, ‘ The
only difficulty is with the feet: the head is high
enough already.’ Now, first I put my head on
' the top of the gate— then the head’s high
enough —-then I stand on my head — then the
feet are high enough, you see — then I’m over,
you see.â€
“Yes, I suppose you’d be over when that
‘was done,’’ Alice said thoughtfully: “but don’t
you think it would be rather hard?â€
“T haven’t tried it yet,’’ the Knight said,
gravely : “so I can’t tell for certain — but I’m
afraid it would be a little hard.â€
He looked so vexed at the idea, that Alice
changed the subject hastily. “ What a curious
helmet you ’ve got !â€â€™ she said cheerfully. “Is
that your invention too? â€
The Knight looked down proudly at his
helmet, which hung from the saddle. “Yes,â€
che said, “but I’ve invented a better one than
‘that — like a sugar-loaf. When I used to wear
178 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
it, if I fell off the horse, it always touched the
ground directly. So I had a very little way to
fall, you see— But there was the danger of
falling into it, to be sure. That happened to me
once— and the worst of it was, before I could
get out again, the other White Knight came
and put it on. He thought it was his own
helmet.â€
The Knight looked so solemn about it that
Alice did not dare to laugh. “I’m afraid you
must have hurt him,†she said in a trembling
voice, “ being on the top of his head.â€
“JT had to kick him, of course,†the Knight
said, very seriously. “And then he took the
helmet off again — but it took hours and hours
to get me out. I was as fast as — as lightning,
you know.â€
“But that’s a different kind of fastness,â€â€™
Alice objected.
The Knight shook his head. “It was all
kinds of fastness with me, I can assure you!â€
he said. He raised his hands in some excite-
“1p ’s MY OWN INVENTION.†179
ment as he said ‘this, and instantly rolled out
of the saddle, and fell headlong into a deep
ditch, Pa
Alice ran to the side of the ditch to look for
him. She was rather startled by the fall, as for
some time he had kept on very well, and she
ls Ce
ey ee wi Sah! ey a ;
NER at ) eA : a J
eo UR 5 Hie RL es
was afraid that he really was hurt this time.
However, though she could see nothing but the
soles of his feet, she was much relieved to hear
that he was talking on in his usual tone. “ All
180 THROUGH THE. LOOKING-GLASS.
kinds of fastness,’’ he repeated: “ but it was
careless of him to put another man’s helmet on
— with the man in it, too.’
“ How can you go on talking so aca head
downwards?†Alice asked, as she dragged him
out by the feet, and laid him in a heap on the
bank.
‘The Knight looked surprised at the question.
“What does it matter where my body happens
to be?†he said. “My mind goes on working
all the same. In fact, the more head down-
wards I am, the more I keep inventing new
things.
“Now the cleverest thing of the sort that I
ever did,†he went on after a pause, “was in-
venting a new pudding during the meat-course.â€
“In time to have it cooked for the next
' course?†said Alice. ‘“ Well, that was quick
work, certainly !â€
“Well, not the neat course,†the Knight said
in a slow thoughtful tone: “no, certainly not
the next course.â€
‘17 ’g MY OWN INVENTION.†181
“Then it would have to be the next day. I
suppose you wouldn’t have two pudding-courses
in one dinner?â€
“Well, not the neat day,†the Knight repeated
as before: “not the next day. In fact,†he
went on, holding his head down, and his voice
getting lower and lower, “I don’t believe that
pudding ever was cooked! In fact, I don’t
believe that pudding ever will be cooked! And
yet it was a very clever pudding to invent.â€
“What did you mean it to be made of?â€
Alice asked, hoping to cheer him up, for the
poor Knight seemed quite low-spirited about it.
“It began with blotting-paper,†the Knight
answered with a groan.
“ That would n’t be very nice, I’m afraid —â€
“Not very nice alone,†he interrupted, quite
eagerly: but you’ve no idea what a difference
it makes, mixing it with other things — such as
gunpowder and sealing-wax. And here I must
leave you.†They had just come to the end of
the wood.
182 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
Alice could. only look puzzled: she was
thinking of the pudding.
“You are sad,’’ the Knight said in an anxious
tone: let me sing you a song to comfort you.â€
“Is it very long?†Alice asked, for she had
heard a good deal of poetry that day.
“Tt’s long†said the Knight, “but it’s very,
very beautiful. Everybody that hears me sing
it— either it brings the tears into their eyes, or
else —â€
“Or else what?†said Alice, for the Knight
had made a sudden pause.
“Or else it doesn’t, you know. The, name
of the song is called ‘ Haddocks’ Eyes.â€
- Qh, that’s the name of the song, is it?â€
Alice said, trying to feel interested.
“No, you don’t understand,†the Knight said,
looking a little vexed. ‘ That’s what the name
is called. The name really és ‘ The Aged Aged
Man.â€
“Then I ought to have said ‘That’s what
the song is called’?†Alice corrected herself.
«yp ’s MY OWN INVENTION.†188
“No, you oughtn’t: that’s quite another
thing! The song is called‘ Ways And Means’:
but that’s only what it’s called, you know!â€
“Well, what is the song, then?†said Alice,
who was by this time completely bewildered. —
“T was coming to that,†the Knight said.
“ The song really is ‘ A-sitting On A Gate’: and
the tune ’s my own invention.â€
So saying, he stopped his horse and let the
reins fall on its neck: then, slowly beating time
with one hand, and with a faint smile lighting
up his gentle foolish face, as if he enjoyed the
music of its song, he began.
Of all the strange things that Alice saw in
her journey Through The Looking-Glass, this
was the one that she always remembered most
clearly. Years afterwards she could bring the
whole scene back again, as if it had been only
yesterday — the mild blue eyes and kindly smile
of the Knight —the setting sun gleaming
through his hair, and shining on his armor,
in a blaze of light that quite dazzled her —
184 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
the horse quietly moving about, with the reins
hanging loose on his neck, cropping the grass
at her feet—and the black shadows of the
forest behind—all this she took in like a
picture, as, with one hand shading her eyes, she
leant against a tree, watching the strange pair,
and listening, in a half dream, to the melan-
choly music of the song.
“But the tune és n’t his own invention,†she
said to herself: “it’s ‘ZI give thee all, I can no
more.†She stood and listened very attentively,
but no tears came into her eyes.
“T?ll tell thee everything I can ;
There’s little to relate.
I saw an aged. aged man,
A-sitting on a gate.
“Who are you, aged man?’ I said.
‘ And how is it you live ?’
And his answer trickled through my head
Like water through a sieve.
He said ‘I look for butterflies
That sleep among the wheat:
I make them into mutton-pies,
And sell them in the street.
“Ip ’s MY OWN INVENTION.†185
I sell them unto men,’ he said,
‘Who sail on stormy seas;
And that’s the way I get my bread—
A trifle; if you please.’
But I was thinking of a plan ©
‘To dye one’s whiskers green,
And always use so large a fan
That they could not be seen.
So, having no reply to give
To what the old man said,
I cried ‘ Come, tell me how you live ?°
- And thumped him on the head.
His accents mild took up the tale:
He said, I go my ways,
And when I find a mountain-rill,
* I set it in a blaze;
And thence they make a stuff they call
Rowlands’ Macassar Oil —
Yet twopence-halfpenny is all
They give me for my toil.’
But I was thinking of a way
To feed oneself on batter,
And so go on from day to day
Getting a little fatter.
186 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
I shook him well from side to side,
Until his face was blue: :
“Come, tell me how you live,’ I cried,
‘And what it is you do !’
He said, ‘I hunt for haddocks’ eyes
Among the heather bright,
And work them into waistcoat-buttons
In the silent night.
And these I do not sell for gold
Or coin of silvery shine,
But for a copper halfpenny,
And that will purchase nine.
“7p ’s MY OWN INVENTION.†187°
‘T sometimes dig for buttered rolls,
Or set limed twigs for crabs;
I sometimes search the grassy knolls
For wheels of Hansom-cabs.
And that’s the way’ (he gave a wink)
‘By which I get my wealth —
And very gladly will I drink
Your Honor’s noble health.’
T heard him then, for I had just
Completed my design
To keep the Menai bridge from rust
By boiling it in wine.
I thanked him much for telling me
The way he got his wealth,
But chiefly for his wish that he
Might drink my noble health.
And now, if e’er by chance I put
My fingers into glue,
Or madly squeeze a right-hand foot
Into a left-hand shoe,
Or if I drop upon my toe
A very heavy weight,
I weep, for it reminds me so
Of that old man I used to know —
Whose look was mild, whose speech was slow,
Whose hair was whiter than the snow,
Whose face was very like a crow,
188 THROUGH THE LOOKING-—GLASS.
With eyes, like cinders, all aglow,
Who seemed distracted with his woe,
Who rocked his body to and fro,
And muttered mumblingly and low,
As if his mouth were full of dough,
Who snorted like a buffalo —
That summer evening, long ago,
A-sitting on a gate.â€
As the Knight sang the last words of the
ballad, he gathered up the reins, and turned his
horse’s head along the road by which. they had
come. ‘ You’ve only’a few yards to go,†he
said, “down the hill and over that little brook,
and then you'll be a Queen. But you’ll stay
and see me off first?†he added, as Alice turned
with an eager look in the direction to which he
pointed. “I sha’n’t be long. Youll wait and
. wave your handkerchief when I get to that
turn in the road? I think it’ll encourage me, ©
you see.â€
“Of course I ‘ll wait,†said Alice: “and
thank you very much for coming so far— and
for the song —I liked it very much.â€
“IT’S My OWN INVENTION.†189
“TI hope so,†the Knight said doubtfully ;
“but you did n’t cry so much as I thought you
would.†=
So they shook hands, and then the Knight
rode slowly away into the forest. “It won’t
take long to see him off, I expect,’ Alice said
to herself, as she stood watching him. ‘“ There
he goes! Right on his head as usual! How-
ever, he gets on again pretty easily — that
‘ comes.of having so many things hung round the
9
horse —†So she went on talking to herself, as
she watched the horse walking leisurely along the
road, and the Knight tumbling off, first on one
side and then on the other. After the fourth or
fifth tumble he reached the turn, and then she
waved her handkerchief to him, and waited till
he was out of sight.
“T hope it encouraged him,†she said, as she
turned to run down the hill: “and now for the
last brook, and to be a Queen! How grand it
sounds!†A very few steps brought her to
the edge of the brook. “The Eighth Square at
190 THROUGH THE LOOKING-—GLASS.
“rp ’S MY OWN INVENTION.†191
last!†she cried as she bounded across, and
threw herself down to rest on a lawn as soft as
moss, with little flower-beds dotted about it
here and there. “Oh, how glad I am to get
here! And what is this on my head?†she
exclaimed ina tone of dismay, as she put her
hands up to something very heavy, that fitted
tight all round her head.
“But how can it have got there without my
knowing it?†she said to herself, as she lifted
it off, and set it on her lap to make out what it
could possibly be.
It was a golden crown.
CHAPTER IX.
QUEEN ALICE.
“WELL, this is grand!â€â€™ said Alice. “I
never expected I should be a Queen so soon —
and Ill tell you what it is, your Majesty,†she
went on in a severe tone (she was always rather
fond of scolding herself), “it’Il never do for
you to be lolling about on the grass like that!
Queens have to be dignified, you know!â€
So she got up and walked about — rather
stiffly just at first, as she was afraid that the
crown might come off: but she comforted her-
self with the thought that there was nobody to
see her; “And if I really am a Queen,†she said
as she sat down again, “I slall be able to man-
age it quite well in time.â€
192
QUEEN ALICE. 193
Everything was happening so oddly that she
- didn’t feel a bit surprised at finding the Red
Queen and the White Queen sitting close to
her, one on each side: she would have liked very
much to ask them how they came there, but
she feared it would not be quite civil. How-
ever, there would be no harm, she thought, in
asking if the game was over. “ Please, would |
you tell me —†she began, looking timidly at
the Red Queen.
“Speak when you’re spoken to!†the Queen
sharply interrupted her.
2
“But if everybody obeyed that rule,†said
Alice, who was always ready for a little argu-
ment, “ and if you only spoke when you were
spoken to, and the other person always waited
for you to begin, you see nobody would ever
say anything, so that —â€
“ Ridiculous!†eried the Queen. “ Why,
don’t you see, child—â€â€™ here she broke off
with a frown, and, after thinking for a minute,
auddenly changed the subject of the conversa-
194 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
tion. “What do you mean by ‘If you really
area Queen’? What right have you to callâ€
yourself so? You can’t be a Queen, you
know, till you’ve passed the proper exam-
ination. And the sooner we begin it, the
better.â€
> 2?
!
“T only said ‘if poor Alice pleaded in a
piteous tone.
The two Queens looked at each eee and
the Red Queen remarked, with a little shudder,
“* She says she only said ‘if’ —†:
“ But she said a great deal more than that!â€
the White Queen moaned, wringing her hands.
“Oh, ever so much more than that!â€
“So you did, you know,†the Red Queen
said to Alice. “ Always speak the truth —
think before you speak —and write it down
afterwards.â€
“I’m sure I didn’t mean—†Alice was
beginning, but the Red Queen interrupted her
impatiently.
“That ’s just what I complain of! You
QUEEN ALICE. 195.
should have meant! What do you suppose is
the use of a child without any meaning? Even
a joke should have some meaning —and a
child ’s more important than a joke, I hope..
You could n’t deny that, even if you tried with
both hands.†:
“TI don’t deny things with my hands,†Alice
objected.
“Nobody said you did,â€â€™ said the Red Queen.
“T said you could n’t if you tried.â€
“She’s in that state of mind,†said the
- White Queen, “that she wants to deny some-
thing — only she does n’t know what to deny!â€
“ A nasty, vicious temper,†the Red Queen
remarked; and then there was an uncomfort-
able silence for a minute or two.
The Red Queen broke the silence by saying
to the White Queen, “I invite you to Alice’s
dinner-party this afternoon.â€
The White Queen smiled feebly, and said
** And I invite you.â€
“I didn’t know I was to have a party at
196 THROUGH THE LOOKING-—GLASS.
all,†said Alice; “ but if there is-to be one, I
think I ought to invite the guests.â€
“We gave you the opportunity of doing it,â€
the Red Queen remarked: “but I dare say
you’ve not had many lessons in manners
yet?â€
“Manners are not taught in lessons,â€
said
Alice. “Lessons teach you to do sums, and
things of that sort.â€
“Can you do Addition?†the White Queen
asked. ‘What ’s one and one and one and one
and one and one and one and one and one and
one?â€
“{ don’t know,†said Alice. “I lost count. zs
“She can’t do Addition,†the Red Queen
interrupted. ‘Can you do Subtraction? Take
nine from eight.â€
“Nine from eight? I can’t, you know,â€
Alice replied very readily: “ but — â€
“She can’t do Substraction,†said fhe White
Queen. “Can you do Division ? Divide a loaf
by a knife — what ’s the answer to that?â€
QUEEN ALICE. ' 197.
“I suppose —†Alice was beginning, but the
Red Queen answered for her. “ Bread-and-
butter, of course. Try another Subtraction
sum. Take a bone from a dog: what re-
Alice considered. “The bone would n’t
remain, of course, if I took it and the dog
would n’t remain; it would come to bite me —
‘and I’m sure J shouldn ’t remain!â€
“Then you think nothing would remain?â€
said the Red Queen.
“T think that’s the answer.â€
198 THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS.
“ Wrong, as usual,†said the Red Queen, “ the
dog’s temper would remain.â€
“ But I don’t see how —â€
“Why, look here!†the Red Queen cried.
“The dog would lose its temper, would n’t it?â€
“ Perhaps it would,†Alice replied cautiously.
“Then if the dog went away, its temper
would remain!†the Queen exclaimed trium-
phantly.
Alice: said, as gravely as she could, “They
might go different ways.†But she couldn't
help thinking to herself, “ What dreadful non-
sense we are talking!â€
“She can’t do sums a bit/†the Queens said
together, with great emphasis.
“Can you do sums?†Alice said, turning
-suddenly on the White Queen, for she didn’t
like being found fault with so much.
The Queen gasped and shut her eyes. “I
can do Addition,†she said, “if you give me
time — but I can’t do Substraction under any
circumstances |â€
QUEEN ALICE. 199
“Of course you know your A B C?†said the
Red Queen.
“ To be sure I do,†said Alice.
“So do I,†the White Queen whispered:
“well often say it over together, dear. And
I'll tell you a secret —I can read words of one
letter! Isn’t that grand? However, don’t
be discouraged. You’ll come to it in time.â€
Here the Red Queen began again. “Can
you answer useful questions?†she said. “ How
is bread made?â€
“T know that!†Alice cried eagerly. “You
take some flour —â€
“Where do you pick the flower?†the
White Queen asked. “In a garden, or in the
hedges?â€
“Well, it isn’t picked at all,†Alice ex-
plained: “it’s ground —â€
“How many acres of ground?†said the
White Queen. “You mustn’t leave out so
many things.â€
‘““Fan her head!†the Red Queen anxiously
200 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
‘interrupted. “She Il be feverish after so much
thinking.†So they set to work and fanned her
with bunches of leaves, till she had to beg them
to leave off, it blew her hair about so.
“She’s all right again now,†said the Red
Queen. “Do you know Languages? What’s
the French for fiddle-de-dee ?â€
“ Fiddle-de-dee ’s not English,†Alice replied
gravely.
“Who ever said it was?†said the Red
Queen.
Alice thought she saw a way out of the dif-
ficulty this time. ‘If you ‘ll tell me what
language ‘fiddle-de-dee’ is, Ill tell you the
French for it!†she exclaimed triumphantly.
But the Red Queen drew herself up rather
stiffly, and said, “ Queens never make bargains.â€
“T wish Queens never asked questions,â€
Alice thought to herself.
“Don’t let us quarrel,†The White Queen
said in an anxious tone. “What is the cause
of lightning?â€
QUEEN ALICE. 201
_ The cause of lightning,†Alice said very
decidedly, for she felt quite certain about this,
“is the thunder—no, no!†she hastily cor-
rected herself. “I meant the other way.â€
‘Té’s too late to correct it,†said the Red
Queen: “when you ’ve once said a thing, that
fixes it, and you must take the consequences.â€
“ Which reminds me—†the White Queen
said, looking down and nervously clasping and
unclasping her hands, “ we had such a thunder-
storm last Tuesday — I mean one of the last set
of Tuesdays, you know.â€
Alice was puzzled. “ In our country,†she
remarked, “there ’s only one day at a time.â€
The Red Queen said, “That ’s a poor thin
way of doing things. Now here, we mostly
have days and nights two or three at a time,
and sometimes in the winter we take as many
as five nights together— for warmth, you
know.â€
“Are five nights warmer than one night
then?†Alice ventured to ask.
202 THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS.
“ Five times as warm, of course.â€
* «But they should be five times as cold, by
the same rule —â€
“Just so!†cried the Red Queen. “Five _
times as warm, and five times as cold — just as
I’m five times as rich as you are, and five times
as clever!â€
Alice sighed and gave it up. “It’s exactly
like a riddle with no answer!†she thought.
“Humpty Dumpty saw it too,†the White
Queen went on in a low voice, more as if she
were talking to herself. “ He came to the door
with a corkscrew in his hand —†|
“ What did he want?†said the Red Queen.
“He said he would come in,†the White
Queen went on, “because he was looking for
a hippopotamus. Now, as it happened, there
wasn’t sucha thing in the house, that morn-
ing.
“Is there generally?†Alice asked in an
astonished tone.
“Well, only on Thursdays,†said the Queen.
QUEEN ALICE. 2038
“TI know what he came for,†said Alice; “ he
wanted to punish the fish, because —â€
Here the White Queen began again. “It
was such a thunderstorm, you can’t think!â€
(“She never could, you know,†said the Red
Queen.) “And part of the roof came off, and
ever so much thunder got in — and it went roll-
ing round the room in great lumps— and
knocking over the tables and things — till I
was so frightened, I could n’t remember my own
name !†|
. Alice thought to herself, “I never should try
to remember my name in the middle of an
accident! Where would be the use of it?†but
she did not say this aloud, for fear- of hurting
the poor Queen’s feelings.
“Your Majesty must excuse her,†the Red
Queen said to Alice, taking one of the White
Queen’s hands in her own, and gently stroking
it: “she means well, but she can’t help saying
foolish things, as a general rule.â€
The White Queen looked timidly at Alice,
204 THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS.
who felt she ought to say something kind, but
really could n’t think of anything at that
moment.
“She never was really well brought up,†the
Red Queen went on: “butit’s amazing how
good-tempered she is! Pat her on the head,
and see how pleased shell be!†But this was
more than Alice had courage to do.
“A little kindness—and putting her hair
in papers — would do wonders with her —’’
The White Queen gave a deep sigh, and laid
her head on Alice’s shoulder. “I am so sleepy ie
she moaned.
“She ’s tired, poor thing!†said the Red
Queen. “Smooth her hair—lend her your
nightcap —and sing her a soothing lul-
. laby.â€
“T have n’t got a nightcap with me,†said
Alice, as she tried to obey the first direction ;
‘¢and I don’t know any soothing lullabies.â€
“TI must do it myself, then,†said the Red
Queen, and she began:
QUEEN ALICE. 205
“ Hush-a-by lady, in Alice’s lap!
Till the feast’s ready, we’ve time for a nap:
When the feast ’s over, we’ll go to the ball —
Red Queen, and White Queen, and Alice, and all!
‘¢ And now you know the words,†she added,
as she put her head down on Alice’s other
shoulder, “just sing it through to me. I’m
getting sleepy too.†In another moment both
Queens were fast asleep, and snoring loud.
“What am I to do?†exclaimed Alice, look-
ing about in great perplexity, as first one round
head, and then the other, rolled down from her
206 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
shoulder, and lay like a heavy lump in her lap.
“J don’t think it ever happened before, that any
one had to take care of two Queens asleep at
once! No, not in all the History of England —
it couldn *t, you know, because there never was
more than one Queen at atime. Do wake up,
you heavy things!†she went on in an impatient
tone; but there was no answer but a gentle
snoring.
The snoring got more distinct every minute, -
and sounded more like a tune: at last she
could even make out words, and she listened so
eagerly that, when the two great heads suddenly
vanished from her lap, she hardly missed them.
She was standing before an arched doorway
over which were the words QUEEN ALICE
_ in large letters, and on each side of the arch
there was a bell-handle; one was marked “ Visit-
ors’ Bell,’’ and the other ‘« Servants’ Bell.â€
“Tl wait till the song’s over,†thought
Alice, “and then I’ll ring the — the — which
. bell must I ring?†she went on, very much
“QUEEN ALICE. 207
puzzled by the names. “I’m nota visitor, and
I’m not a servant. There ought to be one
marked “ Queen,’’ you know —â€
Just then the door opened a little way, and a
creature with a long beak put its head out for
a moment and said “No admittance till the
week aiter next!â€
and shut the door again with
a bang.
Alice knocked and rang in vain for a long
time, but at last a very old Frog, who was sit-
ting under a tree, got up and hobbled slowly
towards her: he was dressed in bright yellow,
and had enormous boots on.
‘¢ What is it, now?†the -Frog said in a deep
hoarse whisper.
Alice turned round, ready to find fault with
anybody. “ Where ’s the servant whose business
it is to answer the door?†she began angrily.
“Which door? †said the Frog.
Alice almost stamped with irritation at the
slow drawl in which he spoke. “ This door, of
course!â€
208 THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS.
The Frog looked at the door with his large
dull eyes for a minute: then he went nearer
and rubbed it with his thumb, as if he were
QUEEN ALICE. 209
trying whether the paint would come off; then
he looked at Alice.
“To answer the door?†he said. “ What’s
it been asking of?†He was so hoarse that
“Alice could scarcely hear him.
“JT don’t know what you mean,†she said.
“I speaks English, doesn’t I?†the Frog
went on. “Orare you deaf? What did it ask
you?â€â€™
“Nothing!†Alice said impatiently. “I "ve
been knocking at it!â€
“ Should n’t do that — should n’t do that —â€
the Frog muttered. “Wexes it, you know.â€
Then he went up and gave the door a kick with
one of his great feet. “ You Jet zz alone,â€
he panted out, as he hobbled back to his tree,
“and itll let you alone, you know.â€
At this moment the door was flung open, and
a shrill voice was heard singing :
“To the Looking-Glass world it was Alice that said,
‘I’ve a sceptre in hand, I’ve a crown on my head;
Let the Looking-Glass creatures, whatever they be,
Come and dine with the Red Queen, the White Queen,
and me!’â€
210 THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS.
And hundreds of voices joined in the chorus :
‘Then fill up the glasses as quick as you can,
And sprinkle the table with buttons and bran :
Put cats in the coffee, and mice in the tea —
And welcome Queen Alice with thirty-times-three!â€â€™
Then followed a confused voice of cheering,
and Alice thought to herself, “Thirty times
three make ninety. I wonder if any one’s
counting?†In a minute there was silence
again, and the same shrill voice sang another
verse:
*©¢Q Looking-Glass creatures,’ quoth Alice, ‘draw near !
*'P is an honor to see me, a favor to hear :
’T isa privilege high to have dinner and tea
Along with the Red Queen, the White Queen, and me!’.â€â€
Then came the chorus again : —
“Then fill up the glasses with treacle and ink,
Or anything else that is pleasant to drink ;
Mix sand with the cider, and wood with the wine —
And welcome Queen Alice with ninety-times-nine!â€
“Ninety times nine!†Alice repeated in
QUEEN ALICE. 911
despair. “Oh, that "ll never be done! 1d
better go in at once —†and in she went,
and there was a dead silence the moment she
appeared.
Alice glanced nervously along the table, as
she walked up the large hall, and noticed that
- there were about fifty guests, of all kinds: some
were animals, some birds, and there were even
a few flowers among them. “I’m glad they ’ve
come without waiting to be asked,†she thought:
“T should never have known who were the right
people to invite!â€
There were three chairs at the head of the
table; the Red and White Queens had already
taken two of them, but the middle one was
empty. Alice sat down in it, rather uncomfort-
able at the silence, and longing for some one to
speak.
At last the Red Queen began. “You’ve
missed the soup and fish,†she said, “ Put on
the joint!’ And the waiters set a leg of mut-
ton before Alice, who looked at it rather anx-
‘THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS.
212
OO ——
———S SS
iously, as she had never had to carve a joint
before.
QUEEN ALICE. 9138
-“ Youlook a little shy; let me introduce you
to that leg of mutton,†said the Red Queen.
* Alice — Mutton; Mutton — Alice.†The leg
of mutton got up in the dish and made a little
bow to Alice; and Alice returned the bow, not
knowing whether to be frightened or amused.
“ May I give youa slice?†she said, taking
up the knife and fork, and looking from one
Queen to the other.
' “Certainly not,†the Red Queen said, very
decidedly: “it isn’t etiquette to cut any one
you ve been introduced to. Remove the joint!â€
And the waiters carried it off, and brought a
large plum-pudding in its place. i
“I won’t be introduced to the pudding, please,â€
Alice. said rather hastily, “or we shall get no —
dinner at all. May I give you some?â€
_ But the Red Queen looked sulky, and growled
. “Pudding— Alice; Alice— Pudding. Remove
the pudding!†and the waiters took it away
so quickly that Alice couldn’t return its
bow.
(914 THROUGH THE LOOKING-—GLASS.
‘“‘ However, she didn’t see why the Red
Queen should be the only one to give orders, so,
as an experiment, she called out “ Waiter!
Bring back the pudding!†and there it was
again in a moment, like a conjuring-trick. It
was so large. that she could n’t help feeling a
little shy with it, as she had been with the mut-
ton; however, she conquered her shyness by
a great effort, and cut a slice and handed it to
the Red Queen. i
What impertinence!†said the Pudding.
“IT wonder how you’d like it, if I were.to cut a
slice out of you, you creature!â€
It spoke in a thick, suety sort of voice, and
Alice hadn’t a word a word to say in reply:
she could only sit and look at it and gasp.
«Make a remark,†said the Red Queen: “it’s
ridiculous to leave all the conversation to the
pudding!â€
“Do you know, I’ve had such a quantity of
poetry repeated to me to-day,†Alice began, a
little frightened at finding that, the moment she
QUEEN ALICE. 215
opened her lips, there was dead silence, and all
eyes were fixed upon her; “ and it’s a very
curious thing, I think —every poem was about
fishes in some way. Do you know why they ’re
so fond of fishes, all about here? â€
She spoke to the Red Queen, whose answer
was a little wide of the mark. “As to fishes,â€
she said, very slowly and ‘solemnly, putting her
mouth close to Alice’s ear, “ her White Majesty
knows a lovely riddle —all in poetry:— all
about fishes. Shall she repeat it?â€
“Her Red Majesty’s very kind to mention ite
the White Queen murmured into Alice’s other
ear, in a voice like the cooing of a pigeon. “ It
would be such a treat! May 1?â€
“Please do,†Alice said very politely.
The White Queen laughed with delight, and
stroked Alice’s cheek. Then she began : —
“(
That is easy: a baby, I think, could have caught it.
‘Next, the fish raust be bought.’
That is easy: a penny, I think, would have bought it,
,
216 THROUGH THE LOOKING-—GLASS.
Now cook me the fish!’
That is easy, and will not take more than a minute,
‘Let it lie in a dish!’
That is easy, because it already is in it.
‘Bring it here! Let me sup!’
It is easy to set such a dish on the table.
‘Take the dish-cover up!’
Ah, that is so hard that I fearI’m unable!
For it holds it like glue —
“Holds the lid to the dish, while it lies in the middle:
Which is easiest to do,
Un-dish-cover the fish, or dishcover the riddle ?â€â€
“ Take a minute to think about it, and then
guess,†said the Red Queen. ‘“ Meanwhile, we ’ll
drink your health — Queen Alice’s health!â€
she screamed at the top. of her voice, and all
the guests began drinking it directly, and very
-queerly they managed it; some of them put
their glasses upon their heads like extinguishers,
and drank all that trickled down their faces —
others upset the decanters, and drank the wine
as it ran off the edges of the table —and three
of them (who looked like kangaroos) scrambled
QUEEN ALICE. . 217
into the dish of roast mutton, and began eagerly
lapping -up the gravy, “just like pigs in a
trough!†thought Alice.
“You ought to return thanks in a neat
speech,†the Red Queen said, frowning at Alice
as she spoke.
«We must support you, you know,†the
White Queen whispered, as Alice got up to do
it, very obediently, but a little frightened. -
“ Thank you very much,†she whispered in
reply, “but I can do quite well without.â€
“ That would n’t be at all the thing,†the Red
Queen said very decidedly: so Alice tried to
submit to it with a good grace.
(“And they did push so!†she said after-
wards, when she was telling her sister the
history of the feast. “You would have thought
they wanted to squeeze me flat!†)
In fact it wasrather difficult for her to keep in
her place while she made her speech: the two
Queens pushed her so, one on each side, that
they nearly lifted her up into the air: “I rise
218 THROUGH THE LOOKING~GLASS.
to return thanks—†Alice began: and she
really did rise as she spoke, several inches; but
she got hold of the edge of the table, and
managed to pull herself down again.
“Take care of -yourself! †screamed the White
Queen, seizing Alice’s hair with both her hands.
“ Something ’s going to happen!â€
And then (as Alice afterwards described it)
all sorts of things happened in a moment.
The candles all grew up to the ceiling, looking
something like a bed of rushes with fireworks
at the top. As to the bottles, they each took a
pair of plates, which they hastily fitted on as
wings, and so, with forks for legs, went flutter-
ing about in all directions: “ and very like birds
they look,†Alice thought to herself as well as
she could in the dreadful confusion that was
beginning. .
At this moment she heard a hoarse laugh at
her side, and turned to see what was the matter
with the White Queen; but, instead of the
Queen, there was the leg of mutton sitting in
***T can’t stand this any longer!’ she cried as she jumped
up and seized the tablecloth with both hands.â€
QUEEN ALICE. 219
the chair. “Here I am!†cried a voice from
the soup-tureen, and Alice turned again, just in
time to see the Queen’s broad good-natured face
grinning at her for a moment over the edge of
the tureen, before she disappeared into the
soup.
There was not a moment to be lost. Already
several of the guests were lying down in the
dishes, and the soup-ladle was walking up the
table towards Alice’s chair, and beckoning to
her impatiently to get out of the way.
!†she cried as
“TJ can’t stand this any longer
she jumped up and seized the table-cloth with
both hands: one good pull, and plates, dishes,
guests, and candles came crashing down together
in a heap on the floor. .
«And as for you,†she went on, turning
fiercely upon the Red Queen, whom she con-
sidered as the cause of all the mischief — but
the Queen was no longer at her side —she had
suddenly dwindled down to the size of a little
doll, and was now on the table, merrily running
220 THROUGH THE LOOKING-—GLASS.
round and round after her own shawl, which was
trailing behind her.
At any other time Alice would have felt
surprised at this, but she was far too much
excited to be surprised at anything now. “As
for you,â€
she repeated, catching hold of the
little creature in the very act of jumping over a
bottle which had just lighted upon the table,
‘Ill shake you into a kitten, that I will!â€
QUEEN ALICE. 221
CHAPTER X.
SHAKING.
SHE took her off the table as she spoke, and
shook her backwards and forwards with all her.
might.
The Red Queen made no resistance whatever ;
only her face grew very small, and her eyes
got large and gréen: and still, as Alice went on
shaking her, she kept on growing shorter —and
fatter — and softer — and rounder — and —
CHAPTER XI.
WAKING.
—and it really was a kitten, after all
224 THROUGH THE LOOKING-—GLASS,
CHAPTER XII.
WHICH DREAMED IT ?
“Your Red Majesty should n’t purr so loud,â€
Alice said, rubbing her eyes, and addressing the
kitten, respectfully, yet with some severity.
“ You woke me out of oh! such a nice dream!
And you’ve been along with me, Kitty — all
through the Looking-Glass world. Did you
know it, dear?â€
It is a very inconvenient habit of kittens
(Alice had once made the remark) that, what-
ever you say to them, they always purr. “If
they would only purr for ‘yes,’ and mew for ‘no,
or any rule of that sort,†she had said, “so that
one could keep up a conversation! But how
ean you talk with a person if they always say
the same thing?â€
225
226 THROUGH THE LOOKING—GLASS.
On this occasion the kitten only purred: and
it was impossible to guess whether it meant
“ves†or “no.â€
So Alice hunted among the chessmen on the
table till she had found the Red Queen: then
she went down on her knees on the hearth-rug,
and put the kitten and the Queen to look at
each other. “Now, Kitty!†she cried, clapping
her hands triumphantly. “Confess that was
what you turned into!â€
(“But it would n’t look at it,†she said, when
she was explaining the thing afterwards to her
sister: “it turned away its head, and pretended
not to see it: but it looked a kttle ashamed of
itself, so I think it must have been the Red
Queen.â€)
“Sit up a little more stiffly, dear!†Alice
cried with a merry laugh. “And courtesy while
you’re thinking what to— what to purr. It
saves time, remember!†And she caught it up
and gave it one little kiss, “just in honor of its
_ having been a Red Queen.â€
WHICH DREAMED IT? : 227
“Snowdrop, my pet!†she went on, looking
over her shoulder. at the White Kitten, which
was still patiently undergoing its toilet, “ when
will Dinah have finished with your White Ma}-
+» esty, wonder? That must be the reason you
were so untidy in my dream.— Dinah! Do you.
228 THROUGH THE LOOKING-—GLASS.
know that you’re scrubbing a White Queen?
Really, it’s most disrespectful of you!
“And what did Dinah turn to, I wonder?â€
she prattled on, as she settled comfortably down,
with one elbow on the rug, and her chin in her
hand, to watch the kittens. “Tell me, Dinah,
did you turn to Humpty Dumpty? I think you
did — however, you’d better not mention it to
your friends just yet, for I’m not sure. 7
“ By the way, Kitty, if only you’d been really
with me in my dream, there was one thing you
would have enjoyed —I had such a quantity of
poetry said to me, all about fishes! To-morrow
morning you shall have a real treat. All the
time you’re eating your breakfast, I’ll repeat
‘The Walrus and the Carpenter’ to you; and
then you can make believe it’s oysters, dear!
“Now, Kitty, let’s consider who it was that
dreamed it all. This is a serious question, my
dear, and you should not go on licking your paw
like that — as if Dinah had n’t washed you this
morning! You see, Kitty, it must have been
WHICH DREAMED IT? 229
either me or the Red King. He was part of my
dream, of course — but then I was part of his
dream, too! Was it the Red King, Kitty?
You were his wife, my dear, so you ought to
know — Oh, Kitty, do help to settle it! I’m
sure your paw can wait!†But the provoking
kitten only began on the other paw, and pre-
tended it had n’t heard the question.
Which do you think it was?
A BOAT, beneath a sunny sky,
Lingering onward dreamily
In an evening of July —
Children three that nestle near,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Pleased a simple tale to hear —~
Long has paled that sunny sky :
Echoes fade and memories die.
Autumn frosts have slain July.
Still she haunts me, phantomwise,
Alice moving under skies
Never seen by waking eyes.
230 THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS.
Children yet, the tale to hear,
_ Eager eye and willing ear,
Lovingly shall nestle near.
In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
J Dreaming as the summers die.
Ever drifting down the stream —
| Lingering in the golden gleam —
Life, what is it but a dream.
a
THE END.
|
