Реферат: With it: it was the black kitten's fault entirely

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

by LEWIS CARROLL


CHAPTER 1

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 bearing 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 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 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 you better manners! You OUGHT, Dinah,

you know you ought! - she added, looking reproachfully at the old cat, and

speaking in as cross a 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

touching the ball, as if it would be glad to help, if it might.

- Do you know what to-morrow is, Kitty? - Alice began. - You'd have

guessed if you'd been up in the window with me - only Dinah was making you

tidy, so you couldn't. I was watching the boys getting in stick for the

bonfire - 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 see

the bonfire to-morrow. - Here Alice wound two or three turns of the

worsted round the kitten'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 mischievous darling! What

have you got to say for yourself? Now don't interrupt me! - 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 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 you'd shut them

tight up, it wouldn't have happened. Now don't make any more excuses, 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 thirsty, were you? How

do you know she wasn'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 Wednesday 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

miserable day came, I should have to go without fifty dinners at once!

Well, I shouldn'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. I wonder if the snow LOVES the 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 clap 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. Because, 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 hadn't been for that

nasty Knight, that came wiggling down among my pieces. Kitty, dear, let's

pretend - And here I wish I could tell you half the things Alice used to

say, beginning with her favourite phrase - Let's pretend. - She had had

quite a long argument with her sister only the say before - all because

Alice had begun with - Let's pretend we're kings and queens; - and her

sister, who liked being very exact, had argued that they couldn'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 I'LL 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 hyaena, and you're a bone.

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, because the kitten wouldn't

fold its arms properly. 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'll 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 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 books to the glass, and then they hold 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 isn'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 passage as far as

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 Lookingglass House!

I'm sure it's got, oh! such beautiful things in it! 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, I declare! It'll be easy enough to get through

She was up on the chimney-piece while she said this, though she hardly

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 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 there was a real 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!

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 a different as possible. For instance, 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 hands and knees watching them. The chessmen were walking

about, two and two!

- Here are the Red King and the Red Queen, - 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 - I don't think they can hear me, she went on,

as she put her head closer down, - and I'm nearly sure they can't see me.

I feel somehow as if I were invisible

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.

- It 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, rubbing 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

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 volcano!

- What volcano? - said the Kind, 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!

Alice watched the White King as he slowly struggled up from bar to

bar, till at last she said, - Why, you'll be hours and hours getting to

the table, at that rate. I'd far better help you, hadn't I? - But the King

took no notice 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 mightn'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 all her life such a

face as the King made, when he found himself held in the air by an

invisible 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! - she cried out, quite

forgetting that the King couldn'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 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!

To which the Queen replied, - You haven't got any whiskers. - The

horror of that moment, - the King went on, - I shall never,

NEVER forget!

- You will, though, - the Queen said, - if you don't make a

memorandum of it.

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 look puzzled and unhappy, and struggled with the pencil

for some time without saying anything; but Alice was too strong for him,

and at last he panted out, - My dear! I really MUST get a thinner pencil.

I can't manage this one a bit; it writes all manner of things that I don't

intend

- 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 BADLY') - That's not a memorandum of YOUR feelings!

There was a book lying near Alice on the table, and while she sat

watching the White 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.

YKCOWREBBAJ

sevot yhtils eht dna ,gillirb sawT

ebaw eht ni elbmig dna eryg diD

,sevogorob eht erew ysmim llA

.ebargtuo shtar emom eht dnA

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."

This was the poem that Alice read.

JABBERWOCKY

- Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe.

- Beware the Jabberwock, my son!

The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!

Beware the Jujub 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 gree,

And stood awhile in thought.

And as in uffish thought he stood,

The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,

Came whiffling through the tulgey wook,

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 has thou slain the Jabberwock?

Come to my arms, my beamish boy!

O frabjous day! Calloh! Callay!

He chortled in his joy.

- Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe.

- It seems very pretty, - she said when she had finished it, - but

it's RATHER hard to understand! - (You see she didn't like to confess,

ever to herself, that she couldn'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, SOMEBODY killed SOMETHING: that's clear, at any rate

- 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 wasn't exactly running, but a new invention of hers 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 have gone straight out at the door in the same way, if she

hadn'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 should 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 doesn'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 doesn't! This goes

straight back to the house! Well then, I'll try it the other way.

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 quickly than usual, she ran against it

before she could stop herself.

- It's no use talking about it," Alice said, looking up at the house

and pretending it was arguing with her. - I'm NOT going in again yet. I

know I should have to get through the Looking-glass again - back into the

old room - and there'd be an end of all my adventures!

So, resolutely turning 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 in the way! Never!

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 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!

- We CAN talk, - said the Tiger-lily: - when there's anybody worth

talking to.

Alice was so astonished that she could not 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?

- As well as YOU can, - said the Tiger-lily. - And a great deal

louder.

- It isn't manners for us to begin, you know, - said the Rose, - and

I really was wondering when you'd speak! Said I to myself, "Her face has

got SOME sense in it, thought it's not a clever one!" Still, you're the

right colour, and that goes a long way.

- I don't care about the colour, - the Tiger-lily remarked. - If only

her petals curled up a little more, she'd be all right.

Alice didn't like being criticised, so she began asking questions. -

Aren't you sometimes frightened at being planted out here, with nobody to

take care of you?

- There's the tree in the middle, - said the Rose: - what else is it

good for?

- But what could it do, if any danger came? - Alice asked.

- It says "Bough-wough!" cried a Daisy: - that's why its branches are

called boughs!

- Didn't you know THAT? - cried another Daisy, and here they all

began shouting together, till the air seemed quite full of little shrill

voices. - Silence, every one of you! - cried the Tigerlily, waving itself

passionately from side to side, and trembling with excitement. - They know

I can't get at them! - it panted, bending its quivering head towards

Alice, - or they wouldn't dare to do it!

- 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!

There was silence in a moment, and several of the pink daisies turned

white.

- That's right! - said the Tiger-lily. - 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!

- How is it you can all talk so nicely? - 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.

- Put your hand down, and feel the ground, - said the Tiger-lily. -

Then you'll know why.

Alice did so. - It's very hard, - she said, - but I don't see what

that has to do with it.

- In most gardens, - the Tiger-lily said, - they make the beds too

soft - so that the flowers are always asleep.

This sounded a very good reason, and Alice was quite pleased to know

it. - I never thought of that before! - she said.

- It's MY opinion that you never think AT ALL, - the Rose said in a

rather severe tone.

- I never say anybody that looked stupider, - a Violet said, so

suddenly, that Alice quite jumped; for it hadn'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, that if you were a bud!

- 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. - I wonder how you do it - ( - You're always

wondering, - said the Tiger-lily), - but she's more bushy than you are.

- 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.

- Her petals are done up close, almost like a dahlia, - the

Tiger-lily interrupted: - not tumbled about anyhow, like yours.

- But that's not YOUR fault, - the Rose added kindly: - you're

beginning to fade, you know - and then one can't help one's petals getting

a little untidy.

Alice didn't like this idea at all: so, to change the subject, she

asked - Does she ever come out here?

- I daresay you'll see her soon, - said the Rose. - She's one of the

thorny kind.

- 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 hadn't got some too. I thought it was the regular rule.

- She's coming! - cried the Larkspur. - I hear her footstep, thump,

thump, thump, along the gravel-walk!

Alice looked round eagerly, and found that it was the Red Queen. -

She's grown a good 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 herself!

- It's the fresh air that does it, - said the Rose: - wonderfully

fine air it is, out here.

"I 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: - _I_ 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 she

would try the plan, this time, of walking in the opposite direction.

It succeeded beautifully. She had not been walking a minute before

she found herself face to face with the Red Queen, and full in sight of

the hill she had been so long aiming at.

- 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.

Alice attended to all these directions, and explained, as well as she

could, that she had lost her way.

- I 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. - Curtsey while you - re thinking what to say, it

saves time.

Alice wondered a little at this, but she was too much in awe of the

Queen to disbelieve it. - I'll try it when I go home, - she thought to

herself. - the next time I'm a little late for dinner.

- It's time for you to answer now, - the Queen said, looking at her

watch: - open your mouth a LITTLE wider when you speak, and always say

"your Majesty."

- I only wanted to see what the garden was like, your Majesty

- That's right, - said the Queen, patting her on the head, which

Alice didn't like at all, - though, when you say "garden," - I'VE seen

gardens, compare with which this would be a wilderness.

Alice didn'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

- When you say "hill," - the Queen interrupted, - _I_ could show you

hills, in comparison with which you'd call that a valley.

- No, I shouldn't, - said Alice, surprised into contradicting her at

last: - a hill CAN'T be a valley, you know. That would be nonsense

The Red Queen shook her head, - You may call it "nonsense" if you

like, - she said, - but I'VE heard nonsense, compared with which that

would be as sensible as a dictionary!

Alice curtseyed again, as she was afraid from the Queen's tone that

she was a LITTLE offended: and they walked on in silence till they got to

the top of the little hill.

For some minutes Alice stood without speaking, looking out in all

directions over the country - and a most curious country it was. There

were a number of tiny little brooks running straight across it from side

to side, and the ground between was divided up into squares by a number of

little green hedges, that reached from brook to brook.

- I declare it's marked out just like a large chessboard! - 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 IS the world at all,

you know. Oh, what fun it is! How I WISH I was one of them! I wouldn't

mind being a Pawn, if only I might join - though of course I should LIKE

to be a Queen, best.

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 in the Second Square to began with: when you get to the Eighth

Square you'll be a Queen - Just at this moment, somehow or other, they

began to run.

Alice never could quite make out, in thinking 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, thought she had not 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. - I wonder if all the things

move along with us? - thought poor puzzled Alice. And the Queen seemed to

guess her thoughts, for she cried, - Faster! Don't try to talk!

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! - and dragged her along. - Are we

nearly there? - 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 suddenly, just as Alice was getting quite

exhausted, 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.

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!

- Of course it is, - said the Queen, - what would you have it?

- Well, in OUR country, - said Alice, still panting a little, - you'd

generally get to somewhere else - if you ran very fast for a long time, as

we've been doing.

- 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!

- I'd rather not try, please! - said Alice. - I'm quite content to

stay here - only I AM so hot and thirsty!

- I know what YOU'D like! - the Queen said good-naturedly, taking a

little box out of her pocket. - Have a biscuit?

Alice thought it would not be civil to say - No, - though it wasn'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?

- No, thank you, - said Alice,:** - one's QUITE enough!

- 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. At then end of FOUR, I

shall say good-bye. And at then end of FIVE, I shall go!

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 belongs to Tweedledum and

Tweedledee - the Fifth is mostly water the Sixth belongs to Humpty Dumpty

- But you make no remark?

- I - I didn't know I had to make one - just then, - Alice faltered

out.

- You SHOULD have said, - "It's extremely kind of you to tell me all

this" - however, we'll suppose it said - the Seventh Square is all 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 curtseyed, 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 curtsey this time, but walked on quickly to the next peg, where

she turned for a moment to say - good-bye, - and then hurried on to the

last.

How it happened, Alice never knew, but exactly 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 III

Looking-Glass Insects

Of course the first thing to do was to make a grand survey of the

country she was going to travel through. - It's something very like

learning 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 proboscis into them, - just as if it

was a regular bee, - thought Alice.

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. - Something 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 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 like my walk. I shall say -"Oh, I like it well enough - " - (here

came the favourite little toss of the head), - "only it was so dusty and

hot, and the elephants did tease so!"

- I think I'll go down the other way, - she said after a pause: - and

perhaps I may visit 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 everybody 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!

- I'm afraid I haven't got one, - Alice said in a frightened tone: -

there wasn't a ticket-office where I came from." And again the chorus of

voices went on. - There wasn't room for one where she came from. The land

there is worth a thousand pounds an inch!

- Don't make excuses, - said the Guard: - you should have bought one

from the engine-driver. - 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!

Alice thought to herself, - Then there's no use in speaking." The

voices didn't join in this time, as she hadn't spoken, but to her great

surprise, they all THOUGHT in chorus (I hope you understand what THINKING

IN CHORUS means - for I must confess that _I_ don't), - Better say nothing

at all. Language is worth a thousand pounds a word!

- I shall dream about a thousand pounds tonight, I know I shall!

thought Alice.

All this time the Guard was looking at her, first through a

telescope, then through a microscope, and then through an operaglass. At

last he said, - You're travelling the wrong way, - and shut up the window

and went away.

- So young a child, - said the gentleman sitting opposite to her (he

was dressed in white paper), - ought to know which way she's going, even

if she doesn't know her own name!

A Goat, that was sitting next to the gentleman in white, shut his

eyes and said in a loud voice, - She ought to know her way to the

ticket-office, even if she doesn't know her alphabet!

There was a Beetle sitting next to the Goat (it was a very queer

carriage-full of passengers altogether), and, as the rule seemed to be

that they should all speak in turn, HE went on with - She'll have to go

back from here as luggage!

Alice couldn't see who was sitting beyond the Beetle, but a hoarse

voice spoke next. - Change engines - it said, and was obliged to leave

off.

- It 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.

Then a very gentle voice in the distance said, - She must be labelled

"Lass, with care," you know

And after that other voices went on (What a number of people there

are in the carriage! - 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 -

She must draw the train herself the rest of the way - and so on.

But the gentleman dressed in white paper 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."

- Indeed I shan't! - Alice said rather impatiently. - 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.

- You might make a joke on THAT, said the little voice close to her

ear: - something about "you WOULD if you could," you know.

- 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?

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 wouldn't have heard it at all, if it hadn't come

QUITE close to her ear. The consequence of this was that it tickled her

ear very much, and quite took off her thoughts from the unhappiness of the

poor little creature.

- I know you are a friend, the little voice went on; - a dear friend,

and an old friend. And you won't hurt me, though I AM an insect.

- 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 wouldn't be quite a civil question to ask.

- What, then you don't - 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 jumped at all. - However, it'll take us into the Fourth Square,

that's some comfort! - she said to herself. In another moment she felt the

carriage 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 balancing itself on a twig just over

her head, and fanning her with its wings.

It certainly was a VERY large Gnat: - about the size of a chicken,

Alice thought. Still, she couldn't 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.

- I like them when they can talk, - Alice said. - None of them ever

talk, where _I_ come from.

- What sort of insects do you rejoice in, where YOU come from? - the

Gnat inquired.

- I don't REJOICE in insects at all, - Alice explained, - because I'm

rather afraid of them - at least the large kinds. But I can tell you the

names of some of them."

- Of course they answer to their names? - the Gnat remarked

carelessly.

- I never knew them do it.

- What's the use of their having names the Gnat said, - if they won't

answer to them?

- No use to THEM, - said Alice; - but it's useful to the people who

name them, I suppose. If not, why do things have names at all?

- I 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 insects:

you're wasting time.

- 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 to branch.

- What does it live on? - Alice asked, with great curiosity.

- Sap and sawdust, - said the Gnat. - Go on with the list. Alice

looked up 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

you'll find a snap-dragon-fly. Its body is made of plum-pudding, its wings

of holly-leaves, and its head is a raisin burning in brandy.

- And what does it live on?

- Frumenty and mince pie, - the Gnat replied; - and it makes is nest

in a Christmas box.

- 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!

- Crawling at your feet, - said the Gnat (Alice drew her feet back in

some alarm), - you may observe a Bread-and-Butterfly. Its wings are thin

slices of Bread-and-butter, its body is a crust, and its head is a lump of

sugar.

- And what does IT live on?

- Weak tea with cream in it. A new difficulty came into Alice's head.

- Supposing it couldn't find

any? - she suggested.

- Then it would die, of course.

- But that must happen very often, - Alice remarked thoughtfully.

- It always happens, - said the Gnat. After this, Alice was silent

for a minute or two, pondering. The Gnat

amused itself meanwhile by humming round and round her head: at last it

settled again and remarked, - I suppose you don't want to lose your name?

- 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 without

it! 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 wouldn't be any name for her to all, and of course you

wouldn't have to go, you know.

- That would never do, I'm sure, - said Alice: - the governess would

never think of excusing me lessons for that. If she couldn't remember my

name, she'd call me "Miss!" as the servants do.

- Well. if she said "Miss," and didn't say anything more, - the Gnat

remarked, - of course you'd miss your lessons. That's a joke. I wish YOU

had made it.

- Why do you wish _I_ had made it? - Alice asked. - It's a very bad

one.

But the Gnat only sighed deeply, while two large tears came rolling

down its cheeks.

- You shouldn't make jokes, - Alice said, - if it makes you so

unhappy.

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, as she 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 LITTLE

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 herself,

and this was the only way to the Eighth Square.

- This must be the wood, she said thoughtfully to herself, - where

things have no names. I wonder what'll become of MY name when I go in? I

shouldn'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 - "ANSWERS TO THE NAME

OF - DASH: - HAD ON A BRASS COLLAR" - just fancy calling everything you

met "Alice," till one of them answered! Only they wouldn't answer at all,

if they were wise.

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, she said as

she stepped under the trees, - after being so hot, to get into the - into

WHAT? - 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! -

putting her hand on the trunk of the tree.

- What DOES it call itself, I wonder? I do believe it's got no name

why, to be sure it hasn't!

She stood silent for a minute, thinking: then she suddenly began

again. - Then it really HAS happened, after all! And how, who am I? I WILL

remember, if I can! I'm determined to do it! - But being determined didn't

help much, and all she could say, after a great deal of puzzling, was, -

L, I KNOW it begins with L!

Just then a Fawn came wandering by: it looked at Alice with its large

gentle eyes, but didn't seem at all frightened. - Here then! Here then! -

Alice said, as he 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!

- I wish I knew! - thought poor Alice. She answered, rather sadly, -

Nothing, just now.

- Think again, - it said: - that won't do. Alice thought, but nothing

came of it. - Please, would you tell me

what YOU call yourself? - she said timidly. - I think that might help a

little.

- I'll tell you, of you'll move a little further on, - the Fawn said.

- I can't remember here.

So they walked on together though the wood, Alice with her arms

clasped lovingly round the 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. - I'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 a 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 follow, I

wonder?

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. -

I'll settle it, - Alice said to herself, - when the road divides and they

point different ways.

But this did not seem likely to happen. She went on and on, a long

way, but wherever the road divided there were sure to be two finger-posts

pointing the same way, one marked - TO TWEEDLEDUM'S HOUSE - and the other

- TO THE HOUSE OF TWEEDLEDEE.

- I 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'you do?" and ask them the way out of

the wood. If I could only get 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


They 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.

- If you think we're wax-works, - he said, - you ought to pay, you

know. Wax-works weren't made to be looked at for nothing, Nohow!

- Contrariwise, - added the one marked - DEE, - if you think we're

alive, you ought to speak.

- I'm sure I'm very sorry, - was all Alice could say; for the words

of the old song kept ringing 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.

Just then flew down a monstrous crow,

As black as a tar-barrel;

Which frightened both the heroes so,

They quite forgot their quarrel.

- I know what you're thinking about, - said Tweedledum: - but it

isn't so, nohow.

- 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.

- I 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?

But the 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!

- Nohow! - Tweedledum cried out briskly, and shut his mouth up again

with a snap.

- Next Boy! - said Alice, passing on to Tweedledee, though she felt

quite certain he would only shout out "Contrariwise! - and so he did.

- You've been 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 found 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 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!

The other two dancers were fat, and very soon out of breath. - Four

times round is enough for one dance, - Tweedledum panted out, and they

left off dancing as suddenly as they had begun: the music stopped 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 herself: - we seem

to have got beyond that, somehow!

- I hope you're not much tired? - she said at last.

- Nohow. And thank you VERY much for asking, - said Tweedledum.

- So much obliged! - added Tweedledee. - You like poetry?

- Ye-es. pretty well - SOME poetry, - Alice said doubtfully. - Would

you tell me which road leads out of the wood?

- What shall I repeat to her? - said Tweedledee, looking round at

Tweedledum with great solemn eyes, and not noticing Alice's question.

- "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 you please tell me first which

road

Tweedledee smiled gently, and began again:

- 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 over head

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!"

"If seven maids with seven mops

Swept it for half a year,

Do you suppose," the Walrus said,

"That they could get it clear?"

"I doubt it," said the Carpenter,

And shed a bitter tear.

"O Oysters, come and walk with us!"

The Walrus did beseech.

"A pleasant walk, a pleasant talk,

Along the briny beach:

We cannot do with more than four,

To give a hand to each."

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,

All eager 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