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1 2-3 o chapter i ne 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 looking-glass house 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 sticks 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 4-5 4 looking-glass house 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 day 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 6-7 6 looking-glass house 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 looking glass 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 king looking up anxiously into the fire as if he thought that was the most likely place to find one.

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8-9 8 looking-glass house `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 `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 `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 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 `beware the jabberwock my son 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 soughtso 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 has thou slain the jabberwock come to my arms my beamish boy o frabjous day callooh 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 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 `twas brillig and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe all mimsy were the borogoves and the mome raths outgrabe `you will though the queen said `if you don t make a memorandum of it jabberwocky 10 looking-glass house 10-11 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 12-13 14-15 i chapter ii 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 the garden of live flowers 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 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 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

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16-17 16 the garden of live flowers 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 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 saw 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 than 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 `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 `put your hand down and feel the ground said the tiger-lily `then you ll know why `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 `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 18 the garden of live flowers 18-19 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 compared 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 20-21 20 the garden of live flowers 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 though 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 22-23 22 the garden of live flowers `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.

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24-25 26-27 o chapter iii looking-glass insects f 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 28-29 28 looking-glass insects 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 carriagefull 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 30-31 30 looking-glass insects `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 jumping 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 rockinghorse-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 hollyleaves 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 its 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

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32-33 32 looking-glass insects `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 `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 if 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 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 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 `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 call 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 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 she stood silent for a 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 didn t help much and all she could say after a great deal of puzzling was `l i know it begins with l 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 `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 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 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 `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 `you shouldn t make jokes alice said `if it makes you so unhappy 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 34 looking-glass insects 34-35 `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 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 36-37 38-39 hey 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 t chapter iv tweedledum and tweedledee 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

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40-41 40 tweedledum and tweedledee `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 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 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 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 the walrus and the carpenter is the longest tweedledum replied giving his brother an affectionate hug `what shall i repeat to her said tweedledee looking round at tweedledum with great solemn eyes and not noticing alice s question `ye-es pretty well some poetry alice said doubtfully `would you tell me which road leads out of the wood 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 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 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 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 deafi 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 the carpenter said nothing but the butter s spread too thick 42 tweedledum and tweedledee 42-43 i 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 you ve had a pleasant run shall we be trotting home again but answer came there none and that was scarcely odd because they d eaten every one `i like the walrus best said alice `because you see he was a little sorry for the poor oysters `he ate more than the carpenter though said tweedledee `you see he held his handkerchief in front so that the carpenter couldn t count how many he took contrariwise `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 unpleasant characters here she checked herself in some alarm at hearing something that sounded to her like the puffing of a large steamengine 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 tweedledee `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 `isn t he a lovely sight said tweedledum alice couldn 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 loud fit to snore his head off as tweedledum remarked `i m afraid he ll catch cold with lying on 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 44-45 44 tweedledum and tweedledee alice said `nobody can guess that `why about you tweedledee exclaimed clapping his hands triumphantly `and if he left off dreaming about you where do you suppose you d be `where i am now of course said alice `not you tweedledee retorted contemptuously `you d be nowhere why you re only a sort of thing in his dream `if that there king was to wake added tweedledum `you d go out-bang just like a candle `i shouldn t alice exclaimed indignantly `besides if i m only a sort of thing in his dream what are you i should like to know `ditto said tweedledum `ditto ditto cried tweedledee he shouted this so loud that alice couldn t help saying `hush you ll be waking him i m afraid if you make so much noise `well it no use your talking about waking him said tweedledum `when you re only one of the things in his dream you know very well you re not real `i am real said alice and began to cry `you won t make yourself a bit realler by crying tweedledee remarked `there s nothing to cry about `if i wasn t real alice said half-laughing though her tears it all seemed so ridiculous i shouldn t be able to cry `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 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 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 `but it may rain outside `it may if it chooses said tweedledee `we ve no objection contrariwise `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 choking 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 `it s only a rattle alice said after a careful examination of the little white thing `not a rattlesnake you know she added hastily thinking that he was frightened only an old rattle quite old and broken `i knew it was cried tweedledum beginning to stamp about wildly and tear his hair `it s spoilt of course here he looked at 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 needn t be so angry about an old rattle `but it isn t old tweedledum cried in a greater fury than ever `it s new i tell you i bought it yesterday my nice new rattle 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 couldn 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 anything else alice thought 46-47 46 tweedledum and tweedledee `of course you agree to have a battle tweedledum said in a calmer tone `i 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 blankets hearthrugs 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 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 buttons really they ll be more like bundles of old clothes that anything else by the time they re ready she said to herself as she arranged a bolster round the neck of tweedledee `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 happen to one in a battle to get one s head cut off alice laughed aloud but she managed to turn it into a cough for fear of hurting his feelings `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 `i m very brave generally he went on in a low voice `only to-day i happen to have a headache `and i ve got a toothache said tweedledee who had overheard the remark `i m far worse off than you `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 but i don t care about going on long said tweedledum `what s the time now tweedledee looked at his watch and said `half-past four `let s fight till six and then have dinner 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 excited `and _i hit everything within reach cried 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 `and all about a rattle said alice still hoping to make them a little ashamed of fighting for such a trifle `i shouldn t have minded it so much said tweedledum `if it hadn t been a new one `i wish the monstrous crow would come though alice `there s only one sword you know tweedledum 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 `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 `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 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

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48-49 48 tweedledum and tweedledee among the trees but i wish it wouldn t flap its wings so it makes quite a hurricane in the wood-here s somebody s shawl being blown away 50-51 s chapter v he 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 alice said as she helped her to put on her shawl again wool and water the white queen only looked at her in a helpless 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 conversation at all she must manage it herself so she began rather timidly `am i addressing the white queen `well yes if you call that a-dressing the queen said `it isn t my notion of the thing at all alice thought it would never do to have an argument at the very beginning of their conversation 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 `but i don t want it done at all groaned the poor queen `i ve been adressing myself for the last two hours it 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 herself `and she s all over pins may i put your shawl straight for you she added aloud `i don t know what s the matter with it the queen said in a melancholy voice `it s out of temper i think i ve pinned it here and i ve pinned it there but there s no pleasing it `it can t go straight you know if you pin it 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 with a sigh `and i lost the comb yesterday 52-53 52 wool and water alice carefully released the brush and did her best to get the hair into order `come you look rather better now she said after altering most of the pins `but really you should have a lady s maid `i m sure i ll take you with pleasure the queen said `two pence a week and jam every other day alice couldn t help laughing as she said `i don t want you to hire me-and i don t care for jam `it s very good jam said the queen `well i don t want any to-day at any rate `you couldn t have it if you did want it the queen said `the rule is jam to-morrow and jam yesterday but never jam to-day `it must come sometimes to jam to-day alice objected `no it can t said the queen `it s jam every other day to-day isn t any other day you know `i don t understand you said alice `it s dreadfully confusing `that s the effect of living backwards the queen said kindly `it always makes one a little giddy at first `living backwards alice repeated in great astonishment `i never heard of such a thing but there s one great advantage in it that one s memory works both ways `i m sure mine only works one way alice remarked `i can t remember things before they happen `it s a poor sort of memory that only works backwards the queen remarked `what sort of things do you remember best alice ventured to ask `oh things that happened the week after next the queen replied in a careless tone `for instance now she went on sticking a large piece of plaster [band-aid on her finger as she spoke `there s the king s messenger he s in prison now being punished and the trial doesn t even begin till next wednesday and of course the crime comes last of all `suppose he never commits the crime said alice `that would be all the better wouldn t it 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 wouldn t be all the better his being punished `you re wrong there at any rate said the queen `were you ever punished `only for faults said alice `and you were all the better for it i know the queen said triumphantly `yes but then i had done the things i was punished for said alice `that makes all the difference `but if you hadn 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 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 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 `i haven t pricked it yet the queen said `but i soon shall-oh oh oh `when do you expect to do it alice asked feeling very much inclined to laugh `when i fasten my shawl again the poor queen groaned out `the brooch will come undone 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 54-55 54 wool and water `take care cried alice `you re holding it all crooked and she caught at the brooch but it was too late the pin had slipped and the queen had pricked her finger `that accounts for the bleeding you see she said to alice with a smile `now you understand the way things happen here `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 said the queen `what would be the good of having it all over again 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 `i wish _i 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 `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 `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 consider what o clock it is consider anything only don t cry alice could not help laughing at this even in the midst of her tears `can you keep from crying by considering things she asked `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 `i m seven and a half exactly `you needn t say exactually the queen remarked `i can believe it without that now i ll give you something to believe i m just one hundred and one five months and a day `i can t believe that said alice `can t you the queen said in a pitying tone `try again draw a long breath and shut your eyes alice laughed `there s no use trying she said `one can t believe impossible things `i daresay you haven t had much practice said the queen `when i was your age i always did it for half-an-hour a day why sometimes i ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast there goes the shawl again the brooch had come undone as she spoke and a sudden 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 `then i hope your finger is better now alice said very politely as she crossed the little brook after the queen `oh much better cried the queen her voice rising to a squeak as she went on `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 couldn t make out what had happened at all was she in a shop and was that really was it really a sheep that was sitting on the other side of the counter rub as she could 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 `i don t quite know yet alice said very gently `i should like to look all round me first if i might

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56-57 56 wool and water `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 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 `a dear little crab thought alice `i should like that `didn 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 `in the water of course said the sheep sticking some of the needles into her hair as her hands were full `feather i say `why do you say feather so often alice asked at last rather vexed `i m not a bird `you are said the sheet `you re a little goose this offended alice a little so there was no more conversation for a minute or two while the boat glided gently on sometimes among beds of weeds which made the oars stick fast in the water worse then 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 beauties `you needn t say please to me about `em the sheep said without looking up from her knitting `i didn t put `em there and i m not going to take `em away `no but i meant please may we wait and pick some alice pleaded `if you don t mind stopping the boat for a minute `how am _i to stop it said the sheep `if you leave off rowing it ll stop of itself `things flow about so here she 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 she added as a sudden thought struck her `i ll follow it up to the very top shelf of all it ll puzzle it to go through the ceiling i expect but even this plan failed the `thing went through the ceiling as quietly as possible as if it were quite used to it `are you a child or a teetotum the sheep said as she took up another pair of needles `you ll make me giddy soon if you go on turning round like that she was now working with fourteen pairs at once and alice couldn t help looking at her in great astonishment `how can she knit with so many the puzzled child thought to herself `she gets more and more like a porcupine every minute `can you row the sheep asked handing her a pair of knittingneedles 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 `feather feather the sheep cried again taking more needles `you ll be catching a crab directly 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 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 the rushes a good long way down before breaking them off and for a 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 she said to herself oh what a lovely one only i couldn t quite reach it `and it certainly 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 couldn t reach `the prettiest are always further she said at last with a sigh at the obstinacy of the rushes 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 than 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 hadn t gone much farther before the blade of one of the oars got fast in the water and wouldn t 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 from poor alice it swept her straight off the seat and down among the heap of rushes however she wasn t hurt and was soon 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 remarked as alice got back into her place very much relieved to find herself still in the boat 58 wool and water 58-59 `was it i didn t see it said alice peeping cautiously over the side of the boat into the dark water `i wish it hadn t let go i should so like to see a little crab to take home with me 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 `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 `i should like to buy an egg please she said timidly `how do you sell them `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 mightn t be at all nice you know 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 `i wonder why it wouldn 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 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 60 60 wool and water 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 expected the egg to do the same.

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