Reading Help Alice's adventure in wonderland
comfortably enough, under her arm, with its legs hanging down, `
` but generally, just as she had got its neck nicely straightened `
` out, and was going to give the hedgehog a blow with its head, it `
` WOULD twist itself round and look up in her face, with such a `
` puzzled expression that she could not help bursting out laughing: `
` and when she had got its head down, and was going to begin again, `
` it was very provoking to find that the hedgehog had unrolled `
` itself, and was in the act of crawling away: besides all this, `
` there was generally a ridge or furrow in the way wherever she `
` wanted to send the hedgehog to, and, as the doubled-up soldiers `
` were always getting up and walking off to other parts of the `
` ground, Alice soon came to the conclusion that it was a very `
` difficult game indeed. `
` `
` The players all played at once without waiting for turns, `
` quarrelling all the while, and fighting for the hedgehogs; and in `
` a very short time the Queen was in a furious passion, and went `
` stamping about, and shouting `Off with his head!' or `Off with `
` her head!' about once in a minute. `
` `
` Alice began to feel very uneasy: to be sure, she had not as `
` yet had any dispute with the Queen, but she knew that it might `
` happen any minute, `and then,' thought she, `what would become of `
` me? They're dreadfully fond of beheading people here; the great `
` wonder is, that there's any one left alive!' `
` `
` She was looking about for some way of escape, and wondering `
` whether she could get away without being seen, when she noticed a `
` curious appearance in the air: it puzzled her very much at `
` first, but, after watching it a minute or two, she made it out to `
` be a grin, and she said to herself `It's the Cheshire Cat: now I `
` shall have somebody to talk to.' `
` `
` `How are you getting on?' said the Cat, as soon as there was `
` mouth enough for it to speak with. `
` `
` Alice waited till the eyes appeared, and then nodded. `It's no `
` use speaking to it,' she thought, `till its ears have come, or at `
` least one of them.' In another minute the whole head appeared, `
` and then Alice put down her flamingo, and began an account of the `
` game, feeling very glad she had someone to listen to her. The `
` Cat seemed to think that there was enough of it now in sight, and `
` no more of it appeared. `
` `
` `I don't think they play at all fairly,' Alice began, in rather `
` a complaining tone, `and they all quarrel so dreadfully one can't `
` hear oneself speak--and they don't seem to have any rules in `
` particular; at least, if there are, nobody attends to them--and `
` you've no idea how confusing it is all the things being alive; `
` for instance, there's the arch I've got to go through next `
` walking about at the other end of the ground--and I should have `
` croqueted the Queen's hedgehog just now, only it ran away when it `
` saw mine coming!' `
` `
` `How do you like the Queen?' said the Cat in a low voice. `
` `
` `Not at all,' said Alice: `she's so extremely--' Just then `
` she noticed that the Queen was close behind her, listening: so `
` she went on, `--likely to win, that it's hardly worth while `
` finishing the game.' `
` `
` The Queen smiled and passed on. `
` `
` `Who ARE you talking to?' said the King, going up to Alice, and `
` looking at the Cat's head with great curiosity. `
` `
` `It's a friend of mine--a Cheshire Cat,' said Alice: `allow me `
` to introduce it.' `
` `
` `I don't like the look of it at all,' said the King: `
` `however, it may kiss my hand if it likes.' `
` `
` `I'd rather not,' the Cat remarked. `
` `
` `Don't be impertinent,' said the King, `and don't look at me `
` like that!' He got behind Alice as he spoke. `
` `
` `A cat may look at a king,' said Alice. `I've read that in `
` some book, but I don't remember where.' `
` `
` `Well, it must be removed,' said the King very decidedly, and `
` he called the Queen, who was passing at the moment, `My dear! I `
` wish you would have this cat removed!' `
` `
` The Queen had only one way of settling all difficulties, great `
` or small. `Off with his head!' she said, without even looking `
` round. `
` `
` `I'll fetch the executioner myself,' said the King eagerly, and `
` he hurried off. `
` `
` Alice thought she might as well go back, and see how the game `
` was going on, as she heard the Queen's voice in the distance, `
` screaming with passion. She had already heard her sentence three `
` of the players to be executed for having missed their turns, and `
` she did not like the look of things at all, as the game was in `
` such confusion that she never knew whether it was her turn or `
` not. So she went in search of her hedgehog. `
` `
` The hedgehog was engaged in a fight with another hedgehog, `
` which seemed to Alice an excellent opportunity for croqueting one `
` of them with the other: the only difficulty was, that her `
` flamingo was gone across to the other side of the garden, where `
` Alice could see it trying in a helpless sort of way to fly up `
` into a tree. `
` `
` By the time she had caught the flamingo and brought it back, `
` the fight was over, and both the hedgehogs were out of sight: `
` `but it doesn't matter much,' thought Alice, `as all the arches `
` are gone from this side of the ground.' So she tucked it away `
` under her arm, that it might not escape again, and went back for `
` a little more conversation with her friend. `
` `
` When she got back to the Cheshire Cat, she was surprised to `
` find quite a large crowd collected round it: there was a dispute `
` going on between the executioner, the King, and the Queen, who `
` were all talking at once, while all the rest were quite silent, `
` and looked very uncomfortable. `
` `
` The moment Alice appeared, she was appealed to by all three to `
` settle the question, and they repeated their arguments to her, `
` though, as they all spoke at once, she found it very hard indeed `
` to make out exactly what they said. `
` `
` The executioner's argument was, that you couldn't cut off a `
` head unless there was a body to cut it off from: that he had `
` never had to do such a thing before, and he wasn't going to begin `
` at HIS time of life. `
` `
` The King's argument was, that anything that had a head could be `
` beheaded, and that you weren't to talk nonsense. `
` `
` The Queen's argument was, that if something wasn't done about `
` it in less than no time she'd have everybody executed, all round. `
` (It was this last remark that had made the whole party look so `
` grave and anxious.) `
` `
` Alice could think of nothing else to say but `It belongs to the `
` Duchess: you'd better ask HER about it.' `
` `
` `She's in prison,' the Queen said to the executioner: `fetch `
` her here.' And the executioner went off like an arrow. `
` `
` The Cat's head began fading away the moment he was gone, and, `
` by the time he had come back with the Duchess, it had entirely `
` disappeared; so the King and the executioner ran wildly up and down `
` looking for it, while the rest of the party went back to the game. `
` `
` `
` `
` CHAPTER IX `
` `
` The Mock Turtle's Story `
` `
` `
` `You can't think how glad I am to see you again, you dear old `
` thing!' said the Duchess, as she tucked her arm affectionately `
` into Alice's, and they walked off together. `
` `
` Alice was very glad to find her in such a pleasant temper, and `
` thought to herself that perhaps it was only the pepper that had `
` made her so savage when they met in the kitchen. `
` `
` `When I'M a Duchess,' she said to herself, (not in a very `
` hopeful tone though), `I won't have any pepper in my kitchen AT `
` ALL. Soup does very well without--Maybe it's always pepper that `
` makes people hot-tempered,' she went on, very much pleased at `
` having found out a new kind of rule, `and vinegar that makes them `
` sour--and camomile that makes them bitter--and--and barley-sugar `
` and such things that make children sweet-tempered. I only wish `
` people knew that: then they wouldn't be so stingy about it, you `
` know--' `
` `
` She had quite forgotten the Duchess by this time, and was a `
` little startled when she heard her voice close to her ear. `
` `You're thinking about something, my dear, and that makes you `
` forget to talk. I can't tell you just now what the moral of that `
` is, but I shall remember it in a bit.' `
` `
` `Perhaps it hasn't one,' Alice ventured to remark. `
` `
` `Tut, tut, child!' said the Duchess. `Everything's got a `
` moral, if only you can find it.' And she squeezed herself up `
` closer to Alice's side as she spoke. `
` `
` Alice did not much like keeping so close to her: first, `
` because the Duchess was VERY ugly; and secondly, because she was `
` exactly the right height to rest her chin upon Alice's shoulder, `
` and it was an uncomfortably sharp chin. However, she did not `
` like to be rude, so she bore it as well as she could. `
` `
` `The game's going on rather better now,' she said, by way of `
` keeping up the conversation a little. `
` `
` `'Tis so,' said the Duchess: `and the moral of that is--"Oh, `
` 'tis love, 'tis love, that makes the world go round!"' `
` `
` `Somebody said,' Alice whispered, `that it's done by everybody `
` minding their own business!' `
` `
` `Ah, well! It means much the same thing,' said the Duchess, `
`
` but generally, just as she had got its neck nicely straightened `
` out, and was going to give the hedgehog a blow with its head, it `
` WOULD twist itself round and look up in her face, with such a `
` puzzled expression that she could not help bursting out laughing: `
` and when she had got its head down, and was going to begin again, `
` it was very provoking to find that the hedgehog had unrolled `
` itself, and was in the act of crawling away: besides all this, `
` there was generally a ridge or furrow in the way wherever she `
` wanted to send the hedgehog to, and, as the doubled-up soldiers `
` were always getting up and walking off to other parts of the `
` ground, Alice soon came to the conclusion that it was a very `
` difficult game indeed. `
` `
` The players all played at once without waiting for turns, `
` quarrelling all the while, and fighting for the hedgehogs; and in `
` a very short time the Queen was in a furious passion, and went `
` stamping about, and shouting `Off with his head!' or `Off with `
` her head!' about once in a minute. `
` `
` Alice began to feel very uneasy: to be sure, she had not as `
` yet had any dispute with the Queen, but she knew that it might `
` happen any minute, `and then,' thought she, `what would become of `
` me? They're dreadfully fond of beheading people here; the great `
` wonder is, that there's any one left alive!' `
` `
` She was looking about for some way of escape, and wondering `
` whether she could get away without being seen, when she noticed a `
` curious appearance in the air: it puzzled her very much at `
` first, but, after watching it a minute or two, she made it out to `
` be a grin, and she said to herself `It's the Cheshire Cat: now I `
` shall have somebody to talk to.' `
` `
` `How are you getting on?' said the Cat, as soon as there was `
` mouth enough for it to speak with. `
` `
` Alice waited till the eyes appeared, and then nodded. `It's no `
` use speaking to it,' she thought, `till its ears have come, or at `
` least one of them.' In another minute the whole head appeared, `
` and then Alice put down her flamingo, and began an account of the `
` game, feeling very glad she had someone to listen to her. The `
` Cat seemed to think that there was enough of it now in sight, and `
` no more of it appeared. `
` `
` `I don't think they play at all fairly,' Alice began, in rather `
` a complaining tone, `and they all quarrel so dreadfully one can't `
` hear oneself speak--and they don't seem to have any rules in `
` particular; at least, if there are, nobody attends to them--and `
` you've no idea how confusing it is all the things being alive; `
` for instance, there's the arch I've got to go through next `
` walking about at the other end of the ground--and I should have `
` croqueted the Queen's hedgehog just now, only it ran away when it `
` saw mine coming!' `
` `
` `How do you like the Queen?' said the Cat in a low voice. `
` `
` `Not at all,' said Alice: `she's so extremely--' Just then `
` she noticed that the Queen was close behind her, listening: so `
` she went on, `--likely to win, that it's hardly worth while `
` finishing the game.' `
` `
` The Queen smiled and passed on. `
` `
` `Who ARE you talking to?' said the King, going up to Alice, and `
` looking at the Cat's head with great curiosity. `
` `
` `It's a friend of mine--a Cheshire Cat,' said Alice: `allow me `
` to introduce it.' `
` `
` `I don't like the look of it at all,' said the King: `
` `however, it may kiss my hand if it likes.' `
` `
` `I'd rather not,' the Cat remarked. `
` `
` `Don't be impertinent,' said the King, `and don't look at me `
` like that!' He got behind Alice as he spoke. `
` `
` `A cat may look at a king,' said Alice. `I've read that in `
` some book, but I don't remember where.' `
` `
` `Well, it must be removed,' said the King very decidedly, and `
` he called the Queen, who was passing at the moment, `My dear! I `
` wish you would have this cat removed!' `
` `
` The Queen had only one way of settling all difficulties, great `
` or small. `Off with his head!' she said, without even looking `
` round. `
` `
` `I'll fetch the executioner myself,' said the King eagerly, and `
` he hurried off. `
` `
` Alice thought she might as well go back, and see how the game `
` was going on, as she heard the Queen's voice in the distance, `
` screaming with passion. She had already heard her sentence three `
` of the players to be executed for having missed their turns, and `
` she did not like the look of things at all, as the game was in `
` such confusion that she never knew whether it was her turn or `
` not. So she went in search of her hedgehog. `
` `
` The hedgehog was engaged in a fight with another hedgehog, `
` which seemed to Alice an excellent opportunity for croqueting one `
` of them with the other: the only difficulty was, that her `
` flamingo was gone across to the other side of the garden, where `
` Alice could see it trying in a helpless sort of way to fly up `
` into a tree. `
` `
` By the time she had caught the flamingo and brought it back, `
` the fight was over, and both the hedgehogs were out of sight: `
` `but it doesn't matter much,' thought Alice, `as all the arches `
` are gone from this side of the ground.' So she tucked it away `
` under her arm, that it might not escape again, and went back for `
` a little more conversation with her friend. `
` `
` When she got back to the Cheshire Cat, she was surprised to `
` find quite a large crowd collected round it: there was a dispute `
` going on between the executioner, the King, and the Queen, who `
` were all talking at once, while all the rest were quite silent, `
` and looked very uncomfortable. `
` `
` The moment Alice appeared, she was appealed to by all three to `
` settle the question, and they repeated their arguments to her, `
` though, as they all spoke at once, she found it very hard indeed `
` to make out exactly what they said. `
` `
` The executioner's argument was, that you couldn't cut off a `
` head unless there was a body to cut it off from: that he had `
` never had to do such a thing before, and he wasn't going to begin `
` at HIS time of life. `
` `
` The King's argument was, that anything that had a head could be `
` beheaded, and that you weren't to talk nonsense. `
` `
` The Queen's argument was, that if something wasn't done about `
` it in less than no time she'd have everybody executed, all round. `
` (It was this last remark that had made the whole party look so `
` grave and anxious.) `
` `
` Alice could think of nothing else to say but `It belongs to the `
` Duchess: you'd better ask HER about it.' `
` `
` `She's in prison,' the Queen said to the executioner: `fetch `
` her here.' And the executioner went off like an arrow. `
` `
` The Cat's head began fading away the moment he was gone, and, `
` by the time he had come back with the Duchess, it had entirely `
` disappeared; so the King and the executioner ran wildly up and down `
` looking for it, while the rest of the party went back to the game. `
` `
` `
` `
` CHAPTER IX `
` `
` The Mock Turtle's Story `
` `
` `
` `You can't think how glad I am to see you again, you dear old `
` thing!' said the Duchess, as she tucked her arm affectionately `
` into Alice's, and they walked off together. `
` `
` Alice was very glad to find her in such a pleasant temper, and `
` thought to herself that perhaps it was only the pepper that had `
` made her so savage when they met in the kitchen. `
` `
` `When I'M a Duchess,' she said to herself, (not in a very `
` hopeful tone though), `I won't have any pepper in my kitchen AT `
` ALL. Soup does very well without--Maybe it's always pepper that `
` makes people hot-tempered,' she went on, very much pleased at `
` having found out a new kind of rule, `and vinegar that makes them `
` sour--and camomile that makes them bitter--and--and barley-sugar `
` and such things that make children sweet-tempered. I only wish `
` people knew that: then they wouldn't be so stingy about it, you `
` know--' `
` `
` She had quite forgotten the Duchess by this time, and was a `
` little startled when she heard her voice close to her ear. `
` `You're thinking about something, my dear, and that makes you `
` forget to talk. I can't tell you just now what the moral of that `
` is, but I shall remember it in a bit.' `
` `
` `Perhaps it hasn't one,' Alice ventured to remark. `
` `
` `Tut, tut, child!' said the Duchess. `Everything's got a `
` moral, if only you can find it.' And she squeezed herself up `
` closer to Alice's side as she spoke. `
` `
` Alice did not much like keeping so close to her: first, `
` because the Duchess was VERY ugly; and secondly, because she was `
` exactly the right height to rest her chin upon Alice's shoulder, `
` and it was an uncomfortably sharp chin. However, she did not `
` like to be rude, so she bore it as well as she could. `
` `
` `The game's going on rather better now,' she said, by way of `
` keeping up the conversation a little. `
` `
` `'Tis so,' said the Duchess: `and the moral of that is--"Oh, `
` 'tis love, 'tis love, that makes the world go round!"' `
` `
` `Somebody said,' Alice whispered, `that it's done by everybody `
` minding their own business!' `
` `
` `Ah, well! It means much the same thing,' said the Duchess, `
`