That is easy: a baby, I think, could have caught it.
"Next, the fish must be bought.
That is easy: a penny, I think, would have bought it.

"Now cook me the fish!
That is easy, and will not take more than a minute.
Let it lie in a dish!"
That is easy, because it already is in it.

"Bring it here! Let me sup!"
It is easy to set such a dish on the table.
"Take the dish-cover up!
Ah, THAT is so hard that I fear I'm unable!

For it holds it like glue
Holds the lid to the dish, while it lies in the middle:
Which is easiest to do,
Un-dish-cover the fish, or dishcover the riddle?

- Take a minute to think about it, and then guess, - said the Red
Queen. - Meanwhile, we'll drink your health - Queen Alice's health! she
screamed at the top of her voice, and all the guests began drinking it
directly, and very queerly they managed it: some of them put their glasses
upon their heads like extinguishers, and drank all that trickled down
their faces -others upset the decanters, and drank the wine as it ran off
the edges of the table - and three of them (who looked like kangaroos)
scrambled into the dish of roast mutton, and began eagerly lapping up the
gravy, - just like pigs in a trough! thought Alice.
- You ought to return thanks in a neat speech, - the Red Queen said,
frowning at Alice as she spoke.
- We must support you, you know, - the White Queen whispered, as
Alice got up to do it, very obediently, but a little frightened.
- Thank you very much, - she whispered in reply, - but I can do quite
well without.
- That wouldn't be at all the thing, - the Red Queen said very
decidedly: so Alice tried to submit to it with a good grace.
(And they DID push so! - she said afterwards, when she was telling
her sister the history of the feast. - You would have thought they wanted
to squeeze me flat!')
In fact it was rather difficult for her to keep in her place while
she made her speech: the two Queens pushed her so, one on each side, that
they nearly lifted her up into the air: - I rise to return thanks - Alice
began: and she really DID rise as she spoke, several inches; but she got
hold of the edge of the table, and managed to pull herself down again.
- Take care of yourself! - screamed the White Queen, seizing Alice's
hair with both her hands. - Something's going to happen!
And then (as Alice afterwards described it) all sorts of thing
happened in a moment. The candles all grew up to the ceiling, looking
something like a bed of rushes with fireworks at the top. As to the
bottles, they each took a pair of plates, which they hastily fitted on as
wings, and so, with forks for legs, went fluttering about in all
directions: - and very like birds they look, - Alice thought to herself,
as well as she could in the dreadful confusion that was beginning.
At this moment she heard a hoarse laugh at her side, and turn to see
what was the matter with the White Queen; but, instead of the Queen, there
was the leg of mutton sitting in the chair. - Here I am! cried a voice
from the soup tureen, and Alice turned again, just in time to see the
Queen's broad good-natured face grinning at the for a moment over the edge
of the tureen, before she disappeared into the soup.
There was not a moment to be lost. Already several of the guests were
lying down in the dishes, and the soup ladle was walking up the table
towards Alice's chair, and beckoning to her impatiently to get out of its
way.
- I can't stand this any longer! - she cried as she jumped up and
seized the table-cloth with both hands: one good pull, and plates, dishes,
guests, and candles came crashing down together in a heap on the floor.
- And as for YOU, - she went on, turning fiercly upon the Red Queen,
who she considered as the cause of all the mischief - but the Queen was no
longer at her side - she had suddenly dwindled down to the size of a
little doll, and was now on the table, merrily running round and round
after her own shawl, which was trailing behind her.
At any other time, Alice would have felt surprised at this, but she
was far too much excited to be surprised at anything NOW. - As for YOU, -
she repeated, catching hold of the little creature in the very act of
jumping over a bottle which had just lighted upon the table, - I'll shake
you into a kitten, that I will!




CHAPTER X

Shaking

She took her off the table as she spoke, and shook her backwards and
forwards with all her might.
The Red Queen made no resistance whatever; only her face grew very
small, and her eyes got large and green: and still, as Alice went on
shaking her, she kept on growing shorter - and fatter - and softer - and
rounder - and



CHAPTER XI

Waking

- and it really WAS a kitten, after all.




CHAPTER XII

Which Dreamed it?

- Your majesty shouldn't purr so loud, - Alice said, rubbing her
eyes, and addressing the kitten, respectfully, yet with some severity. -
You woke me out of oh! such a nice dream! And you've been along with me,
Kitty - all through the Looking-Glass world. Did you know it, dear?
It is a very inconvenient habit of kittens (Alice had one made the
remark) that, whatever you say to them, they Always purr. - If them would
only purr for "yes" and mew for "no," or any rule of that sort, - she had
said, - so that one could keep up a conversation! But how CAN you talk
with a person if they always say the same thing?
On this occasion the kitten only purred: and it was impossible to
guess whether it meant - yes - or - no.
So Alice hunted among the chessmen on the table till she had found
the Red Queen: then she went down on her knees on the hearth-rug, and put
the kitten and the Queen to look at each other. "Now, Kitty! - she cried,
clapping her hands triumphantly. - Confess that was what you turned into!
( - But it wouldn't look at it, - she said, when she was explaining
the thing afterwards to her sister: - it turned away its head, and
pretended not to see it: but it looked a LITTLE ashamed of itself, so I
think it MUST have been the Red Queen.')
- Sit up a little more stiffly, dear! - Alice cried with a merry
laugh. - And curtsey while you're thinking what to - what to purr. It
saves time, remember! - And she caught it up and gave it one little kiss,
- just in honour of having been a Red Queen.
- Snowdrop, my pet! - she went on, looking over her shoulder at the
White Kitten, which was still patiently undergoing its toilet, - when WILL
Dinah have finished with your White Majesty, I wonder? That must be the
reason you were so untidy in my dream - Dinah! do you know that you're
scrubbing a White Queen? Really, it's most disrespectful of you!
- And what did DINAH turn to, I wonder? - she prattled on, as she
settled comfortably down, with one elbow in the rug, and her chin in her
hand, to watch the kittens. - Tell me, Dinah, did you turn to Humpty
Dumpty? I THINK you did - however, you'd better not mention it to your
friends just yet, for I'm not sure.
- By the way, Kitty, of only you'd been really with me in my dream,
there was one thing you WOULD have enjoyed - I had such a quantity of
poetry said to me, all about fishes! To-morrow morning you shall have a
real treat. All the time you're eating your breakfast, I'll repeat "The
Walrus and the Carpenter" to you; and then you can make believe it's
oysters, dear!
- Now, Kitty, let's consider who it was that dreamed it all. This is
a serious question, my dear, and you should NOT go on licking your paw
like that - as if Dinah hadn't washed you this morning! You see, Kitty, it
MUST have been either me or the Red King. He was part of my dream, of
course - but then I was part of his dream, too! WAS it the Red King,
Kitty. You were his wife, my dear, so you ought to know Oh, Kitty, DO help
to settle it! I'm sure your paw can wait! - But the provoking kitten only
began on the other paw, and pretended it hadn't heard the question.

Which do YOU think it was?





A boat beneath a sunny sky,
Lingering onward dreamily
In an evening of July

Children three that nestle near,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Pleased a simple tale to hear

Long had paled that sunny sky:
Echoes fade and memories die.
Autumn frosts have slain July.

Still she haunts me, phantomwise,
Alice moving under skies
Never seen by waking eyes.

Children yet, the tale to hear,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Lovingly shall nestle near.

In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:

Ever drifting down the stream
Lingering in the golden gleam
Life, what is it but a dream?


THE END

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