Hush!” said the Rabbit in a low, hurried tone
He looked
anxiously over his shoulder as he spoke, and then raised himself upon
tiptoe, put his mouth close to her ear, and whispered “She’s under
sentence of execution.”

“What for?” said Alice
“Did you say ‘What a pity!’?” the Rabbit asked
“No, I didn’t,” said Alice: “I don’t think it’s at all a pity
I said
‘What for?’”

“She boxed the Queen’s ears—” the Rabbit began
Alice gave a little
scream of laughter
“Oh, hush!” the Rabbit whispered in a frightened
tone
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
Alice waited till the eyes appeared, and then nodded
The Cat seemed to think that there
was enough of it now in sight, and no more of it appeared
“Who _are_ you talking to?” said the King, going up to Alice, and
looking at the Cat’s head with great curiosity
“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
So she went in search of her hedgehog
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
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_
“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
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
“I dare say you’re wondering why I don’t put my arm round your waist,”
the Duchess said after a pause: “the reason is, that I’m doubtful about
the temper of your flamingo
Shall I try the experiment?”

“He might bite,” Alice cautiously replied, not feeling at all anxious
to have the experiment tried
“Very true,” said the Duchess: “flamingoes and mustard both bite
And
the moral of that is—‘Birds of a feather flock together.’”

“Only mustard isn’t a bird,” Alice remarked
“Right, as usual,” said the Duchess: “what a clear way you have of
putting things!”

“It’s a mineral, I _think_,” said Alice
“Of course it is,” said the Duchess, who seemed ready to agree to
everything that Alice said; “there’s a large mustard-mine near here
And the moral of that is—‘The more there is of mine, the less there is
of yours.’”

“Oh, I know!” exclaimed Alice, who had not attended to this last
remark, “it’s a vegetable
“Pray don’t trouble yourself to say it any longer than that,” said
Alice
“Oh, don’t talk about trouble!” said the Duchess
“I make you a present
of everything I’ve said as yet.”

“A cheap sort of present!” thought Alice
“I’m glad they don’t give
birthday presents like that!” But she did not venture to say it out
loud
“Thinking again?” the Duchess asked, with another dig of her sharp
little chin
“I’ve a right to think,” said Alice sharply, for she was beginning to
feel a little worried
Alice looked up, and there stood the
Queen in front of them, with her arms folded, frowning like a
thunderstorm
“A fine day, your Majesty!” the Duchess began in a low, weak voice
“Now, I give you fair warning,” shouted the Queen, stamping on the
ground as she spoke; “either you or your head must be off, and that in
about half no time
Take your choice!”

The Duchess took her choice, and was gone in a moment
“Let’s go on with the game,” the Queen said to Alice; and Alice was too
much frightened to say a word, but slowly followed her back to the
croquet-ground
Then the Queen left off, quite out of breath, and said to Alice, “Have
you seen the Mock Turtle yet?”

“No,” said Alice
“I don’t even know what a Mock Turtle is.”

“It’s the thing Mock Turtle Soup is made from,” said the Queen