“Found _it_,” the Mouse replied rather crossly: “of course you know
what ‘it’ means.”

“I know what ‘it’ means well enough, when _I_ find a thing,” said the
Duck: “it’s generally a frog or a worm
The question is, what did the
archbishop find?”

The Mouse did not notice this question, but hurriedly went on, “‘—found
it advisable to go with Edgar Atheling to meet William and offer him
the crown
William’s conduct at first was moderate
But the insolence
of his Normans—’ How are you getting on now, my dear?” it continued,
turning to Alice as it spoke
“I don’t know the meaning of half
those long words, and, what’s more, I don’t believe you do either!” And
the Eaglet bent down its head to hide a smile: some of the other birds
tittered audibly
There was no “One, two, three, and
away,” but they began running when they liked, and left off when they
liked, so that it was not easy to know when the race was over
At last the Dodo
said, “_Everybody_ has won, and all must have prizes.”

“But who is to give the prizes?” quite a chorus of voices asked
“Why, _she_, of course,” said the Dodo, pointing to Alice with one
finger; and the whole party at once crowded round her, calling out in a
confused way, “Prizes
Prizes!”

Alice had no idea what to do, and in despair she put her hand in her
pocket, and pulled out a box of comfits, (luckily the salt water had
not got into it), and handed them round as prizes
There was exactly
one a-piece, all round
“But she must have a prize herself, you know,” said the Mouse
“Of course,” the Dodo replied very gravely
“What else have you got in
your pocket?” he went on, turning to Alice
“Only a thimble,” said Alice sadly
“Hand it over here,” said the Dodo
The next thing was to eat the comfits: this caused some noise and
confusion, as the large birds complained that they could not taste
theirs, and the small ones choked and had to be patted on the back
However, it was over at last, and they sat down again in a ring, and
begged the Mouse to tell them something more
“You promised to tell me your history, you know,” said Alice, “and why
it is you hate—C and D,” she added in a whisper, half afraid that it
would be offended again
“Mine is a long and a sad tale!” said the Mouse, turning to Alice, and
sighing
“What are
you thinking of?”

“I beg your pardon,” said Alice very humbly: “you had got to the fifth
bend, I think?”

“I had _not!_” cried the Mouse, sharply and very angrily
“A knot!” said Alice, always ready to make herself useful, and looking
anxiously about her
“Oh, do let me help to undo it!”

“I shall do nothing of the sort,” said the Mouse, getting up and
walking away
“You insult me by talking such nonsense!”

“I didn’t mean it!” pleaded poor Alice
“But you’re so easily offended,
you know!”

The Mouse only growled in reply
“Please come back and finish your story!” Alice called after it; and
the others all joined in chorus, “Yes, please do!” but the Mouse only
shook its head impatiently, and walked a little quicker
“What a pity it wouldn’t stay!” sighed the Lory, as soon as it was
quite out of sight; and an old Crab took the opportunity of saying to
her daughter “Ah, my dear
Let this be a lesson to you never to lose
_your_ temper!” “Hold your tongue, Ma!” said the young Crab, a little
snappishly
“You’re enough to try the patience of an oyster!”

“I wish I had our Dinah here, I know I do!” said Alice aloud,
addressing nobody in particular
“She’d soon fetch it back!”

“And who is Dinah, if I might venture to ask the question?” said the
Lory
Alice replied eagerly, for she was always ready to talk about her pet:
“Dinah’s our cat
And she’s such a capital one for catching mice you
can’t think
And oh, I wish you could see her after the birds
Why,
she’ll eat a little bird as soon as look at it!”

This speech caused a remarkable sensation among the party
It’s high time you were all in
bed!” On various pretexts they all moved off, and Alice was soon left
alone
“I wish I hadn’t mentioned Dinah!” she said to herself in a melancholy
tone
“Nobody seems to like her, down here, and I’m sure she’s the best
cat in the world
I wonder if I shall ever see you
any more!” And here poor Alice began to cry again, for she felt very
lonely and low-spirited
She’ll get me executed, as sure as ferrets are
ferrets
Very soon the Rabbit noticed Alice, as she went hunting about, and
called out to her in an angry tone, “Why, Mary Ann, what _are_ you
doing out here
Run home this moment, and fetch me a pair of gloves and
a fan
Quick, now!” And Alice was so much frightened that she ran off
at once in the direction it pointed to, without trying to explain the
mistake it had made
“He took me for his housemaid,” she said to herself as she ran
“How
surprised he’ll be when he finds out who I am
But I’d better take him
his fan and gloves—that is, if I can find them.” As she said this, she
came upon a neat little house, on the door of which was a bright brass
plate with the name “W
She went in without
knocking, and hurried upstairs, in great fear lest she should meet the
real Mary Ann, and be turned out of the house before she had found the
fan and gloves
“How queer it seems,” Alice said to herself, “to be going messages for
a rabbit
I suppose Dinah’ll be sending me on messages next!” And she
began fancying the sort of thing that would happen: “‘Miss Alice
Come
here directly, and get ready for your walk!’ ‘Coming in a minute,
nurse
There was no label
this time with the words “DRINK ME,” but nevertheless she uncorked it
and put it to her lips
“I know _something_ interesting is sure to
happen,” she said to herself, “whenever I eat or drink anything; so
I’ll just see what this bottle does