but the cook was busily stirring the soup, and seemed not to be
listening, so she went on again: - Twenty-four hours, I THINK; or is it
twelve? I
- Oh, don't bother ME, - said the Duchess; - I never could abide
figures! - And with that she began nursing her child again, singing a sort
of lullaby to it as she did so, and giving it a violent shake at the end
of every line:

- Speak roughly to your little boy,
And beat him when he sneezes:
He only does it to annoy,
Because he knows it teases.

CHORUS.

(In which the cook and the baby joined):

- Wow! wow! wow!

While the Duchess sang the second verse of the song, she kept tossing
the baby violently up and down, and the poor little thing howled so, that
Alice could hardly hear the words:

- I speak severely to my boy,
I beat him when he sneezes;
For he can thoroughly enjoy
The pepper when he pleases!

CHORUS.

- Wow! wow! wow!

- Here! you may nurse it a bit, if you like! - the Duchess said to
Alice, flinging the baby at her as she spoke. - I must go and get ready to
play croquet with the Queen, - and she hurried out of the room. The cook
threw a frying-pan after her as she went out, but it just missed her.
Alice caught the baby with some difficulty, as it was a queer shaped
little creature, and held out its arms and legs in all directions, - just
like a star-fish, - thought Alice. The poor little thing was snorting like
a steam-engine when she caught it, and kept doubling itself up and
straightening itself out again, so that altogether, for the first minute
or two, it was as much as she could do to hold it.
As soon as she had made out the proper way of nursing it, (which was
to twist it up into a sort of knot, and then keep tight hold of its right
ear and left foot, so as to prevent its undoing itself,) she carried it
out into the open air. - IF I don't take this child away with me, -
thought Alice, - they're sure to kill it in a day or two: wouldn't it be
murder to leave it behind? - She said the last words out loud, and the
little thing grunted in reply (it had left off sneezing by this time). -
Don't grunt, - said Alice; - that's not at all a proper way of expressing
yourself.
The baby grunted again, and Alice looked very anxiously into its face
to see what was the matter with it. There could be no doubt that it had a
VERY turn-up nose, much more like a snout than a real nose; also its eyes
were getting extremely small for a baby: altogether Alice did not like the
look of the thing at all. - But perhaps it was only sobbing, - she
thought, and looked into its eyes again, to see if there were any tears.
No, there were no tears. - If you're going to turn into a pig, my
dear, - said Alice, seriously, - I'll have nothing more to do with you.
Mind now! - The poor little thing sobbed again (or grunted, it was
impossible to say which), and they went on for some while in silence.
Alice was just beginning to think to herself, - Now, what am I to do
with this creature when I get it home? - when it grunted again, so
violently, that she looked down into its face in some alarm. This time
there could be NO mistake about it: it was neither more nor less than a
pig, and she felt that it would be quite absurd for her to carry it
further.
So she set the little creature down, and felt quite relieved to see
it trot away quietly into the wood. - If it had grown up, - she said to
herself, - it would have made a dreadfully ugly child: but it makes rather
a handsome pig, I think. - And she began thinking over other children she
knew, who might do very well as pigs, and was just saying to herself, - if
one only knew the right way to change them when she was a little startled
by seeing the Cheshire Cat sitting on a bough of a tree a few yards off.
The Cat only grinned when it saw Alice. It looked good- natured, she
thought: still it had VERY long claws and a great many teeth, so she felt
that it ought to be treated with respect.
- Cheshire Puss, - she began, rather timidly, as she did not at all
know whether it would like the name: however, it only grinned a little
wider. - Come, it's pleased so far, - thought Alice, and she went on. -
Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?
- That depends a good deal on where you want to get to, - said the
Cat.
- I don't much care where - said Alice.
- Then it doesn't matter which way you go, - said the Cat.
- so long as I get SOMEWHERE, - Alice added as an explanation.
- Oh, you're sure to do that, - said the Cat, - if you only walk long
enough.
Alice felt that this could not be denied, so she tried another
question. - What sort of people live about here?
- In THAT direction, - the Cat said, waving its right paw round, -
lives a Hatter: and in THAT direction, - waving the other paw, - lives a
March Hare. Visit either you like: they're both mad.
- But I don't want to go among mad people, - Alice remarked.
- Oh, you can't help that, - said the Cat: - we're all mad here. I'm
mad. You're mad.
- How do you know I'm mad? - said Alice.
- You must be, - said the Cat, - or you wouldn't have come here.
Alice didn't think that proved it at all; however, she went on - And how
do you know that you're mad?
- To begin with, - said the Cat, - a dog's not mad. You grant that?
- I suppose so, - said Alice.
- Well, then, - the Cat went on, - you see, a dog growls when it's
angry, and wags its tail when it's pleased. Now I growl when I'm pleased,
and wag my tail when I'm angry. Therefore I'm mad.
- I call it purring, not growling, - said Alice.
- Call it what you like, - said the Cat. - Do you play croquet with
the Queen to-day?
- I should like it very much, - said Alice, - but I haven't been
invited yet.
- You'll see me there, - said the Cat, and vanished. Alice was not
much surprised at this, she was getting so used to queer things happening.
While she was looking at the place where it had been, it suddenly appeared
again.
- By-the-bye, what became of the baby? - said the Cat. - I'd nearly
forgotten to ask.
- It turned into a pig, - Alice quietly said, just as if it had come
back in a natural way.
- I thought it would, - said the Cat, and vanished again. Alice
waited a little, half expecting to see it again, but it did not appear,
and after a minute or two she walked on in the direction in which the
March Hare was said to live. - I've seen hatters before, she said to
herself; - the March Hare will be much the most interesting, and perhaps
as this is May it won't be raving mad - at least not so mad as it was in
March. - As she said this, she looked up, and there was the Cat again,
sitting on a branch of a tree.
- Did you say pig, or fig? - said the Cat.
- I said pig, - replied Alice; - and I wish you wouldn't keep
appearing and vanishing so suddenly: you make on quite giddy.
- All right, - said the Cat; and this time it vanished quite slowly,
beginning with the end of the tail, and ending with the grin, which
remained some time after the rest of it had gone.
- Well! I've often seen a cat without a grin, - thought Alice; - but
a grin without a cat! It's the most curious thing I ever say in my life!
She had not gone much farther before she came in sight of the house
of the March Hare: she thought it must be the right house, because the
chimneys were shaped like ears and the roof was thatched with fur. It was
so large a house, that she did not like to go nearer till she had nibbled
some more of the lefthand bit of mushroom, and raised herself to about two
feet high: even then she walked up towards it rather timidly, saying to
herself - Suppose it should be raving mad after all! I almost wish I'd
gone to see the Hatter instead!



CHAPTER VII

A Mad Tea-Party

There was a table set out under a tree in front of the house, and the
March Hare and the Hatter were having tea at it: a Dormouse was sitting
between them, fast asleep, and the other two were using it as a cushion,
resting their elbows on it, and the talking over its head.
- Very uncomfortable for the Dormouse, - thought Alice; - only, as
it's asleep, I suppose it doesn't mind.
The table was a large one, but the three were all crowded together at
one corner of it: - No room! No room! - they cried out when they saw Alice
coming. - There's PLENTY of room! - said Alice indignantly, and she sat
down in a large arm-chair at one end of the table.
- Have some wine, - the March Hare said in an encouraging tone. Alice
looked all round the table, but there was nothing on it but tea. - I don't
see any wine, - she remarked.
- There isn't any, - said the March Hare.
- Then it wasn't very civil of you to offer it, - said Alice angrily.
- It wasn't very civil of you to sit down without being invited, said
the March Hare.
- I didn't know it was YOUR table, - said Alice; - it's laid for a
great many more than three.
- Your hair wants cutting, - said the Hatter. He had been looking at
Alice for some time with great curiosity, and this was his first speech.
- You should learn not to make personal remarks, - Alice said with
some severity; - it's very rude.
The Hatter opened his eyes very wide on hearing this; but all he SAID
was, - Why is a raven like a writing-desk?
- Come, we shall have some fun now! - thought Alice. - I'm glad
they've begun asking riddles. - I believe I can guess that, - she added
aloud.
- Do you mean that you think you can find out the answer to it? said
the March Hare.
- Exactly so, - said Alice.
- Then you should say what you mean, - the March Hare went on.
- I do, - Alice hastily replied; - at least - at least I mean what I
say - that's the same thing, you know.
- Not the same thing a bit! - said the Hatter. - You might just as
well say that - I see what I eat - is the same thing as - I eat what I see
- !
- You might just as well say, - added the March Hare, - that - I like
what I get - is the same thing as - I get what I like - !
- You might just as well say, - added the Dormouse, who seemed to be
talking in his sleep, - that - I breathe when I sleep - is the same thing
as - I sleep when I breathe - !
- It IS the same thing with you, - said the Hatter, and here the
conversation dropped, and the party sat silent for a minute, while Alice
thought over all she could remember about ravens and writing-desks, which
wasn't much.
The Hatter was the first to break the silence. - What day of the
month is it? - he said, turning to Alice: he had taken his watch out of
his pocket, and was looking at it uneasily, shaking it every now and then,
and holding it to his ear.
Alice considered a little, and then said - The fourth.
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