'Very,' said Alice: '--where's the Duchess ? '

'Hush ! Hush ! ' said the Rabbit in 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 pity ! " ? ' the Rabbit asked

'No, I didn't,' said Alice: 'I don't think it's at all pity "What for ? "'

'She boxed the Queen's ears--' the Rabbit began Alice gave little scream of laughter 'Oh, hush ! ' the Rabbit whispered in frightened tone 'The Queen will hear you ! , she came rather late, Queen said--'

'Get to your places ! ' shouted the Queen in voice of thunder, and people began running about in all directions, tumbling up against ; however, they got settled down in minute or two, game began Alice thought she had never seen such curious croquet-ground in her life; all ridges and furrows; the balls were live hedgehogs, the mallets live flamingoes, soldiers had to double themselves up and to stand on their hands and feet, to arches

The chief difficulty Alice found at first was in managing her flamingo: she succeeded in getting its body tucked away, 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 the hedgehog blow with its head, it would twist itself round and look up in her face, puzzled expression that help bursting out laughing: and when she had got its head down, and was going again, very provoking hedgehog had unrolled itself, and was act of crawling away: besides all this, generally ridge or furrow way wherever she wanted to send the hedgehog to, and, doubled-up soldiers were always getting up and walking off to other parts ground, Alice soon came conclusion very difficult game indeed

The players all played at once without waiting for turns, quarrelling all the while, and fighting hedgehogs; and in very short time the Queen was in furious passion, and went stamping about, and shouting 'Off head ! ' or 'Off with her head ! ' about once in minute

Alice began very uneasy: , she had any dispute Queen, but she knew 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 left alive ! '

She was looking about for some way of escape, and wondering whether get away without being seen, when she noticed curious appearance air: it puzzled her at first, but, after watching it minute or two, she made it out grin, and she said to herself 'It's the Cheshire Cat: now somebody to '

'How getting on ? ' said the Cat, as soon mouth enough with

Alice waited till the eyes appeared, and then nodded 'It's no use speaking ,' she thought, 'till its ears have come, or ' In another minute the whole head appeared, and then Alice put down her flamingo, and began an account game, feeling she had someone to listen to her The Cat seemed that 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 complaining tone, ' all quarrel so dreadfully one can't hear oneself speak-- don't seem any rules ; , , nobody attends --and you've no idea how confusing all the things being alive; for instance, there's the arch I've got through next walking about other end ground--and croqueted the Queen's hedgehog just now, only it ran away when it saw mine coming ! '

'How like the Queen ? ' said the Cat in low voice

'Not at all,' said Alice: 'she's so extremely--' Just then she noticed Queen was close behind her, listening: so she went on, '--likely to win, 's hardly worth while finishing the game '

The Queen smiled and passed on

'Who talking to ? ' said the King, going Alice, and looking Cat's head with great curiosity

'It's friend --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 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 king,' said Alice 'I've read that in some book, but I don't remember where '

'Well, it removed,' said the King very decidedly, and the Queen, who was passing moment, 'My dear ! this cat removed ! '

The Queen had way of settling all difficulties, great or small 'Off 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 go back, how the game was going on, as she heard the Queen's voice distance, screaming with passion She had already heard her sentence three players executed for having missed their turns, and she like the look of things at all, game was confusion that she never knew whether her turn or not So she went in search of her hedgehog

The hedgehog was engaged in fight with another hedgehog, which seemed to Alice an excellent opportunity for croqueting other: the only difficulty was, that her flamingo was gone across other side garden, where Alice it trying in helpless sort of way to fly up into tree

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 side ground ' So she tucked it away under her arm, escape again, and went back for little more conversation with her friend

When she got back Cheshire Cat, she was surprised quite large crowd collected round it: dispute going on executioner, the King, 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, repeated their arguments to her, though, all spoke at once, she found it very hard indeed out exactly what they said

The executioner's argument was, that you couldn't cut off head unless body to cut it off from: that he had never had such thing before, and he wasn't going at his time of life

The King's argument was, that anything that had head beheaded, you weren't nonsense

The Queen's argument was, that if something wasn't done in no time she'd have everybody executed, all round (It last remark that had made the whole party look so grave and anxious )

Alice could think of nothing else but 'It belongs Duchess: you'd better ask her '

'She's in prison,' the Queen said executioner: 'fetch her here ' executioner went off like an arrow

The Cat's head began fading away the moment gone, and, he had come back Duchess, it had entirely disappeared; so the King executioner ran wildly up and down looking , while the rest party went back game

Chapter IX: The Mock Turtle's Story

' 't think how glad you again, you dear old thing ! ' said the Duchess, as she tucked her arm affectionately into Alice's, walked off together

Alice was her pleasant temper, and thought to herself that perhaps only the pepper that had made her so savage met kitchen

'When I'm Duchess,' she said to herself, (not in very hopeful tone though), 'I won't have any pepper in my kitchen at all Soup does without--Maybe it's always pepper that makes people hot-tempered,' she went on, pleased at having found out 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 , --'

She had quite forgotten the Duchess , and was little startled when she heard her voice close to her ear 'You're thinking about something, my dear, makes you forget 't tell you just now what the moral of , but remember it in bit '

'Perhaps it hasn't one,' Alice ventured to remark

'Tut, tut, child ! ' said the Duchess 'Everything's got moral, if only find it ' And she squeezed herself up closer to Alice's side as she spoke

Alice 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 an uncomfortably sharp chin However, she like rude, so she bore it as

'The game's going on rather better now,' she said, by way of keeping up the conversation little

Tis so,' said the Duchess: ' moral of --"Oh, 'tis love, 'tis love, that makes the world go round ! "'

'Somebody said,' Alice whispered, ' 's done by everybody minding their own business ! '

'Ah, well ! It means much the same thing,' said the Duchess, digging her sharp little chin into Alice's shoulder as she added, ' moral of --"Take care sense, sounds will take care of themselves "'

'How fond of finding morals in things ! ' Alice thought to herself

'I dare say you're wondering why I don't put my arm round your waist,' the Duchess said after pause: 'the reason is, that I'm doubtful temper of your flamingo Shall I try the experiment ? '

'He might bite,' Alice cautiously replied, not feeling at all anxious the experiment tried

'Very true,' said the Duchess: 'flamingoes and mustard both bite moral of --"Birds of feather flock together "'

'Only mustard isn't bird,' Alice remarked

'Right, as usual,' said the Duchess: 'what clear way of putting things ! '

'It's mineral, ,' said Alice

' ,' said the Duchess, who seemed ready to agree to everything that Alice said; 'there's large mustard-mine near here moral of --"The more , the less of yours "'

'Oh, ! ' exclaimed Alice, who attended last remark, 'it's vegetable It doesn't look like one, but '