Алиса в Стране чудес. Алиса в Зазеркалье / Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Through the Looking Glass

Chapter XII

Which Dreamed It?

‘Your Red 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 once made the remark) that, whatever you say to them, theyalwayspurr. ‘If they 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 canyou talk with a person if they alwayssay 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 alittleashamed of itself, so I think it musthave 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 its 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, ‘whenwillDinah 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 didDinahturn 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 thinkyou did – however, you’d better not mention it to your friends just yet, for I’m not sure.

‘By the way, Kitty, if only you’d been really with me in my dream, there was one thing youwouldhave enjoyed – I had such a quantity of poetry said to me, all about fishes! Tomorrow 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 shouldnotgo on licking your paw like that – as if Dinah hadn’t washed you this morning! You see, Kitty, it musthave been either me or the Red King. He was part of my dream, of course – but then I was part of his dream, too! Wasit the Red King, Kitty? You were his wife, my dear, so you ought to know – Oh, Kitty, dohelp 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?

Illustrations

Doris Jane Dommett, Rackham’s model for Alice.Illustration by Arthur Rackham (1867–1939)

It was the White Rabbit with a pair of white kid gloves and a fan.Illustration by Gwynedd Hudson (1909–1935)

Alice led the way, and the whole party swam to the shore.Illustration by Arthur Rackham

Dodo sat for a long time with one finger pressed upon its forehead.Illustration by Arthur Rackham

‘Run home and fetch me a pair of gloves and a fan.’Illustration by Arthur Rackham

‘Who are you?’ said the Caterpillar.Illustration by Arthur Rackham

‘Serpent!’ screamed the Pigeon.Illustration by George Soper (1870–1942)

The cook set to work throwing everything at the Duchess.Illustration by Arthur Rackham

It was neither more nor less than a pig.Illustration by Arthur Rackham

‘Cheshire Puss,’ Alice began, rather timidly.Illustration by George Soper

‘Why is a raven like a writing-desk?’Illustration by Arthur Rackham

‘Who are these?’Illustration by Arthur Rackham

‘Off with his head!’Illustration by Arthur Rackham

‘Once I was a real Turtle.’Illustration by Arthur Rackham

‘I didn’t write it, and they can’t prove I did.’Illustration by Arthur Rackham

The whole pack rose up into the air, and came flying down upon her.Illustration by Arthur Rackham