`Your 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, they Always purr.
`If them 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 can you talk with
a person if they always say 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 a little ashamed
of itself, so I think it must have
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 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, `when will Dinah
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 did dinah turn
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 think you did -- however,
you'd better not mention it to
your friends just yet, for I'm
not sure.
`By the way, Kitty, of only
you'd been really with me in
my dream, there was one thing
you would have enjoyed
-- I had such a quantity of poetry
said to me, all about fishes!
To-morrow 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 should not go
on licking your paw like that
-- as if Dinah hadn't washed
you this morning! You see, Kitty,
it must have been either
me or the Red King. He was part
of my dream, of course -- but
then I was part of his dream,
too! was it the Red King,
Kitty. You were his wife, my
dear, so you ought to know --
Oh, Kitty, do help 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?
A boat beneath a sunny sky,
Lingering onward dreamily
In an evening of July --
Children three that nestle
near,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Pleased a simple tale to hear --
Long had paled that sunny
sky:
Echoes fade and memories die.
Autumn frosts have slain July.
Still she haunts me, phantomwise,
Alice moving under skies
Never seen by waking eyes.
Children yet, the tale to
hear,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Lovingly shall nestle near.
In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:
Ever drifting down the stream
--
Lingering in the golden gleam --
Life, what is it but a dream?
The
End
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