«She was looking about for some way of escape, and wondering whether she could get away without being seen, when she noticed a curious appearance in the air: it puzzled her very much at first, but, after watching it a minute or two, she made it out to be a grin, and she said to herself, ‘it’s the Chesire Cat: now I shall have someone to talk to.’
‘How are you getting on?’ said the Cat, as soon as there was a mouth enough for it to speak with.
Alice waited till the eyes appeared, and then nodded. ‘It’s no use to speaking to it,’ she thought, ‘till its ears have come, or at least one of them.’ In another minute, the whole head appeared, and then Alice put down her flamingo, and began an account of the game, feeling very glad she had someone to listen to her. The Cat seemed to think that there was enough of it now in sight, and no more of it appeared.
(…)
‘Who are you talking to?’ said the King, coming up to Alice, and looking at the Cat’s head with great curiosity.
‘It’s a friend of mine – a Chesire 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 if it 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 a king,’ said Alice. ‘I’ve read that in some book, but I don’t remember where.’
‘Well it must be removed,’ said the King very decidedly, and he called up to the Queen, who was passing at the moment, ‘My dear! I wish you could have this cat removed!’
The Queen had only one way of settling all difficulties, great or small. ‘Off with his head!’ she said, without even looking round.
(…)
When she got back to the Chesire Cat, she was surprised to quite a large crowd collected round it: there was a dispute going on between the executioner, the King and the Queen, who were all talking at once, while all the rest were silent, and looked very uncomfortable.
The moment Alice appeared, she was appealed to by all three to settle the question, and they repeated their arguments to her, though, as hey all spoke at once, she found it very hard indeed to make out exactly what they said.
The executioner’s argument was that you couldn’t cut off a head unless there was a body to cut it off from: that he had never had to do such a thing before, and he wasn’t going to begin at his time of life.
The King’s argument was that anything that had a head could be beheaded, and that you weren’t to talk nonsense.
The Queen’s argument was that if something wasn’t done about it in less than no time, she’d have everybody executed, all round. (It was this last remark that had made the whole party look so grave and anxious.)
Alice could think of nothing else to say but, ‘It belongs to the Duchess: you’d better ask her about it.’»
Alice in wonderland, Lewis Carroll
‘How are you getting on?’ said the Cat, as soon as there was a mouth enough for it to speak with.
Alice waited till the eyes appeared, and then nodded. ‘It’s no use to speaking to it,’ she thought, ‘till its ears have come, or at least one of them.’ In another minute, the whole head appeared, and then Alice put down her flamingo, and began an account of the game, feeling very glad she had someone to listen to her. The Cat seemed to think that there was enough of it now in sight, and no more of it appeared.
(…)
‘Who are you talking to?’ said the King, coming up to Alice, and looking at the Cat’s head with great curiosity.
‘It’s a friend of mine – a Chesire 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 if it 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 a king,’ said Alice. ‘I’ve read that in some book, but I don’t remember where.’
‘Well it must be removed,’ said the King very decidedly, and he called up to the Queen, who was passing at the moment, ‘My dear! I wish you could have this cat removed!’
The Queen had only one way of settling all difficulties, great or small. ‘Off with his head!’ she said, without even looking round.
(…)
When she got back to the Chesire Cat, she was surprised to quite a large crowd collected round it: there was a dispute going on between the executioner, the King and the Queen, who were all talking at once, while all the rest were silent, and looked very uncomfortable.
The moment Alice appeared, she was appealed to by all three to settle the question, and they repeated their arguments to her, though, as hey all spoke at once, she found it very hard indeed to make out exactly what they said.
The executioner’s argument was that you couldn’t cut off a head unless there was a body to cut it off from: that he had never had to do such a thing before, and he wasn’t going to begin at his time of life.
The King’s argument was that anything that had a head could be beheaded, and that you weren’t to talk nonsense.
The Queen’s argument was that if something wasn’t done about it in less than no time, she’d have everybody executed, all round. (It was this last remark that had made the whole party look so grave and anxious.)
Alice could think of nothing else to say but, ‘It belongs to the Duchess: you’d better ask her about it.’»
Alice in wonderland, Lewis Carroll
<< Home