`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 one 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
saw 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!’
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 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.’
