02.2-CHAPTER II The Garden of Live Flowers part2-iv

 CHAPTERII

     The Garden of Live Flowers part2

Alice attended toall these directions, and explained, as well as she could, that she had losther way. 

‘Idon’t know what you mean by YOUR way,’said the Queen: ‘all the ways about herebelong to ME — but why did you come out here at all?’she added in a kinder tone. ‘Curtsey whileyou’re thinking what to say, it saves time.’

Alice wondered alittle at this, but she was too much in awe of the Queen to disbelieve it. ‘I’ll try it when I go home,’she thought toherself. ‘the next time I’m alittle late for dinner.’

‘It’s time for you to answer now,’the Queensaid, looking at her watch: ‘open your mouth a LITTLEwider when you speak, and always say “your Majesty.”’

‘Ionly wanted to see what the garden was like, your Majesty—’

‘That’s right,’said the Queen, patting her on thehead, which Alice didn’t like at all, ‘though, when you say “garden,” — I’VE seen gardens, compare with which thiswould be a wilderness.’

Alice didn’t dare to argue thepoint, but went on: ‘— and I thought I’d try and find my way to the top of that hill — ’

‘Whenyou say “hill,”‘the Queeninterrupted, ‘I could show you hills, in comparisonwith which you’d call that a valley.’

‘No,I shouldn’t,’said Alice,surprised into contradicting her at last: ‘a hill CAN’T be a valley, you know. That would be nonsense — ’

The Red Queen shookher head, ‘Youmay call it “nonsense” if youlike,’she said, ‘but I’VE heard nonsense, compared with which that would be as sensible asa dictionary!’

Alice curtseyedagain, as she was afraid from the Queen’s tone that she was a LITTLE offended: and they walkedon in silence till they got to the top of the little hill. 

For some minutesAlice stood without speaking, looking out in all directions over the country — and a most curiouscountry it was. There were a number of tiny little brooks running straightacross it from side to side, and the ground between was divided up into squaresby a number of little green hedges, that reached from brook to brook. 

‘Ideclare it’s marked out just like a large chessboard!’Alice said at last. ‘There ought to be somemen moving about somewhere — and so there are!’She added in a tone of delight, and her heart began to beat quickwith excitement as she went on. ‘It’s a great huge game of chess that’s beingplayed — all over the world — if this IS the world at all, you know. Oh, what fun it is! How I WISH I was oneof them! I wouldn’t mind being a Pawn, if only I mightjoin — though of course I should LIKE to be a Queen,best.’

She glanced rathershyly at the real Queen as she said this, but her companion only smiledpleasantly, and said, ‘That’s easily managed. You can be the White Queen’s Pawn, if you like, as Lily’s too young toplay; and you’re in the Second Square to began with:when you get to the Eighth Square you’ll be a Queen —‘Just at this moment, somehow or other, they began torun. 

Alice never couldquite make out, in thinking it over afterwards, how it was that they began: allshe remembers is, that they were running hand in hand, and the Queen went sofast that it was all she could do to keep up with her: and still the Queen keptcrying ‘Faster!Faster!’but Alice felt she COULD NOT go faster, thoughtshe had not breath left to say so. 

The most curiouspart of the thing was, that the trees and the other things round them neverchanged their places at all: however fast they went, they never seemed to passanything. ‘Iwonder if all the things move along with us?’thoughtpoor puzzled Alice. And the Queen seemed to guess her thoughts, for she cried, ‘Faster! Don’t try to talk!’

Not that Alice hadany idea of doing THAT. She felt as if she would never be able to talk again,she was getting so much out of breath: and still the Queen cried ‘Faster! Faster!’and dragged her along. ‘Are we nearly there?’Alice managed to pant out at last. 

‘Nearlythere!’the Queen repeated. ‘Why,we passed it ten minutes ago! Faster! And they ran on for a time in silence,with the wind whistling in Alice’s ears, and almostblowing her hair off her head, she fancied. 

‘Now!Now!’cried the Queen. ‘Faster!Faster!’And they went so fast that at last they seemedto skim through the air, hardly touching the ground with their feet, till suddenly,just as Alice was getting quite exhausted, they stopped, and she found herselfsitting on the ground, breathless and giddy. 

The Queen proppedher up against a tree, and said kindly, ‘You may rest a little now.’

Alice looked roundher in great surprise. ‘Why,I do believe we’ve been under this tree the whole time!Everything’s just as it was!’

‘Ofcourse it is,’said the Queen, ‘whatwould you have it?’

‘Well,in OUR country,’said Alice, still panting a little, ‘you’d generally get to somewhere else — if you ran very fast for a long time, as we’ve been doing.’

‘Aslow sort of country!’said the Queen. ‘Now, HERE, you see, it takes all the running YOU can do, to keep inthe same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twiceas fast as that!’

‘I’d rather not try, please!’said Alice. ‘I’m quite content to stay here — only I AM so hot and thirsty!’

‘Iknow what YOU’D like!’the Queensaid good-naturedly, taking a little box out of her pocket. ‘Have a biscuit?’

Alice thought itwould not be civil to say ‘No,’though it wasn’tat all what she wanted. So she took it, and ate it as well as she could: and itwas VERY dry; and she thought she had never been so nearly choked in all herlife. 

‘Whileyou’re refreshing yourself,’saidthe Queen, ‘I’ll just take themeasurements.’And she took a ribbon out of her pocket,marked in inches, and began measuring the ground, and sticking little pegs inhere and there. 

‘Atthe end of two yards,’she said, putting in a peg tomark the distance, ‘I shall give you your directions — have another biscuit?’

‘No,thank you,’said Alice,’one’s QUITE enough!’

‘Thirstquenched, I hope?’said the Queen. 

Alice did not knowwhat to say to this, but luckily the Queen did not wait for an answer, but wenton. ‘Atthe end of THREE yards I shall repeat them — for fearof your forgetting them. At then end of FOUR, I shall say good-bye. And at thenend of FIVE, I shall go!’

She had got all thepegs put in by this time, and Alice looked on with great interest as she returnedto the tree, and then began slowly walking down the row. 

At the two-yard pegshe faced round, and said, ‘A pawn goes two squares in its first move, you know. So you’ll go VERY quickly through the Third Square — by railway, I should think — and you’ll find yourself in the Fourth Square in no time. Well, THAT squarebelongs to Tweedledum and Tweedledee — the Fifth ismostly water — the Sixth belongs to Humpty Dumpty — But you make no remark?’

‘I — I didn’t know I had to makeone — just then,’Alice falteredout. 

‘YouSHOULD have said,“It’sextremely kind of you to tell me all this” — however,we’ll suppose it said — theSeventh Square is all forest — however, one of theKnights will show you the way — and in the EighthSquare we shall be Queens together, and it’s allfeasting and fun!’Alice got up and curtseyed, and satdown again. 

At the next peg theQueen turned again, and this time she said, ‘Speak in French when you can’tthink of the English for a thing — turn out your toesas you walk — and remember who you are!’She did not wait for Alice to curtsey this time, but walked onquickly to the next peg, where she turned for a moment to say ‘good-bye,’and then hurried on to thelast. 

How it happened,Alice never knew, but exactly as she came to the last peg, she was gone.Whether she vanished into the air, or whether she ran quickly into the wood (‘and she CAN run veryfast!’thought Alice), there was no way of guessing, butshe was gone, and Alice began to remember that she was a Pawn, and that itwould soon be time for her to move.