Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

+ +

+ + A Caucus-Race And A Long Tale +

+ +

They were indeed a queer-looking party that assembled on the + bank—the birds with draggled feathers, the animals with their fur clinging close + to them, and all dripping wet, cross and uncomfortable.

+ +

+ +

The first question, of course, was how to get dry again. They had a consultation + about this and after a few minutes, it seemed quite natural to Alice to find herself + talking familiarly with them, as if she had known them all her life.

+ +

At last the Mouse, who seemed to be a person of some authority among them, called out, "Sit down, all of you, and listen + to me! I'll soon make you dry enough!" They all sat down at once, in a large + ring, with the Mouse in the middle.

+ +

"Ahem!" said the Mouse with an important air. "Are you all ready? This is the driest + thing I know. Silence all 'round, if you please! 'William the Conqueror, whose cause + was favored by the pope, was soon submitted to by the English, who wanted leaders, and + had been of late much accustomed to usurpation and conquest. Edwin and Morcar, the + Earls of Mercia and Northumbria'—"

+ +

"Ugh!" said the Lory, with a shiver.

+ +

"—'And even Stigand, the patriotic archbishop of Canterbury, found it + advisable'—"

+ +

"Found what?" said the Duck.

+ +

"Found it," the Mouse replied rather crossly; "of course, you know what 'it' + means."

+ +

"I know what 'it' means well enough, when I find a thing," said the Duck; + "it's generally a frog or a worm. The question is, what did the archbishop find?"

+ +

The Mouse did not notice this question, but hurriedly went on, "'—found it + advisable to go with Edgar Atheling to meet William and offer him the crown.'—How + are you getting on now, my dear?" it continued, turning to Alice as it spoke.

+ +

"As wet as ever," said Alice in a melancholy tone; "it doesn't seem to dry me at + all."

+ +

"In that case," said the Dodo solemnly, rising to its feet, "I move that the meeting + adjourn, for the immediate adoption of more energetic remedies—"

+ +

"Speak English!" said the Eaglet. "I don't know the meaning of half those long + words, and, what's more, I don't believe you do either!"

+ +

"What I was going to say," said the Dodo in an offended tone, "is that the best + thing to get us dry would be a Caucus-race."

+ +

"What is a Caucus-race?" said Alice.

+ +

+ +

"Why," said the Dodo, "the best way to explain it is to do it." First it marked out + a race-course, in a sort of circle, and then all the party were placed along the + course, here and there. There was no "One, two, three and away!" but they began running + when they liked and left off when they liked, so that it was not easy to know when the + race was over. However, when they had been running half an hour or so and were quite + dry again, the Dodo suddenly called out, "The race is over!" and they all crowded + 'round it, panting and asking, "But who has won?"

+ +

This question the Dodo could not answer without a great deal of thought. At last it + said, "Everybody has won, and all must have prizes."

+ +

"But who is to give the prizes?" quite a chorus of voices asked.

+ +

"Why, she, of course," said the Dodo, pointing to Alice with one finger; and + the whole party at once crowded 'round her, calling out, in a confused way, "Prizes! + Prizes!"

+ +

Alice had no idea what to do, and in despair she put her hand into her pocket and + pulled out a box of comfits (luckily the salt-water had not got into it) and handed + them 'round as prizes. There was exactly one a-piece, all 'round.

+ +

The next thing was to eat the comfits; this caused some noise and confusion, as the + large birds complained that they could not taste theirs, and the small ones choked and + had to be patted on the back. However, it was over at last and they sat down again in a + ring and begged the Mouse to tell them something more.

+ +

"You promised to tell me your history, you know," said Alice, "and why it is you + hate—C and D," she added in a whisper, half afraid that it would be offended + again.

+ +

"Mine is a long and a sad tale!" said the Mouse, turning to Alice and sighing.

+ +

"It is a long tail, certainly," said Alice, looking down with wonder at the + Mouse's tail, "but why do you call it sad?" And she kept on puzzling about it while the + Mouse was speaking, so that her idea of the tale was something like this:—

+ +

+ "Fury said to
a mouse, + That
he met in the
house, + 'Let
us both go
to law: + I
will prosecute
you.—
Come, I'll
+ take no denial:
We must have
the trial;
+ For really
this + morning
I've
nothing
to do.'
Said the
mouse to
+ the cur,
'Such a
trial, dear
+ sir, With
no jury
+ or judge,
would
+ be wasting
our
+ breath.'
'I'll be
judge,
I'll be
jury,'
said
cunning
old
Fury;
'I'll
try
+ the
whole
+ cause,
and
+ condemn
you to
+ death.'"
+

+ +

"You are not attending!" said the + Mouse to Alice, severely. "What are you thinking of?"

+ +

"I beg your pardon," said Alice very humbly, "you had got to the fifth bend, I + think?"

+ +

"You insult me by talking such nonsense!" said the Mouse, getting up and walking + away.

+ +

"Please come back and finish your story!" Alice called after it. And the others all + joined in chorus, "Yes, please do!" But the Mouse only shook its head impatiently and + walked a little quicker.

+ +

"I wish I had Dinah, our cat, here!" said Alice. This caused a remarkable sensation + among the party. Some of the birds hurried off at once, and a Canary called out in a + trembling voice, to its children, "Come away, my dears! It's high time you were all in + bed!" On various pretexts they all moved off and Alice was soon left alone.

+ +

"I wish I hadn't mentioned Dinah! Nobody seems to like her down here and I'm sure + she's the best cat in the world!" Poor Alice began to cry again, for she felt very + lonely and low-spirited. In a little while, however, she again heard a little pattering + of footsteps in the distance and she looked up eagerly.

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