8 The White Knight

　　After a while the noise of the drums slowly died awayand everything became silent． Alice lifted her head andsaw that she was alone，but there，lying at her feet， was theplate on which she had tried to cut the plum-cake．

　　‘So I didn't dream the Lion and the Unicorn，then，’ shesaid to herself．‘But-oh dear！Perhaps we're all part of thesame dream． I do hope it's my dream， and not the RedKing's！ I don't like belonging to another person's dream．’

　　At this moment there was a loud shout，and a Knight in redarmour came riding through the forest towards her．Just as hereached her，the horse stopped suddenly．

　　‘You're my prisoner！’the Red Knight cried，as he fell offhis horse．

　　Alice was more worried for the Knight than for herself， buthe got up and slowly climbed back on to his horse．He began again to say，‘You're my-’， but then another shout rangthrough the forest．Alice looked round in surprise．

　　This time it was a White Knight．He rode up to Alice andwhen his horse stopped，he too fell off at once． He got onagain，and then the two Knights sat and looked at each othersilently．Alice watched them both，feeling very puzzled．

　　‘She's my prisoner，you know！’ the Red Knight said at

　　‘Yes， but then I came and saved her！’the White Knightreplied．

　　‘Well，we must fight for her，then，’said the Red Knight，and he began to put on his helmet，which was in the shape of ahorse's head．

　　When the White Knight had got into his helmet as well， thetwo began fighting each other very noisily．Several times oneknocked the otner off his horse，but then always fell off him-self．Alice got behind a tree，where she could watch moresafely．

　　‘What a noise their armour makes when they fall off！’shesaid to herself．‘And how calm the horses are！They just standthere like tables while the Knights get on and off！’

　　The battle ended when they both fell off at the same time．Then they shook hands and the Red Knight got on his horseand rode away．The White Knight came up to Alice．

　　‘I won that battle easily， didn't I？’he said．

　　‘I don't know，’said Alice，uncertainly．‘I don't want tobe anybody's prisoner． I want to be a Queen．’

　　‘So you will，when you've crossed the next brook，’ said theWhite Knight．‘I'll see you safe to the end of the wood- andthen I must go back， you know． That's the end of my move．’

　　‘Thank you very much，’said Alice．‘May I help you takeoff your helmet？’

　　It was difficult to do， but at last the helmet came off．

　　‘Ah， that's better，’ said the Knight．He pushed back hislong wild hair with both hands，and turned his gentle face andlarge sad eyes to Alice．

　　He was a very strange-looking soldier，Alice thought．Hisarmour fitted him very badly，and he had a great many thingsfastened to himself，and to the horse．There was also a smallwooden box on his back，which was upside-down.

　　‘I see you're looking at my little box，’the Knight said in afriendly voice．‘It's my own invention-to keep clothes andsandwiches in．You see I carry it upside-down，and then therain can't get in.’

　　‘But the things can get out，’ Alice said gently．‘Did youknow that the top was open？’

　　‘No，I didn't，’the Knight said．‘If all the things havefallen out，’he went on unhappily，‘there's no use keeping thebox．’He unfastened it as he spoke，and put it carefully on thebranch of a tree．‘Perhaps some birds will make a home in it．Now，if you're ready… What's that plate for？’

　　‘It was used for plum-cake，’said Alice．

　　‘I think we should take it with us，’the Knight said．‘It'llbe useful if we find any plum-cake．Help me to get it into thisbag．’

　　This took a long time to do because the bag was not reallybig enough and already had a lot of carrots in it．But at last itwas done，and they started walking through the forest．It wasa slow journey because the Knight was not a good rider． Everytime the horse stopped（which it did very often），he fell off infront．When the horse went on again， he fell off behind．Sometimes he fell off sideways as well，and Alice learnt not towalk too close to the horse．

　　‘Perhaps you should have a wooden horse，on wheels，’Al-ice said with a little laugh， as she helped him get back on hishorse for the seventh time．

　　‘Do you think so？’the Knight said seriously．‘Yes，I'll getone． One or two- several．’

　　As they went， the Knight told her about his many inven-tions．Alice listened with great interest，but found most ofthem hard to understand．She was thinking abut his inven-tion for turning fish eyes into buttons when she saw，to hersurprise，that they had reached the end of the forest．

　　‘You are sad，’the Knight said in a worried voice．‘Let mesing you a song to cheer you up．’

　　‘Is it very long？’ Alice asked．She felt that she had heard agreat many poems and songs that day．

　　‘It's long，’said the Knight，‘but it's very，very beautiful．Everybody that hears me sing it-either they cry，or-’ Hestopped suddenly．

　　‘Or what？’ said Alice．

　　‘Or they don't， you know．The song is called I'll tell youeverything I can．It's about an old， old man that I met onesummer evening long ago，while sitting on the grass．’

　　Years afterwads Alice could still remember very clearlythose strange moments- the Knight's gentle smile as hesang，the sunlight shining on his armour，the horse quietlymoving around， and the black shadows of the forest behind．

　　She stood and listened very carefully，but she did not cry．Itwas a sad song，certainly，and as the Knight came towards theend，he seemed lost in his own sad dreams．

　　And now，if accidentally I put

　　My fingers into glue，

　　Or try to pusn a right-hand foot

　　Into a left-hand shoe，

　　Or if I drop upon my toe

　　A very heavy glass，

　　I cry，as it reminds me so

　　Of that old man I used to know-

　　Whose face was kind，whose voice was slow，

　　Whose hair was whiter than the snow，

　　Who shook his body to and fro，

　　And whispered words both sad and low-

　　That summer evening long ago，

　　While sitting on the grass．

　　As the Knight sang the last words， he began to turn hishorse round to go back into the forest．

　　‘You've only a little way to go，’he said，‘down the hilland over the brook，and then you'll be a Queen．’

　　‘Thank you very much for coming so far，’said Alice，‘andfor the song-I liked it very much．’

　　‘I hope so，’the Knight said worriedly，‘but you didn't cryvery much．’

　　They shook hands，and then the Knight rode slowly awayinto the forest．Alice stood and watched him for a while．

　　‘It won't be long before he falls off again，’she said to her-self．‘Yes- there he goes！Right on his head as usual！ Buthe doesn't seem to mind a bit．’

　　When he had gone，Alice turned and ran down the hill．‘Now for the last brook，and to be a Queen！How grand itsounds！’A few steps brought her to the edge of the brook．

　　‘The Eighth Square at last！’she cried，as she jumped over

　　* * * * *

　　* * * *

　　* * * * *

　　and sat down to rest on the soft green grass． At once she feltsomething very heavy on her head．‘What is this on myhead？’she said．‘And how did it get there？’She lifted it off，to see what it was．

　　It was a golden crown．

　　8．白衣骑士

　　过了一会儿，鼓声慢慢消失，万籁俱寂。爱丽丝抬头发现自己孤身一人，脚边是刚才她要在上面切葡萄干蛋糕的那个盘子。

　　她自言自语地说：“那么我没梦见狮子与独角兽。可是--我的天！可能我们都是同一个梦境的一部分。我真的希望那是我的梦境，而不是红方国王的！我不喜欢成为其他人的梦中物。”

　　这时传出了一高声喊叫，一位身披红色铠甲的骑士骑马穿过森林向她走来。马突然在她前面停了下来。

　　“你是我的阶下囚！”红衣骑士喊叫起来，同时从马上摔了下来。

　　比起她自己，爱丽丝更为骑士担心，但他站了起来，慢慢地重新跨上马。他又说：“你是我的--”，但此时又一声喊叫传遍森林。爱丽丝惊奇地四处张望。

　　这次来的是一个白衣骑士。他骑马来到爱丽丝面前，马一停步，他也即刻摔了下来。他又骑了上去，然后两位骑士骑在马上面面相觑。爱丽丝看着他们两个，心里迷惑不解。

　　红衣骑士最后说：“她是我的囚犯！”

　　“没错，但后来我来搭救了她！”白衣骑士回答道。

　　“那我们得为她打一仗。”红衣骑士说着，他开始戴上头盔，头盔形状像马头。

　　白衣骑士也戴上了头盔，俩人就杀声震天地对打起来。一方把对方摔下马好几次，胜方总是同时也摔了下来。爱丽丝跑到树后，在那儿，她可以更安全地观看这场战斗。

　　她自言自语地说：“骑士摔下马时，他们的铠甲发出的声可真响！但是，马儿却毫无声响！骑士跨上跨下，他们总是站在那儿像桌子一样，纹丝不动。”

　　俩人同时坠地，战斗也到此结束。然后他们握手言和，红衣骑士骑上马走了。白衣骑士向爱丽丝走过来。

　　他说：“我很轻松就赢得了那场战斗，不是吗？”

　　“这我不清楚，我不想做任何人的囚犯，我要当王后。”爱丽丝犹豫地说。

　　白衣骑士说：“你会的，当你跨过了下一条小河的时候。我将护送你安全抵达树林的尽头--然后我必须返回。那是我最后的一步。”

　　“多谢，多谢！我可以帮你摘下头盔吗？”爱丽丝问。

　　摘下头盔并不容易，但最后终于成功了。

　　“啊，这就舒服多了。”骑士说着，双手往后梳了梳自己的又长又乱的头发，他面带温驯转向爱丽丝，那双大眼睛看上去很忧伤。

　　爱丽丝想，这个士兵的样子非常怪异。铠甲一点也不合身，身上、马上都捆绑了好多东西，背上还有个倒放着的小木箱。

　　骑士友好地说：“我知道你在看着我的小木箱。这是我自己的发明创造--用来放衣服、三明治的。你看我倒放在背上背着，那是为了防止雨水漏进去。”

　　“但这样东西会掉出来，你知道盖是开着的吗？”爱丽丝轻声地说。

　　骑士说：“这我不知道。”他不高兴地又说：“如果里面的东西都掉出来了，那留着箱子就没用了。”他说着就卸下了箱子，小心地把它放在树枝上。“也许鸟儿可以在里面做个巢，哦，你如果准备好了……那盘子是干什么用的？”

　　爱丽丝答道：“那是用来盛葡萄干蛋糕的。”

　　“我想我们应该把它带上。如果我们找到葡萄干蛋糕，那就派上用场了。帮我把它放进袋子里。”骑士说。

　　放盘子用了很多时间，因为袋子太小，而且里面已装了许多胡萝卜。但最后终于放下了。他们就开始穿越森林。骑士骑马技术不好，因此速度很慢。每次马儿一停下来（马儿经常停顿），他就从前头摔下来。等马又继续走时，他又从后头摔下来。有时也从旁边摔下来，爱丽丝记住了走路不能同马靠得太近。

　　“也许你应该备匹有轮子的木马。”爱丽丝第七次把他扶上马时笑着对他说。

　　骑士严肃地说：“这是你的想法吗？确实，我要买一匹。一匹或两匹--几匹。”

　　在路上，骑士给她讲他的许多发明。爱丽丝很有兴致地聆听着，但觉得这些发明大多数难以理解。她正考虑着他把鱼眼睛变成纽扣的发明时，突然出乎意料地看见他们已抵达了森林的尽头。

　　骑士焦虑地说：“你情绪低落，我唱支歌，让你高兴起来。”

　　“歌很长吗？”爱丽丝问。她觉得那天她听到的诗、歌已够多了。

　　骑士说：“很长，但非常非常动听。每个人只要一听见我唱起来，不是哭就是--”他突然停住了。

　　“或者什么呢？”爱丽丝问。

　　“或者不哭。这支歌名叫‘我要告诉你我所知道的一切。’讲的是很久以前一个夏日夜晚，我坐在草地上遇见的一个年岁很高的老人。”

　　事隔多年，爱丽丝还能够清楚记得那个奇怪的时刻--骑士唱歌时慈祥的笑容，铠甲上闪耀的太阳光，马儿静静地转悠，以及身后长长的树林的影子。

　　她站在那儿仔细地听，但没有哭。那当然是首悲伤的歌。骑士走到森林尽头时，他似乎沉浸在他自己的凄凉梦境之中。

　　而今，如果我碰巧把

　　手指伸进胶中，

　　或者把右脚

　　塞进左脚的鞋里，

　　或者把一块大玻璃

　　砸到了自己的脚趾上，

　　我哭，因为这使我想起

　　那个曾经认识的老人--

　　他有慈祥的面容，讲话慢悠悠，

　　他的头发雪白，

　　身子颤巍巍，

　　讲话低沉，语调悲凉--

　　那是久远的一个夏日黄昏，

　　我坐在草地上。

　　骑士唱完最后一句，开始掉转马头，回到森林里面。

　　他说：“你下山跨过小河，只需走一小段路就能做王后了。”

　　“非常感谢你护送我到这儿，也谢谢你的歌--我很喜欢。”爱丽丝说。

　　骑士不无焦虑地说：“我希望如此，但你并没有哭啊。”

　　他们握了手，然后骑士就慢慢地骑马走回森林。爱丽丝站在那儿，目送他一会儿。

　　她心想，“过不多久，他又要摔下来了。不错，又来了！像往常那样，又一头栽下来！但他似乎一点也不在意。”

　　他背影一消失，爱丽丝转身跑下山去。“现在只要跨过这最后一条小河，就做王后了！多快乐啊！”几步她就来到了小河边。

　　“终于到达了第八格！”她跳过小河坐在了一片毛茸茸的青草地上，叫道。突然她感觉头上戴了个沉重的东西。“头上是什么？哪儿来的？”她问道，同时把它摘了下来，看个明白。