5 The White Queen

　　She caught the shawl as she spoke，and looked around for the owner．A moment later the White Queen came running wildly through the wood．Alice went to meet her with the shawl．

　　‘I'm pleased I was able to catch it for you，’Alice said，as she helped the Queen to put on her shawl again．‘Am I speak-ing to the White Queen？’she added politely．

　　‘Yes，’said the Queen，as she pulled helplessly at her shawl．‘Oh dear！I don't know what's the matter with my shawl today．I think it's angry with me．I've pinned it here，and I've pinned it there，but it's just not happy．’

　　‘But it can't go straight，you know，if you pin it all on one side，’Alice said，as she gently put it right for her．‘And I'm afraid your hair is terribly untidy．’

　　‘The hairbrush is lost in it somewhere，’the Queen said un-happily．

　　Alice carefully took out the brush and pinned up the Queen's hair more tidily．‘There，you look better now，’she said．‘But really you should have a lady's maid．’

　　‘I'd be happy to take you，’the Queen said．‘Twopence a week，and jam every other day．’

　　‘I don't want you to employ me，’Alice said，laughing．‘And I don't like jam．’

　　‘It's very good jam，’said the Queen． ‘Well，I don't want any today，thank you．’

　　‘But you can't have jam today，’the Queen said．‘It's jam tomorrow and jam yesterday-but never jam today．’

　　‘It must be “jam today”sometimes，’Alice argued．

　　‘No，it isn't，’said the Queen．‘It's jam every other day．Today isn't any other day，you know．’

　　‘I don't understand that，’said Alice，very puzzled．

　　‘That's because we live backwards here，’explained the Queen kindly．‘It's always a little difficult at first．’

　　‘Live backwards！’Alice repeated，in great surprise．‘I never heard of anybody doing that．’

　　‘But there's one very useful thing about it，’the Queen went on，‘you can remember things both ways．’

　　‘I only remember things one way，’Alice said.‘I can't re-member things before they happen．’

　　‘That's not very useful，’said the Queen．‘I can remember things that happened the week after next．For example，the King's Messenger is in prison now，but he hasn't done any-thing wrong yet．His crime will come much later．’

　　‘But what happens if there is no crime，’asked Alice，‘and he doesn't do anything wrong at all？ That seems a strange way of-’

　　At that moment the Queen began to scream very loudly，and to shake her hand around in the air．‘Oh，oh！’she shout-ed．‘My finger's bleeding！Oh，oh，oh！’

　　Alice put her hands over her ears．‘What is the matter？’she said，in between the Queen's screams．‘Have you cut your finger？’

　　‘I haven't cut it yet，’the Queen said，‘but I soon shall-oh，oh，oh！’

　　‘When do you think you will do it？’Alice asked，trying not to laugh．

　　‘When I fasten my shawl again，’the Queen said unhappily，‘one of the pins will come out and-oh，oh！’As she said the words，one of her shawl pins came undone and she quickly took hold of it，trying to fasten it again．

　　‘Take care！’cried Alice．‘You're holding it wrong！’She tried to help the Queen，but it was too late-the pin had al-ready gone deep into the Queen's finger．

　　‘That explains the bleeding，you see，’the Queen said to Alice with a smile．‘Now you understand the way things hap-pen here．’

　　‘But why don't you scream now？’Alice asked，holding her hands ready to put over her ears again．

　　‘I've done all the screaming already，’said the Queen．‘Why do it all again？’

　　‘It's very difficult to believe，’Alice said，‘that life can happen backwards．’

　　‘Try to believe something a bit easier，’said the Queen helpfully．‘For example，I'm a hundred and one years old．’

　　‘I can't believe that！’said Alice．

　　‘Can't you？’the Queen said，shaking her head sadly．‘Try again．Put your hands together and shut your eyes．’

　　Alice laughed．‘There's no use trying，’she said．‘Nobody can believe impossible things．’

　　‘Perhaps you don't work hard enough at it，’said the Queen．‘When I was a child，I worked at it for an hour a day．Why，sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast．There goes my shawl again！’

　　The pins had come undone again as she spoke，and a sudden wind blew her shawl across a little brook．The Queen went flying after it，and managed to catch it．‘I've got it！’she called happily．‘Now you will see me pin it on again，all by myself．’

　　‘Then I hope your finger is better now？’Alice said very po-litely，as she crossed the brook after the Queen．

　　* * * * *

　　* * * *

　　* * * * *

　　‘Oh，much better！’cried the Queen，her voice getting higher and higher as she went on．‘Much be-etter！Be-e-e-ter！ Be-e-eh！’The last word sounded very like the sound that a sheep makes，and Alice looked at the Queen in surprise．

　　And indeed，the Queen was now covered in a thick woolly coat，and…Alice closed her eyes，then opened them again．She couldn't understand what had happened at all．The wood had disappeared，and she was in a little dark shop-and it re-ally was a sheep in front of her，wearing large glasses and sit-ting calmly on a chair，knitting．

　　‘What do you want to buy？’the Sheep said at last，lookingup for a moment from her knitting.

　　‘I'm not sure at the moment， ’Alice said gently．‘May Ilook round first？’

　　She began to walk round the shop， looking at everything．But every time she looked hard at something，it seemed tomove and then appear again a moment later in a differentplace．So it was difficult to see clearly what was there． Shewent on walking， and soon realized that the shop was muchbigger than she had thought．

　　‘What a strange shop！’Alice said．‘I wish things wouldkeep still！’

　　A few minutes later the shop became even stranger， becauseAlice found herself walking beside a large lake， with tall greenplants growing round the edge．She put out her hand to picksome， but the plants disappeared when she touched them．

　　‘Oh， what a pity！’said Alice．‘I would like to take somehome．They look so pretty．’

　　‘There are lots of other things here，’said the Sheep．‘Butyou must decide what you want to buy．’

　　‘To buy！’Alice said，jumping a little in surprise．The lakehad gone，and she was back in the little dark shop．The Sheepwas still knitting， and was looking at her crossly over the topof her glasses．

　　‘I would like to buy an egg，please，’Alice said．‘Howmuch do they cost？’

　　‘Fivepence for one， twopence for two，’the Sheep replied．

　　‘So two are cheaper than one？’Alice said in a surprisedvoice，taking out her purse．

　　‘But you must eat them both，if you buy two，’said theSheep.

　　‘Then I'll have one，please，’said Alice，giving the Sheepfivepence．

　　The Sheep took the money，then said，‘You must get ityourself，you know．It's at the end of the shop．’

　　The end of the shop was very dark，and was crowded withtables and chairs．Alice could see the egg，but she neverseemed to get near it．She almost fell over a chair，and thenrealized that it was not a chair at all，but a small tree．‘Whyare trees growing here？’she wondered．‘This is the strangestshop that I ever saw！And now here's a little brook as well！’

　　* * * * *

　　* * * *

　　* * * * *

　　So she went on， wondering more and more at every step．Af-ter a while everything had turned into a tree，and she thoughtthat the egg would soon do the same．

　　5．白方王后

　　讲话的当儿，她抓住了披肩，四处张望，寻找主人。片刻之后，白方王后穿过树林，飞奔而来。爱丽丝手拿披肩迎上前去。

　　爱丽丝说：“我很高兴能把围巾抓住。”同时，她给王后重新披上披肩。她又很有礼貌地补充了一句：“我现在是跟白方王后讲话吗？”

　　王后答道：“是的。”同时徒然地拉了拉披肩，“天哪！我不明白今天我的披肩是怎么回事。我想它在生我的气。我把它别在这儿，又别到那儿，但它就是不满意。”

　　“你如果把披肩别在一边，它就不可能挺直，这你也清楚。”爱丽丝说着就轻轻地把披肩给她披好。“恐怕你头发也太乱了。”

　　王后不高兴地说：“梳子不知丢在头发里的什么地方了。”

　　爱丽丝小心地拿出了梳子，把王后的头发更整齐地别起来。“这样看起来就好多了。说真的，你应该有一个侍女。”她说。

　　王后说：“纳你做侍女，我会很高兴。一周两便士，再加上隔天吃果酱。”

　　“我不要你来雇我。再说我也不喜欢吃果酱。”爱丽丝说完，笑了起来。

　　王后说：“那是很好的果酱。”

　　“我今天一点也不想要，谢谢了。”

　　王后又说：“但你不可能今天有果酱。只是明天或昨天有果酱--今天决没有果酱。”

　　爱丽丝争辩说：“有时肯定会‘今天有果酱’的。”

　　“不会有的。隔天才有果酱。今天不是隔天中的任何一天。”王后说。

　　爱丽丝摸不着头脑，说：“我真不明白那一套。”

　　“那是因为在这儿我们往后过日子。要理解这一点起初总是困难的。”王后很友善地解释道。

　　“往后过日子！”爱丽丝重复了一遍，大吃一惊。“我还从没有听说过有人这样过日子。”

　　王后又说：“但这样有一点很有用处，你就可以用两种方法记事情了。”

　　“我只能用一种方法记住事情。我不会记住那些还没有发生过的事情。”爱丽丝说。

　　王后说：“那可没有好处。我可以记住两周后发生的事情。譬如说，国王的信使现在坐牢了，但他至今还没有做错什么事。他犯罪的时间要晚得多。”

　　爱丽丝问：“如果他根本没犯罪，没做错事，那又能有什么后果呢？这似乎是用离奇的方式来--”

　　王后突然大声尖叫起来，并在空中挥舞着手，叫喊着：“哎呀，哎呀！我的手指在流血！哎呀，哎呀，哎呀！”

　　爱丽丝用双手捂住了耳朵，在王后尖叫的间隙，问：“怎么回事？你割破了手指头？”

　　“我还没有割破手指，但我不久就会了，哎呀，哎呀，哎呀！”王后说。

　　爱丽丝问：“你认为什么时候会割破手指？”尽量不笑出声来。

　　王后不高兴地说：“当我再次系牢披肩时，一只别针会脱落下来--哎呀，哎呀！”正说着，披肩上的一只别针松了，她快速把它抓住，想重新把它固定住。

　　爱丽丝喊道：“小心！你抓错了方向！”她想帮王后个忙，但太迟了--别针已经深深地扎进了王后的指头。

　　王后笑着对爱丽丝讲：“那就解释了流血的事。现在你明白了这儿事情是怎样发生的吧。”

　　“可是你现在为什么不叫喊？”爱丽丝问，扬起双手准备再次把耳朵捂住。

　　王后说：“我已经叫喊过了。干吗又要重复一遍呢？”

　　“人生阶段可以倒过来发生，这真令人难以置信。”爱丽丝说。

　　王后有意指点她，就说：“设法相信得更容易点。譬如说，我已101岁了。”

　　“我不能相信。”爱丽丝说。

　　王后沮丧地摇摇头，说：“你怎么不相信？再试试。合上双手并闭上眼睛。”

　　爱丽丝笑了，说：“试也没用，没人会相信不可能的事。”

　　王后说：“也许你不够努力。我小时候，每天花一小时来相信不可能的事。有时早餐前共相信多达六件这样的事。我的披肩又飞了！”

　　她说着，别针又松了，一阵风把披肩吹过小溪。王后飞速追了过去，设法抓住了披肩。她高兴地叫起来：“我抓到了！你将看到我重新把它别上，全部自己来。”

　　爱丽丝非常有礼貌地说：“希望你的手指头好些了。”同时紧随王后跨过了小溪。

　　* * * * *

　　* * * *

　　* * * * *

　　“噢，好多了！”王后高叫道，她不停地叫着，声音越来越高：“好多--了！好--多--了！好--！”最后一个词听起来就像绵羊在叫唤，爱丽丝不禁惊奇地看了看王后。

　　一点不假，王后现在身披着一件厚厚的毛外衣。爱丽丝闭上眼睛，然后又睁开。她真的弄不明白到底是怎么回事。树林消失了，她在一家昏暗的小商店里--而且在她面前确实是一只绵羊，戴着大眼镜，静静地坐在椅子上织毛活。

　　绵羊终于抬起眼睛问话了：“你要买什么？”

　　“现在我还拿不准。我可以先看看吗？”爱丽丝轻声轻气地问。

　　她开始在商店里转悠着，什么东西都浏览一番。但每当她盯着一件东西看，那东西似乎就动起来，过一会儿出现在另一个地方。因此要看清楚那儿有些什么是不容易的。她继续走动，不久就发现那商店比她想的要大得多。

　　爱丽丝说：“这商店太奇特了！我希望东西摆在那儿不动。”

　　几分钟后，商店变得更加奇特了，爱丽丝发现自己在一个大湖边散步，湖边长着高大的绿色植物。她伸出手去采摘，但当她一触手，植物就消失了。

　　爱丽丝说：“太可借了！我要带些回家，它们看起来多漂亮。”

　　“本商店还出售许多其他东西，但你必须想好到底买些什么。”绵羊说。

　　爱丽丝惊奇地跳了一小步，说：“买！”湖消失了，她又回到了那个昏暗的小店。绵羊还在织毛活，抬眼从眼镜上面愤怒地看了看她。

　　爱丽丝说：“我想买个鸡蛋。怎么卖？”

　　“一个五便士，两个两便士。”绵羊答道。

　　爱丽丝拿出钱包，非常惊奇地说：“这么说，两个比一个要便宜。”

　　“你要买两个，就得吃两个。”绵羊说。

　　“那我就买一个。”爱丽丝说着，递给绵羊五便士。

　　绵羊接了钱，然后说道：“你得自己去拿。就在店面那一头。”

　　店面那头很暗，摆满了桌椅。爱丽丝看得见鸡蛋，但似乎永远也接近不了。她差点儿倒在了椅子上，却发现那根本不是椅子，而是一棵小树。“树怎么会长在这儿？”她不明白：“这是我看到过的最奇怪的一家商店。而且里面也有一条小溪！”

　　* * * * *

　　* * * *

　　* * * * *