Ch. 2: The Garden of Live Flowers

by Lewis Carroll

　　'I should see the garden far better,' said Alice to herself,'if I could get to the top of that hill: and here's a path thatleads straight to it--at least, no, it doesn't do that--'(after going a few yards along the path, and turning severalsharp corners), 'but I suppose it will at last. But howcuriously it twists! It's more like a corkscrew than a path!Well, THIS turn goes to the hill, I suppose--no, it doesn't!This goes straight back to the house! Well then, I'll try it theother way.'And so she did: wandering up and down, and trying turn afterturn, but always coming back to the house, do what she would.Indeed, once, when she turned a corner rather more quickly thanusual, she ran against it before she could stop herself.'It's no use talking about it,' Alice said, looking up at thehouse and pretending it was arguing with her. 'I'm NOT going inagain yet. I know I should have to get through the Looking-glassagain--back into the old room--and there'd be an end of allmy adventures!'So, resolutely turning her back upon the house, she set out oncemore down the path, determined to keep straight on till she got tothe hill. For a few minutes all went on well, and she was justsaying, 'I really SHALL do it this time--' when the path gave asudden twist and shook itself (as she described it afterwards),and the next moment she found herself actually walking in at thedoor.'Oh, it's too bad!' she cried. 'I never saw such a house forgetting in the way! Never!'However, there was the hill full in sight, so there was nothingto be done but start again. This time she came upon a largeflower-bed, with a border of daisies, and a willow-tree growingin the middle.'O Tiger-lily,' said Alice, addressing herself to one that waswaving gracefully about in the wind, 'I WISH you could talk!''We CAN talk,' said the Tiger-lily: 'when there's anybodyworth talking to.'Alice was so astonished that she could not speak for a minute:it quite seemed to take her breath away. At length, as theTiger-lily only went on waving about, she spoke again, in a timidvoice--almost in a whisper. 'And can ALL the flowers talk?''As well as YOU can,' said the Tiger-lily. 'And a great deallouder.''It isn't manners for us to begin, you know,' said the Rose,'and I really was wondering when you'd speak! Said I to myself,"Her face has got SOME sense in it, though it's not a cleverone!" Still, you're the right colour, and that goes a long way.''I don't care about the colour,' the Tiger-lily remarked. 'Ifonly her petals curled up a little more, she'd be all right.'Alice didn't like being criticised, so she began askingquestions. 'Aren't you sometimes frightened at being planted outhere, with nobody to take care of you?''There's the tree in the middle,' said the Rose: 'what else isit good for?''But what could it do, if any danger came?' Alice asked.'It says "Bough-wough!"' cried a Daisy: 'that's why itsbranches are called boughs!''Didn't you know THAT?' cried another Daisy, and here they allbegan shouting together, till the air seemed quite full of littleshrill voices. 'Silence, every one of you!' cried the Tiger-lily, waving itself passionately from side to side, and tremblingwith excitement. 'They know I can't get at them!' it panted,bending its quivering head towards Alice, 'or they wouldn't dareto do it!''Never mind!' Alice said in a soothing tone, and stooping downto the daisies, who were just beginning again, she whispered, 'Ifyou don't hold your tongues, I'll pick you!'There was silence in a moment, and several of the pink daisiesturned white.'That's right!' said the Tiger-lily. 'The daisies are worst ofall. When one speaks, they all begin together, and it's enoughto make one wither to hear the way they go on!''How is it you can all talk so nicely?' Alice said, hoping toget it into a better temper by a compliment. 'I've been in manygardens before, but none of the flowers could talk.''Put your hand down, and feel the ground,' said the Tiger-lily.'Then you'll know why.'Alice did so. 'It's very hard,' she said, 'but I don't seewhat that has to do with it.''In most gardens,' the Tiger-lily said, 'they make the bedstoo soft--so that the flowers are always asleep.'This sounded a very good reason, and Alice was quite pleased toknow it. 'I never thought of that before!' she said.'It's MY opinion that you never think AT ALL,' the Rose said ina rather severe tone.'I never saw anybody that looked stupider,' a Violet said, sosuddenly, that Alice quite jumped; for it hadn't spoken before.'Hold YOUR tongue!' cried the Tiger-lily. 'As if YOU ever sawanybody! You keep your head under the leaves, and snore awaythere, till you know no more what's going on in the world, thanif you were a bud!''Are there any more people in the garden besides me?' Alicesaid, not choosing to notice the Rose's last remark.'There's one other flower in the garden that can move aboutlike you,' said the Rose. 'I wonder how you do it--' ('You'realways wondering,' said the Tiger-lily), 'but she's more bushythan you are.''Is she like me?' Alice asked eagerly, for the thought crossedher mind, 'There's another little girl in the garden, somewhere!''Well, she has the same awkward shape as you,' the Rose said,'but she's redder--and her petals are shorter, I think.''Her petals are done up close, almost like a dahlia,' theTiger-lily interrupted: 'not tumbled about anyhow, like yours.''But that's not YOUR fault,' the Rose added kindly: 'you'rebeginning to fade, you know--and then one can't help one'spetals getting a little untidy.'Alice didn't like this idea at all: so, to change the subject,she asked 'Does she ever come out here?''I daresay you'll see her soon,' said the Rose. 'She's one ofthe thorny kind.''Where does she wear the thorns?' Alice asked with somecuriosity.'Why all round her head, of course,' the Rose replied. 'I waswondering YOU hadn't got some too. I thought it was the regularrule.''She's coming!' cried the Larkspur. 'I hear her footstep,thump, thump, thump, along the gravel-walk!'Alice looked round eagerly, and found that it was the RedQueen. 'She's grown a good deal!' was her first remark. She hadindeed: when Alice first found her in the ashes, she had beenonly three inches high--and here she was, half a head tallerthan Alice herself!'It's the fresh air that does it,' said the Rose:'wonderfully fine air it is, out here.''I think I'll go and meet her,' said Alice, for, though theflowers were interesting enough, she felt that it would be fargrander to have a talk with a real Queen.'You can't possibly do that,' said the Rose: 'I shouldadvise you to walk the other way.'This sounded nonsense to Alice, so she said nothing, but setoff at once toward the Red Queen. To her surprise, she lostsight of her in a moment, and found herself walking in at thefront-door again.A little provoked, she drew back, and after looking everywherefor the queen (whom she spied out at last, a long way off), shethought she would try the plan, this time, of walking in theopposite direction.It succeeded beautifully. She had not been walking a minutebefore she found herself face to face with the Red Queen, andfull in sight of the hill she had been so long aiming at.'Where do you come from?' said the Red Queen. 'And where areyou going? Look up, speak nicely, and don't twiddle your fingersall the time.'Alice attended to all these directions, and explained, as wellas she could, that she had lost her way.'I don't know what you mean by YOUR way,' said the Queen: 'allthe ways about here belong to ME--but why did you come out hereat all?' she added in a kinder tone. 'Curtsey while you'rethinking what to say, it saves time.'Alice wondered a little at this, but she was too much in awe ofthe Queen to disbelieve it. 'I'll try it when I go home,' shethought to herself, 'the next time I'm a little late for dinner.''It's time for you to answer now,' the Queen said, looking ather watch: 'open your mouth a LITTLE wider when you speak, andalways say "your Majesty."''I only wanted to see what the garden was like, your Majesty--''That's right,' said the Queen, patting her on the head, whichAlice didn't like at all, 'though, when you say "garden,"--I'VEseen gardens, compared with which this would be a wilderness.'Alice didn't dare to argue the point, but went on: '--and Ithought I'd try and find my way to the top of that hill--''When you say "hill,"' the Queen interrupted, 'I could showyou hills, in comparison with which you'd call that a valley.''No, I shouldn't,' said Alice, surprised into contradicting herat last: 'a hill CAN'T be a valley, you know. That would benonsense--'The Red Queen shook her head, 'You may call it "nonsense" ifyou like,' she said, 'but I'VE heard nonsense, compared withwhich that would be as sensible as a dictionary!'Alice curtseyed again, as she was afraid from the Queen's tonethat she was a LITTLE offended: and they walked on in silencetill they got to the top of the little hill.For some minutes Alice stood without speaking, looking out inall directions over the country--and a most curious country itwas. There were a number of tiny little brooks running straightacross it from side to side, and the ground between was dividedup into squares by a number of little green hedges, that reachedfrom brook to brook.'I declare it's marked out just like a large chessboard!' Alicesaid at last. 'There ought to be some men moving about somewhere--and so there are!' She added in a tone of delight, and herheart began to beat quick with excitement as she went on. 'It'sa great huge game of chess that's being played--all over theworld--if this IS the world at all, you know. Oh, what fun itis! How I WISH I was one of them! I wouldn't mind being a Pawn,if only I might join--though of course I should LIKE to be aQueen, best.'She glanced rather shyly at the real Queen as she said this,but her companion only smiled pleasantly, and said, 'That'seasily managed. You can be the White Queen's Pawn, if you like,as Lily's too young to play; and you're in the Second Square tobegin with: when you get to the Eighth Square you'll be a Queen--' Just at this moment, somehow or other, they began to run.Alice never could quite make out, in thinking it overafterwards, how it was that they began: all she remembers is,that they were running hand in hand, and the Queen went so fastthat it was all she could do to keep up with her: and still theQueen kept crying 'Faster! Faster!' but Alice felt she COULD NOTgo faster, though she had not breath left to say so.The most curious part of the thing was, that the trees and theother things round them never changed their places at all:however fast they went, they never seemed to pass anything. 'Iwonder if all the things move along with us?' thought poorpuzzled Alice. And the Queen seemed to guess her thoughts, forshe cried, 'Faster! Don't try to talk!'Not that Alice had any idea of doing THAT. She felt as if shewould never be able to talk again, she was getting so much out ofbreath: and still the Queen cried 'Faster! Faster!' and draggedher along. 'Are we nearly there?' Alice managed to pant out atlast.'Nearly there!' the Queen repeated. 'Why, we passed it tenminutes ago! Faster!' And they ran on for a time in silence,with the wind whistling in Alice's ears, and almost blowing herhair off her head, she fancied.'Now! Now!' cried the Queen. 'Faster! Faster!' And theywent so fast that at last they seemed to skim through the air,hardly touching the ground with their feet, till suddenly, justas Alice was getting quite exhausted, they stopped, and she foundherself sitting on the ground, breathless and giddy.The Queen propped her up against a tree, and said kindly, 'Youmay rest a little now.'Alice looked round her in great surprise. 'Why, I do believewe've been under this tree the whole time! Everything's just asit was!''Of course it is,' said the Queen, 'what would you have it?''Well, in OUR country,' said Alice, still panting a little,'you'd generally get to somewhere else--if you ran very fastfor a long time, as we've been doing.''A slow sort of country!' said the Queen. 'Now, HERE, you see,it takes all the running YOU can do, to keep in the same place.If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice asfast as that!''I'd rather not try, please!' said Alice. 'I'm quite contentto stay here--only I AM so hot and thirsty!''I know what YOU'D like!' the Queen said good-naturedly, takinga little box out of her pocket. 'Have a biscuit?'Alice thought it would not be civil to say 'No,' though itwasn't at all what she wanted. So she took it, and ate it aswell as she could: and it was VERY dry; and she thought she hadnever been so nearly choked in all her life.'While you're refreshing yourself,' said the Queen, 'I'll justtake the measurements.' And she took a ribbon out of her pocket,marked in inches, and began measuring the ground, and stickinglittle pegs in here and there.'At the end of two yards,' she said, putting in a peg to markthe distance, 'I shall give you your directions--have anotherbiscuit?''No, thank you,' said Alice: 'one's QUITE enough!''Thirst quenched, I hope?' said the Queen.Alice did not know what to say to this, but luckily the Queendid not wait for an answer, but went on. 'At the end of THREEyards I shall repeat them--for fear of your forgetting them.At the end of FOUR, I shall say good-bye. And at the end ofFIVE, I shall go!'She had got all the pegs put in by this time, and Alice lookedon with great interest as she returned to the tree, and thenbegan slowly walking down the row.At the two-yard peg she faced round, and said, 'A pawn goes twosquares in its first move, you know. So you'll go VERY quicklythrough the Third Square--by railway, I should think--andyou'll find yourself in the Fourth Square in no time. Well, THATsquare belongs to Tweedledum and Tweedledee--the Fifth ismostly water--the Sixth belongs to Humpty Dumpty--But youmake no remark?''I--I didn't know I had to make one--just then,' Alicefaltered out.'You SHOULD have said, "It's extremely kind of you to tell meall this"--however, we'll suppose it said--the Seventh Squareis all forest--however, one of the Knights will show you theway--and in the Eighth Square we shall be Queens together, andit's all feasting and fun!' Alice got up and curtseyed, and satdown again.At the next peg the Queen turned again, and this time she said,'Speak in French when you can't think of the English for a thing--turn out your toes as 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 the last.How it happened, Alice never knew, but exactly as she came tothe 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, but she wasgone, and Alice began to remember that she was a Pawn, and thatit would soon be time for her to move.