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Alice's
Adventures in Wonderland
Kapitel 7:
A mad tea-party, Lewis Carroll, Seite 2 ( von 5 )
"Yes, but some crumbs must have got in as well," the Hatter grumbled:
"you shouldn't have put it in with the bread-knife."
The March Hare took the watch and looked at it gloomily: then he dipped it into
his cup of tea, and looked at it again: but he could think of nothing better to
say than his first remark, "It was the
best butter, you
know."
Alice had been looking over his shoulder with some curiosity. "What a
funny watch!" she remarked. "It tells the day of the month, and
doesn't tell what o'clock it is!"
"Why should it?" muttered the Hatter. "Does
your watch tell
you what year it is?"
"Of course not," Alice replied very readily: "but that's because
it stays the same year for such a long time together."
"Which is just the case with
mine," said
the Hatter.
Alice felt dreadfully puzzled. The Hatter's remark seemed to her to have no
sort of meaning in it, and yet it was certainly English. "I don't quite
understand you," she said, as politely as she could.
"The Dormouse is asleep again," said the Hatter, and he poured a
little hot tea upon its nose.
The Dormouse shook its head impatiently, and said, without opening its eyes,
"Of course, of course; just what I was going to remark myself."
"Have you guessed the riddle yet?" the Hatter said, turning to Alice
again.
"No, I give it up," Alice replied: "what's the answer?"
"I haven't the slightes idea," said the Hatter.
"Nor I," said the March Hare.
Alice sighed wearily. "I think you might do something better with the
time," she said, "than wasting it in asking riddles that have no
answers."
"If you knew Time as well as I do," said the Hatter, "you
wouldn't talk about wasting it. It's
him."
"I don't know what you mean," said Alice.
"Of course you don't!" the Hatter said, tossing his head
contemptuously. "I dare say you never even spoke to Time!"
"Perhaps not," Alice cautiously replied: "but I know I have to
beat time when I learn music."
"Ah! that accounts for it," said the Hatter. "He won't stand
beating. Now, if you only kept on good terms with him, he'd do almost anything
you liked with the clock. For instance, suppose it were nine o'clock in the
morning, just time to begin lessons: you'd only have to whisper a hint to Time,
and round goes the clock in a twinkling! Half-past one, time for dinner!"
("I only wish it was," the March Hare said to itself in a whisper.)
"That would be grand, certainly," said Alice thoughtfully: "but
then - I shouldn't be hungry for it, you know."
"Not at first, perhaps," said the Hatter: "but you could keep it
to half-past one as long as you liked."
"Is that the way
you
manage?" Alice asked.
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