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Through
the Looking-Glass
and what Alice
found there
Kapitel 9:
Queen Alice, Lewis Carroll, Seite 8 ( von 8 )
And then (as Alice afterwards described it) all sorts of things happened in a
moment. The candles all grew up to the ceiling, looking something like a bed of
rushes with fireworks at the top. As to the bottles, they each took a pair of
plates, which they hastily fitted on as wings, and so, with forks for legs,
went fluttering about in all directions: "and very like birds they
look," Alice thought to herself, as well as she could in the dreadful
confusion that was beginning.
At this moment she heard a hoarse laugh at her side, and turned to see what was
the matter with the White Queen; but, instead of the Queen, there was the leg
of mutton sitting in the chair. "Here I am!" cried a voice from the
soup-tureen, and Alice turned again, just in time to see the Queen's broad
good-natured face grinning at her for a moment over the edge of the tureen,
before she disappeared into the soup.
There was not a moment to be lost. Already several of the guests were lying
down in the dishes, and the soup-ladle was walking up the table towards Alice's
chair, and beckoning to her impatiently to get out of its way.
"I can't stand this any longer!" she cried as she jumped up and
seized the table-cloth with both hands: one good pull, and plates, dishes,
guests, and candles came crashing down together in a heap on the floor.
"And as for you," she went
on, turning fiercely upon the Red Queen, whom she considered as the cause of
all the mischief - but the Queen was no longer at her side - she had suddenly
dwindled down to the size of a little doll, and was now on the table, merrily
running round and round after her own shawl, which was trailing behind her.
At any other time, Alice would have felt surprised at this, but she was far too
much excited to be surprised at anything
now. "As
for you,"
she repeated, catching hold of the little creature in the very act of jumping
over a bottle which had just lighted upon the table, "I'll shake you into
a kitten, that I will!"
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