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Through
the Looking-Glass
and what Alice
found there
Kapitel 4:
Tweedledum and Tweedledee, Lewis Carroll, Seite 5 ( von 7 )
This was a puzzler. After a pause, Alice began, "Well! They were
both very
unpleasant characters -" Here she checked herself in some alarm, at
hearing something that sounded to her like the puffing of a large steam-engine
in the wood near them, though she feared it was more likely to be a wild beast.
"Are there any lions or tigers about here?" she asked timidly.
"It's only the Red King snoring," said Tweedledee.
"Come and look at him!" the brothers cried, and they each took one of
Alice's hands, and led her up to where the King was sleeping.
"Isn't he a lovely sight?"
said Tweedledum.
Alice couldn't say honestly that he was. He had a tall red night-cap on, with a
tassel, and he was lying crumpled up into a sort of untidy heap, and snoring
loud - "fit to snore his head off!" as Tweedledum remarked.
"I'm afraid he'll catch cold with lying on the damp grass," said
Alice, who was a very thoughtful little girl.
"He's dreaming now," said Tweedledee: "and what do you think
he's dreaming about?"
Alice said "Nobody can guess that."
"Why, about you!"
Tweedledee exclaimed, clapping his hands triumphantly. "And if he left off
dreaming about you, where do you suppose you'd be?"
"Where I am now, of course," said Alice.
"Not you!" Tweedledee retorted contemptuously. "You'd be
nowhere. Why, you're only a sort of thing in his dream!"
"If that there King was to wake," added Tweedledum, "you'd go
out - bang! - just like a candle!"
"I shouldn't!" Alice exclaimed indignantly. "Besides, if
I'm only a sort
of thing in his dream, what are
you, I should
like to know?"
"Ditto," said Tweedledum.
"Ditto, ditto!" cried Tweedledee.
He shouted this so loud that Alice couldn't help saying, "Hush! You'll be
waking him, I'm afraid, if you make so much noise."
"Well, it's no use
your talking
about waking him," said Tweedledum, "when you're only one of the
things in his dream. You know very well you're not real."
"I am
real!" said Alice, and began to cry.
"You won't make yourself a bit realler by crying," Tweedledee
remarked: "there's nothing to cry about."
"If I wasn't real," Alice said - half-laughing through her tears, it
all seemed so ridiculous - "I shouldn't be able to cry."
"I hope you don't suppose those are real tears?" Tweedledum
interrupted in a tone of great contempt.
"I know they're talking nonsense," Alice thought to herself:
"and it's foolish to cry about it." So she brushed away her tears,
and went on as cheerfully as she could, "At any rate I'd better be getting
out of the wood, for really it's coming on very dark. Do you think it's going
to rain?"
Tweedledum spread a large umbrella over hinself and his brother, and looked up
into it. "No, I don't think it is," he said: "at least - not
under here.
Nohow."
"But it may rain
outside?"
"It may - if it chooses," said Tweedledee: "we've no objection.
Contrariwise."
"Selfish things!" thought Alice, and she was just going to say
"Good-night" and leave them, when Tweedledum sprang out from under
the umbrella, and seized her by the wrist.
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