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Through
the Looking-Glass
and what Alice
found there
Kapitel 5:
Wool and water, Lewis Carroll, Seite 4 ( von 6 )
The shop seemed to be full of all manner of curious things - but the oddest
part of it all was, that whenever she looked hard at any shelf, to make out
exactly what it had on it, that particular shelf was always quite empty: though
the others round it were crwoded as full as they could hold.
"Things flow about so here!" she said at last in a plaintive tone,
after she had spent a minute or so in vainly pursuing a large bright thing,
that looked sometimes like a doll and sometimes like a work-box, and was always
in the shelf next above the one she was looking at. "And this one is the
most provoking of all - but I'll tell you what -" she added, as a sudden
thought struck her, "I'll follow it up to the very top shelf of all. It'll
puzzle it to go through the ceiling, I expect!"
But even this plan failed: the 'thing' went through the ceiling as quietly as
possible, as if it were quite used to it.
"Are you a child or a teetotum?" the Sheep said, as she took up
another pair of needles. "You'll make me giddy soon, if you go on turning
round like that." She was now working with fourteen pairs at once, and
Alice couldn't help looking at her in great astonishment.
"How can
she knit with so many?" the puzzled child thought to herself. "She
gets more and more like a porcupine every minute!"
"Can you row?" the Sheep asked, handing her a pair of
knitting-needles as she spoke.
"Yes, a little - but not on land - and not with needles -" Alice was
beginning to say, when suddenly the needles turned into oars in her hands, and
she found they were in a little boat, gliding along between banks: so there was
nothing for it but to do her best.
"Feather!" cried the Sheep, as she took up another pair of needles.
This didn't sound like a remark that needed any answer, so Alice said nothing,
but pulled away. There was something very queer about the water, she thought,
as every now and then the oars got fast in it, and would hardly come out again.
"Feather! Feather!" the Sheep cried again, taking more needles.
"You'll be catching a crab directly."
"A dear little crab!" thought Alice. "I should like that."
"Didn't you hear me say 'Feather'?" the Sheep cried angrily, taking
up quite a bunch of needles.
"Indeed I did," said Alice: "you've said it very often - and
very loud. Please, where
are the
crabs?"
"In the water, of course!" said the Sheep, sticking some of the
needles into her hair, as her hands were full. "Feather, I say!"
"Why do you
say 'Feather' so often?" Alice asked at last, rather vexed. "I'm not
a bird!"
"You are," said the Sheep: "you're a little goose."
This offended Alice a little, so there was no more conversation for a minute or
two, while the boat glided gently on, sometimes among beds of weeds (which made
the oars stick fast in the water, worse than ever), and sometimes under trees,
but always with the same tall river-banks frowning over their heads.
"Oh, please! There are some scented rushes!" Alice cried in a sudden
transport of delight. "There really are - and
such
beauties!"
"You needn't say 'please' to
me about
'em," the Sheep said, without looking up from her knitting: "I didn't
put 'em there, and I'm not going to take 'em away."
"No, but I meant - please, may we wait and pick some?" Alice pleaded.
"If you don't mind stopping the boat for a minute."
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