CHAPTER II

                   The Garden of Live Flowers  
  
     - 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 that  leads  straight
to it - at least, no, it doesn't do that - (after going a few yards  along
the path, and turning several sharp corners), - but I suppose it  will  at
last. But how curiously 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 the other way.
     And so she did: wandering up and down, and trying  turn  after  turn, 
but always coming back to the house, do what she would. Indeed, once, when 
she turned a corner rather more quickly than usual,  she  ran  against  it 
before she could stop herself. 
     - It's no use talking about it," Alice said, looking up at the  house
and pretending it was arguing with her. - I'm NOT going in  again  yet.  I
know I should have to get through the Looking-glass again - back into  the
old room - and there'd be an end of all my adventures!
     So, resolutely turning back upon the house, she  set  out  once  more 
down the path, determined to keep straight on till she got  to  the  hill. 
For a few minutes all went on well, and she was just saying,  -  I  really 
SHALL do it this time - when the path gave a sudden twist and shook itself 
(as she described it afterwards), and the next moment  she  found  herself 
actually walking in at the door. 
     - Oh, it's too bad! - she cried. - I  never  saw  such  a  house  for 
getting in the way! Never! 
     However, there was the hill full in sight, so there was nothing to be 
done but start again. This time she came upon a large flower-bed,  with  a 
border of daisies, and a willow-tree growing in the middle. 
     - O Tiger-lily, - said Alice, addressing  herself  to  one  that  was
waving gracefully about in the wind, - I WISH you could talk!
     - We CAN talk, - said the Tiger-lily: - when  there's  anybody  worth
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  the  Tiger-lily  only 
went on waving about, she spoke again,  in  a  timid  voice  almost  in  a 
whisper. - And can ALL the flowers talk? 
     - As well as YOU can, - said the  Tiger-lily.  -  And  a  great  deal
louder.
     - 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, thought it's not a clever one!"  Still,  you're  the
right colour, and that goes a long way.
     - I don't care about the colour, - the Tiger-lily remarked. - If only
her petals curled up a little more, she'd be all right.
     Alice didn't like being criticised, so she began asking questions.  - 
Aren't you sometimes frightened at being planted out here, with nobody  to 
take care of you? 
     - There's the tree in the middle, - said the Rose: - what else is  it
good for?
     - But what could it do, if any danger came? - Alice asked.
     - It says "Bough-wough!" cried a Daisy: - that's why its branches are
called boughs!
     - Didn't you know THAT? - cried another  Daisy,  and  here  they  all
began shouting together, till the air seemed quite full of  little  shrill
voices. - Silence, every one of you! - cried the Tigerlily, waving  itself
passionately from side to side, and trembling with excitement. - They know
I can't get at them! - it  panted,  bending  its  quivering  head  towards
Alice, - or they wouldn't dare to do it!
     - Never mind! - Alice said in a soothing tone, and stooping  down  to
the daisies, who were just beginning again, she whispered, - If you  don't
hold your tongues, I'll pick you!
     There was silence in a moment, and several of the pink daisies turned 
white. 
     - That's right! - said the Tiger-lily. - The  daisies  are  worst  of
all. When one speaks, they all begin together, and it's enough to make one
wither to hear the way they go on!
     - How is it you can all talk so nicely? - Alice said, hoping  to  get
it into a better temper by a compliment.  -  I've  been  in  many  gardens
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  see  what 
that has to do with it. 
     - In most gardens, - the Tiger-lily said, - they make  the  beds  too
soft - so that the flowers are always asleep.
     This sounded a very good reason, and Alice was quite pleased to  know 
it. - I never thought of that before! - she said. 
     - It's MY opinion that you never think AT ALL, - the Rose said  in  a
rather severe tone.
     - I never say anybody that looked  stupider,  -  a  Violet  said,  so
suddenly, that Alice quite jumped; for it hadn't spoken before.
     - Hold YOUR tongue! - cried the Tiger-lily. -  As  if  YOU  ever  saw
anybody! You keep your head under the leaves, and snore away  there,  till
you know no more what's going on in the world, that if you were a bud!
     - Are there any more people in the garden besides me? -  Alice  said,
not choosing to notice the Rose's last remark.
     - There's one other flower in the garden that  can  move  about  like
you, - said the Rose. - I wonder how  you  do  it  -  (  -  You're  always
wondering, - said the Tiger-lily), - but she's more bushy than you are.
     - Is she like me? - Alice asked eagerly, for the thought crossed  her
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,  -  the
Tiger-lily interrupted: - not tumbled about anyhow, like yours.
     - But that's not YOUR fault,  -  the  Rose  added  kindly:  -  you're
beginning to fade, you know - and then one can't help one's petals 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 of  the
thorny kind.
     - Where does she wear the thorns? - Alice asked with some curiosity.
     - Why all round her head, of course, - the  Rose  replied.  -  I  was
wondering YOU hadn't got some too. I thought it was the regular rule.
     - 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  Red  Queen.  - 
She's grown a good deal! - was her first  remark.  She  had  indeed:  when 
Alice first found her in the ashes, she had been only three inches high  - 
and here she was, half a head taller than 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 the  flowers 
were interesting enough, she felt that it would be far grander to  have  a 
talk with a real Queen. 
     - You can't possibly do that, - said the Rose: -  _I_  should  advise
you to walk the other way.
     This sounded nonsense to Alice, so she said nothing, but set  off  at 
once towards the Red Queen. To her surprise, she lost sight of  her  in  a 
moment, and found herself walking in at the front-door again. 
     A little provoked, she drew back, and after  looking  everywhere  for 
the queen (whom she spied out at last, a long way off),  she  thought  she 
would try the plan, this time, of walking in the opposite direction. 
     It succeeded beautifully. She had not been walking  a  minute  before 
she found herself face to face with the Red Queen, and full  in  sight  of 
the hill she had been so long aiming at. 
     - Where do you come from? - said the Red Queen. - And where  are  you
going? Look up, speak nicely, and don't twiddle your fingers all the time.
Alice attended to all these directions, and  explained,  as  well  as  she
could, that she had lost her way.
     - I don't know what you mean by YOUR way, - said the Queen: - all the
ways about here belong to ME - but why did you come out here at all? - she
added in a kinder tone. - Curtsey while you - re thinking what to say,  it
saves time.
     Alice wondered a little at this, but she was too much in awe  of  the 
Queen to disbelieve it. - I'll try it when I go home,  -  she  thought  to 
herself. - the next time I'm a little late for dinner. 
     - It's time for you to answer now, - the Queen said, looking  at  her
watch: - open your mouth a LITTLE wider when you  speak,  and  always  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,  which
Alice didn't like at all, - though, when you say  "garden,"  -  I'VE  seen
gardens, compare with which this would be a wilderness.
     Alice didn't dare to argue the point, but went on: -  and  I  thought 
I'd try and find my way to the top of that hill 
     - When you say "hill," - the Queen interrupted, - _I_ could show  you
hills, in comparison with which you'd call that a valley.
     - No, I shouldn't, - said Alice, surprised into contradicting her  at
last: - a hill CAN'T be a valley, you know. That would be nonsense
     The Red Queen shook her head, - You may call  it  "nonsense"  if  you 
like, - she said, - but I'VE heard  nonsense,  compared  with  which  that 
would be as sensible as a dictionary! 
     Alice curtseyed again, as she was afraid from the Queen's  tone  that 
she was a LITTLE offended: and they walked on in silence till they got  to 
the top of the little hill. 
     For some minutes Alice stood without speaking,  looking  out  in  all 
directions over the country - and a most curious  country  it  was.  There 
were a number of tiny little brooks running straight across it  from  side 
to side, and the ground between was divided up into squares by a number of 
little green hedges, that reached from brook to brook. 
     - I declare it's marked out just like a  large  chessboard!  -  Alice
said at last. - There ought to be some men moving about somewhere  and  so
there are! - She added in a tone of delight, and her heart began  to  beat
quick with excitement as she went on. - It's a great huge  game  of  chess
that's being played - all over the world - if this IS the  world  at  all,
you know. Oh, what fun it is! 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 a Queen, best.
     She glanced rather shyly at the real Queen as she said this, but  her 
companion only smiled pleasantly, and said, - That's easily  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 to began 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 over afterwards, how 
it was that they began: all she remembers is, that they were running  hand 
in hand, and the Queen went so fast that it was all she could do  to  keep 
up with her: and still the Queen kept crying - Faster! Faster! - but Alice 
felt she COULD NOT go faster, thought she had not breath left to say so. 
     The most curious part of the thing was, that the trees and the  other 
things round them never changed their places at  all:  however  fast  they 
went, they never seemed to pass anything. - I wonder  if  all  the  things 
move along with us? - thought poor puzzled Alice. And the Queen seemed  to 
guess her thoughts, for she cried, - Faster! Don't try to talk! 
     Not that Alice had any idea of doing THAT. She felt as if  she  would 
never be able to talk again, she was getting so much out  of  breath:  and 
still the Queen cried - Faster! Faster! - and dragged her along. - Are  we 
nearly there? - Alice managed to pant out at last. 
     - Nearly there! - the Queen repeated. - Why, we passed it ten minutes
ago! Faster! And they ran  on  for  a  time  in  silence,  with  the  wind
whistling in Alice's ears, and almost blowing her hair off her  head,  she
fancied.
     - Now! Now! - cried the Queen. - Faster! Faster! - And they  went  so
fast that at last they seemed to skim through the air, hardly touching the
ground with their feet, till suddenly, just as  Alice  was  getting  quite
exhausted, they stopped, and she found  herself  sitting  on  the  ground,
breathless and giddy.
     The Queen propped her up against a tree, and said kindly, -  You  may 
rest a little now. 
     Alice looked round her in great surprise. - Why, I do  believe  we've 
been under this tree the whole time! Everything's just as it 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 fast for 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 as fast as that!
     - I'd rather not try, please! - said Alice. - I'm  quite  content  to
stay here - only I AM so hot and thirsty!
     - I know what YOU'D like! - the Queen said good-naturedly,  taking  a
little box out of her pocket. - Have a biscuit?
     Alice thought it would not be civil to say - No, - though  it  wasn't 
at all what she wanted. So she took it, and ate it as well as  she  could: 
and it was VERY dry; and she thought she had never been so  nearly  choked 
in all her life. 
     - While you're refreshing yourself, - said the  Queen,  -  I'll  just
take the measurements. - And she took a ribbon out of her  pocket,  marked
in inches, and began measuring the ground, and  sticking  little  pegs  in
here and there.
     - At the end of two yards, - she said, putting in a peg to  mark  the
distance, - I shall give you your directions - have another biscuit?
     - 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 Queen did not
wait for an answer, but went on. - At the  end  of  THREE  yards  I  shall 
repeat them - for fear of your forgetting them. At then  end  of  FOUR,  I 
shall say good-bye. And at then end of FIVE, I shall go! 
     She had got all the pegs put in by this time,  and  Alice  looked  on 
with great interest as she returned to the tree,  and  then  began  slowly 
walking down the row. 
     At the two-yard peg she faced round, and said,  -  A  pawn  goes  two 
squares in its first move, you know. So you'll go VERY quickly through the 
Third Square - by railway, I should think - and you'll  find  yourself  in 
the Fourth Square in no time. Well, THAT square belongs to Tweedledum  and 
Tweedledee - the Fifth is mostly water the Sixth belongs to Humpty  Dumpty 
- But you make no remark? 
     - I - I didn't know I had to make one - just then, -  Alice  faltered
out.
     - You SHOULD have said, - "It's extremely kind of you to tell me  all
this" - however, we'll suppose it said - the Seventh Square is all  forest
- however, one of the Knights will show you the way - and  in  the  Eighth
Square we shall be Queens together, and it's all feasting and fun! - Alice
got up and curtseyed, and sat down 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 on quickly 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  to  the 
last peg, she was gone. Whether she vanished into the air, or whether  she 
ran quickly into the wood ( - and she CAN run very fast! - thought Alice), 
there was no way of guessing,  but  she  was  gone,  and  Alice  began  to 
remember that she was a Pawn, and that it would soon be time  for  her  to 
move.