Lewis Carroll: Through the Looking Glass

CHAPTER 9: Queen Alice (continued)

Alice thought she saw a way out of the difficulty this time. `If you'll tell me what language "fiddle-de-dee" is, I'll tell you the French for it!' she exclaimed triumphantly.

But the Red Queen drew herself up rather stiffly, and said `Queens never make bargains.'

`I wish Queens never asked questions,' Alice thought to herself.

`Don't let us quarrel,' the White Queen said in an anxious tone. `What is the cause of lightning?'

`The cause of lightning,' Alice said very decidedly, for she felt quite certain about this, `is the thunder--no, no!' she hastily corrected herself. `I meant the other way.'

`It's too late to correct it,' said the Red Queen: `when you've once said a thing, that fixes it, and you must take the consequences.'

`Which reminds me--' the White Queen said, looking down and nervously clasping and unclasping her hands, `we had SUCH a thunderstorm last Tuesday--I mean one of the last set of Tuesdays, you know.'

Alice was puzzled. `In OUR country,' she remarked, `there's only one day at a time.'

The Red Queen said, `That's a poor thin way of doing things. Now HERE, we mostly have days and nights two or three at a time, and sometimes in the winter we take as many as five nights together--for warmth, you know.'

`Are five nights warmer than one night, then?' Alice ventured to ask.

`Five times as warm, of course.'

`But they should be five times as COLD, by the same rule--'

`Just so!' cried the Red Queen. `Five times as warm, AND five times as cold--just as I'm five times as rich as you are, AND five times as clever!'