Lewis Carroll: Through the Looking Glass

CHAPTER 8: `It's my own Invention' (continued)

`The great art of riding,' the Knight suddenly began in a loud voice, waving his right arm as he spoke, `is to keep--' Here the sentence ended as suddenly as it had begun, as the Knight fell heavily on the top of his head exactly in the path where Alice was walking. She was quite frightened this time, and said in an anxious tone, as she picked him up, `I hope no bones are broken?'

`None to speak of,' the Knight said, as if he didn't mind breaking two or three of them. `The great art of riding, as I was saying, is--to keep your balance properly. Like this, you know--'

He let go the bridle, and stretched out both his arms to show Alice what he meant, and this time he fell flat on his back, right under the horse's feet.

`Plenty of practice!' he went on repeating, all the time that Alice was getting him on his feet again. `Plenty of practice!'

`It's too ridiculous!' cried Alice, losing all her patience this time. `You ought to have a wooden horse on wheels, that you ought!'

`Does that kind go smoothly?' the Knight asked in a tone of great interest, clasping his arms round the horse's neck as he spoke, just in time to save himself from tumbling off again.

`Much more smoothly than a live horse,' Alice said, with a little scream of laughter, in spite of all she could do to prevent it.

`I'll get one,' the Knight said thoughtfully to himself. `One or two--several.'

There was a short silence after this, and then the Knight went on again. `I'm a great hand at inventing things. Now, I daresay you noticed, that last time you picked me up, that I was looking rather thoughtful?'

`You WERE a little grave,' said Alice.

`Well, just then I was inventing a new way of getting over a gate--would you like to hear it?'