oh dear, oh dear! what is it all about? and what’s happening to alice?

well, i’ll tell you all about it, as well i can. the way the trial ended was this. the king wanted the jury to settle whether the knave of hearts was guilty or not guilty——that means that they were to settle whether he had stolen the tarts, or if somebody else had taken them. but the wicked queen wanted to have his punishment settled, first of all. that wasn’t at all fair, was it? because, you know, supposing he never took the tarts, then of course he oughtn’t to be punished. would you like to be punished for something you hadn’t done?

alice shielding herself as cards fly over her head

so alice said “stuff and nonsense!”

so the queen said “off with her head!” (just what she always said, when she was angry.)

so alice said “who cares for you? you’re nothing but a pack of cards!”

so they were all very angry, and flew up into the air, and came tumbling down again, all over alice, just like a shower of rain.

and i think you’ll never guess what happened next. the next thing was, alice woke up out of her curious dream. and she found that the cards were only some leaves off the tree, that the wind had blown down upon her face.

wouldn’t it be a nice thing to have a curious dream, just like alice?

the best plan is this. first lie down under a tree, and wait till a white rabbit runs by, with a watch in his hand: then shut your eyes, and pretend to be dear little alice.

good-bye, alice dear, good-bye!