[00:01.67]■6 The Queen's game of croquet
[00:05.94]Near the door there was a rose-tree and three gardeners，
[00:13.28]Who were looking at the roses in a very worried way．
[00:18.87]'What's the matter？'Alice said to them．
[00:22.53]'You see，Miss，'said the first gardener，'these roses are white，
[00:30.62]but the Queen only likes red roses，and she—'
[00:36.02]'The Queen！'said the second gardener suddenly，and at once，
[00:42.58]the three gardeners lay down flat on their faces．
[00:47.17]Alice turned round and saw a great crowd of people．
[00:51.69]It was a pack of cards，walking through the garden．
[00:57.07]There were clubs(they were soldiers)，and diamonds，
[01:02.27]and ten little children(they were hearts)．Next came some Kings and Queens．
[01:11.38]Then Alice saw the White Rabbit，and behind him，the Knave of Hearts．
[01:18.29]And last of all，came THE KING AND QUEEN OF HEARTS．
[01:26.26]When the crowd came near to Alice，they all stopped and looked at her，
[01:31.29]and the Queen said，'Who are you？'
[01:36.12]'My name is Alice，Your Majesty，'said Alice very politely．
[01:43.68]But she thought to herself，'They're only a pack of cards．
[01:48.79]I don't need to be afraid of them！'
[01:52.45]'And who are these？'said the Queen，looking at the three gardeners．
[02:00.53]Then she saw the white roses，and her face turned red and angry．
[02:07.91]'Off with their heads！'she shouted，
[02:11.04]and soldiers hurried up to take the gardeners away．
[02:14.73]The Queen turned to Alice．'Can you play croquet？'she shouted．
[02:23.22]'Yes！'shouted Alice．
[02:26.28]'Come on，then！'shouted the Queen．
[02:29.88]The crowd began to move on，and Alice went with them．
[02:35.68]'It's—it's a very fine day，'said a worried voice in her ear．
[02:44.61]Alice saw that the White Rabbit was by her side．
[02:49.55]'Very fine，'said Alice．'Where's the Duchess？'
[02:54.53]'Shhh！'said the Rabbit in a hurried voice．'She's in prison，waiting for execution．'
[03:04.26]'What for？'said Alice．
[03:07.46]But just then the Queen shouted，'Get to your places！'，and the game began．
[03:15.84]It was the strangest game of croquet in Alice's life！
[03:22.82]The balls were hedgehogs，and the mallets were flamingoes．
[03:28.38]And the hoops were made by soldiers，
[03:31.73]who turned over and stood on their hands and feet．
[03:35.71]Alice held her flamingo's body under her arm，
[03:41.79]but the flamingo turned its long neck first this way and then that way．
[03:48.36]At last，Alice was ready to hit the ball with the flamingo's head．
[03:55.09]But by then，the hedgehog was tired of waiting
[03:59.81]and was walking away across the croquet-ground .
[04:03.86]And when both the flamingo and the hedgehog were ready，there was no hoop！
[04:10.24]The soldiers too were always getting up and walking away．
[04:16.01]It really was a very difficult game，Alice thought．
[04:21.07]The players all played at the same time，
[04:26.15]and they were al-ways arguing and fighting for hedgehogs．
[04:31.22]Nobody could agree about anything．
[04:35.15]Very soon，the Queen was wildly angry，and went around shouting
[04:42.72]'Off with his head！'or'Off with her head！'about once a minute．
[04:52.82]Alice began to feel worried．
[04:57.23]'The Queen is sure to argue with me soon，'she thought．
[05:02.00]'And what will happen to me then？
[05:04.49]They're cutting people's heads off all the time here．
[05:08.87]I'm surprised there is anyone left alive！'
[05:13.50]Just then she saw something very strange．She watched carefully，
[05:19.98]and after a minute or two she saw that the thing was a grin．
[05:26.01]'It's the Cheshire Cat，'she said to herself．'Now I'll have somebody to talk to．'
[05:35.34]'How are you getting on？'said the Cat，when its mouth appeared．
[05:43.31]Alice waited．'I can't talk to something without ears，'she thought．
[05:51.12]Slowly the Cat's eyes，then its ears，and then the rest of its head appeared．
[05:59.09]But it stopped at the neck，and its body did not appear．
[06:04.88]Alice began to tell the Cat all about the game．
[06:11.55]'It's very difficult to play，'she said．
[06:16.68]'Everybody argues all the time，and the hoops and the hedgehogs walk away．'
[06:24.89]'How do you like the Queen？'said the Cat quietly．
[06:32.02]'I don't，'said Alice．'She's very—'Just then she saw the Queen behind her，
[06:41.93]so she went on，'—clever．She's the best player here．'
[06:49.99]The Queen smiled and walked past．
[06:54.44]'Who are you talking to？'said the King．
[07:00.13]He came up behind Alice and looked at the Cat's head in surprise．
[07:06.43]'It's a friend of mine—a Cheshire Cat，'said Alice．
[07:13.04]'I'm not sure that I like it，'said the King．'But it can touch my hand if it likes．'
[07:22.40]'I prefer not to，'said the Cat．
[07:29.29]'Well！'said the King angrily．He called out to the Queen，'My dear！
[07:37.59]There's a cat here，and I don't like it．'
[07:44.10]The Queen did not look round．'Off with its head！'she shouted．
[07:51.98]'Call for the executioner！
[07:55.52]Alice was a little worried for her friend，but when the executioner arrived，
[08:02.77]everybody began to argue．
[08:06.87]'I can't cut off a head，'said the executioner，'if there isn't a body to cut it off from．'
[08:14.84]'You can cut the head off，'said the King，'from anything that's got a head．'
[08:24.51]'If somebody doesn't do something quickly，'said the Queen，
[08:29.50]'I'll cut everybody's head off．'
[08:33.18]Nobody liked that plan very much，so they all turned to Alice．
[08:41.46]'And what do you say？'they cried．
[08:46.68]'The Cat belongs to the Duchess，'said Alice carefully．
[08:52.88]'Perhaps you could ask her about it．'
[08:57.54]'She's in prison，'the Queen said to the executioner．'Bring her here at once．'
[09:06.16]But then the Cat's head slowly began to vanish，
[09:12.35]and when the executioner came back with the Duchess，there was nothing there．
[09:19.72]The King ran wildly up and down，looking for the Cat，
[09:25.15]and the Duchess put her arm round Alice．
[09:28.95]'I'm so pleased to see you again，my dear！'she said．
[09:35.47]'Let's get on with the game，'the Queen said angrily，
[09:40.53]and Alice followed her back to the croquet-ground．
[09:44.99]The game went on，but all the time the Queen was arguing，
[09:51.32]And shouting'Off with his head！'or'Off with her head！'
[09:58.56]Soon there were no hoops left，
[10:01.70]because the soldiers(who were the hoops)were too busy taking everybody to prison．
[10:08.73]And at the end there were only three players left—the King，the Queen，and Alice．
[10:17.84]The Queen stopped shouting and said to Alice，
[10:22.38]'Have you seen the Mock Turtle yet？'
[10:26.41]'No，'said Alice．'I'm not sure what a Mock Turtle is．'
[10:32.69]'Then come with me，'said the Queen．
[10:37.75]They found the Mock Turtle down by the sea．
[10:42.28]Next to him was a Gryphon，asleep in the sun．
[10:47.69]Then the Queen hurried away，saying，'I have to get on with some executions．'
[10:55.90]The Gryphon woke up，and said sleepily to Alice，
[11:02.16]'It's just talk，you know．They never execute anybody．'
[11:09.77]Alice was pleased to hear this．
[11:13.62]She felt a little afraid of the Gryphon and the Mock Turtle，
[11:18.82]because they were so large．But they were very friendly，
[11:23.71]and sang songs and told her many stories about their lives．
[11:28.88]The Mock Turtle was in the middle of a very sad song
[11:34.35]when they all heard a shout a long way away：'It's beginning！'
[11:41.67]'Come on！We must hurry！'cried the Gryphon．
[11:48.83]It took Alice by the hand and began to run．